5 Best Tikka Masalas in Dublin

Whenever I go away I make sure I take in the city's best chicken tikka masala complete with peshwari naan bread. I have sampled ones in Thailand, Rome, London and even Barbados but the best one I ever had was in Lanzarote.

One in New York came a close second (Dawat - owned by a famous actress and just off Fifth) but the one in Lanzarote, my God! It was made by the impassioned hands of an Indian woman, who had come to the Canary island with her ailing husband. He had been told to get some good, clean air for his lungs and they took a three week holiday there and never left. He has since returned to full health.

Meanwhile back in Dublin, where I live, I have gone a similar hunt......

In no particular order and all for varying reasons, the following are the 5 best tikka masalas in the city.

The Spice of India on South William St does the yummiest of tikka masalas. Total yum-ness. Situated right beside the Jewel in the Crown and opposite The Port House, the only thing that really makes this place stand out aesthetically is its bright orange awning. There's no need for a starter, just head straight to the main event. Their chicken tikka masala is done with proper skewered tandoori chicken, the sauce is thick and tomato-y and get their pilau rice it's tasty. The peshwari naan comes in four, perfect-for-sharing, quarters and is perfectly sweet and nutty and piping hot and fresh. Get your own rice, share a portion of bread and it'll set you and your dinner date back by around €20 a head. http://spiceofindiad2.weebly.com/contact-us.html

Somewhere where you really can't go wrong in the chicken tikka masala stakes is Jaipur. There are a few around. There's a Chakra one in Greystones which is fancy out and there's one in Dalkey (you can't get through the door with all the award plaques on the walls). There's also one in Malahide, Ongar and George's Street. Ananda is also associated (see below). My favourite one is in Dalkey. The guys there are lovely. The tikka masala is particularly creamy here and they do a great old early bird which they're flexible with. All in all, they're sound, they can cook and the price point is good. A winner. http://jaipur.ie/

 Now.......... if you're going all out and want haute cuisine as well as Indian then head for Ananda in Dundrum Town Centre. Executive Head Chef, Sunil Ghai, has won every award under the red hot sun and as soon as you step over the threshold of this place you'll soon discover why. I went here for a special occasion because price wise it's not somewhere you can just pop in willy nilly to. Bear in mind, the chicken tikka masala isn't labelled as such on the menu, it's murgh something or other, you'll be able to work it out if you read the details below the heading......or alternatively ask the waiter/waitress. It's over €20 just for your main. But God is it worth it.......this man has won prizes because he's very, very good. The cocktails are nice and the general atmosphere is fine-diney. http://anandarestaurant.ie/

 Another good spot for a chicken tikka masala is Indian Summer in Stillorgan on the Lower Kilmacud Road. Now I didn't actually consume my tikka masala on site, I got it to go, one Saturday evening post work. As far as take-aways go.........and quality of food is concerned, I'll absolutely give this joint a 5 out of 5. You pay for what you get, it's not cheap as chips for a reason, mainly because it's very decent food. http://www.indian.ie/

 Last on the list, but not last in podium terms is Indie Spice, of which there are a few around. I'm familiar, from a three-month rental sojourn, with the one in Sandymount. This one is the nuttiest in an almond-y kind of way. They do loads of deals and the peshwari naan bread is to die for folks. I've never actually sat down in the place I've only ever gotten it to go, but it was top-notch restaurant standard take-away. Love it. www.indiespice.com

Fairylights

Doors

Cool Couches

Wallpaper

Shower Curtains

Orangery

Retro Interiors

Floor-to-Ceiling Windows

Tomato and Pepper Crostini

Ode to Julie and Julia........

Not sure to which one more....... Julia Child aka Meryl or the actual food blogger Julie Powell..... But in that juicy movie detailing the real-life passions of a Yankee food blogger, the said food blogger, makes a very juicy looking crostini for her and her husband, it is over this very crostini that Julie decides to take on Child's great work, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and to blog about her adventures..........

Here's what you'll need.....

1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
10 cherry tomatoes
A handful of chopped basil
1/2 red onion
1/2 glove crushed garlic
A good glug of olive oil
A good glug of balsamic vinegar
A fresh Vienna roll

You'll need to......

Wash and chop/crush/slice your vegetables and fruit (tomatoes) and throw them into a bowl and cover in oil and vinegar until they look like this.....

Leave them all hang out together for a while, 10 minutes will do but the longer the better and tastier. Meanwhile slice up your roll and toast, when toasted put a little bit of olive oil on the bread and spoon on the tomatoes, peppers, onions and basil........

Sheer divinity. And that's it then!

Greenacres

I love getting a bite to eat somewhere you can browse around afterwards and pick up a few bits in their shop there, basically somewhere that's that bit more than just a restaurant or a cafe.

