I have read many posts recommending restaurants in Ireland. How often do you really have full dinners in restaurants? We tend to eat mostly pub food... We have a huge breakfast, thanks to our B&B each day, but I can't make it all the way to dinner, so we usually have a late pub lunch. Then around 7ish I am hungry again, but can't stand the thought of a big restaurant meal, so we end up in another pub for something light, like soup and brown bread, to go with my pint. (Can't seem to get enough brown bread when I am there!) Not to mention the cost of a restaurant meal compared to my soup. (Yes, I am cheap, it's my greatgrandmother's gift to me, I am told.) We just don't seem to "do" restaurants!

I don't eat in regular restaurant very often. I agree, the huge, wonderful breakfasts keep me going til mid afternoon. But then I tend to have a very small lunch. My favourite is scones, with jam and cream (I love them) and tea. Then I save my pub meal for evening. It works out well for me.

Yes, the brown bread is to die for.

Strangely enough, before I lived here, I used to normally eat in pubs while visiting. But now it's rare that I eat in a pub, and much more often in a restaurant. It's probably because you pretty much get the exact same menu in most pubs, whereas there's more variety in a restaurant.

could you eat less at breakfast, take a light lunch in a cafe (or even a healthy juice on the go), then have your pub dinner ?

Leisa, sure I could change the way we eat. I was just wondering how other people ate while on the go visiting Ireland. Our system works for us!

Kodi, I had the best scone ever in Canterbury, England, from a very small bakery. I shared one with my husband but I could have eaten a couple!

Ann41, do you bake your own brown bread? I have brought home bags of Odums and another brand, and tried some homemade from recipes, but I guess the flours are different. So I just keep going back to get my fix!

During our two weeks in Ireland, I think we ate at a restaurant maybe four times (and two of them were for gourmet pizza, of all things!)! It was pubs all the way. Lots of picnic lunches. And brown bread at all possible times--man, I miss that bread!!

Don't dispare, folks! Brown bread is so simple to make. You can buy the premade packs and just add your own buttermilk but it's really easy to do on your own. I make it here in the US for my Irish husband and he says "it's just like mom's" though he may just be trying to be nice...

Traditional Brown Bread

Ingredients
600 grams of brown wholemeal flour
180 grams of plain (white) flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
0,6 litre of buttermilk (sour milk)


Method
Sieve the plain flour and baking soda in to a bowl.
Add the wholemeal flour, salt and brown sugar and mix well.
Add the olive oil and buttermilk and mix well for 2 minutes with a wooden spoon.
Lightly oil a 1kg loaf tin. Add the mixture.
(Or you can just make into a ball and cut an X into the top.)
Put in a preheated oven at exactly 180 C.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom.

Or even simplier...

BROWN BREAD
* 2 cups whole-wheat flour
* 1 cup white flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (or baking soda)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Place all dry ingredients into mixing bowl; mix well. Pour buttermilk slowly while mixing to a soft dough. Mix well, but do not knead. Form into a round and place on a greased baking sheet or in a round loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Makes 1 loaf

Whenever possible I have a 'Carvery' midday meal at such places as Madigan's on middle Earl St. in Dublin or the Queen's Hotel in Ennis or Locke's in Limerick City. After a full Irish breakfast I try to schedule my midday meal for around 3:00 PM and something I bought at Dunne's Supermarket or just Pub food for an evening snack. Restaurants may have a little more variety but they're also usually much more expensive. My frequent visits to Ireland are usually just for a week or 10-days, so I can survive on whatever ...