dillinger's

i am reviewing as per my visit in 2014.....
dillinger's is an american style diner inspired restaurant with the long green bar across the room, the high stools nd tables.....
there is a great cocktail menu with plenty of options but i went for 777 margaritas.......
on the brunch menu you really have the classics such as american pancakes, french toast, a fry or eggy options likeeggsbenedict or norwegian eggs. then you have some signature dishes such as their brunch nachos, dillinger’s burger,  a merguez shakshouka nd chicken and waffles. prices range from €11 to €19 nd portions are huge....
the margaritas are excellent......
i ordered 1) the smoked salmon hash browns (€13),,,there was a massive amount of smoked salmon topped with two perfectly roundeggscovered with a habanero hollandaise sauce,,,,,2) slow cooked pork belly hash (€12.50),,,it was a mix a succulent pork meat mixed with roasted peppers, served with poachedeggsand hollandaise sauce nd a small side salad,,,,, 3) i was so starving when i got there, i also ordered food i didn’t really need, a portion of  chilli beef and cheese fries (€5) which were excellent,,,i have to admit,,,,, but couldn't finish......
dillinger’s is well worth a try for brunch if you’re looking for a funky spot with good tunes nd a lively atmosphere. their dinner menu is a little bit more eclectic with a mix of different cuisines featuring like tuna tostados, a mezze plate, a killer curry special, steaks, and piri piri prawns etc etc.....

i've been here on two separate occasions, once to eat their super nachos at the bar and then last weekend for saturday brunch. 

i'll cut to the chase: dillingers' super nachos are the best nachos i have ever eaten, and i have eaten a lot. what ever they do to get the smoky meat and bean flavour is pure magic and i wanted to lick the plate clean. there is plenty of everything and the plate is big enough to share. the nachos are perfectly balanced with generous amounts of, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and melted cheese, but not too much to drown out the smoky meat and beans.

the brunch menu was great as it had such a variety and i wanted to order lots of things (i find some brunch places have really limited menus). there was plenty of veggie options too. i went for the short stack, american style pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. the pancakes were perfect and they were a really good size. there was plenty of bacon too but i thought this was a little too crispy for my liking. the maple syrup had quite a mild flavour to it. i would have liked something a little stronger to balance the salty bacon but over all these are some of the best pancakes i have ever had in dublin.

i also ordered the shakshouka of bakedeggswith merguez sausage, feta, swiss chard, spinach and tomato sauce and it was absolutely outstanding. such flavour, a really great spicy kick to it and a great sized portion. probably my favourite brunch dish in dublin. i'm already planning my next trip to order it again.

my companion orderedeggsbenedict and he said they were good, but they just didn't look nearly as exciting or drool worthy as the pancakes or shakshouka. 

the coffee too was really good. so the three dishes, one coffee and one coke came to just under €40 and i think it was well worth it. i was stuffed but more importantly the food was so so tasty.

the place too is gorgeous inside and has a great vibe and super nice staff. i love sitting at the bar here as it is just so casual and fun. this is one of my favourite places in dublin as the food is so good.

arrived with a huge contemplation of what to have from their great menu. everything coming out of the kitchen looked amazing. i went for their famous super nachos and my boyfriend had the steak andeggswhich looked so tasty. i have had the nachos is taco taco before and these ones are way better! the only thing i was unhappy about was the €4 each paid for a very small glass of orange juice. which was mostly full of ice!! bit of a crazy rip off but other than that, all i can say is i need to get back here asap. and i'll pass on the orange juice next time!

visited dillingers for a late sunday brunch yesterday. everyone raves about it and so i was looking forward to going.
first off the bloody mary was epic, it's as spicy and delicious as it is aesthetically pleasing! i had bakedeggsand feta and my buds had pancakes andeggsbenny. everything was really tasty and the service was good. recommend trying here.

went for brunch on sunday , i got the steak &eggsand brunch cocktail. really nice buzzy place with great staff . definitely will be back !

