December 11, 2016 (Dublin, Ireland)

During our walking tour of the city with Dublin Free Walking Tour, our guide Richie brought us to this cafe for a little break. Because we still had an hour and a half on our walking tour left, I didn’t want to risk having to go to the bathroom so I declined to buy a cup of coffee; even though the warmth of the liquid would’ve done me good on that cold and damp day.

So two nights later, when we wanted a nice cafe to lounge out at, with Wi-fi and a cozy atmosphere, we decided to head out to the Temple Bar area since many other coffee shops had closed early on Sunday night. For those of you not familiar with Dublin, Temple Bar is an area just south of the Liffey River that contains a lot of Irish pubs and bars. It is  very lively every night but especially the weekends. We came across Brick Alley Cafe and thought, ‘well, they are still open, let’s give it a try’.

We were pleasantly surprised. It was a lot less crowded than during the tour that noon on Friday. So we felt like we could take it easy. We had brought our German language homework to tackle, as Grant and I are taking a German course.

What surprised me was the hot chocolate menu, the most variety I’ve seen at a cafe:

Grant ordered a mocha and I ordered a latte. Both were very tasty, although I am tempted to come back just to try the numerous hot cocoas on offer. What I find very sweet is that many of the cafe’s in Dublin will add marshmallows to your hot cocoa upon request. I think that’s a nice touch and a throwback to more nostalgic times.

This coffee shop has a nice, quaint atmosphere and the wooden interior and large wooden tables add to a rustic feel.  There are giant, over-sized light bulbs that line the window, providing a nice steady light which is great for reading, chatting, or working on the computer. We ended up staying for a couple of hours and were never disturbed or made to feel like we had overstayed.

So if you are in Dublin, and are looking for a coffee shop to try that is not Starbucks or Costa Coffee (an english ubiquitous coffee chain similar to Starbucks); or you want a coffee night cap after drinking at Temple Bar, I recommend this cafe. Or if you are not in the coffee mood and want an actual night cap, they also serve beer, wine, and other drinks, as well as gelato. It is located at 25 East Essex Street in Temple Bar. They are open 7 days a week into the evening. Or if you get lost, it’s right across from the Temple Bar bar:

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