I hadn’t been to Taste of Dublin before so was excited to pop along and see what all the fuss was about.  It had pretty much been advertised to death in every possible way so it was impossible not to know it was on.

As luck would have it I managed to get a couple of free passes for the Sunday lunch session  between 1.00 p.m and 4 p.m.  Normally the ticket price for this would have been €23.00 excluding booking fee.  Personally I thought it was a bit on the expensive side just for entry to the event. I would have liked to see perhaps a complimentary drink included in the price.

I have to say I couldn’t have picked a better day to visit.  The sun was literally splitting the sky and the Iveagh Gardens were in full swing with eager visitors.

There were a number of areas which had live performers playing a mix of music as well as a DJs spinning Summer anthems.  The whole area had the feel of an upmarket festival.

The gardens are quite big and every inch of them were utilised to house the huge number of exhibitors. There were numerous bars offering everything from specialised spirits, craft beers and champagne.

There was also plenty of food on offer. Some great restaurants like The Exchequer, The Green Hen, Clodaghs Kitchen, Saba, Chapter One and Jaipur were all offering their signature dishes to hungry visitors.  There were also plenty of smaller stands offering a mix of treats.

Throughout the few days there were also a number of demonstrations from various celebrity and restaurant chefs such as Rachel Allen, Kevin Dundon, Darina Allen, Clodagh McKenna, Chef Stuart and Linda Booth.

There was a great vibe to the event and plenty on offer in terms of food and drink. While there was some good value to be had I did think many of the stands were slightly overpriced especially considering the cost of the entry ticket and the size of the portions they were offering. Then again it is quite a special event so you are paying for something a little out of the ordinary.

My visit was relatively short and I don’t think I had enough time to explore and certainly not enough florins in my pocket to judge it fairly, so I will return next year full of renewed enthusiasm.  There is no denying however that it is a great event for the city. It creates a fantastic opportunity for a variety of vendors to showcase their produce and equally for food and drink lovers to sample a little of everything in the stunning setting of the Iveagh Gardens.