Originally Posted on The Lunchbox

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Rustic Roast Lunch in Ballsbridge
(Date:10 March 2011)

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One of the many perks of being part of mylunch.ie (as well as being part of the secret group that controls the world and appoints American presid..*ahem*) is that we get to try out the restaurants we feature on site quite frequently!
Now we're no Paolo Tullio, but we're the oracle on lunch, and generally we've found that we like what you like! A burrito here, a gourmet sandwich there, a few free coffees etc. It's all good in the mylunch hood!
So, when we got the offer extended to us to try out Roast in Ballsbridge during a recent exhibition in the RDS we were delira to oblige!
It was a usual Irish Spring day, blustery, showery, 10 degrees and sporadically sunny, and we were starving from a day traipising around the convention centre! A tasty filling lunch was the order of the day...
So, we decided to nip into Roast and take them up on their kind offer!

Open since late last year, Roast is the new restaurant over the well known Crowe's pub. Freshly re-decorated, Roast, like so many others, proclaims to be fresh, seasonal food done well. The difference between  it and many of the others is, it delivers!
We're strong campaigners here at mylunch for the holy grail of good value + decent food, and Roast certainly performs on that front too,
Myself and my mylunch colleague were starving, and began with two seafood chowers (€6.50), which would probably be enough to fill you up on a normal day! Stuffed with chunks of seafood, it was delicious, and as a bonus it kept my colleague's mouth shut long enough for me to enyoy it. (He had been quarreling with an over zealous salesperson all morning!) A non wine drinker, I opted for a Coke, as did my partner, but we also had a look at the wine list, which comes recommended on the Roast site,  and indeed from what we could make out, it was well formed.

For mains, being the old traditionalist that I am, I opted for the Beef Pie, (and it was needed to soak up what was to come downstairs later on, lets just say the phrase "pints of Guinness" and  "like they were going out of fashion" were involved), which was full of mouth watering meat, lots of veg. and accompanied by a creamy mash, while Steve, the European that he is, went for the Pumpkin Risotto, with shaved parmesan and sage.

This was slightly less filling, though still tasty, but I could see him eyeing up my main with envy!
Overall, a great halftime to the day, and we didn't want to leave to go back across the road. Roast is a simple concept, akin to the cracking pub food (grub is the wrong term) you might get across the water in London,which is what we Irish are looking for in this day and age.
It does what it does very very well from our experience. We would like to have seen a bit more options on the lunch menu, but the variety is good, and we will certainly be back for a crack at dinner, and a braised lamb shank that has my name on it. (pictured)
At least we've something to look forward to the next time we're pretending to work in the RDS, plus it gave Steve the necessary chutzpah to go for round two with the salesperson in the afternoon, but that's another story...


Click here for lunch menu

Click here for the exclusive Roast voucher on mylunch.ie

See the "About" section of the Roast page for full dinner menu






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 The Bulletin
(Date:03 March 2011)

Originally posted on The Lunchbox

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The second of our posts on the best of the lunch related news we've found on the web this week!
When we're not securing lunch deals, we tend to surf around quite a lot and always find interesting tidbits, so we're passing them on to you!

Breast Milk Ice Cream goes on sale in London
Picture the scene, it's a hot Spring day, you're having a long lazy lunch in the tourist paradise that is London's Covent Garden, and suddenly, you get a craving for something sweet, yet cooling. Ah, a perfect time for an ice cream eh?
Well, just be careful...
The fact a serving cost 14 quid, and is called "Baby Gaga", makes it even more weird!
I wonder does it vary from person to person?

Cupcakes rampage in Cardiff
As we posted on the old Facebook, a woman with a serious sweet tooth has gone on the rampage in Cardiff, and caused around £400 worth of damage to a cupcake shop, after they sold out of her favourite. Sugarswirlz Cake Shop is relatively new to the dangerous Cardiff cupcake scene, and the woman, who was looking for a "Sweet Toothfairy Cupcake" is still on the loose, presumed armed and ravenous. Watch out Lolly and Cooks!
Now we know some of us like something sweet post lunch, but that's a bit far!

Sweet site!
Speaking of Lolly and Cooks, have you seen their new site? It's a beauty! If only that mother had used their delivery option eh?

Pizza and books- A great combo?
In Madrid, a new store has opened combining the two! Called La Pizzateca, the store offers a wide range of artisanal pizzas and calzones, but is also a book store! Offers available include a slice of pizza and a book for just a fiver, a bargain for all you hungry book worms out there. I wonder do they sell cheesy novels? (Oh, that was awful!)
If you have any recommendations for stories we should feature, other than our own random web finds, then do get in touch!

