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5th March 2024
10:36am GMT
If you've been here a while, you know the Lovin team's borderline obsession with a certain bakery, one you used to only be able to find on a Thursday or Saturday morning at the Fumbally stables, between 10am and 1pm (although they rarely made it to closing hours).
Scéal was always noticeable due to the 30+ people queue that tended to follow it wherever it went - you'd often be waiting a good 20-30 minutes to order, sweating that the last of the seasonal danishes had been snapped up by the person ahead of you, and debating whether it's worth getting into a scrap for some of that sweet flakey pastry.
The bakery finished up in Dublin 8 in August 2023, once they had signed a lease for their first permanent location, with tables, chairs, and even coffee. While we naturally, being Lovin Dublin, hoped it would be somewhere in our fair city (ideally within walking distance of our office as before) Scéal went a little further south for their first sit-in spot, in none other than the seaside village of Greystones.
Opening officially on February 17th, I took my earliest convenience to get out to the bakery, luckily on a blue skied day (where it had been snowing only two days before so this was a pleasant surprise) where it felt moreso like the motorway had somehow magically transported us somewhere like Copenhagen instead.
When we arrive at 11am, the bakery is already heaving with people, and almost as many dogs, which is a nice element I hadn't expected before coming - those wondering if their pup is welcome in these hallowed halls, they most certainly are.
It's slightly chaotic in the sense that you're not sure where the queue starts, or whether some people are just waiting for their coffee order, but that speaks volumes to how busy it is even two weeks after opening, and the queue moves fast and efficiently, at the same speed you find at an Aldi checkout.
There are a couple of benches and tables for seating, and we just got lucky that some came available just as we'd made our order - based beside huge floor to ceiling windows onto the marina, I imagine they are like gold dust, especially on weekends, and I'm sorry to say for everyone else who else looking for vibes and a seat inside, we hogged it for dear life for over an hour (although we did let the sweetest little dog and her owner nudge in beside us - we're not monsters).
The café itself lets in a ton of light, and is great for a spot of people watching, with throngs of pals and families walking up and down the marina, buggies and pups in tow, locals and tourists alike.
The walls are painted cream, with a lot of pale wooden furniture and panelling, as well as dusky pink tiling, which leans more into the Hygge vibe, and in a no way tacky kind of way that these colours might sometimes project. Dried flowers dotted around the café, and artwork you'd expect to come right out of Folkster only add to the Scandi aesthetic.
This is the first time Scéal have served coffee, and they chose great suppliers, sourcing their beans from Roasted Brown, a single origin coffee roaster with a focus on sourcing the finest seasonal green coffee. I've had Roasted Brown coffee many a time from drive-thru spot Thru The Green in Windy Arbour, so I was already at ease that the coffee was not going to disappoint.
Having spent many 2022 Thursday mornings in the queue for Scéal, I've tried a lot of the goodies already, and was delighted to see one of my favourites, the Everything Croissant, on the menu here. Unable to pass up the generous dollop of cream cheese, infused with chives and onions, of course a take on the ever-popular everything bagel that that lot in the States have been going on about on TikTok for years now. Usually not a savoury pastry girl, I make an exception for this bad boy.
Next up was the Anzac cookie, the only vegan offering where the pastries were concerned (although there were of course several sourdough loaves that wouldn't upset a lactose intolerant person's tummy). This is a sweet biscuit that resembles a flap-jack in flavours, popular in Australia and New Zealand, and typically made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and desiccated coconut. It was moist, not at all bland despite it's flap-jack adjacent nature, although perhaps a little pricey at €3.50.
Now onto the almond croissant - I've tried many in Dublin, I've been disappointed by most, and my standards are admittedly pretty high on this particular kind of pastry. Scéal delivered and then some - there was a great ratio of flakey but contained pastry to filling, which was sweet but not overly so as some of the cheaper almond croissants in certain chain cafés tend to be - no shade honestly, just a fact. Whether it's the absolute best I've ever tasted in Ireland is up for debate (there's one spot in Churchtown that has my heart in this regard) but it's pretty damn close.
There's no doubt that the baked goodies at Scéal are up there in price - €3-5.50 for a pastry, and €8 for a loaf of bread is steep no matter what was you slice it. That said, the quality is unlike what you'll find in most bakeries these days - unlike London, we're not overly blessed with bakeries that produce to this level and with this much creativity (in fact, Scéal had long been number one on our list of the best when they were still open in Dublin, and remain an honorary mention now). While you can certainly settle that croissant craving in your local shop, and for much cheaper, Scéal is well worth the money based on its location, the coffee offering, and the sheer level of care and consideration that go into their pastries.
I'll definitely be hopping on the M50 again to sample the goods - as the weather gets warmer, we have a feeling Scéal are only going to get busier and busier, only adding to Greystones' reputation as a destination location, a prime coffee and a pastry spot.
You will find Scéal open seven days a week, between 7.00 and 15.00 Monday to Friday, and 8.00 to 16.00 on Saturday and Sunday. The bakery is based at Unit E, The Bracken, Marina Village, Greystones, Wicklow, A63 K7W7.
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