About three years ago an Irish reader called Taurean Coughlan used to leave me lovely comments on the blog and social media. From what I could understand he lived in Melbourne, Australia and my blog (amongst others) helped him to keep up to date with the changing food scene back home.
I ended up following him on Instagram and kind of knew what he was up to. He seemed to enjoy the fantastic brunch scene in Melbourne, he was a pal of super talented fashion illustrator Megan Hess and he eventually came back to Ireland. He worked in Joe's Coffee for a while and finally I saw him and his partner were opening their very own café in Dublin. It's funny all the things you can know about someone you've never met just by following him on Instagram.
Two Boys Brew opened about three months ago in Phibsborough, on Dublin's Northside. It's open Monday to Friday (7am-4pm) and also at the weekend from 9am to 4pm. They focus on speciality coffee serving 3FE and a selection from a monthly guest roaster but fear not if coffee isn't your thing, they also serve Wall and Keogh tea and excellent cold pressed juices from Sprout and Co (alcohol licence is also on the way). In terms of food, the menu features breakfast options, an all-day brunch menu, soups and sandwiches and of course sweet treats on display at the counter.
Mr. FFID and I visited on a Friday just before the lunchtime rush. The interior of Two Boys Brew is a spacious café, sleek and modern with a beautiful design. There is a counter by the windows where people can sit on high stools and see the world (well, Phisborough) go by. It's a beautiful cafe and unfortunately (for me) the place was so packed that I couldn't really take too many pictures of it, not a complaint for the owners though.
The brunch menu totally sounded like my type of food. I went for the baked eggs (€10.95) which came beautifully presented in a cast-iron pan served with a slice of toasted Arun Bakery wholemeal sourdough bread.
Sizzling hot with a subtly spiced peperonata at the bottom, topped with eggs and crumbled goat cheese and micro-leaves. The dish was finished with a sprinkle of housemade dukkah, a flavoursome mix of spices and nuts that I'm very fond of, which adds a bit of crunch as well as some delightful aromas to a dish. I also went for a side portion of chorizo (€2.95), which was perfectly cooked and went very well with the baked eggs.
I washed down my food with my favourite cold pressed juice, the Carrot & Co (€3.95), just to get some vitamins into me.
Mr. FFID's choice was a slice of toasted wholemeal sourdough bread with a generous portion of lemony avocado mash served with roasted cherry tomato, rocket leaves, feta cheese, charred lemon and two poached eggs (€9.95).
He also went for a portion of tasty bacon (€2.95) on the side. Again a very 'Instagrammable dish' (e.g pleasant to look at), simple but with quality ingredients it made it a winning brunch fare.
Before we just dug into the food, Taurean actually came over to say hello (Damned, my cover was blown!), but it was really lovely to finally meet someone who I've been interacting with online for so long, and even better someone who opened a dream café in Dublin. He seemed to be on such a high, slightly overwhelmed by their success and loving it even if he hasn't had a day off since they opened.
We came hungry but certainly left full, portions are quite substantial at Two Boys Brew which made the food even better value. It seems that the place is doing extremely well with people queueing at the doors to get in, and to be honest I understand why. I can sense a very promising future for the guys from Two Boys Brew!
Two Boys Brew
375 North Circular Road,
Dublin 7
Two Boys Brew's website
This is an independent review, I paid for my meal.
