Amanda and Katie’s Top Picks

Amanda came to Ireland over Spring Break to visit. I was able to show her around the University of Limerick Campus and even bring her to a tutorial about Inclusive Education. Amanda had time to discover different parts of Ireland and for her last two days we walked around Limerick. Here are some of our top picks for food that we ate while Amanda was in Ireland.

The University of Limerick has many different restaurant options. The four big ones are Stables, Scholars, the Pavilion, and Paddocks. Stables is pub while Scholars feels more like a cafe, and the Pavilion is a fancier restaurant. Paddocks is mostly a lunch place and has soups and sandwiches. Amanda ordered a BLT and I had a Club sandwich. Both were good. Paddocks is a great place to grab a bite to eat while on campus.

Another great place on campus is in between the stairwells. In the late afternoon on a Tuesday, it will be a quiet enough place to enjoy a snack. These purple and yellow snacks were prizes won from the tutorial Amanda and I attended: Inclusive Education. We recommend these snacks. The purple ones are two biscuits with a chocolate filling and a chocolate coating. They yellow snacks might be the best because they taste like fudge stripe cookies.

Continuing with the snacks, Amanda and I grabbed an array from the convenience store called Spar. The Club Rock Shandy was not our favourite at first, but we came around to the taste as we drank more. We decided the Skittles taste much better with shells versus without the candy shells. Shamrock and sour cream crisps are good but not worth buying again. Tayto crisps are fun. They seem less oily than similar crisps at home. The caramel in the Wispa Gold bar felt out of place. Orange flavoured chocolate is not for us we learned after trying the Twirl bar. The Starbar is good, but it can not compete with a Snickers bar. Boost was the best of all the candy bars. Crunchie was definitely the strangest. The top picks from this bunch would be the Boost bar, Tayto crips, and Club Rock Shandy.

One more stop before heading into Limerick. I was able to show Amanda around my house and we heated up sausage rolls for dinner. A sausage roll is white pudding and sausage in a puff pastry. They can be served hot or cold. We prefer hot. I picked these up from the grocery store.

Moving on to places in Limerick. Katie Dalys is a cute pub right next to King John’s Castle in Limerick. It was quiet on the weeknight that Amanda and I went. She ordered chicken parmesan and I ordered fish and chips. Both were very good. Fish and chips is a safe choice almost anywhere you go in Ireland. It is always good. It is often served with garlic mayo dipping sauce and mashed peas.

Inside of the two story McDonald’s in Limerick

We wanted to see if the McDonald’s menu was different here in Ireland. There are a few different items, but we found the menu very hard to read. We resorted to new flavours of McFlurries. The Galaxy Caramel McFlurry is the best. It comes in a paper cup and has a cardboard spoon to go with. Salt packets are given out with fries even though these fries were pre-salted.

Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, and tea

On to my favourite part! It is time to talk about cafes! Amanda and I tried a place called Olio and Farina. The food was good. Bacon is different in Ireland. It is much more like ham. I prefer American style bacon. The tea and latte were good. I love how all the milk foam I have had in Ireland is a thick layer sitting on top of the coffee. I have never enjoyed milk foam this much in the States. I also tried poached eggs for the first time here. They were good, but I still prefer hardboiled or scrambled.

Hook and Ladder is such a great spot. The inside is inviting and they have a drunch menu. Amanda and I went in to warm up and get out of the rain. We each had a scone. Amanda had a mango and strawberry tea and I had black tea. I love that they give you a little tea pot when you order tea. It is enough for two cups of tea. The Irish will not skimp on tea or fish and chips. We had every intention of journaling while enjoying our snack, but we ended up chatting for most of our time. We highly recommend Hook and Ladder.

The Green Onion Cafe is our favourite cafe we have been to in Limerick. It is super cute! This is where Amanda found one of her new favourite teas and where I learned that I like sausage rolls. During this outing, we had waffles and pancakes which were great. The Green Onion Cafe is a cozy little spot with a great location as we walk in and out of Limerick City Centre.

I had so much fun showing Amanda some of my favourite spots and trying new places together. It was really great to have a friend around. Being able to pray together was comforting and encouraging. Thanks for coming to visit Amanda!