This Phibsborough gem hit the round running when it opened in July 2016, soon finding its way onto many lists of the best places to eat in Dublin - and with good reason. The offering is bang on trend, from beautifully poured flat whites to bowls of homemade granola with compote on top and perfectly poached eggs on sourdough toast with avocado.
Owners Kevin Roche and Taurean Coughlan have created a great little spot in what used to be a fried chicken joint. You’re just as likely to find families enjoying all-day brunch at the long communal table in the back, friends catching up over a leisurely lunch and workers with laptops powering through the afternoon with a coffee.
This is a daytime café, so the menu offers breakfast, all-day brunch and lunch. Breakfast is a short hit list with a heavy emphasis on oats, be it the Bircher bowl with apple, passion fruit and honey labneh; homemade coconut granola; or organic porridge with imaginative toppings. Blueberry and ricotta hotcakes, The Boys’ Smoky Beans or roasted mushrooms on sourdough with whipped feta are more substantial brunch options.
A soup and sandwich for lunch is unbeatable value, coming in at €10. Choose from meltingly tender slow-braised beef cheek, roast chicken and stuffing, or grilled veg with almond hummus and romesco for the sandwich. A Creole chicken burger with cabbage, lime and cashew slaw caters for bigger appetites, while lunch specials range from a butternut squash and chickpea curry one week to a generously portioned burrito bowl the next.
You’d be hard pressed to pass up the treats displayed on the counter. The peanut butter cookie sandwich would satisfy even the sweetest sweet tooth and would easily serve two. For something a little less decadent but just as delicious, try the lemon yogurt pistachio cake.
As the name suggests, they take their coffee seriously here, a reflection of the years that Kevin and Taurean spent in Melbourne, with its thriving coffee scene. The house roast is from 3fe and a nice touch is the guest roaster they feature, which changes every month.
Surprisingly, except for the cold pressed juices supplied by Green Beards, tea from Wall & Keogh and the rotating coffee roaster, no provenance is mentioned on the menu, which is the only off note on an otherwise pitch perfect neighbourhood café.
Be prepared to wait for a table at weekends.
