Café Bar Deli

There is a chain of Italian restaurants in Dublin (and a couple of other locations in Ireland) called Café Bar Deli. The food here has always been lovely and very healthy - thin crispy based pizzas, delicious and adventurous salads, a great selection of food for coeliacs, just the right sized portions for pasta dishes, and huge desserts! I went there last night with a group of my gorgeous girl friends and was very impressed with the food and the service. Café Bar Deli changes its menu quite often and does sometimes have specific vegan dishes on the agenda, but when we arrived there last night I discovered that there was nothing completely vegan I could have. However, I had spoken to the waiter on the phone previously and even though certain dishes could easily have been veganised by omitting the cheese/meat, he said that the chef had taken my diet into consideration and had a few things planned that he could make me especially. I ended up getting THIS wonderful concoction: Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Cous Cous.

... a huge pile of roasted aubergines, courgettes, garlic, red onion, peppers and sundried tomatoes, over a generous heap of red pepper cous cous. It was delicious! I was told that it would come with Salad and Hummus, but these never turned up... I wasn't complaining though, it was still very good without them. It was rather filling too, which was lucky because there really wasn't anything on the dessert menu that I could have had. Although in hindsight, I'd have been perfectly content with a bowl of balsamic vinegar marinaded strawberries (my friends had some with a very tempting looking meringue so I stole a couple - I can't believe how well this unusual combination worked!). Everybody really enjoyed their meal and I hope that my suggesting and recommending the restaurant didn't leave anyone disappointed. I will definitely be going back again, the staff are friendly and accommodating, the food is cooked to perfection and not at all greasy, and it's also very good value.