Greenacres in Wexford town have a nice lunch and dinner menu. Have great breads and a deli with preserves and olives and sun-dried tomatoes and there's an art gallery there too. Oh and they have lots of fancy wines for sale too.

It's in this gorgeous building......

Me and my date just got a light lunch each.

I went for the goat's cheese, walnut salad with balsamic dressing and it looked like this.....

The date went for the anti pasta meat plate that came with a little Kilner jar filled with pesto......

After we'd gobbled up our lunch, we had ours outdoors (the heatwave), they have lovely outdoor seating, one of the few places in Wexford/Ireland, we went inside to see if they had any of their amazing Guinness bread left to purchase......... they didn't..... devastation...... it sells out everyday, we were just too late......so we went for the tomato and olive bread instead......

And we got some of their lovely olives to bring home with us too.

But honestly - the Guinness bread....... will try get recipe.

http://www.greenacres.ie/

Lugala Days

If you want to head out to the wilds of Wicklow but not meet every Tom, Dick and Dublin Harry then Lugala and the Knocknacloghoge walk is a pretty safe, non-crowded one to do.

Park your car at the black gate seen here, go through the gate and just start walking down, down, down...... through the old Guinness estate, by all the deer and over little bridges and through great big, tall trees. It takes two hours to Lough Tay and back but bring a picnic, it's gorgeous down there.

That's an old scouts cottage I think........

OK, so the full route is here.

And here's what you'll discover along the way.

Looks like Canada doesn't it? Oh yeah it's where they filmed parts of the Vikings with Gabriel Byrne, I'll show you the lake when we get there - it's at the end. This is one of the many bridges you'll cross. See, not a sinner?

And after this bridge you'll head along this green path....... 

And this is where you'll see the fields of wild deer.......

You'll eventually come to the scouts cottage (let's just call it that).......

Before arriving at Lough Tay where Vikings is being filmed.

Up to the right there is where the big, fancy Guinness house is nowadays. Climb Djouce and you'll see it from above.

After all that exertion, we chilled by the river with all the midges.........

And had our picnic...... 

Before heading home the way we came past the fields with all the deer and rabbits.......

Glendalough and the Spinc

Another spectacular glacial valley in Ireland that is the well trodden is Glendalough in Co Wicklow.

That photo was taken really early one Saturday or Sunday morning, two summers ago and it turned out to be a scorchio day so me and my pal Susan even ended up going for a dip in the little rock pools on our way back.

But the rest of the snaps were taken on a recent and dull, wet and very windy, average Irish day.

This is the route we took, the White Route http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/walkingtrails.html, which starts at this little waterfall....

Before beginning the steep ascent up these sleepers......

You go up 600 of these and then come out on top of the valley and walk all along the top of the cliff until it starts to meet a river...... and you come to this bridge.....

If you run out of water worry not you can have some of the fresh stream water to quench your climbing thirst, well we drank it anyway and we're still alive.....

After you cross the bridge you'll have a view something like this.....

See the lake in the background? That's where you'll have come from.......

You'll keep walking all along this big, powerful flow of water, it had been raining heavily, so it was a fearsome flow the day we went.....

Keep descending and just as you arrive on the flat you'll get to the old mining village.......

Here we are exploring after our big climbing expedition.........

You'll then walk back along the shore of the lake to the car park. It costs 2 euro to park so have change. It's really not that tough of a walk at all, the initial ascent is a bit hard going at first but the rest is a doodle and the views are fantastic all along the way. Walking very fast and without a break you can do it in 2 hours but just taking it handy it'll take 3.

The Secret Swimming Spot

Few places are sacred anymore especially around The Pale. But there is one little place that isn't that well known about and there's a unspoken agreement amongst its users that we shall never name it's name in writing, you are allowed bring a friend, but never go on about the place too much in public.

It looks like this.....

Well that's it all the way down there........ I'm sure the pictures will give it away but anyway..... in the winter/spring/autumn it's deserted bar the presence of a few die-hard fans and on a blistering hot day, like this summer, it's packed :( Word gets out.

See them all there? Ok so it's in Killiney, Dublin, but no it's not White Rock. On a rough day it's pretty rough. Wouldn't be hanging around here or going for a dip on my own on one of these days....

The swell is very strong and because you don't walk in and walk out...... you have to jump in from one of these places......

It can be pretty tricky to get back out of the water even on a calm day........ like this......

Take note sea swimming enthusiasts, when you do figure out how to get here, there's no sun here in the evenings, so it's best swam at during the date. Also check the tide tables, you'll need lots of water and finally, sometimes, only very very very rarely, there are jelly fish here. But saying that, I've never seen any.