Save on Meals & Food in Ireland

Food and eating out is a fun and pleasureable part of any vacation, even when you are on a budget. But it is also a fairly major expense and while there is great food to be had in Ireland it certainly isn't always cheap.

There are however ways to save that don't mean missing out on having great meals and sampling the best of Irish food.

Many health experts advise that a good approach to eating is to "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper". What ever about health, it is definitely a good maxim for saving money on food in Ireland. Dinner is generally the most expensive meal of day - so our advice is to more or less skip it most days.

And don't worry - you won't starve!

1. Breakfast like a King

A Full Irish Breakfast
Photo by DomarkIf staying in a B&B or Hotel breakfast is almost always included in your room rate. It is invariably plentiful, typically including cereal, yoghurt, toast and brown bread, as well as the "full Irish" cooked breakfast and possibly pancakes, fish or cheese and of course as much tea and coffee as you want.

Eat plenty and it will easily keep you going until early afternoon.

If you're staying in a hostel you'll have to provide your own breakfast, but again make it a good one - cereal, juice, bread, eggs etc are all inexpensive, eat 'em up!

2. Lunch like a Prince

Lunch in an Irish Pub Lunch at the Avoca Cafe
Photo by Paul Watson Lunch in pubs and restaurants is always cheaper than dinner. Plan to have a late lunch - about 2pm or so - and a good one. Think of it as the main meal of the day. You will get an excellent lunch in most pubs that serve food for about €10-12 and almost all restaurants have special lunch menus. Many visitor centres, museums etc also have pretty good lunch menus in their cafes.

Make lunch a high point of the day - a chance to eat good food, relax, take a break from touring, chat about what you've seen and plan the rest of your day.

3. Dine Like a Pauper

Irish Cheese counter Irish Cheese
Photo by shonitaMake your own dinner. Yes, really!

This isn't a big deal even if you are staying in a hotel or B&B. Just buy some bread, cheese, fruit, cold meat or the like in a supermarket or convenience store and picnic. If you have access to a microwave you could buy ready meals.

If you don't feel like assembling food, consider these options:

buy a filled roll, available widely in convenience stores, petrol station forecourts etc and if you choose wisely it'll be delicious.
Get a takeaway pizza and eat it in the local park or by the shore
Visit the local chipper - ok, so it isn't exactly heath food, but a takeaway is cheap, tasty and very filling.

This approach also has the advantage of allowing you to extend your day's touring into the evening, at a time when most people are stopping and looking for a place to eat. It also keeps your evenings free for visiting pubs to hear some traditional music, catching a movie or a show, going out into the countryside to take photos in the evening light or just strolling around town enjoying the ambiance.

Treat Yourself - but be an Early Bird!

On a couple of days, skip lunch, eat a snack in the middle of the day and catch an early bird menu in a good restaurant in the evening.

These are generally available between 6.pm and 7pm, sometimes later, you'll need to check that locally. Even in Dublin you will eat very, very well for around €20-25 in places that would cost double that or even more later in the evening.

The best bargain in Dublin is the pre-theatre menu in Chapter One, a Michelin starred restaurant on Parnell Square. The food there is really special but also pretty expensive if you eat Á la Carte - the pre-threater menu gives you a chance to sample the exceptional food without the high prices. You will need to book well in advance though, it's incredibly popular.

Alternatively have lunch in a really great restaurant. The quality of food, service and ambiance is not much different at lunch time, but the prices definitely are.

The Hi Life Dining Card

This may work out as a saver if you will be in Ireland for say 2 weeks or more and plan to eat out fairly regularly. Basically you pay €69.95 in return for a Hi Life Dining Card, which entitles you to one meal free when two people eat in any of the listed restaurants. There are restaurants listed all over Ireland, but not a huge number of them in some places, so it does mean you need to seek out places to eat in advance using the directory they supply.

However Dublin is well served with quite a few good restaurants listed, and eating out in Dublin is expensive. Given that you could easily save the cost of the card on just one or two meals out in Dublin, it is worth taking a look at if you are spending significant time there. Remember that you can use it as often as you like, and at lunch as well as dinner.

If you are travelling on to the UK, the card works there also and has restaurants listed all over the place. And the card is valid for 12 months, so if you make multiple trips within that time it's a real deal.

More about the Hi Life Dining Card

Ireland's Chippers

Photo by bjaglin
A "one and one" - ie Fish and Chips - from Burdock's in Dublin, one of Ireland's best chippers.

Eating at Burdocks

Photo by bjaglin
There is almost invariably a long queue snaking down the street outside their tiny shop, join it!

A 'chipper' is a shop selling cooked chips (ie french fries), battered fish, burgers etc to take away. Never confuse chippers with fast food chains, they are definitely a completely different thing.

Most are small one off shops run by Italian families, who came to Ireland mainly from the area around Frosinone, north of Rome. Borza, Macari, Fusco, Cafolla and Fusciardi are all names that for generations of Irish people conjure up an image of tasty food!

Chipper food is definitely not for the health conscious - it's pretty much all deep fried and is loaded with carbs - but a meal from a good chipper is a delicious treat and something that everyone should try at least once.

Apart from an occasional foray to the chipper for a quick dinner, Irish people traditionally eat from chippers at two other times - on the way home from the pub at night and while on a day out by the sea. There is something about eating freshly cooked, hot, crispy fish and chips, sprinkled with salt and vinegar, while sitting on wall looking out to sea that just cannot be beaten.

How to Find a Good Chipper

Prepared by the better chippers this simple food is a culinary delight, in less skilled hands it is limp, greasy and not very appetising fare. Look for an Italian name over the door, a line of people waiting patiently while their fish is fried.

Everyone has their favourite chippper and people will hotly debate which of the local outlets has the crispest batter and the tastiest chips - ask locally, you'll get good advice and probably lots of it!

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