Great food at The Green Hen, Dublin

A few weeks ago we travelled to Dublin to spend a night with friends and do a little sightseeing.  We’ve been to Dublin on a number of occasions and are no strangers to the city, but one thing we haven’t really explored enough is the real food side of Dublin.  This changed on our recent trip and we can’t wait to get back down to visit some of the great eateries that have been recommended to us by fellow food bloggers.  We’ve seen plenty of Dublin city including the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery, so now it’s time to explore it’s food culture.  We picked the brain of two of our friends for a nice restaurant in the city centre and we were pointed in the direction of The Green Hen.

A hidden gem in the heart of Dublin

Located in the popular Exchequer Street in Dublin’s city centre, it would be easy to walk past The Green Hen.  It’s not exactly the biggest restaurant on the street but once you walk inside you are really drawn in by the atmosphere and the extremely impressive bar and collection of drinks.  We were visiting on a Thursday night and there wasn’t a free table anywhere – a good sign in our eye.  We took a seat at the bar and enjoyed a drink while waiting for our table to become available.  This didn’t take long and the staff were extremely helpful.  As we sat down, the menu had a good selection of starters and mains so we were more than happy with our choice of venue.  Now for the food!

Duck Confit

Helen decided to go with the confit duck and it certainly lived up to our expectations.  The crispy skin was simply divine while the meat was moist and succulent.  For the duck fans among you, be sure to get this if you’re ever lucky enough to be in The Green Hen.  In traditional Irish fashion the duck was accompanied by a creamy champ with carrots and cabbage.  Duck is one of these meats that goes so well with fruit and the blackberry vinaigrette that was served with this duck confit is something we’ll certainly look to replicate at home.  Really impressed with the dish and let’s just say there was nothing left 🙂

Cost – €19

 

10oz Chargrilled Rib Eye Steak

For me, the bes cut of steak is a rib eye.  It has so much flavour and offers great value.  When it comes to choosing between fillet, sirloin or rib eye, the rib eye wins every time for me, so I was looking forward to sampling this one from The Green Hen.  I have to admit I’m easily pleased when it comes to eating steak and pepper sauce tends to tick the box for me.  I decided to go with the Bearnaise sauce on this occasion and it was fantastic, certainly something I’ll be taking again.  While chips and onion rings might sound simple, you’ll be surprised how many pubs and restaurants seem to mess these up with their steaks.  The Green Hen hit all the right spots for me with this steak and I’ll definitely be back to enjoy it again.

Cost – €26

Dessert time – Passion fruit cheesecake

As we were heading off to meet friends, we decided to share a dessert.  As with the main menu, the dessert board offered plenty of variety but looking for something light to clear the pallet, we decided to go for the passion fruit cheesecake.  To say it looked a little different when it arrived is an understatement.  The baked cheesecake was topped with a passion fruit curd and packed with flavour with a perfectly creamy texture.  It was accompanied with a shortbread ice-cream which is something we’ll certainly be cooking at home.  Think of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream only much, much better.

Cost – €8

We thoroughly enjoyed The Green Hen and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Dublin in the near future.  It’s in a great location that is within walking distance from many popular bars and is only 5 minutes from the popular Temple Bar area.  It’s also a short walk to Grafton Street so it’s really easy to get to.  We enjoyed a few drinks with our meal and the total cost was just under €70 which was more than acceptable as the food, service and setting was perfect.  For the cocktail lovers among you, there is a great cocktail menu in the bar as well.

Have you visited The Green Hen?

Have you ever been to The Green Hen?  We’d love to know what you thought of the food and the setting.  Let us know by commenting below.  If you have any other suggestions for restaurants to visit in Dublin please let us know, as we plan to return in the not so distant future.

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Main image courtesy of GreenHen.ie