met some friends here for brunch on saturday. we tried to book but we were told they didn't take bookings for brunch but there was no problem getting a table for three of us at 12.30 on a saturday and it was nicely busy!
i ordered the french toast and tea and my friend ordered norwegianeggsand some orange juice. the food was absolutely delicious and my french toast was huge! my friend said theeggswere good but a little on the small side so she ordered a hot chocolate afterwards! really nice food and really reasonable, think i paid 13 for the french toast and a pot of tea! only downside was the music was really loud and at times it was hard to hear each other! would definitely go back though

we had a super sunday brunch here sans toddler which was a rare occurrence since we tend to stick to family friendly spots. this place was a treat for us adults only, slick interior, latino tunes blaring, cocktails at 11am... yes please. my husband opted for theeggsbenedict and stated the hollandaise was the best in dublin, hands down. high praise!! i went for the pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. super fluffy pancakes and literally a pig worth of streaky crisp bacon. coffees were great, we will certainly come back to try the cocktails next time. nice work.

given a choice of meals to go out for i’d usually opt for dinner. it gives me an excuse to get dressed up and head off into town for the evening and enjoy a few drinks. but brunch seems to be getting more and more popular these days so last week we decided we’d ditch the dinner date and go for brunch instead.

there’s so much choice for brunch in dublin right now and we were spoiled for choice looking through the menus online. i always seem to be out and about in town so fancied somewhere different and as i love ranelagh i had a look at the restaurants around there. i think ranelagh is the most perfect place for grabbing a bite to eat… such a great mix of food genres from pakistani & eastern in kinara kitchen to burgers and wings in tribeca. one place i’d heard of but never been is dillinger’s, sister restaurant to the butcher grill (also in ranelagh) and 777 on georges street. so after looking at the menu, it was decided brunch would be in dillinger’s! they serve it saturday and sunday from 12 – 4pm.

about lunch time on sunday we arrived to an already busy ranelagh. this place never stops! we managed to nab a handy parking spot and as it was a sunday it was free…. a bonus, as usually you can easily add an extra €12 quid onto your day if you want to park in ranelagh. the restaurant is on ranelagh main street and after walking in to a packed house we could see their location and good reputation really get the crowd in. we were asked if we wanted to wait for a table or sit at the bar – i love bar sitting so we plonked ourselves down and got looking through the menu.

first off was drinks. e was driving (again, one day i will drive us around i promise!!) so i was free to have a proper drink :-) the cocktail of the day was a campari mint spritz, campari, mint, cranberry juice & prosecco (€8.50)… an obvious choice!
e was trying to be a bit healthy and went for a juice from their healthy side menu called salad days (€4.50). it was made up of spinach, carrot, celery, radish, red pepper and lemon. drinks arrived and mine was lovely and refreshing. i hate to say it but i don’t know how e drank that juice…. i’m not used to those kind of drinks and i’ll choose the prosecco every time!

so onto the food! there’s a really great selection on this menu – dillinger’s fry (containing every breakfast item possible!), crab cakes with eggs, omelette, french toast, steak & eggs, their famous super nachos,eggsbenedict, a bacon sambo a burger or a stack of pancakes were most of the menu choices. i’ve heard a lot about the super nachos and so was very tempted to get them but in the end i decided to have something i couldn’t make at home and went for the crab cakes witheggs(€14). e being all manly and stuff went for the steak &eggs(€18).

we placed our order and i had a good look around the place while we waited. it is definitely more diner than restaurant but not your eddie rockets style. the interior is slick and shiney and the staff were equally as great… efficient and friendly without being ott. all in all a pretty casual place that still feels like a treat to go to.

when the food arrived we were both impressed. i got 3 crab cakes with salad, 2 poachedeggsand a little side of aioli. it was served on a beautiful plate with pink flowers…. very unlike anything i’ve been served food on in a dublin restaurant!

e’s steak arrived with 2 big poachedeggsand some home fries and salad also. he’d asked for a pepper sauce instead of the bernaise and they were happy to give him that instead.

we got stuck in and not much was said for the next few minutes while we both devoured the food. the crab cakes were amazing, lovely and crispy on the outside with super soft crab meat inside. the poachedeggswere perfectly cooked, nice and gooey when cut into, just how i like ‘em! :-)
of course i had some of e’s steak and apart from the fact that it was super well done as he likes it (i like a rare steak) it was yummy, really good quality meat. we both thought it was great food and good value especially the steak option as it was a pretty generous portion.

we skipped dessert and e had a cappuccino which he said was really good… much as i want to like coffee i just don’t so i usually just get another glass of wine :-)

we didn’t hang around as we had a gaa match to watch in smyth’s up the road so the total bill came to €48.00 with a nice little smiley face. i really enjoyed brunch in dillinger’s and i will most definitely be returning for the super nachos :-)