Dublin: Bday x Luigi Malone // Queen of Tarts // J2 Grill and Sushi // Kitchen

So I turned 22 yrs old a few wks ago (7 Sept!) And for my birthday celebration, I visited a few of my fav restaurants in Dublin with some close friends! I had loads of fun and I'm very thankful to everyone who made time to celebrate this special day with me!

 

Luigi Malones
5-6 Cecilia St
Temple Bar
Dublin 2

Buffalo wings with blue cheese

Chicken tequila spaghetti

Steak fajitas

Chicken fajitas

Fresh strawberry and chocolate pavlova

Hot fudge sunda

Minjung and I!

Alero and Aisling



Visited Luigi Malones with a few of my classmates for an advanced birthday celebration! We went there at abt 6pm on a weekday and managed to get the early bird menu which was €18.95 for a 2-course meal! Really worth the money!

 

So it was my second visit to Luigi Malones! My first time was in Cork (another part of Ireland) abt 1.5 yrs ago! I was the only person who ordered a starter -- buffalo wings with blue cheese. I really like this dish!!! It's similar to the famous spicy chicken wings served in Elephant and Castle (also located in Temple Bar) It's really tasty, not spicy at all! I love it!!!! For the ala carte menu, they offer a huge portion of buffalo wings which could easily be your main course!

 

For my main course, I had the chicken tequila spaghetti while all the other girls got fajitas! My spaghetti was okay, a little on the dry side. But they were very generous with the portion. It was huge and I could barely finish it! The fajitas looked amazing and it came with 5 tortilla wraps! I'm definitely gonna order that the nxt time I visit Luigi Malones!

 

For desserts, Aisling and Minjung had the pavlova and Alero ordered the hot fudge sundae. I shared with Minjung and it was my first time having pavlova! Pavlova is meringue-based dessert and it was served with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce.
I'm honestly not a fan of meringue becos I knw the amt of sugar which goes into making it. Hence I can't comment much on the pavlova except for the fact that they could have been more generous with the scoop of ice cream.

 

Luigi Malones also offers a wide range of gluten-free dishes so it's a plus point! I really enjoyed my dining experience at Luigi Malones esp since the staff were really helpful and attentive. And my lovely girls surprised me with a bracelet charm frm Links as my birthday present! Aww so sweet!!!

 

Queen of Tarts

Cows Lane
Dame St
Dublin 2

 

Directions:
Walk along Dame St and turn right on Cows Lane

 

A wide selection of cakes available for you to choose frm!

Summer tart: creamed spinach and leek, smoked salmon and roasted tomatoes (€9.95)

Frittata: Mediterranean vegs, basil and parmesan cheese served with tossed green salad (€9.95)

Rustic apple crumble tart (€4.95)

   

 

 

 

So, on the day of my birthday, I decided to go to Queen of Tarts for tea with Minjung. We met at arnd 1.30pm and walked to the place tgt. Plan was to have cakes but we ended up having a full meal at Queen of Tarts! I've been to this place abt 4-5 times, it's a nice place for afternoon tea and cakes. It gets really crowded at times so you might have to wait for a table. There's 2 outlets which are situated really close to each other (the other outlet is just along Dame St), I prefer the Cows lane branch becos it's a lot bigger!!!

 

I ordered the summer tart and Minjung had the frittata. My savoury tart was really yummy!!!! It looks so small but it was really filling! And I had a bite of Minjung's frittata which was really tasty as well! Minjung was too full to have desserts after. I was really full too but being the usual greedy me, I couldn't resist and so I ordered the rustic apple crumble tart! Sadly, the tart wasn't as nice as it looked! It was too sour and I really didn't like it. What a pity...

 

J2 Grill and Sushi

Unit A, The Campshires

North Wall Quay

IFSC, Dublin 1

Nearest LUAS stop: Mayor Square

 

Directions:

From Mayor Square LUAS stop, walk towards the quay

(You will pass by Marks and Spencer's on your right, keep walking straight)

Cross at the traffic light and the restaurant is on your right

  

Spider roll: Crispy soft shell crab, crab meat, masago and avocado (€14.50)

Yummy!!!!

