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23rd April 2017
09:59am BST
The coffee revolution has been underway for a few years in Dublin now.
For decades we were all about the humble cup of tea and the best you could expect when it came to coffee was a Nescafé instant jar being pulled from the back of the cupboard, while now you can't go anywhere in town without seeing aeropresses, people carrying freshly ground beans and talking about getting a Chemex.
This café culture is a direct import from cities like San Francisco, Melbourne and Vancouver and it's starting to sweep across Dublin at a rate of knots. This shift away from drinking pints in pubs has been sped up by the arrival of tens of thousands of young Europeans coming to work in the city and bringing their less-boozy culture with them.
One example of that is Two Boys Brew on North Circular Road.
From the moment you walk in the door you know this place is the real deal. The room is big and airy and beautifully designed. It used to be a low end fried chicken joint and the transformation into Melbourne-style café is remarkable. You'd nearly think they'd hired the young hip customers scattered about working on Macs as part of the design.
The coffee comes from 3FE and one guest roaster of the week, which keeps things interesting. Indeed the place reminds me of 3FE big time in terms of size, the buzz, great coffee and most of all the menu.
My baked eggs came with a deep rich tomato sauce. The yolks melting perfectly as I dipped the perfectly toasted sourdough into the sauce. Is there a better way to eat eggs? I'd ordered chorizo on the side and it brought a lovely meaty kick to the whole affair.
Sitting watching the place clicking into gear for a busy lunch, I could tell that this will become a landmark on the north Dublin coffee scene. The salads being carried out to the counter were bright, featured wonderful rainbow tomatoes and looked like something out of a cook book.
I'm a proud resident in North Dublin now and although I love the place, I've always felt let down by the coffee offering on this side of the city. Places like Two Boys Brew are changing the game. This place is so good that it'll inspire another 10 places to open nearby and further our burgeoning coffee scene.
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