Originally Posted on The Lunchbox

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Be Our Guest Johnny Cool
(Date:03 March 2011)

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Ah the Irish! Since the olden times, when we went around only eating spuds, wearing sheep skins and generally being converted to Christianity, we've been a nosy bunch! Theres even a rumour that hedge schools were only invented so a next door neighbour could look over the hedge!
But hey, that's no bad thing, and as you can see from our sites popularity, word of mouth is fantastic when it comes to spreading news!
Anyway, we decided that since there were loads of cool people talking on the internet about things which you lunchies would love, so why not bring them to you, ask them a bit about their lunch habits, and what they do! This will be a regular spot on The Lunchbox, and we're consistently looking for peeps to come and talk to us (we're the nosiest of them all!), so do get in touch if you want to!
For the first of these pieces, we've brought in the coolest of the cool, the man with all the insider knowledge, and the best moustache this side of Tom Selleck, Johnny Cool! If you haven't heard, Johnny is a man with his finger on the pulse, and his main objective in life is to find + recommend cool things (music, books, games, websites, presents deals etc) before anyone else. Let's let him take over, and we firstly asked him to tell us a bit about what he does...
"Well, I’m fairly new to blogging, currently concentrating on recommending cool new products, places, café’s, restaurants, websites through my Facebook and Twitter page. I'm planning to launch the blog soon, so do follow me on facebook and twitter to stay updated!"

I'm a food fan, and depending on what I'm up to, lunch can be from cooking for one at home to meeting some friends for a catchup, and a debate over what new to recommend. This changes daily.

When out I mainly go to Food Room or Bay in Clontarf and the odd trip to Espresso off Baggot St if i’m in the area. With my line of work, I also like to try somewhere new every week.  If you’ve missed breakfast and need a something filling I’d recommend going to Bay and asking for a porridge, it’s the best porridge in town and it’ll get you through the afternoon, do ask nicely though!"
Johnny says he's also a mean cook, so any ladies out there, pay attention! "I love cooking, I feel I’ve taken Jamie Oliver’s 30 mins meals to the next level, 15 mins meals! You’d be amazed what can be done in 15 minutes." Having tried Jamie's meals out, we're a bit skeptical, but our momma's always told us to never doubt a man with a moustache!
He's also a fan of tech sites on the web, and of course being the first to break cool new things takes a lot of research. Johnny mentions that he spends a good bit of time checking mylunch.ie to get good value for lunch, and interestingly, he’d like to see us "grow our listings and offers even bigger, especially outside the main city centre, as there are a lot  of restaurants out there with great lunch specials". Good timing Johnny, cos we're looking to do that as we speak, and we've hit him up for some recommendations, so stay tuned for those newbies on site soon!
However, it's not always coffee in town and meals out with friends for our JC, oh no! We asked him what his food vice/hangover cure was, and though he generally only drinks crystal clear mountain spring water which Nepalese goats have bathed in, he said he occasionaly likes to "devour a Marks and Sparks pepperoni pizza with a cadburys dairymilk and a cornetto", hopefully not all in the one go!
So there you have it, even the coolest of us have our off days, but hey, we forgive you Johnny!
All you lunch lovers out there, we've got you sorted for the latest lunch news, why not join Johnny, and let him sort you out for his recommendations on the rest of the coolest things around!
As we say, we'll have regular contributors to The Lunchbox in the next while,  foodies, value hunters, general carachters, some of our on site venues, and the occasional user or two, so if there's anyone you'd like to see talk to us, of if you yourself have an interesting lunch story to tell, do get in touch!


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Originally posted on The Lunchbox

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Pancake Tuesday
(Date:07 March 2011)

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What with it being Shrove Tuesday tomorrow, we thought we'd give fill you in on the best pancake related news we've heard today!

 

What is Shrove Tuesday?
Pancake Day (also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the last day before the period which Christians call Lent. It is traditional on this day to eat pancakes, as Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. Shrove Tuesday was traditionally the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. We eat Pancakes on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

Free Pancakes you say?
To help get your Shrove Tuesday off to a good start, Aviva Stadium chefs will be setting up a pancake station outside the stadium on tomorrow, Tuesday, 8th March.  People passing by will be treated to some delicious pancakes, cooked fresh on site and served with a choice of fillings, including chocolate, syrup, and lemon zest. The chefs will be there from 7.30-9.30am. All the Info here! Spread the word, e'ryone loves free pancakes!
Forgive us if we say NYOM NYOM NYOM!
 
