Food on the Hoof

Originally written on Friday, 30. March 2007.

Welcome one and all to the latest excursion into the world of food. Roald Dalh understood food. He wrote about it more than once. There were Giant Peaches, rivers of Chocolate, Henry Sugar and Nibbleswick, which, is not strictly speaking food, it is a food related act that Pavlov would be ashamed to claim as his own. Charlie inherited an entire factory given over to the production of scrumptious, delicious sweets. And the Oompa Loompa’s

So far, our culinary tour, or trot, has taken us from the delights of the sandwich empires of England, to the simple and straight forward pizza Azzuri and beyond to the sophisticated and elegant Vienesse with their delightful torts. Not Cakes, torts..

So where do we head for with our next trip into the world of quick, easy, but most importantly, good food, food that can be eaten out of hand, food that is best when consumed in and with the elements, food that is to be taken out of doors, not by accident, or by a lack of time, but, by design, by intention. Food on the hoof, is food fit a for walk.

Dublin. The capital of Ireland. Famous for Georgian doors on post cards, a wrought iron bridge over a river and of course, some black heavy stout. Home of around 750,000 people, if you include some of the sub-burbs that, ten years ago were distinct places, but are now conurbations of the city itself. There are probably as many tourists visiting Dublin every year, if not more, which, if you include the amount of people who travel in to Dublin every day for work, means that there could be as many as two million people in the city at any one time.

Two million people. Two million mouths to feed. Four millions feet. A fantastic opportunity for some wonderful food on the hoof.

Dublin is a large, bustling city, with a population that, in recent years of European ‘investment’ has meant that the disposable income is higher than at almost any other time in the country’s history. One of things that one notices in Dublin are the shop’s; lots of shops, gleaming with their wares, the latest fashions, music and consumer electronics. Book shops galore to feed the new curiosity for the country’s noted writers. And pubs. Lots of pubs. Lots and lots of pubs. And some of those pubs sell food. Good food. Hearty food.

Like England, Irish food could probably be best described as winter food. Not surprising really, considering how close they are, with similar climates and soils, the growing seasons are bound to be similar. And they are. And like England, it is not to say that the food is worse for being described as winter food. Indeed, there is nothing like a sitting at home, curtains drawn, with some fresh bread and good stew with dumplings, boiled bacon and cabbage or, if you were on the west of the country, fish.

But this is not good food on the hoof, er, food. A bowl of stew, stuffed full of dumplings, spring onions, red onions, potatoes, and bacon is not, on reflection, the easiest food to be wandering round a bustling city with. So, Irish food, food for eating indoors, with cutlery, crockery and, probably most important, a table, is good stuff. Good stuff indeed.

But food on the hoof ? How does this fare ? Where is there to eat ? Well, like most european cities, there are wealth of fast food / fried food places. Meat like, circular discs wedged between something that was, three days prior, like fresh bread. The meat like substance could be like beef, or like chicken, or frankly, like nothing on earth. Dublin is not different, with all the major euro’ brands available on the high street, but also the Irish ‘me too’ brand called Supermacs.

Supermacs is a curious place. Fast food burger bar, selling kebabs, salads and pizza. All served very quick, in a cardboard box, where, most of the time, the most nutrious part is the cardboard box. Now, the thing is, for a vegetarian, there is nothing, nothing except the salad bar, to tuck your teeth into.

So what else is there in Dublin ? There is the Epicurean Food Hall. This is an indoor courtyard of small, eateries, selling food from different parts of the world. There is the usual Thai and Chinese style food, Mexican fajitas’, kebabs and falafel, fish and chips, prawns and squid dishes and of course the gourmet sandwich shops, selling most things on ciabatta or bagel, depending on your hunger or your budget.

My favourite though is the crepe place, where, depending on the person pouring the mix, are really quite nice, sweet and savoury. No ‘crepe Breton’ but there you go. More often than not, you will find something here that will tempt you and fill you. And it is not that expensive either.

So what else is there to tempt the hungry pedestrian to part with their money and to consume some vitamins. Well, like the Anglo Saxon cousins, it has to be said, not much else. Marks and Spencer sandwiches and some chunky ‘Stilton and red onion’ crisps per chance ? Fish and chips ? A late night kebab as you tumble half cut from the local pub ? Deep fried chicken wrapped in a seasoned batter of 51 secret herbs and spices, but which seems to consist largely of pepper.!!!

Food on the hoof in Dublin is not too good, and if you happen to prefer your food without the thought of a thousand dead animals lining the stomach, then the food choices are limited. Epicurean is pretty good, but it is mainly ‘plate food’ and it is only one place. Dublin is dominated by the pub, and the hundreds of landlords around Dublin who do server food, serve pretty good food, but it is not fit for ‘food on the hoof’, sadly.

So the Dublin Food on the Hoof rating :
       out of Ten.