Gallagher’s Boxty House traditional Irish cuisine
As you will have gathered by now, that at times I like to surprise you with my cuisine choices. Which is what I am doing this week. Reviewing a restaurant and a dish that you thought you might not see on here, and a meal that is hearty and healthy. Reviewing a meal that is Ireland’s national dish.
This week’s restaurant is?
By mentioning Ireland’s national dish, you should have a good idea of what meal I had. But do you know what restaurant that I might have ordered from? This week’s restaurant is a family run restaurant based in Temple Bar. It was established in 1988 by chef and restaurateur Pádraic Óg Gallagher and is aimed at tourists. I have also walked by this restaurant hundreds of time and I am sure you have too. This restaurant, Gallagher’s Boxty House closed briefly last year before pivoting into a takeaway alongside a satellite kitchen in Tallaght.
As I mentioned earlier Gallagher’s Boxty House is based in the heart of Temple Bar and is a mecca for tourists. Being a tourist hangout is probably why you and I have never eaten there. It is famous for selling Irish cuisine such as traditional Irish stews and Dublin Coddle, something you rarely see on restaurant menus.
So what did I order?
Opening up the Just Eat app on my phone I soon found Gallagher’s Boxty House and I started viewing the menu. With meal deals, boxty favourites, boxty dumplings, boxty bites and boxty burger grill, there was a lot to choose from. I knew that I was going to have one of the stews and I ordered one via one of the meal deals.
So which of the meal deals did I get? Well I chose Somebody Feed Me, which is a meal for one. This comes with a choice of boxty bites as a starter. Followed by boxty favourites, or burgers as a main course and a choice of soft drink. My boxty favourite was Irish chicken wings in a hot and sweet sauce with blue cheese dip. My boxty favourite was going to be one of the two stews, Beef & Stout Stew or Traditional Irish Stew. In the end I went with the Traditional Irish Stew, tender Irish lamb, slow-cooked with pearl barley, carrots and potatoes. As for my soft drink, I went with a can of coke.
So how was my Meal?
My meal arrived perfectly packaged with the food warm and packed in the appropriate containers. It was stapled shut to ensure it was not touched since it left the restaurant. It also looked and smelt lovely too.
The ten chicken wings tasted incredible, sweet with a hint of spicy kick but I could not eat them all. If I had done that I could not have fully enjoyed my main course. So, I had some the next day with basmati rice cooked in my rice cooker for lunch.
My main course the Traditional Irish Stew, was healthy, hearty, and wholesome. It tasted great with some bread, which is the best way to enjoy a stew. The bread I used was sliced pan Brennan’s Bread.
The lamb was tasty and oh so tender and was a perfect meat for the stew. Being a fussy eater, I am not a huge fan of carrots, so I avoided the big chunks of carrots. So I took them out of the stew leaving the smaller more manageable chunks left. The potatoes in the stew were not your typical potatoes. They tasted and looked like gnocchi, one of my favourite Italian delicacies and had me grinning.
As for the pearl barley, it is the ingredient that helps make this dish so healthy and tasted nice. You are probably wondering what is pearl barley and why does something so healthy taste so nice? Well pearl barley is a whole grain barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull. It is then polished to remove some or all of the bran layer. It is a staple ingredient in lots of stews and some Jewish and Italian cuisine whilst also having various health benefits.
These benefits include the following. Being rich in many beneficial nutrients. It can reduce hunger which can help you lose weight. It has Beta-Glucans which can help lower cholesterol. And It may also reduce the risk of heart disease.
Ordering food again from Gallagher’s Boxty House, is something I have already done and would do again. Its nice to order a takeaway and not feel guilty about the cuisine I ordered. As the stew is a healthy dish and balances any unhealthy thoughts you might have about the chicken wings.
So what did my meal cost?
My Somebody Feed Me cost €18.00. With a service charge of €0.50, and a delivery fee of €2.99 discount. Bringing the final bill to €21.49.
Gallagher’s Boxty House, 20 Temple Bar, D02 ET66, Dublin.