Related Tags:
lunch, lunch in Dublin, lunch Dublin, lunch menus, restaurant deals, restaurant offers, lunch options Dublin, lunch deals, lunch offers, lunch deals Dublin, lunch offers Dublin, cheap lunch, lunch value Dublin, lunch value Cork, lunch Cork, lunch in Cork, lunch deals Cork, lunch offers Cork, coeliac lunch, coeliac lunch options,

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French Flair and flash restaurants

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French Flair and flash restaurants
(Date:01 February 2011)

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Hello lunchies, and welcome to the first "Lunchbox" post of Spring!
As we posted on Twitter this morning, we love Spring! Daffodils will be blooming, lambs will soon be leaping Valentines Day will be looming (or "Being Single Celebration Day" if you're unattached!) and of course we'll be bringing you lots more lunch value!
Just today, we've added some Spring French flair to the site, with two new exclusive offers from retailers who would not look out of place in the shadow of the "La Tour Eiffel"
Firstly, La Croissanterie in Stephens Green S.C. now offer you users a free coffee/tea or soft drink, with any sandwich, panini or savoury item! See here for the deal!

Along with that, we've added to our holy grail of deals, the 2 for 1 area! New French flavoured Georges St restaurant Le Cafe Des Irlandais is now offering an exclusive mylunch 2 for 1! From Tue to Fri each week, you can get a 2 for 1 on any of their lunch mains! If you haven't tried it already, please do, because it's trés bien!

Oh and finally, just to let any of you foodies know, our comp to win two free passes to Clonakilty by Candlelight will end today at 3 p.m., with the winner announced just after! If you want to put your name in the hat for the first ever flash restaurant in Dublin, simply mail candlelight@mylunch.ie with all your details! As a famous meerkat says: "Simples"!


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Watercooler Moments

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Watercooler Moments
(Date:31 January 2011)

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Welcome to Watercooler Moments for this week, and your Monday morning dose of what topics you can use to make small talk, and nullify awkward office/lunch silences this week!
It's your handy pocket guide to the best of the weekend's stories, all in one post!
Happy Monday, and let's get going....

I demad one TRILLION DOLLARS!

Rap star, film star, clothing range owner and all round true gangsta Sean P Diddy Puff Daddy Coombs is being sued by an L.A. woman for, yep you heard right, one trillion dollars! The case, which if won, would presumeably be one of the biggest awards ever, is being brought against Combs/Diddy by Valerie Joyce Wilson Turk.
The woman accuses the rapper, his former girlfriend, and the somehow related ex police brutality victim Rodney King (whose beating sparked the L.A. Riots) of collaborating to fell the World Trade Towers on Sept 11th 2011, and also maintains the trio set her up to get disability pay.

Another accusation is that Combs/Diddy is in fact her 23 year old son's father, but the final straw is that Diddy "stole a poker chip worth 100 zillions of dollars" (a direct quote!) that she won in a Mississippi casino and later gave it away to someone else.

She is petitioning for $900 billion in child support. The other $100 billion she is seeking is for “loss of income.”
A Los Angeles judge denied her request for a restraining order against Diddy, but set a hearing for Jan 31.
Only in America eh?!

Social Network Similarities

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg showed his sense of humour on cult American T.V. show Saturday Night Live over the weekend. The geeky social network genius opened the show with a skit alongside "The Social Network" actor Jesse Eisenberg (who's depiction of Zuckerberg looks set to win him an Oscar) and the show’s resident Zuckerberg impersonator, Andy Samberg.

A triple threat of Zuckerberg on one stage soon had the audience in stitches!

"He's no Fred Perry", rugby injuries and F.A. Cup drama

In sporting news over the weekend, charismatic (*ahem*) Scottish tennis player Audy Murray's bid to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936  to win a tennis major again came to an abrupt end. The enigmatic and fun lovin (*ahem*) Scot was beaten in three sets (6-4 6-2 6-3) by Serb Novak Djokovic, meaning he has yet to win a set in his three Grand Slam finals so far.

In rugby, Ireland's 6 Nations squad is preparing for Italy next weekend. The squad for the game in Rome has been named, and it seems that the "Injuries" colum is mounting for Uncle Deccie.

There was little surprise in the fourth round of the F.A. Cup over the weekend, bar minnows Notts County holding might Manchester City to a draw. But the fifth round draw did throw up the massive tie of non-league Crawley Town making the visit to Old Trafford to face Man Utd!

Today is also transfer deasline day, so watch out for lots of "Sky Sports News understands" headlines, and fake "Sky Sports sources" stirring the rumour mill. Big stories include Spurs search for a striker and Fernando Torres' proposed £50 million move to Chelsea. See here for a live blog.

