Alright, you win. A while back I posted about discovering the delicious Dublin coddle at the Hairy Lemon in town only to be met with a barrage of angry yet hilarious comments - 'coddle virgin' and 'hemp jumper-wearing meat beater' being particular favourites.
While I very much stand by my endorsement of the Stephen Street pub's recipe, I recently decided to take the advice of my detractors and spread my coddle wings a little bit further. And when I say further I mean about a kilometre across town.
Extensive Dublin coddle research led me to Gallagher's Boxty House, at the heart of Dublin's bustling Temple Bar. "Oi, ya won't get any real coddle in there! Get over to The Gravediggers in Glasnevin," I hear you all shout. Well, if the Guinness is anything to go by at the iconic northside spot then I certainly intend to. But due to time restraints, on the day of my coddle hunt I wasn't going anywhere past the city centre. Sue me.
To be fair, not much comes up in a Google search of which places serve coddle in the capital (suggestions welcome) so unless you're making it yourself at home, your options really are limited. Off I went into the Boxty House anyway where I was led to a lovely little window seat facing out onto Temple Bar.
After a couple of minutes scanning the menu in an attempt at appearing inconspicuous, I decided to plump for the Traditional Dublin Coddle - described on the menu as 'bacon, pork and black pudding sausage, potato and soda bread.'
The description is fairly similar to the Hairy Lemon version, substituting soda bread for brown bread, while the Lemon served mashed potato on the side, a definite point for them if I had to choose between to two.
By the time Boxty's coddle arrived I was more than ready to get stuck in. Stirring the broth, it was clear to see that I was really getting my money's worth in terms of volume, at least. There was enough sausage and bacon to feed a small family and the amount of potatoes in the bowl almost made up for the lack of mash.
Upon tasting, it was clear that Boxty know what they're doing. The coddle was the ideal temperature to heat me up on a chilly afternoon and all of the ingredients went perfectly together. Let's just say, if you're into pork, coddle is your man.
The real treat though was the accompanying soda bread which was perfect for dipping into the bowl and delicious enough nibble on by itself. The only problem was that there wasn't enough and it wasn't long before I had to revert back to the spoon.
To be honest, there was so much in the bowl that I left the last remnants before I put my hemp jumper back on and prepared to leave. As someone residing in Dublin, it's good to know that both Boxty's and the Hairy Lemon can boast a decent bowl of coddle if I'm ever at a loose end in the city or if I ever want to impress any visitors.
On the flip side, while tourists will always flock to places like this, both spots could do with bringing the prices down (€15.95 in Hairy Lemon and €16 in Boxty's) to attract more locals but that's just the way things are in the city centre.
All in all, if you do find yourself in the Temple Bar area in the near future, the bowl of coddle in Boxty's will give you plenty of soakage before your few pints. Alternatively, they've a got a pretty decent cocktail menu if you're that way inclined.
Now which way to The Gravediggers?
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