How to?
If you're a bit of a novice in the kitchen, but don't want the day to pass you by, for an easy quick guide to delicious pancakes from Board Bia, do see here!
Want to try something different?
Well, what about glow in the dark pancakes?

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Watercooler Moments!

Originally Posted: http://www.mylunch.ie/layout/Content_Details.cfm/ck/58/ctk/35/k/1584
So you’ve been living under a rock for the weekend, and now you’re out of the loop on all the gossip this morning?

Well our new weekly segment will soon put that right. As you know, we like to keep our finger on the pulse of the world of lunch, but also on the pulse of the world in general.

So if you get stuck for conversation while making tea this morning, or if you need something to talk about over lunch, here’s some carefully chosen conversation points from the weekend, all wrapped up in one post!

Matt wins X Factor

The 27 year old former painter and decorator was flagged as a possible winner from the start, and, much to the dismay of millions of 13 year old girls (One Direction), and presumably thousands of people with bad Liverpudlian accents (Rebecca) he was crowned winner of X Factor last night. Cardle sang "Many of Horror" by Scottish band Biffy Clyro last night, which is to be released next week, and is sure to be heading for a Christmas #1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlNvP1t02Y8

To be discussed with: Any female in the office, and any male whom you suspect to be a closet X Factor fan (of which there are many!)



Paul O Connell sees red on his return to action

Channeling some of that “manic aggression” that he is so famous for right onto the cheek of Ospreys player Jonathan Thomas proved to be a futile exercise for “Paulie” yesterday, as he got himself sent off. Following a tug back from the Ospreys player, O Connell proceeded to throw his right arm back and connected with the player. He was carded to much hostility from the Thomond crowd, and is set to miss next weekend’s return game, and all the festive action too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O8s5J9yjxg

To be discussed with: Any red blooded male in the office, and anyone who likes a good scrap!



Christmas is coming!

With only one shopping weekend left until Christmas, people all over the country are panicking over which tea towel to get Granny, and which tie to get Dad.

You are sure to be asked 400 times within the next 12 days “Have you all your presents bought?”, so be sure to get in first with that little chestnut today!

Try out a nifty little Irish site called out gifts.ie if you’re still at a loss over what to get that special someone in your life.

To be discussed with: Anyone who has that look of Xmas panic on their face today!



Oh and if you really get stuck for small talk today, just ask someone if they reckon your likelier to be a hit with the opposite sex if you use a horse for transport rather than a car. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then search Youtube for Rubberbandits' viral video phenomenon!

Mylunch Newsletter 8th December

mylunch.ie news 8/12/10

Welcome to the world of tomorrow... The new and vastly improved mylunch.ie is now live, so do come take a look at our new baby!

We've made a huge overhaul, making our site much easier for you to navigate, and very simple to find lunch value!
We've added features like a vastly improved search area (including keyword box), specific categories for you to find exactly what you want, info for vegetarians, coeliacs etc.  and a new news area, called "The Lunchbox", as well as adding more and more Special Lunch Offers!

Of course we'd love to hear what what you think good or bad! The best feedback will win a free lunch on us!

To help launch and wet the head of the new site, 7UP have kindly given us 40 (YES 40!) tickets to 7UP on Ice to give away this week. (20 for RDS and 20 for Arnotts). So if you fancy getting your skates on, and practicing your new found ice balancing skills, simply mail 7UP@mylunch.ie with your preferred venue and name, or see here for all the details!

What's the news on site this week?
Cafe en Seine on Dawson St has a 2 for 1 mylunch offer on their new lunch menu! This must end on December 15th, so get printing now. The new menu sounds delicious, and what better way to beat the budget eh?? Oh and see below for our Cafe en Seine competition this week...
Beshoffs on O Connell Street also have a new 2 for 1 on mylunch.ie, we're racking them up! You can get two for one on all main dishes on Mon-Wed. A vinegar soaked fish and chips sounds quite good!
The ever cheery Hugo at Cafe Azteca has given us another special voucher. His hugely popular cookery classes are tremendous fun, and teach you to cook the Mexican way. So, to cheer us all up, when you buy any burrito, and present our voucher, you can avail of these classes for free, starting in January. All the details can be found on The Lunchbox here.
Finally, brand new on site, The Grafton Lounge have a new offer: Buy any main course from their delicious lunch menu, and get a second for half price! Tasty!

