I like food. I like travel. And the foodie in me certainly believes that one of the best ways to experience a city is through its food.
So I was excited to find that Fab Food Trails promised to help me explore Dublin via a mixture of fun food tastings and historical and architectural snippets during a leisurely two and half hour stroll around the city.
I appreciated that Fab Food Trails have kept the number in each group very small so that we all had a chance to get to know each other as well as the guide, and to learn. It was also good to see that my walking group included Dublin locals who wanted to discover new places to eat and drink.
Evelyn, our guide, talked through the foodie history of Ireland in a very succinct 10 minutes at the start of the tour. Farming, famine, travel and opportunity all combine to make a fascinating story, especially to learn that we are right in the heart of the take-off of the Irish foodie scene. It only really started 4 or 5 years ago and I thought if this is the beginning, it really promises good things in the next decade.
We went through a whole load of tastings during the tour. We sampled Irish cheeses including ones influenced by Dutch immigrants. There were also freshly baked bagels, chocolate, Irish beef and much much more.
I just want to highlight the visit to The Swan. This old pub still retains its original features including the beautiful beer pump handles, the booth where the proprietor sat and collected money and the ‘women’s only’ corner where they sat and waited for their menfolk to finish their rather important business of drinking. What is great about the Swan is this – it is a pub, and an old pub. Nothing more and nothing less.
One of the things I really enjoyed about Fab food tours was how all the people we met at the various tasting were hugely enthusiastic about their food and just enjoyed talking to us about it. More than once I wanted to just jump in and become part of their world.
Apart from Dublin, these guys also run the food tours in Cork and Kilkenny. If you ever find yourself in the these areas it is definitely worth popping you should pop along on one of their tours. And just a quick note, I highly recommend doing the tours at the beginning of your visit so that you know where to eat and drink for the rest of your time there.
Enjoy eating your way through Ireland.
I was a guest of Fab Food Trails. All opinions are my own.
What a fantastic experience! I’d love to do something like that one day – it sounds like a great way to learn about new places.
The guide def wove in a lot of historical facts along with all the fun food titbits too.
What a great way to get your first taste of a city. I’d love to do a walking tour like that.
It is good that you burn up some calories as you eat fine foods right?
Oh wow, this is a fantastic idea! I’d love to do something like this 🙂
It really is a great way to get to know the city and Fab food trail have done all the hard work for you so you just get to enjoy the food.
LOVE the photo of you eating the oyster Bintu and as am avid lover of oysters myself, that’s the only way to “drink” them! I have NEVER been to Dublin, but I MUST rectify that soon! Karen
Well, you got to see my first ever oyster drinking session there Karen.
Getting to know a city through it’s food, is my idea of a perfect trip x
Please do check out fab food trails if you ever pop over to Dublin or Cork – you will not be dissapointed.
Sounds like a great way to enjoy local cuisine.
It was Nayna. Def check them out if you are ever in the area.
What a perfect way to get to know a city – through it’s food! Looks like you had fun.
Yes tons of fun Heidi. Did you see my face eating the raw oyster?
What an original and fun way to explore and experience a new city! I’ve never been to Dublin, looks great!
😀
I completely agree with you, the best way to experience a city really is tasting the food there. So many delicious and interesting foods in the world. It looks like you had an incredible time and tasted many lovely things! x
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Yes the food was really superb. Fab food trails had done their research.
What a great way to see a City, I love this idea!
I was lucky to hook up with the informed folk at fab food trails.