Seafood Tapas Fresh From The Pier And Overlooking The Irish Sea

Dublin city has a plethora of incredible restaurants to choose from, but there are just as many stunning restaurants outside of the city to explore and enjoy. One the best places for seafood in Dublin has to be Howth with many restaurants dotting the pier and serving up beautiful fresh fish as soon as it comes into the piers off the trawlers.

I spent a day with my family in Howth over the bank holiday walking, exploring the village and eating some delicious fresh fish for lunch. It's an incredible place with spectacular views of Ireland's Eye and the Irish sea, and when you're there you feel like you're a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Dublin city. Howth is chockablock with seafood restaurants and the West Pier is lined with gorgeous little spots serving up fresh seafood. We decided to check out Octopussy after so many people raved about it when we did our Howth City Spotlight during the summer. The place was absolutely jam packed at 2.30pm on Bank Holiday and we might have minded waiting for a table in this tiny restaurant if we weren't given seats to wait in overlooking the pier.

The idea behind Octopussy is that it's a seafood tapas restaurant but the portions are so generous that we had one plate each and a few salads and patatas bravas for the table and had plenty to eat. I went for the seafood paella which was only about €13 and came with heaps of really fresh seafood. I really enjoyed it, the rice might have been ever so slightly overcooked but the flavour was great, the fish was fresh and delicious and it was nice and comforting after an hour of walking.

We all ordered different dishes but I tried a bite of the special which was crispy halibut bites with a marie rose sauce which was really delicious and again I think it was only about €13. The prawns were delicious Dublin Bay prawns which have 100% more flavour than the measly, rubbery Tiger Prawns that many restaurants try to pawn off. The garlic potatoes were delicious too and were hoovered up pretty quickly but I was less keen on the patatas bravas as the tomato sauce was a little bit too tart, it tasted like canned tomatoes if I'm honest. Overall it was a great experience. This is simple, no frills, good quality fresh seafood at a reasonable price. It's the perfect end to a morning or afternoon out walking around Howth this weekend!