Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hey guys! I'll be going to Ireland for Spring Break as a part of my Irish Literary Culture class (yay financial aid!). We'll be going into the countryside a lot, but we'll also be spending a lot of time in Dublin, Sligo, and Galway.

I was hoping peple could give me some recommendations on what restaurants to try, what snacks to bring back, and what alcohol is vegan and good. It would also be cool if anyone had any advice for being vegan in Ireland in small towns in Ireland, in the countryside. Also, pub food. There's another vegan girl (it was the best surprise to find this out!) in my class, so we'll be doing the vegan things together.

I use http://www.happycow.net/ whenever I'm away travelling to find veg*n and vegan-friendly places.

What a perfectly timed thread! I'm going to be in Dublin, Galway & maybe one other place (any suggestions? It needs to be roughly inbeteeen Dublin & Galway) in two weeks!

That Happy Cow link Imogen posted will definitely lead you to veganness in Dublin & Galway but I haven't looked into the surrounding areas or Sligo.

I guess what I meant was: are there any places I should hit up for sure? Snacks I'll be sad I didn't try? What's a good vegan and Irish beer?

What kind of beer do you like?

we always stay over in Athlone whenever we land late in the day in Dublin and want to go across the country.

PS: And I envy everyone going to Ireland this year. It's my favorite country... I have been there above 10 times by now and never went hungry. there's always something to eat, really, especially in Galway, it's a pretty studenty modern town.

As I'm going to be there for St Patrick's day I'd like to try a Guinness-like Irish-made beer. I haven't been able to find any info online about which brands would be okay & which pubs to find them in. The only thing I've found out so far is that Bulmers Pear is vegan (& original is not).

Athlone looks pretty, was it easy to find vegan food there?

I've wanted to visit Ireland for ages so I'm super excited! I can't believe I've never been, it's so close!

Vegan places in Ireland: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AsaroOjvbd9ZdDlxa3lNQTc4ZmdkQkNheTc1dDFpMHc&output=html

I think the Dungarvan Brewery beverages are vegan from what I can remember.

A lot of the craft beer breweries are vegan friendly. I'd have a look at the barnivore website - it's not complete for Ireland but it's pretty good. As far as food goes, it's very vegetarian friendly in most of the country, so with a little willingness to chat to people and have "interesting" combinations you'll be fed at least :) If in doubt, the usual Italian and Indian safety net restaurants are all over the place.

Guinness..was disgusted to find out it's not even vegetarian.

I'm drinking O'Hara's Stout right now. It's delicious although I prefer the cask to the bottled stuff. I'm loving re-kindling my love of stout, I haven't had it since I went veggie 10 years ago!

Oooh also we found some vegan Potato Farls, are they these? Would it be sacrilege to toast them instead of frying? Would baked beans make a food enough side dish?!

Oh I love me some potato farls...best lazy weekend brekkie ever. Toasted with spread, veggie sausages, baked beans and a heap of fried mushrooms. Om nom nom!

The Farls were SO good!! I wish we could get them here!

I've definitely had potato farls here, from one of the main supermarkets I'm sure. I'm thinking it was some range with the name and photo of a chef (who I'd never heard of but I don't follow cooking really) on it. It was some time ago though and maybe they aren't available anymore but I seldom look in that bit of the bread aisle.

They're the Paul Rankin ones. I'm almost sure Sainsbury's have them. He has a couple of products that look to be vegan - my Mum got me some once when I was visiting but I doubt she checked the mega vegetarian things, just looked at the allergy advice.

I'm almost positive that Marks in Bristol had them when I was living there as well; might be worth asking if a store can get them in. I'm not mad on the Rankin ones - bit too baking soda-y for me. The Lidl ones are awesome, believe it or not. Haven't had them in a while though, so they better still be vegan! *shakes fist*

They're really easy to make - well, they won't be exactly the same as the shop-bought ones, but I prefer homemade - this recipe is the one I use http://www.odlums.ie/recipes/odlums-rec ... ato-cakes/ just leave out the egg and scallions and use a bit of soya milk.