Outstanding lunch here, one of the better meals I've had in all of Ireland. Simple, yet artful…read morecreations. I had Mimo's Spiced Chicken Sandwich and it was fresh and flavorful. For my side item, I chose the potato salad, which is some of the best that I've ever had. It was super fresh and included fresh dill along with some chunks of pickle. Would love to take this stuff back home! Service was attentive and cheerful.

A place like this just makes my heart sing. Starbucks it ain't. It's local independent, cosy and…read morequality. Our waitress was joy personified - the welcome was warm and she fussed over us to get us seated then brought menus. The cafe has a take away go left and a separate sit - in area go right where we nestled into. The cafe was busy - both takeaway and sit in - just into the early afternoon. It was a flat white, a cappuccino and a generous chunk of home - made, zingy lemon meringue pie between us. The coffees and the light airy pie were delicious. The rest - rooms were well appointed too. Once the food was delivered to the table I asked for the bill so that we could just leave once we were done. My wish was granted with a smile. €14.35 or £12.37.

Delicious coffee! (4/5 green stars) Bull Lane is a great…read morelittle delicatessen and café with very friendly and helpful staff. It's mostly designed to be a place to take food and drinks to go but it does have a counter and stools at the window. I picked up a flat white and a small Portuguese sweet cream tart. The espresso coffee was delicious, and the flat white was really well made. The coffee, from a traditional Italian roaster, is actually a 50:50 Arabica/Robusta beans and it blew away my misconception that you can't make good coffee with Robusta beans. The tart was interesting; the sweet cream was like dense sweet custard, rich with egg yolks. I'm not crazy about custardy things (why did you buy it then?!) but still enjoyed it! My brother goes there often, in particular for their Reuben sandwich, and highly recommends their savory food (along with the coffee!). They have just been has been nominated for Best Café Award in the Restaurants Association of Ireland - congrats folks! I'm also giving them 4/5 "green stars" for social and environmental impact. They have a lot of healthy and vegetarian options and their food is made in-house, including condiments like chutneys, dressings and pickles. They source ingredients locally whenever possible; from either the green grocer next door or their own garden (the owners have a poly tunnel). They source their local cheese directly from makers or via Sheridan's and their bread is from a local artisan baker. They use free-range eggs, including some from hens belonging to a staff-member! Their coffee is from Portioli, and old family-run roaster from Milan. It's probably because Portioli are so old-school that they have nothing to say about their coffee sourcing practices and they also don't have any certifications (Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, etc.) so it's hard to judge for sure. Coffee aside, Bull Lane deserves kudos for making the effort to be independent from Big Food and intensive agriculture. Interested in writing green star reviews? If so, contact me! (greenstarsproject)

If you know Portlaoise you will know that it's not exactly the best place in Ireland for good food…read morebut this place is a little gem! Located on Main Street, Chocolate Brown was a welcome sight when it opened its doors a couple of years ago and has continued to be one of Portlaoise's more reliable spots. The staff are really friendly, the hot chocolate (which they have a great selection of) is really good and they have a nice little selection of paninis, wraps and sweet treats. Granted, the selection is small but the stuff is tasty and if you ask them to make something specific for you I'm sure they would. I had the 'Oh So French' panini which was salami, brie and gherkin and it really was very tasty! A bonus for some friends of mine was that they also stock some tasty gluten-free biscuits- something that can be quite hard to come across fown around these parts.

Was in the cafe for literally 10 seconds then I left. The staff are friendly, but there are no…read morevegan options here. So no point in me going here at all.

They NEVER stay open until the stated closing hour. The last time I went there at 6pm (Close at 7)…read moreI was told AFTER getting my roll that it's take away only. I've went in there at half 5 once and told they were closed. Another time I was told they had no bread (I could see it in the oven cooked, and the display ones were even still there). More than 10 times I've been told there's no meatballs - Why it's advertised I don't even know. If I could rate lower, I would.