A friend told me about the East Pier a couple of times while visiting at the UCD and this time I…read morefinally got to visit here. The walk on the pier takes about 30 min back and forth and there are many fellow walkers, runners, dog walkers. The walk is absolutely lovely, enjoy the fresh air, seagull cries and ocean wave sounds! Towards the end of the pier you can see the mountains rising behind Dun Laoghaire when you turn back. And the pier is especially beautiful during the dusk. In the evening there's lights lit up at the pier and at the beginning you can have a taste of local goodies such as fish and chips!

Yelp 100 Challenge 2019 - # 89/100…read more After our dinner we went for a brisk stroll here. The sun setting in the horizon was too glorious for mere words to describe. I would love to come back here in the summer to have a cone of ice cream while having my leisurely walk while attending the various festivals and events. Street parking is available for €2 per hour. Minimum €2.

I spent a nearly 3 unhealthy years working in Dun Laoghaire and never had an inkling that this…read moreplace of even existed.... yeah, that can happen I hear you say, jumping to Qs defence protecting the object of their affections like so many frenzied fans... none the less it is true, I missed this one. I am human after all. The tide was out on Sunday when we wandered along but I can easily see it being even more picturesque with the waters at their fullest, mayhaps on a winters afternoon all wrapped up warm and indulging in a Teddys Ice-cream (It's never too cold for Teddys) The pics attached give an idea of what it's like, to be sure it's not a long walk but enjoyable. There are also signs up for pier fishing which I'm totally going to try sometime soon.

Whether it's a sunny day or a raging wintry day, this promenade is the perfect place for a walk…read more The views on a sunny day are stunning particularly in the direction of Sandycove or across the bay to Howth. If you are a fan of boats, yachts, cruiseliners, there is always activity out in the bay so you can catch them coming in and out of Dun Laoghaire or even in and out of Dublin Port. The bay is also home to plenty of swimming competitions plus when in season local rowing teams often have regatta's out in the Bay and what better way to catch it all than a prime seat along this promenade. So I mentioned a winter's day too... Yes, be prepared and wrap up well but yep, what I love about it is that on a during high winds and stormy days, the noise of the waves crashing and the spectacular views along the shore front is amazing. If you are a keen photographer, again these action shoots could prove super rewarding after a day being soaked and battered by all Irish weather has to give. So whether a peaceful stroll or taking up a seat to watch the world go by... this is just the place!

Popular 'show up and play' open mic night, with a regular enough community of performers. Pretty…read moregood buzz for a Tuesday night, it has to be said.

I love this spot! I brought a gaggle of kids here one weekend, they were not my kids nor am I the…read morepied piper. My friend's worn out sister's and hubbie's little darling was turning seven so she just had to have a big birthday party. Out of concern for their mental state we volunteered to take the kids here. It was great craic! They do fairy-tales and the kids loved the it so a definite thumbs up!

This place used to be so much better. Fabulous for parties and a guaranteed place for at least half…read moreof your second class friends' parties per year. Good wholesome fun...proper puppeteering followed by homemade cupcakes? C'est parfait! However, with the gradual ageing of the Lamberts, the theatre seems to have become more and more decrepit. I'm not so sure if I would recommend it anymore, as it sullies my memories.... Sad but true...

The Festival of World Cultures will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2010 and if you have yet…read moreto check it out then you should definitely have a look. The festival takes full advantage of Dun Laoghaire and its open spaces and hotels/venues. They have an eclectic mix of music and food and other wares of the world. A large amount of the music and dance shows are free, but some of the bigger ticket items require you to buy a ticket, but at around €15 they're still much more reasonable than most gigs. They have a huge assortment of events throughout the weekend including such things as an American country fair-esque event with blues music and other homegrown American sound served up with traditional American BBQ items, crossing continents and heading to South East Asia one of this years premier events was a Bollywood Disco. The food stalls are just as varied and are quite reasonably priced for the amount of food you receive. There is also an Oxfam Global Village that's filled with different food stocks and different items usually sold in markets. I also managed to get my eyebrows threaded in the Indian tradition. While I was glad to find a place that did it in Dublin, I was a little less thrilled by the crowd that gathered to watch and snap my picture whilst I had my eyes shut! The woman running the stall did a great job and was also quite an accomplished henna artist as well. It's definitely worth visit even for a day out to the beautiful Dun Laoghaire. This year I also volunteered at the event and some of the perks include a free t-shirt and free beers at the volunteer after party, so definitely worth if you've got some free time or if you're interested in event planning!

