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Food tours in Dublin: what to eat and which tour to book
Dublin food is built on a small number of very good raw materials: grass-fed beef and lamb, dairy and farmhouse cheese, oysters and other seafood from the Irish Sea, and good bread. Traditional dishes are plain and filling: stew, coddle, the full Irish breakfast, fish and chips. Alongside them the city has a large modern café and restaurant scene and a strong immigrant food culture around Capel Street, Parnell Street and Moore Street. The pub matters too. Many serve food all day, and a pint of stout is part of the meal.
Use this page to decide what to order and where. The dishes and areas below tell you what each part of the centre does well and when the markets run. The tours are real listings on GetYourGuide and Viator. We could not see most prices on the listing pages, so the figures are approximate. Confirm price, group size and inclusions on the booking page before you pay.
What to eat in Dublin
| Dish | What it is | Where to eat it | Typical price* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish stew | Lamb or mutton slow-cooked with potatoes, onions and carrots. Some pubs add Guinness or use beef, which purists object to. | Traditional pubs across the centre and around Christ Church and Thomas Street; avoid the tourist menus on the main Temple Bar strip. | roughly €16–22 a bowl in a pub |
| Full Irish breakfast full Irish / fry-up | Rashers (back bacon), sausages, black and white pudding, eggs, grilled tomato, mushrooms and toast or soda bread, with tea. | Cafés and pubs everywhere; served until late morning, some all day. | roughly €13–18 |
| Breakfast roll and chicken fillet roll breakfast roll / chicken fillet roll | Crusty baguette-style roll stuffed with breakfast items, or with breaded chicken, cheese and mayo. Workers' food bought at convenience-shop deli counters. | Deli counters in Spar, Centra, Londis and similar shops all over the city. | about €5–8 |
| Fish and chips a 'one and one' (fish and chips) from the chipper | Battered cod or haddock with thick chips, eaten from the paper. Dublin chippers have a long Italian-Irish history. | Long-running chippers in the south inner city (around Christ Church and Werburgh Street) and chippers in every neighbourhood. | roughly €12–16 |
| Dublin coddle coddle | Sausages, rashers, potato and onion simmered in stock; the city's own working-class dish, usually pale and soft rather than browned. | Only some older pubs keep it on the menu; ask, as it is less common than stew. | roughly €15–19 |
| Oysters and stout oysters with a pint of Guinness | Irish rock oysters, usually from Galway, Carlingford or other west and east coast beds, served raw with lemon and brown bread. | Seafood bars and some city-centre pubs; oyster stands appear at weekend markets. | roughly €3–4.50 per oyster; a pint of stout about €6–8 outside Temple Bar |
| Brown bread and soda bread brown soda bread / soda farl | Quick bread raised with bread soda and buttermilk; the brown version is dense and nutty and comes with soup and seafood chowder. | Served with soup and chowder in pubs; loaves sold at bakeries, food halls and markets. | soup or chowder with brown bread roughly €8–14 |
| Boxty bacstaí / boxty | Potato pancake made from grated raw and mashed potato, served as a wrap or pancake with fillings. Originally from the north-west midlands rather than Dublin, but easy to find in the centre. | A few specialist restaurants in and near Temple Bar. | roughly €18–25 as a main |
Where to eat: markets and neighbourhoods
George's Street Arcade
Victorian red-brick covered arcade between South Great George's Street and Drury Street with small food counters, cafés and stalls alongside vintage shops. The surrounding streets are full of cafés and restaurants.
Temple Bar Food Market (Meeting House Square)
Small Saturday market with cheese, bread, oysters and hot food, one of the few reasons to eat in Temple Bar rather than walk through it.
Moore Street
Dublin's oldest open-air fruit and vegetable street market, with traders calling prices, and now lined with African, Asian and Eastern European grocers.
Capel Street and Parnell Street
Capel Street was pedestrianised in 2022 and has a dense mix of Asian, Korean, Brazilian and other restaurants; Parnell Street nearby has Chinese and Korean places. Cheaper than the south-side centre.
Camden Street and Wexford Street
Strip of restaurants, cafés and pubs south of St Stephen's Green, popular with locals for dinner and drinks.
Liberties and Thomas Street
Old working quarter around the Guinness Storehouse and the city's distilleries, with traditional pubs and newer cafés and food halls.
