What do you mean, I don't have to eat bangers and mash?!?

In my trip to Dublin, I was expecting Guinness, bangers and mash, Guinness, Irish lamb stew with soda bread, and you guessed it, Guinness. I had all of those things during my 5 day stay, (especially the Guinness - the storehouse museum is really worth the time and money, by the way!) but I realized that Dublin is a lot more than just traditional Irish fare. So while pubs are plentiful and a ridiculously good time, it is easy to give your taste buds a break from the hearty meat and potatoes fare to something a little more refined. You just have to be willing to pay for it.

My friends and I were lucky enough to be in Dublin during the city's "Restaurant Week", where many hot spots have a 3 course prix fix menu for 25 euro. If you are not in Dublin during this time, several restaurants offer "Early Bird" menus, where you can get great food for extremely reduced prices. You just have to eat before 7pm. For my friends and I, 25 euro was still expensive, but we found that we spent just as much in a pub paying for very expensive beers and relatively cheap pub food than spending a night out in a fancier establishment. So for a couple of nights, we went all out.

My first day I reunited with a friend from school I had not seen in almost a year. We decided to celebrate by shelling out for a prix fix meal at Balzac Restaurant on Dawson Street. We were under dressed, but the waitstaff did not seem to care. The offerings for the prix fix meal were extensive, with 5 or 6 different choices for each course. Salads with pear, radicchio, and cashel blue were probably one of the least exciting choices, but it was what I was in the mood for and the flavors of bitter, sweet, and salty, with a crunch from candied walnuts played perfectly off of each other. My entree consisted of sea bass with a surprisingly flavorful sauce of garlic and parsley (I attribute it to LOTS of butter) and a silky carrot puree fulfilled everything I wanted in a fish dish. My friend's duck leg with potato and cherry and red wine reduction was also delicious. Usually dessert is my least favorite part of the meal, but Balzac surprised us with a lemon pot-de-creme with warm from the oven madelines for blissful dipping. We spent over 3 hours at Balzac, a clearly French restaurant influenced by local Irish ingredients, and had an amazing time at this unexpected Dublin find.

It was not just the fine dining establishments that offered alternatives to Irish pub fare. Every type of food from Chinese to kabobs to a fantastic burger at Gourmet Burger Co. can be found in Dublin. My friend and I enjoyed a few generous glasses of wine (a 1/4th bottle per glass) at a highly stocked wine bar in Temple Bar called Olesya's. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and more than willing to let you sample several wines until you find the exact vintage you are craving. Along with an artisan Irish cheese plate, it was the perfect light meal and end to the day my friend and I were looking for (until we decided to go see "The Blindside" and brought a bottle of pinot noir with us. Classy? The Irish sitting around us thought so).

My favorite spot though was this bakery and cafe called "Queen of Tarts", where homemade soups, salads, and sandwiches on homemade bread were served in generous portions and at decent prices. My ham and gruyere on a soft foccacia was chock full of cheese and extremely flavorful, and the perfectly dressed side salad balanced out the heaviness of sandwich. Of course by the name, Queen of Tarts is famous for its desserts. Massive portions of chocolate cake, beautiful tarts in every flavor imaginable, and cookies the size of bread plates coming right out of the oven made every patron's mouth water, and completely defenseless to temptation. I enjoyed an epically large piece of carrot cake, with the perfect amount of cream cheese frosting and a fantastic moist crumb. Queen of Tarts was a great way to spend our last afternoon in a rainy Dublin.

I am not saying that you should not go to the pubs in Dublin. In fact, I highly recommend it (the Literary Pub Crawl is especially fun). You meet the most friendly and fascinating people there, all of whom are ready and willing to share their life story with you - and not much is better than a great hearty dish and a large beer. However, if you are in Dublin for more than a few days, it is fun to explore what else this surprisingly foodie city has to offer. And trust me, it is quite a bit!