Ultimate Food Guide to: Dublin’s Best Sandwiches
Words: Emily Mullen
After much racking of brains, trawling of the internet and broken down email threads we are proud to present, The Ultimate Dublin Food Guide, Sandwich edition! A guide that cuts through the mire of food and drink reviews made by every Tom, Dick and Harry, with opposable thumbs and access to 3G.
Sandwiches were a tough one to broach, as Dubliners can get a bit fierce about them. It could be because the stakes for buying a sandwich are pretty high, so once a good sandwich place is found it is defended to the hilt. These roomy stakes are perhaps down to the ease at which a sandwich can be made at home. It’s one of the first things you learn as a child, take the bread, butter it and put something in between. Easy enough for a child or a lazy adult to make, meaning when you buy a sandwich out it has to be good. It has to exceed the quality of the sandwich assembled from your own chopping board.
In response to this quandary, cafes and delis have elevated the humble sandwich. Treating the meats themselves, creating sauces in-house, and using bread that’s anything but Brennan’s yellow pan.
While you can get a sandwich on practically every street corner in the city, our experts wisely focused on some places doing something a little different. These establishments emphasise quality ingredients and innovate what can be put between sliced bread.
Get the chopping board out, slice that bread and get a good covering of butter on. Into your hangry little hands we lovingly place The Ultimate Food Guide to Dublin’s Best Sandwiches:
The Go-To Lunch Spot
The queues for this spot have been known to snake down Montague Street come lunchtime. It’s unofficially known as one of the best spots for lunch around the Camden Street/Harcourt Street area and is a big hit with the suits. Perhaps best known for their sausage rolls, their sandwiches are surely a close second, followed by the soups and their coffee (via Upside Roasters). Everything but the bread is made in house and the team emphasize using local and preservative-free ingredients. Influencer and cookery book co-author James Kavanagh was a fan, telling us the spot “definitely deserves a mention”.
Location:
Dublin 2’s 18 Montague Street
Opening times:
Tuesday – Friday 9.00-15.00
For more information visit the website.
The Dark-Horse Option
What started out as a lockdown popup has grown into a pretty thriving wing of the Mister S artillery. Come 2pm on a Saturday, individuals that find themselves around Camden street can grab a house flatbread stuffed with the restaurant’s famous smoked short rib, smoked chicken or halloumi. Founder of Food For Thought Dan Hannigan has a soft spot for Mister’s S’s Porchetta sambo he told us,”Paul, one of the owners of Mister S is a sandwich master and I don’t know of a sandwich better than his porchetta, brown butter mayo on focaccia sambo. It’s filthy, delicious and technically excellent.”
Location:
Dublin 2’s 32 Camden Street Lower
Opening hours:
Saturday lunch from 14.00, for more information about the restaurant opening hours visit the website.
The Farm to Sandwich
Toons Bridge has created one hell of a concept, converting the produce from their West Cork farm, processing it and selling it themselves in their spots in George’s Street and Serpentine Avenue. The team stock a great selection of their own products for sale (including their famous cheeses) alongside some other great local produce. The deli counter is where the magic happens though, customers can either build their own sandwich or opt for something off the chalkboard. Co-owner of Mister S Paul McVeigh and owner of Bahay Riggz Castillo are fans of what comes out of Toons Bridge.
Locations;
Dublin 2’s 24 George’s Street
Ballsbridge’s Serpentine Court
Opening times;
George’s Street
Monday-Wednesday: 9.00-18.00
Thursday – Friday: 9.00-19.00
Saturday: 9.00-18.00
Sunday: 10.00-18.00
Ballsbridge
Monday-Saturday: 8.00-18.00
Sunday: 9.00-17.00
For more information visit the website.
The Focaccia Favourite
A trip to The Fumbally is rarely without a wait time. You can see why this spot is so popular, with a menu that is drawn from international influence and made with local produce. While their sandwich menu isn’t enormous, it makes up for it in quality. Their focaccia sandwiches in particular have taken on a near-legendary status. The co-owner of Piglet Enrico Fantasia gave them his top spot, he told us “I love The Fumbally sandwiches: homemade focaccia, organic veg mainly from Irish growers, and pretty much everything else is ethically sourced. And apart from that, they are super tasty!”
Location:
The Liberties’ Fumbally Lane
Opening times:
Wednesday–Friday: 10.00 – 18.00
Saturday: 10.00 – 15.00
For more information visit the website.
The Best Wraps
Tang have been placing exceptional wraps into the hands of hungry lunchtimers on both sides of the Liffey for some time now. They make up the wraps depending on the customer’s spec with a great veggie option available. Once your wrap has been made up (and that difficult hummus choice negotiated) customers can sit in and eat in the warm communal space or take it to go. The team at Tang are also committed to sustainability, they recently ran the “free flatbreads for climate action campaign” which offered a free flatbread for every email sent to a TD, MEP or local representative demanding urgent climate action. District Director Craig Connolly was a big fan of the Tang tings, alongside Paul McVeigh who struggles to opt for anything but the chicken flatbread wrap when he goes.
Locations;
Dublin 1’s 9a Lower Abbey Street
Dublin 2’s 23c Dawson Street
Opening times;
Abbey Street
Monday-Friday 8.30-15.30
Dawson Street
Monday-Friday 8.30-15.30
Saturday 10.30-16.00
For more information visit the website.
