#9: Top 5 best looking things to eat in Dublin this week

Words: Emily Mullen

Wagyu cheeseburger Jiaozis, chicky katsu toastie and everything in between

Two weeks on from one of the most important reopening dates in 2021, outdoor drinking and dining has returned. Businesses have wasted no time dusting down furniture, setting tables and feeding the hungry folk of Dublin. After the endless months of lockdown, all this activity can be a bit overwhelming. We truly are spoilt for choice, and our options are set to ramp up come July 5th, when indoor drinking and dining is set to commence. To try and help focus, we have collected five things in Dublin that we like the look of:

If any business was going to put top-class poke bowls into our grubby little hands it was going to be Salty Buoy, the food truck that launched a thousand journeys across town. Run by Niall Sabongi, the chef-come-entrepreneur who has created every single fish-based business possible, the food truck has made a name for itself slinging high-quality seafood. The Salty boiiis have rammed their bowls with chipotle salmon, layered it with the poke staples of pickled ginger, sushi rice, avocado and edamame, but they’ve also added fresh zingy bits like salted pineapple, kimchi and green radish. You can find Salty Buoy in Dublin 8’s The Digital Hub from Wednesday to Sunday, follow them on Instagram for more information.

A couple of weeks back, we put the Treehouse Treats’s duck doughnuts on the list, now they’ve only gone and brought out another meat filled doughnut. The Treehouse hanger-outers only debuted their new doughnut flavour at the weekend, adding a beef and Guinness flavour to their repertoire. A glazed doughnut exterior is filled with a pulled beef interior and accompanied by a parmesan mayonnaise sauce. Treehouse Treats is run by Dan Hannigan (formerly Mister S) and his friends Luke Murphy and David Keane. The team are operating out of Knocknashee Estate, Goatstown, in a shiny slipstream trailer under some fairly magical looking trees. Follow Treehouse Treats on Instagram for more information.

Lunar Pod arrived on planet earth a couple of weeks back, and have set up shop in Carrickmines Park shopping centre opposite Dealz. Created by the Vanilla Pod restaurant team, the food truck has leaned into the sweet treats ting, and have been slinging doughnuts of all kinds to the people of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. Their lemon meringue doughnut looks filled to the tip-top with the goods, a torched Swiss meringue tops a doughnut with lemon curd filling. It looks like the level of sweetness that might just hurt your teeth, but what’s pain without a little gain? You can find Lunar Pod in Carrickmines Park on Glenamuck Road, follow them on Instagram for more information.

A couple of generations from now, kids might forget what katsu curry is and only know it as a sandwich flavour, such is the country’s proclivity to them. Future-proofing themselves V Face have put a Chicky Katsu Toastie on their menu. The Stoneybatter spot has created a no chicken katsu toastie, that has chicky strips, katsu curry sauce, lettuce, red onion, apple and chilli chutney, gherkins and their vegan-friendly sriracha mayo. Two different sauces are much appreciated, especially with the crunch on crunch impact of the bread and chicky katsu, there’s also a fresh release of veg to offset this. You can find V Face on 30 Brunswick Street North, Stoneybatter, follow them on Instagram for more information.

A sure way to elevate anything into the culinary stratosphere is by throwing in a bit of wagyu. Big Fan’s have combined it in a cheeseburger, minced it all up and wrapped it all up in a jiaozi (Chinese dumpling). The Aungier Street food slingers are serving the jiaozi with sliced gherkin, cheese, crispy onion and for dippings the Kupie burger sauce. Pan-seared dumplings, filled with minced wagyu and dipped in burger sauce, it’s difficult to spot the flaw. You can find Big Fan on 16 Aungier Street, follow them on Instagram for more information.