The Festival of World Cultures is a great event, with lots of different activities going on from…read moreFriday through to Monday. You can do Bellydancing workshops, try yummy food at the open-air markets or listen to some fantastic bands, most of which will be doing free, open-air gigs. For some of the evening gigs you will need to buy tickets, but they tend to be fairly inexpensive. Most of the bars and clubs in Dun Laoghaire host at least one of the evening gigs or discos so it's also a nice way to get to know some new venues. It's also great for kids, there is usually a kids program in the People's Park, which can include face painting and the likes. The workshops will usually require an advance booking so the organisers have a general idea of the number of people attending, but apart from that, head down to Dun Laoghaire during the last weekend in August for some open-air fun.

We were very lucky to experience this tiny Italian restaurant on a Monday evening. Friends made…read morethe reservation for the 7pm seating. The service is very friendly, the atmosphere is casual and the food is delicious. We ordered the seafood pasta and the tortellini, a seafood starter and eggplant starter. Daily specials were announced by a waiter with a microphone which was hilarious considering the place had about 5 or 6 tables. Diners celebrating birthdays were treated to an enthusiastic rendition of happy birthday by the staff (one wearing a chicken head!). We ended our zany delicious dining experience with limoncello and were given notice that the place needed to be cleared for 9pm seating. The regulars know the drill, the place cleared out just before 9 as the 9pm diners were waiting outside. Make reservations!!! Also highly recommend you call earlier to confirm your res, and show up promptly otherwise you may lose your table. This is not a pretentious place, pretentious people should give it a miss, their loss!!

Service, food, atmosphere. Nothing to fault about the place at all (well, except that it's so…read morepopular that you need a reservation most days but that just proves how excellent the place is!) Book in advance because the place is very cosy! Amazing authentic Italian food lovingly prepared. The staff all seem to really enjoy their jobs and take pride in their work. Our first trip here took place on a sunny Saturday. We were on the way to Avoca for lunch but thought we'd check to see if we might get lucky with That's Amore. We were in luck! The outdoor tables were unoccupied so we sat in the sun drinking chilled white wine and chatting. We had the bruschetta to start which was just perfect. Delicious juicy tomatoes, fresh crusty bread and a little basil and balsamic. I had the prawn and courgette pasta which was perfect. Balanced flavours and tasty pasta. He had the tortellini with a creamy tomato sauce. It took all of our self control not to lick our plates clean. Thankfully we had been brought some of their garlic and rosemary focaccia to mop it all up. Yum! We were pretty full but the dessert menu was just crying out to us. We had the strawberries and cream which had some meringue in it too. The erect end to our meal. It felt like we could have been in Italy! If you can't get a reservation, don't despair! You can get the food to go as well. The pizzas are also fantastic. Really thin and crispy. Absolutely massive but so good that you won't be able to stop eating!

It was our first evening in Ireland, and while wandering around Dun Laoghaire harbor, we chanced…read moreupon Toscana, which was highly recommended by a lot of the guidebooks we'd read. But this was no tourist trap. It was an authentic Italian restaurant with exceptional food and service! We were politely seated at a quiet table upstairs, and ordered drinks and appetizers. The meat and cheese platter, bruschetta, chicken wings, and other apps were so delicious and filling we didn't need to order entrées. But we did leave room for dessert, ordering two that our server recommended. My favorite was the cheesecake, but there wasn't a morsel left of either when our hungry family was done! Thank you Toscana, for making our first evening in Ireland so special. We will return!

En route to the theatre locally we came to Toscana for an early dinner. It wasn't our first choice…read moreand, it has to be said, we would have been better elsewhere. Seated outdoors in a surprisingly comfortable outdoor terrace which, no fault of the restaurant, became increasingly cold despite the valiant efforts of space heaters. Service was friendly and attentive. That's the good news. The calamari starter was very forgettable and a surprisingly ungenerous portion. My Toscana pizza could easily have come from a supermarket fridge. Generic and bland. No discernible texture or taste. My companions venison ragu may have had a passing acquaintance with Bambi but it would be hard to prove or find among the gloop. The French fries were pretty good though. No, just no.