Excellent cookery school in central Dublin…read more Tim and Vanessa have set up the benchmark for cookery schools in Dublin. All levels catered for, super equipment, and good practical teaching. Looking forward to Jacks meat smoking course in Feb. Just finished the Meat curing and smoking course with my son, William Jr, we both had a great day, the enthusiasm from everyone we met in Cooks Academy was so apparent it was thoroughly infectious. We produced salami, smoked duck magret, smoked mackerel, trout grav lax, pancetta. The amount we covered was amazing, and really engaging, thank you Jack, a great day.

To be fair, I've only had one experience of Cooks Academy but it was such an overwhelmingly…read morepositive one, I had to add it and review it. I had received a voucher for a Chinese Cookery class (methinks there may have ben an ulterior motive involved:D ) so last night, I headed into town to get my cook on. The class ran from 6.30 - 9.00 and over the course of the evening, 5 dishes were demonstrated and we cooked 2. They started off by showing us how to make spare ribws. Well, it wasn't so much the ribs that they demonstrated but the sauce to coat them in. Having tasted the ribs (and wanting to go back for the last few), it boded well for the rest of the evening. Next up was sweet and sour duck with mango. "Uh oh", thought I as it sounded like something I probably wouldn't be able to make. The tutor (Dave Rice) made it look so easy to make but the proof of the pudding would come when we attempted to make it ourselves. So off we went with our recipe sheet and pulled together the ingredients we'd need for this wonderful form of alchemy. So the ginger, saki, soy sauce etc was measured out, the duck breast crisped up and marinated and so on....until 20 mins later we started to tuck into our creations. "Holy f**k....I made that? Really?" Dave, the tutor, and his two assistants/co-chefs were on hand as we had set about our cooking and were always available to help out or advise or even just to find ingredients that had gone walkabout. They were so friendly and helpful that it all seemed to easy to be true. Anyway, after that it was back to the demo table for some beef with oyster sauce. So we were shown how to put this together, how to make the marinate and so on. He also showed us how to cook rice, which sounds trivial but I've tasted too many DIY rice jobs that tasted like they'd come out of an Ambrosia tin to know it's not an easy thing to do (and I won't even delve into my own efforts). So off we went again, to create dishes that, to me, tasted good. Same again, they were always on hand to help out, put us at ease, relax and not be afraid to cook as can often be the case. After that, he showed us how to use leftover rice to make a really tasty egg-fried rice and offered a couple of tips on food hygiene in relation to rice. The final dish to be demonstrated was pak choi with onion and red cabbage topped with roasted cashew nuts. Another top, top dish. It wasn't something we'd time to try there but I definitely will. Confidence boosted and feeling like I went from beginner to 9th Dan Black Belt over the two and a half hours, I'll be off to the Asian Market on Drury Street at the weekend to buy a load of stuff. I will be back to Cooks Academy. And I'lll be recommending it to anyone I know that likes to cook or would like to. There was a good cross section last night with some being reasonably confident cooks and others not even confident that they could make toast. Yet everyone came away feeling like they could cook better than they had at 6pm yesterday! A1 Sharon!

Another shining beacon of all that is right about Dublin at the moment. Situated next to two closed…read moreand boarded up old shop fronts, but across from such funksters as the Bernard Shaw and Hang Tough, is Picado. Thoroughly modern, designed with clean lines, bright colours, and a distinct lack of the traditional Mexican decor we've come to expect, yet still just as inviting. Lily and her gang import everything sold in the shop directly from Mexico. Handpicked, thought through and tested for quality, this is the real deal. I got myself some Luchito honey and salsa with rare smoked Mexican chillies. My Lord. It's good. The honey also has chillies in it. It's ridiculous, I've gone through half a jar in two days. They also do small cooking classes in here which I've yet to try, but they could be anything from salsas to tomales to tortillas etc. If you're in the neighbourhood, make sure to call in. Lilly is only bleedin lovely to chat with, and if you're having a dinner party and want to be a bit smug about it, she'll sort you out with some serious ingredients and instructions for them too.

There's nothing better than being half Mexican, living across the world from Mexico, and living a…read morestone's throw from a Mexican culinary shop! There are salsas, tortillas, hot sauces, chicharones, masa harina, and lots more of this and that that one would want for cooking it up Mexican style. Also, there are classes! All this in a lovely, quaint, and super clean neighborhood shop. The owner is from Mexico and she knows her stuff. And, she's super friendly too. Go on in and chat it up with her. She'll answer any of your questions about the sweet eats she has on her shelves. Now, my compadres, if you've got your geography down, we're -not- a stone's throw from Mexico so the importing prices will reflect that. But, if you love cooking Mexican food, these gems are worth the sticker price and they come straight from their Madre Land. My Rick Bayless cookbook thanks Picado for shelving the goods!

That's the perfect night out for your team or if you are looking for something different with a…read moregroup of friends: an Italian cooking course We booked here for 18 people and had so much fun learning to make homemade tagliatelle, a chocolate cake and kinda pizza dough roll stuffed with veggies, meat and mozzarella at The Italian School of Cooking. Thank you Giuseppe & team for a great interactive class!

