I agree with what Oscar Wilde had to say about food. Like him, I take food seriously. I like to cook and we enjoy eating in restaurants.
Before our arrival, my impression of Ireland was that the food would be heavy and filling. I was wrong.
In the U.S., you can count on mediocre food on college campuses and mediocre, expensive food at tourist-y locations. Ireland is different.
We expected bad food in the campus dining hall at Trinity College but our daily breakfast was very good. Their scones were better than those I make (they are Irish after all). Still.
We figured the pastry at a random coffee shop in a city the size of Dublin would be tasteless and nothing to blog about. I'm thinking about that pain au raisin right now.
We were certain that the lunch we ordered at a small farm within walking distance of Newgrange would be enough to get by until dinner in Dublin that evening. Instead we were delighted by homemade vegetable soup, brown bread and Irish butter topped off with a caramel square and tea (see the photo below). The total bill for two was 13 Euros, or $14.75.
Last bit of evidence? Pub food is delicious.
In Ireland, the food is great even in places it's not supposed to be.