Ah they were simple times!

And finally this week, we would like to bring you back in time to an era when wool jumpers and Fruit of the Loom t-shirts were all the rage, when the euro was a pipe dream, and the Celtic Tiger an even pipier dream (yeah yeah I know that's not a real word!)
Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't seen it already, please take a look at the classic 1994 Castletown Donkey Derby...


Oh, and it's the last day of Winter today too!

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Coeliac Statistics

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Coeliac Statistics
(Date:28 January 2011)

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You may have missed something with our new site. We now provide information on the retailer pages on whether or not they say they cater for Special Diets. This includes vegan, vegetarian and coeliac options.

With first hand knowledge of the struggle many coeliacs can face when eating out, we decided that we'd try to become a much more inclusive site, (indeed one of the only food listing sites out there that is) and a better outlet for people to decide where they can and can't eat, and indeed, more importanty, where they both can and will want to eat! Choice shouldn't be hugely lessened we feel.


Now we're far from perfect yet, and we're going on what our retailers tell us about their Special Dietary options, but it's a starting point, and in the New Year, we'll be putting a big effort into really cleansing the site of coeliac options, and the inclusion of many new options. (We'd be very appreciative if you could help us with that too)


Current faves on site for coeliac options seem to be the likes of Itsa, GBK, Wagamama and Rustic Stone
Anyway, what brings us on to this is Safefood have conducted a new study which shows that "94% of restaurants on the island of Ireland are able to accommodate a request for a gluten-free meal".

Dr Gary Kearney of Safefood said of the study "“Our research has shown how vitally important it is that the manager and chef of a catering establishment are aware of the Coeliac condition and the importance of gluten-free food. This is critical given that serving staff are often heavily reliant on their advice when advising a customer. It’s clear that staff training is fundamental in addressing this ‘knowledge gap’ and, as such, all service sector staff should receive basic training on how best to address food allergies and intolerances and the importance of controlling food allergens in a catering setting.”

However, he went on to say that "while our research is welcome news for coeliacs, it is no reason to be complacent as the research revealed that serious mistakes can still be made, even when customers are presented with ‘gluten-free’ choices in ‘Coeliac friendly’ restaurants"

It's quite interesting that the number is so high. However, one would have to ask the question of whether how thoroughly these 94% are catered for, and how reliant the study is on truthfulness from owners about their own business capabilites.


Gerry Flaherty, Chairperson of the CSI added “We welcome these findings but would remind of the need for constant vigilance in the provision of safe, gluten-free food for people with coeliac condition”.
Welcome news none the less, and we at mylunch are doing our best to provide numerous wide ranging lunch options for coeliacs.
The full report can be read here.


If you'd like to get in touch with us about anything coeliac related, or indeed Special Diet related, please do!
However, if you want to get in contact to point out grammatical errors in a blog post, please don't!



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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!

And the winners are...

Originally Posted: http://www.mylunch.ie/layout/Content_Details.cfm/ck/58/ctk/35/k/1582

And so the time has come!

We’ve had begging, cajoling and even threatening. There’s been tears, drama, sob stories and tugging at heart strings, and we’ve been overloaded with emails asking for information.

But enough about the mylunch Xmas party, we've also had hundreds of entries in a bid to win a bundle of four tickets to 7UP Christmas on Ice this week!

There’s been Blades of Glory jokes, bad puns, descriptions of special ice skating moves and no shortage of memories of childhood skates, and Dad trying to fit into that spandex suit one last time (these ones have been passed on the our resident psychologist!)

For the past 2-3 weeks, you’ve been practising and practising, skating around on the natural ice, and now that the thaw has hit us, all of that practice is about to come to fruition on artificial ice!

The winners of bundles of four tickets for 7UP Christmas on Ice are...


RDS : Hilary Weldon, Karen Hill, Laura Elliot, Ciaran O Farrell, Sheenagh Rogers

Arnotts: Aaron Chalke, Andrew Comerford, Claire Young, Denise Moakler, Belinda Meaghan



The tickets can be used any time from now unitl 9th of January, and the winners will be contacted by email early on Monday.

Congrats to all who were lucky enough to come out of the hat!



For those who were unlucky enough not to be picked by the resident office database monkey, don’t worry, we’ve a brand new competition every week, and some of our lunch deals feel like you’ve won the lotto anyway, so console yourself with those!

Oh and if you had you’re heart set on doing an old 180 twist on the ice, well you can still book on the 7UP site, for both the RDS and Arnotts (and it is a magical experience!)

Happy weekend and check back on Monday for even more lunch deals!