Brand New Competition!
For the first comp on our new site, Cafe en Seine is celebrating their brand new lunch menu.

With a new 2 for 1 on site, we'd love for you to drop down to Dawson Street, and take the menu for a trial run. With a European flavour, and dishes ranging from Antipasti to their patented steak sandwich, you'd be mad not to!

The prize this week is a meal for two and bottle of house wine for Cafe en Seine,
so go to our new comp page now to enter, and watch out for those database monkeys!

The Lunchbox Latest
As you'll see on the new site, we've added a new blog area called "The Lunchbox" where we shall be posting all our news on deals, offers, comps and anything else which tickles our fancy, including small furry animals. Here's the latest posts this week:

Learn how to lunch Mexican style
In which we curse the budget, link to a Spice Girls song, give you free cooking lessons, and explain how Munchies Drumcondra workers love bodily contact.

Our Beautiful New Baby
In which we give away our favourite Simpsons character, reveal which of our team is the worst speller, and tell you how you can win free lunch by simply telling us where you like to eat!

Dancing on Ice, a topical subject!
In which we talk about your Dad in spandex, ice skating on a roof, and South Dublin Winter Olympic Champion mating rituals.

So, does any of this interest you? Well then, dive into the Lunchbox!

2-For-1 Lunch Quick Links

Check out the great 2-For-1 lunch offers available now in the following venues:

Cafe en Seine (Dawson Street)
Sweeneys (Dame Street)
West Coast Coffee (Various)
Beshoff (O Connell Street)

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (Various)
Millers Restaurant (Baggot St Upper)
The Beacon (Sandyford)
Pacino's (Suffolk St)
Oil Can Harrys (Lr Mount St)
The Ocean Bar (Grand Canal Quay)
The Iveagh Restaurant at The Camden Court Hotel
Dandelion (St. Stephens Green)
Gourmet Burger Co. (Ranelagh)

Sign Up To Our Newsletter
If one of your friends was thoughtful enough to send you on this newsletter, then why not sign up yourself and stay up to date on all the latest offers and info from mylunch.ie.

To sign up, just click here

Feck off Budget!!

Though we’re solely apolitical here in the mylunch office (yeah right!), on days like today, we like to crusade for the plight of the common lunch eater.

So to tell Cowen and Lenihan where to go, and beat the “Budget Blues” today, the ever cheery Hugo at Cafe Azteca has given us the offer of “Buy any burrito, and you can sign up for our cookery classes FOR FREE!"
The classes run weekly, and will start again in January, so why not make it your New Years resolution to learn to cook the Mexican way, and spice up your life. (I dare you to click that link!)

You can check out the happy faces from previous cookery classes on the Azteca Facebook, and take it from me, Hugo will have you cooking with a smile!

Ingredients (which Hugo purchases for you) are generally around €15, depending on what is being cooked, and you will be left with a fantastic dish, which you can be very proud of.
See the Azteca page for the voucher, and check their menus out too!

On a more immediate Budget bashing note, Munchies Baggot St. and Munchies Drumcondra are both offering 2 for 1 on all coffees, all day today (Tuesday).

The Drumcondra branch has also promised free hugs to all who avail of the offer, in a bid to cheer us up, so be sure to ask for yours!

Oh and of course, we have a great 2 for 1 on West Coast Coffee on site too.

Now put that in your Current Account Deficit and smoke it Fianna Fail!

Our Beautiful New Baby!!

As you will have probably noticed by now (cos you’re here!), our shiny new site is now live. So, like proud mothers, we thought we might as well show off our new baby!

There’s a whole host of new features on the new improved mylunch, and throughout this week and next, we’ll be talking you through some of them.


Search
The main feature we’ve improved with our re-incarnation, and the first thing you will see when you hit our homepage, is our search function. You can now find what you’re looking for really easily, by searching for keyword (eg Burger for Gourmet Burger Kitchen), by County (Louth, Cork, Dublin 1 etc.), by Area (South King Street, Dublin 16 etc.) or by category. Choose as many, or as little of these options as you want, to quickly and easily find the perfect lunch, or choose your area, and then hit Random to leave your fate up to our simian controlled database!