Deluxe bento box of the day: Calamari, tempura, 2 pieces of sushi, 2 pieces of gyoza and edamame served with miso soup and sushi rice (€15.95)

King scallop wok fried udon (€15.50)

Chargrilled steak wok fried udon (€13.50)

Chargrilled steak with garlic butter sauce and chips and onion rings (€16.95)

Ambrish, Mavis, Jiding and I

So it's my 3rd time to J2 grill and sushi and I really like the food here! This place is just a mere 5 min walk frm my house and it's located just beside the quay! A lovely small restaurant which serves amazing Jap sushi!

We ordered the spider roll to share and it was simply delicious! Although I've to say that the presentation of the dish does look a little messy but do not judge a book by its cover, no regrets spending €14.50 (SGD$24.55) on 8 pieces of maki!!!

Ambrish ordered their deluxe bento box of the day. I've tried that on my previous visit and I've to say that the bento box is good value for money! I ordered the king scallop wok fried udon and it's my 2nd time having it! I love it! Normally, I'm not a fan of fried noodles but this was really yummy!!! We pinched some fries and onion rings which was served with Mavis' steak and the fries were exceptionally good, like super crispy and tasty!

No doubt one of my fav Jap restaurants in Dublin! Although a little pricey but the food here is definitely worth the try!

Kitchen
3 South Anne St
Dublin 2

(One of the lanes off Grafton St)

 

Starter -- Crispy calamari with vine tomato chilli jam (€7)

Cajun Creole jambalaya with chicken, prawns, cockles and chorizo with Arborio rice (€14.95)

Rib eye steak with herb roasties and steam broccoli with classic Béarnaise sauce (€19.95)

 

 

  

Guinness sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream (€6)

My greedy face hee hee

My dad came to visit me in Dublin a wk after my actual birthday so we had a belated birthday dinner one night after an event in my sch! Initially, I wanted to try the Wine Cave at KC Peaches for dinner but my dad found this place and suggested having dinner here instead. I'm so glad that I chose to visit Kitchen instead becos it was sucha nice place and the food was sooo good!!!

 

Kitchen is a small 2-storey restaurant in one of the lanes off Grafton St, one of the busiest street in Dublin. They offer an early bird menu on Sun - Wed all evening/ Thurs - Sat 5-7pm at only €20 for 2 courses/ €25 for 3 courses. Pity I had a sch event that evening so we only arrived at the restaurant at 8.30pm and hence missed out on the early bird menu.

 

We had calamari for starters and I really liked the sweet chilli sauce but my dad said it was too sweet. For mains, I ordered the ribeye steak while my dad had the jambalaya (which is similar to risotto) I opted for medium rare and it was cooked to perfection. The jambalaya my dad ordered was so yummy!!! I'm definitely gonna order that for myself the nxt time!!!

 

For desserts, I had the Guinness sticky toffee pudding and I really liked it! I love sticky toffee pudding! My dad thinks it's too sweet though but I love sweet stuff hee hee!!!!

 

Definitely a thumbs up for Kitchen and I'd love to visit this place again soon! The ambience was really nice, a perfect spot for dinner dates and the service was good too. Would recommend that you call in to place a reservation before heading over as it is a small restaurant with slightly over 15 tables.

 

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And that is all for my 22nd birthday! My 2nd time spending my birthday in Dublin and even though I'm miles apart frm my best friend (Ashley) and my closest pals in Spore, I'm really thankful for everyone who took some time out of their busy schedule to celebrate this special day with me! And I'm also very touched by all the efforts put into surprising me. Thank you very much.

 

Gonna end off this entry with a group shot taken at Gideon's/ Ambrish's crib which was transformed into a "club" for my birthday celebration!

 

 

T'was a great night! Cheers to being 22 yrs old! I'm still feeling 19 though haha! X