[Event] Tiger Street Eats

The recent announcement of Michelin-starred street food in Dublin, courtesy of Tiger beer, definitely caused a bit of buzz. At €10 per ticket, the Tiger Street Eats event offered the chance to try the world famous chicken from the Singaporean Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle street food hawker stand.  Tiger Street Eats is a concept designed to showcase the vibrancy of Singapore streets, and has already travelled to Auckland, Kuala Lumpur and New York. Dublin was the first European venture, and as you'd expect in a city that would go to the opening of a postcard, the tickets quickly sold out. 

Tiger Beer Street Eats

[Review] Caffe Amore, South Georges Street, Dublin 2

This is going to be another quick mini-review. I simply don't have a lot of time available at the moment to write lengthy detailed reviews. And given the fact that lunch at Caffe Amore was also a quick daytime affair, it feels appropriate. 

Caffe Amore is on South Great George's Street across from the junction with Fade Street, and I had passed it many times without fully clocking it. But one Saturday morning when walking past, the daily specials board caught my eye. And so my lunch plans were made. Caffe Amore opened in 2015, when Neapolitan Luli Montagne realised his dream with the help of Lino and Marino. And ever since then, it's been serving up pizza, spritz and other Italian favourites. 

We take a small table in the compact dining room, from where we can see the open kitchen. Italian pop radio fills the little dining room, and there's an immediate sensation of Italy, even though I can see Dublin passing by outside. Two glasses of fresh and crisp Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi  (€7 each) complete the transformation from Dublin to Italy.

Daily specials at Caffe Amore

[Review] Klaw Poke, Capel Street, Dublin 1

Keeping on top of food trends isn't an easy thing to do in our Instagram world. And it's even harder to identify which trends will translate into long term market success. Here in Dublin, restaurateur and seafood lover Niall Sabongi has firmly gotten behind poke (pronounced POH-kay), a healthy Hawaiian staple that's been steadily growing in popularity across the globe. 

I first came across poke while watching Guy Fieri travel through Hawaii and I was intrigued by the simple, sushi-like concept of marinated chunks of raw fish served atop bowls of rice. Last year, while working in Amsterdam, I got the chance to try poke for the first time. And I've got to say that I liked it very much. It was both tasty and allowed me to pick and mix various poke ingredients to create varied, healthy lunches for myself. 

At Klaw Poke, Niall has created a selection of pre-defined poke bowls to help the uninitiated or undecided, or you can mix it up as you want. For my first visit, I opted for the Octopoke, a mix of grilled octopus, radish, macadamia nuts, samphire, salty pineapple and radish atop a mix of rice noodles and leaves, dressed with nam jim. Fresh, light and fragrant, it definitely ticked all the virtuous boxes. 

The octopoke bowl