Recommend a Retailer
Apart from the inexplicable inability of one of our team to spell recommend (*cough* Shane *cough*), the new recommend a retailer process was a no brainer for us! We strive to bring you the best lunch deals and lunch specials we can, and users telling us what they want on site makes our job a whole lot easier! But the big clincher is; if you recommend us somewhere you love to lunch, and they come on site as a result of that, we’ll give you free lunch in this premises! Tis win, win, so get recommending, because we’ve enrolled Shane in a spelling class, and might as well get our money’s worth!


Ssssssslider!
Finally for this post, is our new slider. A magic flash box full of wonderful offers, comps and other juicy stuff, this can be changed with the arrows on either side, and is clickable, so if you see something you fancy, give it a click!
(OK so the slider process didn’t take much explaining, but just thought we’d mention it!)

So you’re homework for our next lesson is to revise these new features, and familiarise yourself with them. Watch out, there may be a pop quiz!
If you’ve any queries or suggestions about anything on the new site please use the magic of electronic mail or talk to us on Facebook and Twitter.

Oh, and you can also share this post on your chosen social medium using the thingys in the top right corner! Gwan, let your friends know how bad a speller our Shane is!

Free Lunch! There is such a thing!

A phrase we often like to use is: “There may be no such thing as free lunch, but we’ve got the next best alternative”.

However, no more shall this old chestnut be in play, because we can indeed promise you a free lunch this week!
The Tefal Greaseless Spoon Cafe (great name huh?!) pops up this week at 39 South William Street, and is offering FREE LUNCH AND BREAKFAST for three days only (2nd-4th December)
Serving up dishes such as a traditional Irish fry up (with 70% less fat!), chilli con carne and spicy chicken wings, Tefal wants to show you that you can still enjoy all your favourite meals but can cook them in a much healthier way. And isn’t that what we all want? The holy trinity of convenient, healthy and tasty food is now a possibility!

By using Tefal innovations such as the revolutionary Actifry, a fryer unlike no other (1 spoonful of oil is enough for 1 kg of delicious homemade chips) and the Vita Cuisine, which has three steaming compartments to allow healthy steamed meals full of flavour be made all in one go, the Tefal chefs will whip up lunch or breakfast for you!
Having already run very successfully in London (how would free healthy food not be successful?!), The Greaseless Spoon is now open for bookings!

All you have to do is send an email to greaselessspoondublin@gmail.com including your preferred date, time and the number of people in your party, and if it’s available, hey presto! But get in early because space is filling up very, very quickly.

Oh and be sure to become a fan of their Facebook and Twitter pages for all the info and some cool comps over the coming week!

We shall have two free lunch sittings for four to give away on our Facebook during the week, along with another huge Tefal prize in our newsletter on Wednesday.

Now don’t ever say those awful words again, because there is such a thing as a free lunch with mylunch.ie and The Tefal Greaseless Spoon Cafe this week!

Enticing aromas, Sardinian Chefs, Wooden Spoons and Itsa...voucher!

It’s been very busy here at mylunch HQ here for the past week or two. As you may know, we’re looking at some exciting new projects in the near future, so apologies for the lack of posts!
So a news post is long overdue, and boy is there a lot of it!

Newbies on the site are coming thick and fast, and we’re giving you more and more options for great value lunch in Dublin!

Just Off Francis, a neighbourhood gem located, yep you’ve guessed it, just off Francis Street, is now up for those in the Dublin 8 area. With an extensive lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menu, JOF is one you should try out, and also offers a take away option if you’re looking for lunch on the run!

I walk to work (well scouring the city for the best lunch deals isn’t really work!) via Parliment Street in Temple Bar, and each and every morning I get drawn to a certain side of the road an the enticing breakfast aroma! The Larder must drag in lots of customers with it’s fantastic smells, and it’s with great pleasure that we welcome them to the site! A great-value city-centre oasis located on the street across from City Hall, The Larder serves quality homemade food to have in or take away throughout the day. Try out the Halloumi Wrap if you are looking for a delicious lunch, or sample the selection of herbal teas on offer if you want to relax and unwind.