Food tours in Dublin compared
Every tour below is a real listing on GetYourGuide or Viator, checked on 2 Oct 2026. Prices move with season and group size, so treat them as a guide and confirm on the booking page.
| Tour | Length | Price* | Group | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin: Delicious Walking Food Tour | about 3 hours | from €90 per person | small group (exact maximum not seen) | First-timers who want a broad, daytime overview of modern Irish produce. | Check dates |
| Dublin: Walking Food Tour with local chef, 7 stops or more! | 3 hours | from €100 per person | max 10 | Travellers who want a chef's own picks and a focus on small independent businesses. | Check dates |
| Dublin: 2.5-Hour Fabulous Food Tasting Trail | 2.5 hours | from €85 per person | private (your group only) | Visitors short on time who want a shorter tour. | Check dates |
| Dublin Historical Centre Private Food Tour with 8 Food Tastings | — | see listing | private (your group only) | Families or friends who want a private guide and their own pace. | Check dates |
| Dublin Food & Drink Walking Tour & Jameson Irish Coffee Demo | 3 hours | from €98 per person | — | Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients. | Check dates |
| Dublin: Jameson Whiskey Distillery Tour with Tastings | 45 minutes | from €31 per person | — | First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide. | Check dates |
Dublin: Delicious Walking Food Tour
On GetYourGuide · run by Delicious Dublin Tours
- Length
- about 3 hours
- Price
- from €90 per person
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ from 256 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- small group (exact maximum not seen)
- Included
- Tastings of Irish food and drinks at award-winning eateries and food shops in the city centre, from traditional dishes to newer trends.
- Suits
- First-timers who want a broad, daytime overview of modern Irish produce.
- Starts
- The Spire
Dublin: Walking Food Tour with local chef, 7 stops or more!
On GetYourGuide · run by Dublin chef Clodagh Shortall
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €100 per person
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ from 52 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- max 10
- Included
- 7 or more stops at small Irish businesses with sweet and savoury dishes and a pint of Guinness.
- Suits
- Travellers who want a chef's own picks and a focus on small independent businesses.
- Starts
- College Green, Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Dublin: 2.5-Hour Fabulous Food Tasting Trail
On GetYourGuide · run by Fab Food Trails
- Length
- 2.5 hours
- Price
- from €85 per person
- Rating
- 5.0 ★ from 12 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- private (your group only)
- Included
- A walking tasting trail through the centre; detailed inclusions not seen, check the listing.
- Suits
- Visitors short on time who want a shorter tour.
- Starts
- In front of The Mansion House, Dawson Street, D02 AF30.
Dublin Historical Centre Private Food Tour with 8 Food Tastings
On Viator · run by Secret Food Tours
- Price
- shown on the booking page
- Group size
- private (your group only)
- Included
- 8 food tastings in the historic centre; Secret Food Tours' Dublin route is described as including Irish stew, a breakfast bap and artisan cheese.
- Suits
- Families or friends who want a private guide and their own pace.
- Starts
- Near Trinity College (as described for the operator's Dublin tour)
Dublin Food & Drink Walking Tour & Jameson Irish Coffee Demo
On GetYourGuide · run by LetzGo City Tours Europe
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €98 per person
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ from 10 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Suits
- Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients.
- Starts
- Leonardo Hotel Dublin Christchurch
Dublin: Jameson Whiskey Distillery Tour with Tastings
On GetYourGuide · run by Jameson Distillery
- Length
- 45 minutes
- Price
- from €31 per person
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ from 7,813 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Included
- Guided tour Comparative whiskey tasting A signature Jameson cocktail
- Suits
- First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide.
- Starts
- Meeting point may vary depending on the option booked.
Some links on this page are partner links. If you book through them TonyPlan earns a small commission — the price you pay is exactly the same.
Street food, sit-down or a cooking class?
Street food
Dublin has little street food in the sense of hawker stalls. The everyday quick food is the chipper, the deli counter roll and the market stall at George's Street Arcade or the Saturday Temple Bar market. It is good for a cheap lunch, but you will eat most meals indoors because of the weather.
Sit-down meals
Pubs are the default sit-down meal: stew, fish and chips, burgers and seafood chowder, usually served from midday to about 21:00. Restaurants on Camden Street, Capel Street and around Dawson Street cover everything else. Dubliners eat dinner earlier than southern Europeans, from about 18:00 to 21:00, and popular places need a booking on Friday and Saturday.
