Welcome to Spoon Eats World, where college students dish on the unforgettable food spots they found while studying abroad. They took notes inside and outside of the international classroom, capturing their favorite bites and best local spots – from bustling markets and cozy cafes, to TikTok-famous eateries and hidden gems.
Studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland was magical for more reasons than finding the occasional four-leaf clover. Between rainy walks and hauling my suitcase over cobblestone streets, I discovered that the quickest way to feel at home in a new city is through its food. Coming from a girl who used to be too anxious to order pizza over the phone, stepping into new cafés and restaurants surprisingly became my favorite way to explore.
Over time, I learned that Dublin’s best meals are hidden in places you’d never expect — and often aren’t the ones with lines pouring out of the door (looking at you, Temple Bar). While a few tourist spots are always worth trying, these eight places became my go-to neighborhood favorites. When I make it back to the Emerald Isle, they’ll be the first stops on my list.
April 13, 2023: The Cake Cafe
If you weren’t the kind of book nerd who stops to admire an alternate cover of Virginia Woolfe’s To the Lighthouse like me, you may have walked right past this hidden gem.
Tucked in a garden just outside the back door of The Last Bookshop — which boasts an impressive collection of secondhand books, some over two hundred years old — stumbling upon the Cake Cafe feels like a stroke of good luck. With indoor and outdoor seating, this eatery serves its homemade dishes on mismatched glass plates, some decorated with dainty flowers while others feature decorative gold rings.
When I visited, I ordered a sponge cake layered with raspberry jam and sweet cream, paired with a hot pumpkin latte. My friend enjoyed a mixed berry scone slathered in melting butter, which was just as dreamy as the café’s ambiance.
They have more teas than you could taste if you came back every day for seven years, but they also serve all-day brunch and full afternoon tea, in addition to their decadent slices of cake.
April 8, 2023: White Rabbit
The theme here is definitely Dublin’s best spots hiding behind unassuming storefronts, because next we have a Korean restaurant inside the back of an Asian grocery store.
To get to White Rabbit, follow the printed yellow footprints on the floor of the Super Asia Foods Market all the way to the back. There, you’ll find a small restaurant with Korean street food being made fresh in front of you. I ordered a cup-bap — a rice bowl topped with bean sprouts, sweet potato noodles, a gooey fried egg, spicy chili mayo, and some of the best homemade kimchi I’ve ever tasted. You can also add a bunch of different protein options, but the saucy beef bulgogi or crunchy popcorn chicken were my favorites.
The real showstopper, though, was the Korean corn dog: half hot dog, half mozzarella, rolled in fries, dusted with sugar, and drizzled with ketchup and mustard. The cheese pull alone made it worth ordering.
February 8, 2023: The Bald Barista
The Bald Barista quickly became my go-to spot in Dublin — and my bank account can confirm it.
This cozy café somehow manages to be the perfect spot for every moment of the day: breakfast after an early class, lunch with visiting friends, or a mid-afternoon sweet treat during a study session. You have not had good scrambled eggs until you try theirs — fluffy, buttery, and hit the spot every time.
String fairy lights line the upstairs window and ceiling, giving the place a cozy glow that invites you to accidentally feel comfortable sitting there for hours. By the end of my semester, this was easily my most-visited café, and judging by my camera roll, my most photographed too.
March 31, 2023: The Church Café Bar
Dinner inside a gorgeous 300-year-old church with live music and the occasional Irish dance performance? Yes, please.
The Church (ingeniously named) sits inside a stunning historic building complete with spiraling staircases, glowing stained glass, and a massive pipe organ at the front of the restaurant. It has an expansive cocktail bar on the first floor while upstairs offers more seating. With hearty wood tables that seem just as old as the foundation, there’s even a chance you’ll be seated at the same table Taylor Swift once dined at when visiting Dublin in 2011.
I ordered roast chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce and potatoes, while my friends enjoyed the sweet potato curry and a buttermilk chicken sandwich (perfect for the picky eaters among us). Finishing the night with a fruity cocktail and their smooth cheesecake is also a must.
January 12, 2023: Born for Burgers
This spot may not be a hidden gem, but I would be remiss not to include this burger joint on my list.
Born for Burgers is open late, consistently delicious, and exactly what you crave after a night out. The menu includes chargrilled smashburgers seasoned with salt and pepper, some topped with caramelized onions, and served on a perfectly toasted bun straight off the grill.
It’s nothing fancy inside, but that’s kind of the point. Like many great Irish establishments, they have a glass bottle of malt vinegar on each table, and when you’re starving and slightly delirious, it’s exactly the kind of place you pray is still open. Fair warning though: these burgers are dangerously addictive and became far too easy to get delivered to my apartment door.
January 25, 2023: Mannings Bakery
Mannings Bakery is the place you walk past before dramatically retracing your steps to catch a second glimpse of the towering cakes and croissants in the window.
With plenty of indoor seating, this became a great spot near my apartment to grab a warm sandwich or sweet treat while finishing the last few pages of a book. My personal favorite pastry oddly resembled a hot dog, but had a soft, airy bun packed with strawberry filling and whipped cream.
The best part is that everything is made in-house, which becomes obvious when the kitchen door swings up and reveals bustling bakers and clouds of flour. Whether you were splurging on a full-size birthday cake for a friend or sampling one of their savory quiches or bagels, this bakery was nearly impossible to leave empty-handed.
April 2, 2023: Herbert Park Market
While not technically a sit-down restaurant, this outdoor farmers market located in Herbert Park was a food experience all on its own.
Held Sundays from 11 am to 4 pm, the Herbert Park Market has everything from fresh produce and cookies to homemade soap. There were overflowing bins of oyster mushrooms, purple cabbage, and potatoes still fresh from the soil. My favorite part, obviously, was the incredible number of baked goods, the smell of warm brownies pulling me in from three stalls away like a cartoon character.
Food trucks serving meals of every nationality line the streets, offering gourmet grilled cheese, tacos, crepes and churros, and various curries. I even picked up a cup of hot apple cider, which cost the same whether I chose to add a shot of whiskey or not.
When I visited in April, the park was bursting with green grass, blooming daffodils, and waddling ducks splashing in the pond, making it the perfect place to spend a slow afternoon outdoors with crumbs around my mouth.
April 14, 2023: Groundstate Coffee Roasters
Despite the amount of otherworldly food I consumed in Dublin, only a few meals still keep me up at night. The overnight oats from Groundstate Coffee Roasters are one of them.
The base of this ephemeral bowl is banana-soaked overnight oats, topped with vanilla yogurt, thick pieces of shredded coconut, and a purple poached pear. I’m not exaggerating when I say this dish changed my life.
The café is located near the Guinness Storehouse, which makes it a great place to pop in for breakfast if you’re planning on drinking a few pints before noon. Another thing that makes Groundstate unique is its strict no-WiFi, no-computer policy. Instead of laptops, it’s refreshing to see people talking to each other over cappuccinos and breakfast sandwiches, giving the space a warm, community-focused feel.