The city of Dublin is a small capital with a huge reputation, brimming with culture and plenty of friendly faces!
If you’re living in Dublin as a student, you’re in luck! This city is experiencing a food renaissance and is always dishing up plenty of treats to make your taste buds tingle.
Whether you fancy a posh Michelin star restaurant, a local pub, diner or café, there’s something here for everyone in this colourful city.
We understand that as venues are slowly reopening after the easing of lockdown, you want to keep as safe as possible when eating out.
We’d advise you to keep washing your hands thoroughly and regularly, with soap and water or hand sanitiser.
Wash or sanitise your hands after handling money, touching surfaces, before eating and after visiting the bathroom.
Avoid touching your face, including wiping your eyes and maintain at least 1.5 metres from other people, unless they are people you share close contact with.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of 10 great places for students to eat whilst studying in Dublin, be safe, and we hope you’re hungry!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvY1tc6HhlU/
Take a stroll down the buzzing Temple Bar street, spread over cobbled pedestrian lanes with a whole bunch of scrumptious restaurants, and you’ll find The Mongolian Barbeque!
This place is super popular and known for its relaxed atmosphere, where you can choose your own fresh food from the buffet and watch it being stir-fried in front of you.
There’s plenty of deliciously fresh meats, seasonal veggies, and herbs and spices of your choice if you want to give your meal that extra kick.
If the words ‘all you can eat buffet’ don’t draw you in, we don’t know what will! For €17.90, you can take a bowl, fill it with up to a whopping 20 ingredients, and it’ll all be prepared in front of you.
Still a bit peckish? The Mongolian Barbeque also offer side orders if you feel like something a little more, including spicy potatoes with harissa dip and sweet potato fries with garlic mayo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Dgp-1B_yz/
If you like Mexican food, then Boojum is the place for you. Dublin isn’t short of Boojum bar’s either, with over 9 in the city in total!
This casual Mexican burrito bar offers award winning food at fabulous prices, what more could you want?
Choose from a selection of fillings for your burrito, ranging from chicken, beef, pork, chilli, chorizo and vegetarian, in a large flour tortilla with a choice of rice (cilantro-lime or Mexican savoury).
You also get a choice of beans (black or pinto) and salsa, cheese, or sour cream, yum!
As well as delicious burritos, Boojum also have a choice of taco’s, burrito bowls, salad and nachos.
Everything in Boojum is cooked up fresh straight from their kitchen into your burrito, so get ready to dig in.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAN1jvJHl0S/
Neon on Camden Street first opened its doors in 2012, their skilled team of Thai chefs use the freshest ingredients to make sure customers enjoy authentic Asian street food whenever they visit!
They offer a relaxed and informal atmosphere, creating a great vibe with excellent service.
There’s plenty of Asian street food to go around, whether you fancy a crispy sweet chilli chicken wok dish or some Singapore fried rice, get ready to dig in!
Don’t fancy leaving your cosy student digs? Don’t worry! Neon do a takeaway service too, so you can keep your pjs on and stay nice and cosy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_pu3qvH6Yk/
Located in Smithfield, Token has some delicious food on offer, as well as plenty of arcade games to keep you occupied!
Their food menu is an eclectic mix of street food trends in different parts of the world and features classic burgers as well as more unique ones.
With over 20 taps, craft beer lovers are spoilt for choice at Token! With names like Hop House 13 and O Brother Brewing on the menu.
In terms of gaming, there’s plenty of throwbacks for you to enjoy, including Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat 2!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBiRcwJHhqm/
Just a 2-minute stroll from Dublin Castle is Sano Pizza on Exchange Street Upper, where all your pizza dreams will come true!
The idea behind Sano came when the MacHugh twin brothers visited Naples, pizzas in Naples use sourdough for the base and are cooked in traditional ovens at 500 degrees.
The twin brothers were shocked at how affordable the pizzas were in Naples too, so much so, that they set up their very own Neapolitan pizzeria in Dublin.
Each 12-inch pizza comes with a range of super delicious toppings including salami, cooked Italia ham, prosciutto, and mixed mushrooms.
We’d highly recommend the ‘Sapori Del Sud’ which includes Italian fennel sausage, nduja (a spicy pork from Italy), Italian broccoli and fresh mozzarella.
Still feeling hungry? There’s plenty of sides for you to dig into, whether its marinated olives or pizza bread with garlic, rosemary and sea salt.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br-hwjCll6X/
If you want inexpensive, authentic Mexican food that puts Mexican chain restaurants to shame, you need to visit El Grito on Mountjoy Square!
With super generous portions for a great price, El Grito has it all, from fancy nachos to succulent pineapple marinated pork, take your pick!
For salsa lovers, there’s plenty of different varieties for you to try, including a tangy salsa verde, hot habanero salsa and smoky mixed chilli salsa.
Although this eatery is small, the smiles are big, and the portions are even bigger. We’d personally recommend the nachos, because they consistently get sterling reviews from all of their customers!
This super scrumptious Italian restaurant on Talbot Street is in the centre of Dublin city, close to the Abbey Theatre and O’Connell Street.
There’s plenty of authentic Italian dishes to choose from on the menu, as well as more innovative ones to sink your teeth into.
With a super relax atmosphere, the vibe in this restaurant is super warm and cosy, and it’s in such an ideal location too!
The Italian Connection is one of the oldest family run restaurants in Dublin, established in 1995, and proudly serving fresh, moreish meals every day.
Fancy a spot of lunch? You can grab 2 courses for €10.95 or 3 courses for €13.95, what a bargain!
For mains off the lunch menu, we’d highly recommend the Pizza Isabella, a tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham & mushroom pizza that’ll certainly please your taste buds.
8. Pit Bros BBQ
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB0uMktjVSh/
I think we can all agree on the fact that BBQ food is the best kind of food! Pit Bros BBQ located on George’s Street Upper have firmly put their stamp on the Irish BBQ scene.
The restaurant was Dublin’s first BBQ joint, and since opening in 2013, they have become very popular in the city.
The restaurant pride themselves on their local ingredients with premium meat, Irish farmed and locally butchered.
If you want flavoursome meat, Pit Bros is the place, smoking their meat over wood for up to 12 hours in their custom built smoker, yummy!
Off the menu, we’d urge you to try The Buttermilk Bird, with marinated fried chicken, house slaw, and tomato and house hot sauce for an extra kick.
Their €8 student lunch deal is a popular option, with a pulled pork/brisket bun with either fries, BBQ beans or a side salad and a soft drink.