Cooking classes
Cooking classes are less common in Dublin than in Rome or Paris; most visitor options on the booking platforms are walking tastings, brewery and distillery tours. If you want to bake soda bread or scones, check the listings for a current class before planning around it.
How much to budget for food
| Style | Per person, per day* |
|---|---|
| Budget (street food, markets) | €35–45 (deli-counter breakfast roll, chipper or market lunch, pub dinner without many drinks) |
| Mid-range (one sit-down meal a day) | €70–90 (two sit-down meals and a couple of pints) |
| Splurge (tasting menus, wine) | €150+ (tasting menu at a well-known restaurant with wine) |
Vegetarian, halal and gluten-free
Vegetarian & vegan: Easy in the centre. Most cafés and pubs have vegetarian mains and there are several fully vegan restaurants. Traditional dishes are the problem: stew, coddle, the full Irish and chowder are all meat or fish. Black and white pudding contain pork and blood or oatmeal.
Halal: Halal butchers and takeaways are concentrated along Clanbrassil Street and the South Circular Road near the Dublin Mosque, and around Parnell Street and Moore Street. Pork is central to the full Irish, coddle and breakfast rolls; ask before ordering.
Gluten-free: Coeliac awareness is high in Ireland and the Coeliac Society of Ireland is active; most menus mark gluten-free options. Watch soda bread, battered fish, stout in stews, and shared fryers in chippers.
Food scams and tourist traps to avoid
- Temple Bar pubs charging well above city prices for a pint and for food aimed at tourists. Have a drink there for the atmosphere if you want, then eat and drink a few streets away on Camden Street, in the Liberties or north of the river, where a pint is usually €1–3 cheaper.
- Card terminals offering to charge you in your home currency (dynamic currency conversion) at a poor exchange rate. Always choose to pay in euro.
- Service charges added automatically, often 10–12.5% for groups, and then a tip line on the card machine on top. Read the menu and bill. If a service charge is already included, you do not need to tip again.
- Generic 'traditional Irish' set menus near the main sights that serve reheated stew at high prices. Check recent reviews, and prefer pubs where locals are eating, not just drinking.
Top tours & activities in Dublin
Rent a car in Dublin
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Staying near the markets saves time and taxi money — most food tours start in the old centre.
Common questions
Do I need to tip in Dublin?
In sit-down restaurants a tip of about 10–12.5% is normal for good service, unless a service charge is already on the bill, which is common for groups of six or more. You do not tip for drinks at the bar in a pub. Taxis are usually rounded up. On food tours, guides appreciate a tip of around €5–10 per person if you enjoyed it.
Which food tour is best for a first visit?
A daytime walking tasting tour of the south city centre is the easiest choice: it covers traditional dishes, Irish cheese and newer cafés and usually replaces lunch. If you want a pint of stout included, look for a tour that lists Guinness in its inclusions. A private tour works best for families with children or people with strict dietary needs.
When are Dublin's food markets open?
George's Street Arcade is open every day from roughly mid-morning to early evening, shorter on Sunday. Moore Street traders work Monday to Saturday, mostly mornings to late afternoon. The Temple Bar Food Market in Meeting House Square is a Saturday market, roughly 10:00 to mid-afternoon. Hours shift around public holidays, so check before you go.
How much should I budget for food per day?
Dublin is one of the more expensive cities in Europe for eating out. Around €35–45 a day covers a deli-counter roll, a chipper or market lunch and a simple pub dinner. A comfortable day with two sit-down meals and a couple of pints is about €70–90. A tasting menu with wine at a well-known restaurant is €150 or more per person.
Should I book food tours in advance?
Yes in summer, around St Patrick's Day in March and at weekends all year, when small-group tours fill several days ahead. Booking 3–7 days ahead is usually enough outside those periods. Most listings on GetYourGuide and Viator offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, so booking early costs little.
Where can I eat a proper Irish breakfast or stew?
A full Irish is easy to find: most cafés and many pubs serve it until late morning, some all day, for roughly €13–18. For stew, choose an older traditional pub rather than a Temple Bar restaurant with a picture menu. Coddle is harder to find, so ask in older pubs whether they have it on the day.
* Prices are approximate, gathered on 2 Oct 2026 from menus, markets and the booking pages linked above. They change with season and exchange rates.