London has some great breakfast places which I am going to slowly get around to. But more often I seek out cafes when I travel overseas, considering my mornings are often fast paced and a solid breakfast is the perfect way to fuel yourself for a day of sightseeing.
Avoca has an excellent reputation for being one of the best in Dublin. The shop has a few floors of homewares and cool-looking knick-knacks, but the top floor is where the food action is. Cookies and cakes adorn the benchtops as you pass towards the tables to indulge yourself.
Avoca Full Irish Breakfast (crockers free range scrambled eggs, field mushrooms, crispy American style bacon, jumbo hand-made sausage & roasted cherry & vine tomatoes) was the typical breakfast you'd expect from any cafe. The superlatively crisp bacon and flavoursome juicy mushrooms were the highlights.
Also a namesake, the Avoca Fish Pie (organic salmon, natural smoked haddock & cod in a creamy dill sauce with cheesy mash, baby leaves & char-grilled lemon) had a lovely seafood filling, rich in smokey flavour and dill like an excellent soup or chowder. Lemon and mash topping complemented the smokiness allowing balance.
Pasta of the day was a crab-filled ravioli with tomato in a creamy sauce. What you'd expect - rich, thick, tasty.
We can never avoid the temptation of Chunky Chips (cooked in duck fat and horseradish mayonnaise); whilst Chocolate Meringue Roulade (with vanilla cream & fresh raspberries) and Rhubarb & Apple Crumble (with a custard centre & honeycomb ice-cream) also sounded too good to pass up. I think these speak for themselves.
Next time I would order any of the Irish Breakfast, Fish Pie or the delicious-sounding Herbed Wild & Field Mushrooms (on toasted cheese bread with roasted cherry tomatoes). Cleanse it with a fresh orange juice, smoothie (unfortunately premade only) or coffee and prepare yourself for a day of wandering (although there isn't a lot to see in Dublin...) or a relaxing morning yarn with friends.