I booked a homemade pizza class today for my friend and Myself and we both enjoyed it. The class…read morewas fun, we learned so much and the chief was hilarious. Every thing was great but one thing, the fact that my friend and I are vegetarians and even though we were provided with plates of meat and vegetables, each station has 5 working together so every one will try working on the same dough. And i couldn't stand the meat or taste what we made at the end because every one was making meatballs for pizza bianca with their hands then they will work on the dough. Of course we didnt just get one dough but we made 4 pizza and each were different and we all had to work together on each pizza to learn the techniques. Anyway, It would be great if they had a station only for vegetarians so we don't have to worry about the meat.

I got a voucher for a day course ( petite patisserie) from 9 am to 4 pm and it was the best gift…read moreever. I enjoyed the experience so much and I definitely learned a lot. Starting from basic stuff and difficult on how to make desserts. We made different one like ; sticky cinnamon and peacan minis) , lemon drizzle cake with poppy seeds, Chocolate hazelnut cake, Ganache, Mini Tartlets with lemon curd and italian Maringue, Coconut tuiles , passionfruit mousse and Vanilla Crème brulee. We also had a delicious lunch on a big table and had a nice chat with the other participants. It is so much fun and the chef is a real expert. #DublinShopsLocal

HIghly highly recommend the Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock. I recently took the intensive 1…read moremonth course and was more than impressed with the course and the instructors. Expect many guest appearances by top michelin starred chefs (My class included Oliver Dunne of Bon Apetite in Malahide, Matthew Albert of Nahm in London, and Sunil Gai of Ananda in Dundrum)---there are only 6 or so Michelin star restaurants in all of Ireland so to get this caliber of guests is quite impressive. Head instructor and owner Lynda Booth is extremely passionate about food and it shows in her teaching. The curriculum for the 4 week course was varied and covered everything from french bread-making to mastering butter sauces to filleting a John Dory to making the perfect hot lemon soufflé. Every day you make 3 or 4 courses and get to eat the results during lunch. It's an intensive course and by day 2, we were all making bearnaise sauce with confidence---I know now how to bring back butter sauces once they split! yes it's very pricey, but considering the quality of the instructors and the types of food you're making it's well worth the cost.

Went right before my flight home to the US and I greatly enjoyed this little cafe! I found it as a…read morerecommendation on tiktok and was a short walk from where I was staying at Trinity College. The menu was the perfect size, the seating was comfortable outside on a cool July day, and the food was delicious. My matcha was so foamy and earthy and while I had to add some sugar to make it sweet to my liking, I really enjoyed it! Then I got their version of beans on toast and it was very good- fresh, yummy bread, perfectly pickled onions and a runny poached egg. My big complaint was the chorizo. It was impossible to cut and even too gummy to bite into. I ended up not eating it which was so frustrating and disappointing! The bite I was able to get was delicious, but so chewy and way too big because I couldnt cut/bite it properly! My other complaint My other complaint was our water. In their defense, we were there for a packed saturday morning breakfast hour and our table was a bit tucked away, but even the tables right next to us got personable and timely treatment. We waited over 10 minutes to be asked if we even needed water. After we ordered our food and drinks and the drinks came, I asked for sugar. He asked if I wanted brown or white and I said white. 5 minutes later, after witnessing him visit a couple other tables multiple times, I still had no sugar. I ended up getting up and going to the bakery/pay section and when he saw me coming he grabbed the sugar and met me at the door and said "I was just coming to bring this to you." And it was brown sugar! Even though I had asked for white. A simple mistake anyone can make in a stressful time, but contextualized by what I felt to be at the neglected table, I was a bit peeved. Despite this, I actually would recommend this restaurant. My food was delicious, the staff actually seemed great and I think we just caught the brunt of it, and they have some classically Irish breakfasts for tourists and we were among the few tourists so if you're Irish, you likely won't find this annoying and filled with too many tourists. Bummed I didn't try their pastries, so I'm excited to go back to do so!

this place was a vibe. we absolutely downed this food. everything was so freshly made and the set…read moreup was beautiful. i can't wait to come back here

fantastic place to eat. The service and the food was amazing. Eat at the bar if you want a…read morefantastic experience

This is a cute little pub off the beaten path of the Liberties section of Dublin. I sat at the bar…read moreand it didn't disappoint. Service was friendly and efficient. I got the bone marrow and fish of sea bream. I washed down both with a pint of Guinness. I thought it was a bit pricey, but would recommend a try.

Nov 2017- real cute high-end cake shop that's worth every cent you pay. We got the chocolate mousse…read morecake...soo good! It's really decadent so best to cut into skinny slices. Great customer service with a smile. They talk to you like you're a regular from the neighborhood. Their Americano has perfect crema. I'd go back...again and again.

Found this place by accident and was super excited. A random bakery near a neighborhood and park…read more Honestly the owners or workers of this bakery were the sweetest ladies. They welcomed us and gave me and my american friends advice on what to do in Ireland for the weekend. They even ripped open two cake boxes to show us their beautiful creations and woo us. We bought an apple pie. And some tomato bread. To be quite honest, it was my first pie ever, and maybe I'm not a pie person but the apples were really not sweet but a bit sour. But the tomato bread was so delicious! I know this bakery is good though so definitely worth a visit!