For the Love of Food

If I haven’t been clear enough in my previous blog posts: Ireland is EXPENSIVE.

Accommodations, while pricey, can still be found at decent prices – especially in the off season (Fall/Winter).  But, food is another story.  Food is expensive.  Fancy a salad for your main meal?  Be ready to fork out up to €15 at a local pub.  Want some Irish Stew?  The same type of simple meal can run you anywhere from €9-€25 depending on what town you’re in and how touristy it is.  And, unlike many other countries, in Ireland (usually) the smaller the location the more touristy it is – aka – more expensive.

After many days of eating in restaurants, we soon got tired of this, and moved on to more hostels and “self-catered” meals.  And, we also learned that eating a meal in our (parked) car was much more relaxing than eating in any restaurant with our 20 month old son.  After sitting in the car for most of the day, he just wanted to run around like crazy during meal time.

But, don’t be foold, grocery stores are much more expensive than what you are used to at home – in the US or main-land Western Europe.  Once you collect enough food for a meal you may just be out €9 for salad items and some bread.  But, it is all worth the peace.

What we did for a meal of salad:

Take 1 empty 5-liter bottle of water (which we drank in the first few days of our trip)

carefully push in a bag salad, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices

pour in some dressing

twist on the lid

and shake

Then, cut open the bottle, pull out some plastic forks, and dig in.

However, if you are in Dublin, please please go visit the Guinness Storehouse and have a wonderful tour (which includes a complementary beer – or soda) at the end.  Then, take some time and have a meal in their restaurant where everything has a little Guinness in it.  My husband had the Irish Stew, and I had a hamburger – which came without bread – and was the best meal I had while on vacation.  And, it was no more or less expensive than any other Irish eatery we visited on our 2 week vacation.

If you ever find yourself in Northern Ireland – in the town of Enniskillen – visit Mrs. O’Malley’s.

It’s a traditional-looking ice cream parlor with jars of candy lining the walls and cookies and other sweets in every corner.  You can sit down or take away.

So, if you ever find yourself in Ireland, and in need of a more cost-effective meal, just get creative.  Check out a local grocery store, put something together, and enjoy.