By Mary Kate Hickey
The Sweetest Thing
A little gem on Bachelors Walk! Inside it is quite small – however, it is far from lacking in portion size. Upon entering, we were greeted by a huge smile, and we took the only spare table left inside. The staff were wonderfully friendly and upbeat, and they didn’t seem to mind when it took us an age to decide which delicious desserts to try. I went for the chocolate fudge cake, and my friend had the largest banana split I have ever seen. The waitresses even joked about the mountain that they were bringing out. Even though it is small and pretty busy, we never felt like we were being rushed out of our seats and we had plenty of time to thoroughly enjoy our desserts.
Sweet Republic
Only a few yards away on Bachelors Walk is another haven for the sweet toothed. Sweet Republic only opened last year, but has become a fast favourite in the city. People were going bananas about it when it opened, and it lived up to the hype. It has some mouth-watering sweets that could tempt even the strongest willed of individuals. My hands down favourite is the Ice Cream Cookie Sambo. They also do shakes, cupcakes and even sweet pizza!
Coco Bó
The only place in Dublin to make your own chocolate bar, Coco Bó is located in the heart of the city on O’ Connell Street. Coco Bó’s ‘Made by Me’ bars are €2.50 at the minute, on their Autumn special. The customer gets to customise everything, from the type of chocolate, to the fillings which range from fruit to marshmallows and popping candy. I got one with white chocolate, marshmallows and dried raspberries – amazing! They also offer a range of ice creams and toppings, as well as coffees and teas which are a welcome sight in these colder months.
Aungier Danger
After opening their first shop a little over a year ago, Aungier Danger has become a well-known name in the world of Irish donut lovers. They are open every week day from 7:30am, and weekends from 10am until whenever they sell out! They have every day staple favourites like Oreo Marshmallow, and my personal favourite, Lemon and Poppy seed. Aungier Danger have made a name for themselves by making some very topical donuts like the Repeal the 8th and Weed Donuts they made earlier this year.
Murphy’s Ice Cream
This delicious handmade ice cream is by far some of the creamiest I’ve ever tasted in Dublin. Tucked away on Wicklow Street – just off Grafton Street – the ice cream bar is a true Irish gem. The menu gives the names of the ice cream in Irish as well a
s English, so anyone can try order using their cúpla focal if they wish.
They’ve conducted some crazy experiments with ice cream over the years, with flavours like Candied Chilli Pepper and Christmas Pudding! My favourite is the Caramel Honeycomb, though I also love the Raspberry Sorbet. Even in the cold weather this ice cream is not one to be missed out on.