The Traditional Sandwich
Another restaurant that doesn’t rest on their laurels is Brasserie Sixty6, which have been slinging sandwiches out of their hatch for a while now. They’ve got a nicely proportioned menu, made up of traditional sandwiches, plus breakfast sambos, toasties and even a soft serve for those so inclined. The menu is in line with the dinner menu set out for Brasserie Sixty6 customers, quality ingredients crafted into a simple straightforward menu. Chef and Director of Conbini Condiments Holly Dalton liked the hatch, told us “This is another recent discovery for me but I’m
absolutely hooked. All of their sandwiches are prepared to order and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into them. The Horseman is a standout for me (braised beef and horseradish). Massive plus that it’s beside my bus stop.”
Location:
Dublin 2’s 66-67 George’s Street
Opening times:
Wednesday-Saturday 12.00 – 21.30
Sunday 12.00 – 18.30
For more information visit the website.
The Healthy-Sized Sandwich
Born from one man’s love of sandwiches, the conception place for Doughboys in New York has definitely bled into the actualisation of the sandwich shop. They have a very fresh ethos, roasting the meat in their Charlotte Way spot, chopping veg several times a day and making small amounts of sauce/dressings to keep them unprocessed. The menu at Doughboys is certainly one of the longest in this feature, the comprehensive list covers the classics and throws in a few Americana-tinged curveballs. Doughboys were on Holly Dalton and Dan Hannigan’s sandwich hit lists.
Location:
Dublin 2’s 5 Charlotte Way
Opening times:
Monday-Friday 9.00-15.00
Saturday 11.00-17.00
Sunday 11.00-16.00
For more information visit the website.
The Exceptional Cheese Toastie
Loose Canon has many a string to their bow, a wine bar, cheesemongers and toastie makers. It’s a pretty special toastie that comes out of their sandwich machine since the team use their knowledge of Irish and European cheese and create cheese toasties with a dynamic and interesting flavour content. Once you get a toastie, it’s practically the law that you need to help it along the red lane with a glass of natty wine. Presenter and owner of Lil Portie Nico Reynolds was a fan, “I eat them on the steps in Portobello and that’s always a good shout,” while ex-Chapter One head chef Eric Matthews told us “their cheese and ham toasties kinda hit the scene big style and they are just amazing, with a glass of wine, really cool.”
Location:
Dublin 2’s 29 Drury Street
Opening times:
Monday-Tuesday 11.00-20.30
Wednesday-Saturday 11.00-22.30
Sunday 12.30-20.00
For more information visit the website.
Sandwiches As Strong as an Ox
While they have a small but perfectly formed menu with a great take on the classics, the specials board is where it’s at. Each day the chalkboard is cleaned and a new special written up, regardless of what it reads, this according to our contributors is what you need to order. Some like James Kavanagh opt for things on the menu, he told us their “Italian meatloaf will change your bloody life,” while Eric Matthews was also a fan telling us that they are “a bit of a hipster classic” but that they are ‘great sandwiches’ which he really loves.
Locations:
Dublin 7’s 16 Mary’s Abbey
Smithfield’s 13 Smithfield Terrace
Opening times:
Dublin 7
Monday-Friday 8.30–14.30
Smithfield
Monday – Friday 8.30 – 14.30
For more information visit the website.
Dublin’s Ultimate Sandwich Spot
Before our contributors even opened their mouths for this feature we knew what was going to come out of it. 147 Deli is a legendary spot on Parnell Street with sandwiches that are known to pack a lot of sauce and even more density. There’s a flair to 147 Deli that sometimes get lost when people start buttering up the bread to make a sandwich. Owner Barry Stephens has a unique treatment for his sandies that you just won’t get in any other places. Known for the Reuben, the team sell a variety of Americana-tinged sandwiches, alongside the all-famous sausage rolls. However, it’s their weekly specials that are the star of the show. Barry constantly challenges himself through working with unique cuts of meat, creating fresh accompaniments, and making each and every sauce in house. Such is his dedication, you can even find Barry serving customers out of the hatch some days.
Here’s what some of our contributors had to say about those infamous sandwiches;
Andy Noonan “Barry is the man. Eagerly awaiting his new food truck Just Chubby’s. It’s going to be killer.”
Caitriona Devery “147 Deli, I probably don’t even need to vote for this place such is it’s legendary status. I work totally on the other end of town so I always feel major food FOMO when I see their instagram posts. When they’re doing the chicken parm, get a taxi.”
Crossy “147 Deli is the place to be for the BEST sandwich in Dublin! I go every week for their special, whatever it may be. It has never once let me down!!”
Riggz Castillo “Number one spot has to go to 147 Deli, weekly specials are always banging and they sell out fairly quickly which is always a good sign!”
Location:
Dublin 1’s 147 Parnell Street
Opening times:
Monday-Friday 9.00-15.00
For more information visit the website.
Honourable mentions: Baste, Greenville Deli, Tir, Fallon & Byrne, Grogan’s, Daddy’s, Roots, Host, Griolladh, Meltdown, Two Pups, Er Buchetto, Tiller & Grain, Barrow Market.
