Taste Of Dublin
The minute I walked into The Iveagh Gardens I realised this was more than just your average farmers market. The place was filled with hundreds of food and drink stalls, each of which was just as inviting as the next. I instantly started spotting well known names such as Barrys Tea, Chapter One and Lidl. As we made our way around the venue we found ourselves so overwhelmed with the amount of activity going on that we didn't even know where to look! Not only was there cooking demonstrations on but each area had some sort of entertainment as well as plenty of free samples.
We made our way over to the main open grass area to plan our route. This area had a huge stage with a band playing. This was also one of the many areas where JustEat.ie were offering waiter service, if you were quick enough to grab a spot on the giant bean bags.
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| Picture from Taste of Dublin |
After we gathered our bearings we headed over to where the Whelans stage was, this large area was slightly separated from the rest but really only because it was on lower ground. I stayed here for the majority of the evening and devoured a delicious prawn curry from Jaipur. The portions are small, kinda like the size of a cereal bowl and expensive enough at about €7 for each portion, so going in absolutely famished was a mistake.
On the plus side I thought the drinks were quite affordable. There was a good few of us there so throughout the night we bought a few bottles of Prosecco (€18) as well as a few bottles of wine (€13). Because it was a very civilized "festival" you were sold the actual glass bottles so could bring them back to where you were sitting.
As the night went on I tasted some oysters (bad idea) and had some delicious strawberries covered in chocolate. There was also a large very popular Asia Market section where we tried some Saki Bombs and had more food. From the looks of things the Asia Market stands were very popular with the crowd.
If none of the above tickles your fancy don't worry there was literally something for everyone; a gluten free bakery, steak and chips, craft beers, tapas, French pastries and much more.
We ended the night by heading back over to the main stage where we settled down to watch a Daft Punk tribute act. Dean somehow managed to blag us some free donuts, so we ended the night on a sugary high.
While your in Taste everything is sold in their currency "Florins". 1 Florins = 1 Euro. This seems like a bit of a pain but it was actually grand, we bought our Florins in small amounts and topped them up when we needed to. There's staff all over the venue selling them so it's not really a nuisance, but you can't refund any unused Florins.
I wore a new white lace Zara dress which looked great, very garden party-esque. It was all well and good at the start, but my feet hurt from standing, I got rained on and spent the evening sitting on damp grass. So next year I'll still dress up but maybe not in white!
Prior to Taste I was unsure what the €25 ticket actually got me. But once inside the Iveagh Gardens you could see exactly how much thought and effort went into the event. The place looked fantastic, was constantly clean and the ample staff were on hand to help out with anything. There was plenty of entertainment and something to suit all sorts of taste buds!
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