Ireland-It's all about the Food off the beaten path

Food! I am all about it! When I travel that's what it's all about it, when is the next meal coming and where are we going to get! I can easily eat my way through a city or country. Not so good for the waist line but hey you only live once right?!?!I didn't plan so well for Ireland. I tend to over plan out every thing so I thought we could just wing it as we traveled and find places to eat as we turned up into little towns. Ireland is not so easy to find food unless you're in a bigger city. I am a grazer so I tend to eat more often through the day and eat smaller meals. It could have also been because we were stayed more northwest and had a lot of country side so harder to find places to stop but here is what we did find! And it was incredible when we did!Once we got to Dublin, we dumped our bags and hit the town. We were pretty famished after traveling for 26+ hours and extremely tired. So we headed down Grafton Street and found the cutest little cafe that has counters stocked with croissants, scones, breads, and pastries. We opted to take it with us since it was starting to rain and we had a lot of city to get through just incase the skies opened up. So warm croissants, lattes, and cappuccinos in hand and we were on our way!Dinner is where it was at! They probably thought we were crazy ordering a bunch of things off the menu to share and taste. But were starving and looking to stuff ourselves almost to the brim, of course leaving a little room for pints, we had a long night of drinking a head of us. ;) We found a little place called "The Boxty House" right down the alley from The Temple Bar. They describe themselves as a "Cafe with Victorian stained glass lamps and antique furniture, seasonal food and potato pancakes." I loved this place! We had smoked salmon on goat cheese crostini with Mache and salmon roe. I had a pickled vegetable salad and we split the cheese board. It was made with Irish House cheeses with apple chutney, baked walnuts, honey and homemade breads! Brian had traditional Dublin Coddle, which includes pork sausage, onions, potatoes, herbs and spices.On our travels in the car we stopped in tiny cafes off the beaten path for bites in the UK and through the small towns of County Donegal. Pints in pubs like McCaferty's and The Reel Inn. Scones with homemade jam and egg sandwiches with smoked bacon for breakfast in cosy and quaint little places like the Blueberry Tea Room. Fresh prawns, salmon and cod can also be found in the higher end restaurants. We had a great dinner at the Market House Restaurant which was attached to our hotel, The Abbey Hotel. (Skip the hotel on a Saturday night unless you're up for dancing the night away till 3 am in their night club or you can just lay in your bed till 3 am and wait for the walls to stop bouncing and the music to finally stop.) ;)We hung out with the locals for appetizers at The House Gastro Pub before we headed off to dinner and we came back for more pints later. We met some of the nicest bartenders and they offered the best advice for places to stop and see, where to fly fish, and restaurants not to miss as we headed more north. I had the best goat cheese and beet salad there! Oh...  I almost forgot, way off the beaten path we found a folk village across the street for from a small beach. They sold locally made wool sweaters and they had a small tea room with a couple playing traditional Irish music. But they had the best homemade Irish vegetable stew and brown bread there. Sooo good!Once we got to our cottage in Buncrana we made little picnics for our trip to the beach one day, and had tea out on the little veranda that over looked the ocean from the top of the hill. We ate locally made soda bread with butter and jam for breakfasts and tried to absorb the slower part of the trip. We did go into town our last day and found another little cafe for sandwiches and cappuccinos once more before we left town to head back to the states. Being a foodie, Ireland definitely made us work a little harder to find some of the better places to eat. But they also had some really different and great places. Just enjoying the smaller bites like the homemade scones and brown bread with fresh jam made us slow down and enjoy the traditional food and culture of the country. As Americans we are spoiled with the accessibility, different cuisines and options we have in the states. So it's always kind of fun and of course very humbling to experience new things and not hold expectations so high when you're out of your element. So, if you're headed over to Ireland, you may have to plan a little more or seek out different places if you're looking for a broader palette. But finding your traditional and regional dishes are perfect as well. And if you're still starving a pint of Guinness or two will always do the trick! It always worked for me! :) If you missed the post on seeing the sights of Ireland go here!