Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what’s in it and where it comes from. She believes that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can transform your experiences from the forgettable to the sublime. We asked her to help us kick start a healthy, delicious and happy New Year! And if you’d like to check out some more of her reviews, you’ll find them all here in our Life section.
I sort of fell off the self-imposed healthy eating wagon this week. What can I say - my willpower was waning and January just seemed so very long and miserable - I needed a pick me up. I needed some bacon.
The Pepper Pot Café is one of those places I had been meaning to try out for ages, but kept forgetting about when I was passing by. The other day I popped in for a late lunch, hoping it wouldn't be too busy. I was surprised to see it was nearly full - which is of course a good sign. All of the tables are spread out on the first floor of the lovely Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin 2 - overlooking the ground floor below.
It has a cosy country kitchen look, with lots of colourful waxed tablecloths and mismatched china. They make everything from scratch and there are plenty of Irish artisan suppliers and organic ingredients on the menu, so it ticked a lot of boxes for me.
I had read many great reviews of the café, and having checked out their menu beforehand, I had every intention of sticking to the plan of ordering a tasty salad. But once I sat down and l looked at the menu in person, only bacon would do. At least I can rest assured that it was good quality bacon!
I ordered the bacon and chive cream cheese bagel, with an organic green salad and homemade apple and tomato chutney. Plus a small cup of beetroot and orange soup. I thought the soup and the salad might just balance it out and make me feel a little less guilty about the bacon and the bagel!
Mr. Cooksalot had no such qualms and went for a big door-stopper of a sandwich with roast pear, bacon and Mount Callan cheese. We also ordered some juices - a raspberry and pomegranate pressé for him and a Karmine pressed apple juice for me.
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Now maybe I had built this up in my head too much, but I was expecting my bagel to be exceptionally delicious - based on all of the reviews I had read of this place. I was a little bit underwhelmed but it wasn’t half bad.
My soup was surprisingly light and you could really taste the orange, which complimented the beetroot very well. I am easily amused and the fact that it was served in a cute old fashioned china cup and saucer pleased me very much. It’s the little things in life that make the difference!
Mr. Cooksalot’s sandwich looked quite plain and unassuming but when I tried it I immediately wished that I had ordered it myself! The bread was really soft and fluffy - obviously it was a proper artisan, handmade loaf (in fact you can order loaves of bread from them) and the roast pears worked well with the bacon.
My only criticism was that the bacon wasn’t smoked, but then I do tend to think that all bacon should be smoked! I will have to order it next time.
We were relatively restrained and so we didn’t order any cakes or coffee but I was definitely tempted, especially since they are all laid out at the till, testing your will power! They have an all day breakfast too, which is always good to know, as I have a feeling I will be back in again soon to test it out!
I was quite pleased with The Pepperpot Cafe and I can see why it’s so popular. It’s a calm and cosy place to hide away, right in the centre of town. If you find yourself craving some comfort food made with local Irish ingredients, or even just a pot of tea and a few homemade cakes, you should pop in and give it a try.
Have you tried The Pepper Pot Cafe and if so, what was your experience? And where is your favourite eatery for healthy snacks or are you a prepare-at-home kind of girl?
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If you’d like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!
