Brunch at The Winding Stair

I must have walked by The Winding Stair hundreds of times over the last few years and I have never tried it.  To be honest I always thought this place was a bit of a tourist trap until I visited on Sunday.


Our fridge was totally empty so we decided to go for brunch before going to the cinema. I wanted to try somewhere I'd never been before and somewhere on the Northside, which didn't leave us with many possibilities but I remembered seeing the Winding Stair brunch menu and thought why not?

We walked up the winding staircase to the dining room and I asked to be seated by the window. It wasn't very busy at the time and we got a table with a great view over the Ha'Penny Bridge.

Many dishes on the menu appealed to me, such as the Terry Butterly's smoked salmon with homemade potato waffle or the organic gammon steak, black pudding, crispy egg, mash and Dalkey mustard gravy for example.

Mr. FFID ordered the homemade lemonade (€4.50) to quench his thirst after having a few drinks the night before while I went for a refreshing freshly squeezed orange juice (€4.50).

My Gubbeen chorizo rancheros (€16.95) was presented on a toasted flatbread and some smashed avocado was served in a little cup on the side. 

The dish didn't look the most sophisticated but it certainly didn't disappoint flavour wise. There were lots of chunks of tasty chorizo served in a spicy tomato sauce and topped with melted vintage cheddar cheese.

I discovered the hidden gooey egg yolk when I moved the melted cheese with the tip of my knife and dug in.

They were bloody good chorizo egg rancheros, so good I almost wished I was hungover as it would have been the perfect cure. 

Mr. FFID had the Ha'Penny Bridge breakfast (€13.95) which was gigantic. You could have thought it's a bit pricey for a full Irish but this is a proper artisan fry. There was a nice chunk of Mc Geough's black pudding, Hick's sausages, a roasted tomato, organic fried eggs, mushrooms, the most delicious rashers of Gubbeen bacon and cheesy beans on toast.

It was epic, we thought it was the best Irish breakfast we've tried in Dublin.

Brunch at the Winding Stair was a real treat: I loved the setting, the view of the Liffey and the quality of the locally sourced products used in our dishes. I'm not gonna lie, it's an expensive brunch compared to many other spots out there but the food made an impression and the service was brisk and attentive. I'll be back to try their lunch or dinner and I'll recommend their Irish breakfast to any visitor to Ireland, that's for sure!

The Winding Stair

40 Lower Ormond Quay

Dublin 1

http://winding-stair.com

This is an independent review, I paid for my meal.