Upon arriving in Dublin, the first thing I wanted to do was taste a few of the local Irish food that I had been researching about, and it had to be in a pub. I picked Lennan’s Yard because it had decent ratings, it was near the hotel and I was starving. The first thing was I had to have a Guinness:
People say that Guinness tastes better in Ireland. I am not a beer drinker, but in order to test this out, I specifically went to a local pub in my hometown to have a Guinness before leaving for Ireland. This was my first Guinness ever. Comparing the two, I can definitely agree that its better in Ireland. The pour, freshness, head, and temperature all come together to make a superior beverage in Ireland. Next, I had to have some of the local oysters (Connemara – we would visit the actual farm later on in the trip).
The next thing I was excited about was the much talked about soda bread. This one was disappointing (actually, soda bread in general, I feel, is overhyped by people who come back from Ireland), and I would have it many times throughout my trip and never grew a fondness for it. The texture is almost cake-like, but its dry and reminds be of bran muffins which I am not a fan of. Irish butter on the other hand, thats a different story and is really good, not French butter good but good.
We also had local smoked salmon:
For mains, seafood chowder and the smoked chicken/ham pie. They were pretty good, and it would also be my first taste of Irish potatoes which were always good!
Overall, service was ok but a bit slow. It was my first taste of Ireland in an Irish pub so I was happy. In general, its a good spot for lunch. Nothing mind blowing, but good.