Other new cards in the mylunch deck include the Citron Restaurant @ The Fitzwilliam Hotel. Voted the “Best Business Hotel in Dublin 2010”, and overlooking St Stephens Green, Citron is characterised by its colour palate; zesty lime and lemons off set against the chalky white terrazzo and woven white bar front, and this lends to the character of the space, which is also perfect for casual lunch in Dublin.

While if you are located in the north of our fair county, Roganstown Hotel and Country Club is perfect for a lunchtime treat in the countryside! Try their new pizza menu which has been developed with a distinct Italian flavour by Sardinian Head Chef Max Usai.

In terms of special lunch deals, there are many of these cropping up daily too!
Sinnotts Bar (which recently played host to Manic Street Preachers!) now offer a Free Soft Drink with your Lunch Main Course from Mon-Wed.
Green Bistro on Pearse St. (check this place out if you haven’t already!) offer a free Americano or tea on purchase of a main carvery course.
Itsa... on Fitzwilliam Lane (across from Govt. Buildings) offer their Bright Brekkie deal for only €2.50 with our voucher.
While finally, The Wooden Spoon (see the current comp on site to win free lunch here!) have a delectable new lunch voucher of free soup with every sandwich or wrap purchased! Nyom Nyom!

That’s all the news I can squeeze into one blog post, but there is much more going on, and also much much (emphasis on double much!) more going on behind the scenes, so keep your eyes peeled for a new improved mylunch!

Book now to avoid dissapointment!!

You might not want to think about it yet but the office Christmas Party is on the horizon.
As we all know this is the social event of the office year, and if you’re in charge of booking you hold power unrivalled by any other!

With this power comes great responsibility, and we can help you with this young master! We know our lunch very very well, (check out the hundreds of great lunch deals on the site) but we’ve also drawn up comprehensive listing of all the Christmas party packages on site!

From cocktails in KOH, to dancing in Dandelion, South American flavours in Buenos Aires Grill, to Thai at Kanum, there is something there for every office group, and we guarantee a good night, so have a look and see what your options are.

We’ve also negotiated some discounts with these retailers, so be sure to mention mylunch.ie when you talk to them!

If you have any queries regarding booking please get in touch through hungry [at] mylunch.ie, we’d love to hear from you.

If I’ve managed to put you in a Bah Humbug mood through mention of Christmas then please accept my apologies, here’s a new 2 for 1 lunch voucher to appease you, with plenty more lunch deals on site!

1.6 litre diesel or 2 for 1 burger?

I was renewing my car insurance recently. Nothing odd about that, the usual ritual of spending ages trawling numerous comparison and quote sites, searching for the best quote, calling here, there and everywhere to try and bargain, and, being a young male, failing miserably in most cases!

It’s long been a part of Irish society to try and get a few bob off here and there, and this “cute hooreism” is even more important nowadays, with the dreaded r word still upon us! Anyway, between grappling with engine sizes and no claims bonuses, I spent hours upon hours researching, for a reward of €50 less than I was currently paying. A great result some might say, and I was rightly delighted!

Until, that is, I thought about the time spent and money off that I gained and compared it to something else, something many people do at least four, if not five days per week, and put a lot less though into – eating out! (Of course it would come back to food for someone so entwined in mylunch.ie , but that’s no bad thing is it?!)

Anyway, I put my thinking cap on. If I ate out only four times per week for the year, spending on average €8.50 a pop, this would come to a grand total of €1,598 (based on a 47 week working year). My car insurance, from quite a reputable Irish insurer came in at no less than 1,100 euro, down from 1,150.

Would it not make much more sense then, to spend a similar amount of man hours on my lunchtime experience?!

It’s quite easy to see how spending even 5 minutes per day on our site could save you literally hundreds of euro per year. A 2 for 1 deal here, a €2 off deal there, free dessert perhaps, or even just searching the site for daily lunch specials.

The reason we set up mylunch.ie was that we wanted to publicise the amount of great lunch deals which were available out there, and all of these small savings add up very quickly. We’re very passionate about all things lunch as you can see!

And also, isn’t it much more enjoyable browsing for lunch options than it is entering your engine size and age into an insurance site?!

Anyway, I just wanted to relate our site to something which we all have to do yearly, and which we all try to save money on.

Stay hungry!

Shane from mylunch.ie