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Ever wondered what the best place is to get a freshly baked pastry? Fionn Reid-Kelly shares his personal guide to the best bakeries in Dublin.
At the beginning of this year, quite randomly I asked myself: does Dublin have good bakeries? Whenever I think of bakeries my mind wanders to France, where you can barely walk down the street without bumping into one. Other European cities certainly feel like they have a lot more going on when it comes to bakeries too, and I wanted to find out where Dublin fit into the picture. Obviously the solution to this was to make a spreadsheet of 46 different bakeries that I could find on travel and food websites for Dublin and conduct my own research by trying out a few of them for myself.
The first place that came to mind in the city centre was Bread 41 on Pearse Street. It is an incredibly popular spot, with it not being unusual to see the place packed full of Trinity students grabbing a coffee and a pastry on a break from their busy schedules of telling everyone that they meet where they go to college. I tried it out in January before term started and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Trinity students have good taste.
In my pursuit of Dublin bakery enlightenment, I finally entered a place which I had passed by many times while walking through the city streets: Filipino Bakery and Café on Liffey Street. I tried out their ube cake and buko pandan. The ube cake was purple, and very sweet - but I have a sweet tooth, so it went down a treat with me. I had tried ube ice cream before so I was familiar with the flavour, but I had never heard of buko pandan before. I am happy to report that I was a big fan of this jelly in heavy cream and condensed milk – trust me, it’s delicious.
Next on the list is Bakeology Treats. This Argentinian bakery in the Liberties provides a wide range of pastries and breads, but the highlight has to be the empanadas. These little parcels filled with a variety of meats and vegetables were a pleasure to have as an early morning breakfast. Having an alfajor or a slice of carrot cake afterwards is the perfect way to complete the meal and start the day with a smile.
If you’re looking for a good Italian bakery in Dublin, then Il Valentino Bakery and Café on Gallery Quay is the place to go. This bakery makes a wide selection of Italian breads and is a great place to grab a coffee. It’s just around the corner from the Bord Gáis, so if you’re ever looking for something to eat before a show, then Il Valentino has you covered.
Formerly located in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Camerino Bakery recently moved locations and is scheduled to open in May in Blackrock. For wonderful charm and excellent baked goods (if you’re willing to spend a bit), I cannot recommend dropping by this place enough.
Finally, I can’t make a list of bakeries in Dublin without mentioning The Rock Bakery in Skerries. While it may be an hour away from the city centre, it has received high praise ever since it opened and it provides fresh pastries and bread that I can personally say are simply delicious.