Travel Editor Colleen McShane looks back at the cuisine from her childhood, eager to discover more during her travel experiences.
Avid travellers know for a fact that cuisine has the power to evoke emotions, such as nostalgia of different times and places. Indeed, cuisine has the power to both make me reminisce of past travel experiences and hopefully look at future destinations.
Dublin city is one of many central hubs for a widespread combination of different cuisines from across the globe; as such, tourists from all corners of the world can feel at home whilst visiting the Irish capital.
Dublin city is one of many central hubs for a widespread combination of different cuisines from across the globe; as such, tourists from all corners of the world can feel at home whilst visiting the Irish capital.
Las Tapas De Lola, Wexford Street:
As an avid traveller to Spain, Las Tapas De Lola transports me back to summertime on the Spanish coast as a child accompanied by some of my favourite, most cherished people in the world. As holiday makers in the early 2000s, my large Irish family always used to travel in bundles together, basking in the carefully seasoned mushrooms and the fried salty seafood of the tapas bar in our chosen area. La Zenia in Alicante allowed me and my family to navigate our way through Spanish culture through tapas. Las Tapas De Lola thus allows me to feel a sense of childhood nostalgia from that cherished trip from Dublin. Located in the heart of Wexford Street, Las Tapas de Lola is in an accessible location in the city and harbours a comfortable atmosphere that accommodates social get-togethers, date nights, or tranquil evenings alone to revive those nights spent in Alicante with your family and friends.
Eat Tokyo, Wellington Quay:
Eat Tokyo is an authentic space just off of Temple Bar in Dublin on Wellington Quay where Japanese cuisine flourishes. As someone who has always aspired to visit the metropolis that is Tokyo in Japan, Eat Tokyo allows me to pursue my dreams of travelling across the globe in the future through a minute fragment of Japanese culture such as food. Eat Tokyo is a staple hotspot in Dublin with a comforting atmosphere given the restaurant's warm and dim interior. It is this cosy environment that sparked several conversations between me and my friends about one day drinking sake and eating katsu curry in Japan.
Las Tapas De Lola and Eat Tokyo are two widely different restaurants, miles away from each other globally and culturally. However, Dubliners and tourists alike can enjoy udon noodles from Tokyo on a Tuesday and fried seafood from the Spanish coast on a Wednesday without needing a plane ticket.