Mylunch, too sexy for it's shirt!

You may have noticed recently that the Cork area of our site is becoming increasingly populated. Well that’s because Ireland’s only lunch value site is moving to the fair rebel county! So enlighten all your fair country friends and colleagues that we are coming, and their lunchtime habits will never be the same again!

We’ve already added new exclusive vouchers for Wagamama Cork (2 for 1!) and Capt. Americas (free starter!) and there is lots more where that came from...

To celebrate our move to Cork, we’ve teamed up with Ernst and Young Cork, to help with their E+Y Charity Fashion event! On tonight (Friday 12^th), in the lovely Clarion Hotel Cork city, the event aims to raise much needed funds for Cork Simon Community and The Saoirse Foundation. 

By showing that accountants aren’t all grey suits and calculators, the team hopes to help out those who are feeling even more marginalised by the current economic climate, and, as E+Y Cork managing partner John Higgins states, “We have a fantastic show lined up and will certainly dispel any myths that accountants are dull and boring!"

The fashions will be provided by local Cork retailers, and included in the models strutting their stuff will be Cork hurling star Tom Kenny and former Miss Cork Caroline Crowley, both employees of Ernst + Young. Other guests will include Irish soap stars, and perhaps even a certain few of Bill Cullen’s Apprentices will be along. Rumours that they will be hunting for an E+Y position are as yet unfounded!

We at mylunch are proud to help out with the event, and amongst other things, there will be raffle prizes from some of our new Cork retailers, as well as some of our Cork exclusive vouchers and other goodies available this evening.

Oh and if you do have any country cousins or friends who you know would love to save on delicious lunches, please tell them about mylunch.ie, or ask them to recommend a retailer! Lunch in Cork will never be the same!

(Soon to be seen in Treaty and Tribe cities too, but don’t say we told you...!)

Looking for lunch, in your neighbourhood? Who you gonna call?

Ah Halloween! As the old Andy Williams song goes, it’s the most spookiful time, of the year! (Ok maybe not but you get the idea!)
We here at mylunch.ie love it so much that we’ve even changed our logo this week to this little beauty!

Our retailers seem to be getting into the spirit too, and they’ve embraced this most scariest of seasons heartily.
Firstly, on Facebook today, we will be giving away a €20 lunch voucher for whoever gives us the best costume idea.

Competition is stiff, with one of the best so far being dressing up three toddlers as Tic Tacs, so beat that if you can!
You can tell us here.

Burritos and Blues are always ones to rise to an occasion, and on Saturday, they are giving away free Salsa Fries (usually €3.50 and really delish!) to anyone who comes in wearing a costume.
So if you’re in town doing a bit of shopping on Sat, be sure to wear that sexy policewoman/fireman uniform for a free lunch, it’s like trick or treating for adults!

Munchies on Sir John Rogersons Quay and in Millenium Walk are joining in the festivities by offering their “Pumpkin Potion and Monster Munchie” (Pumpkin Soup and a Monster Munchie toasted sandwich) for €6.50 today, and Munchies Central Park offer the same!

In fact all the Munchies, as well as The Vaults, have delicious hearty pumpkin soup on today, so stop in for a sup eh?

While Gourmet Burger Co. (now home of Kobe beef in Dublin!) have a special spooky burger for only €9.95 which sounds both seasonal and delicious: “8oz organic beef burger smothered with suicidal sauce and pumpkin relish”!
Nyom Nyom Nyom!

Oh and don’t forget that Movember starts on Monday so get donating! The mylunch office has taken Burritos and Blues cue and donated their lips to the cause so give anything you can here.

Now if only the mylunch mankinis which the office males are wearing this weekend would arrive...

Pint of Plain for Mylunch please.

Whether you think Arthur’s Day is a cynical marketing ploy, or a great excuse to toast an Irish hero, one thing is for sure, it’s an enjoyable event, and mylunch and our retailers really got in to the spirit of things this year!

First of all we gave one lucky user five free tickets to see Fight Like Apes play a storming set in Sinnotts Bar. Big congrats to Linda Berrigan and her 4 friends who by all accounts had a great night, and even got a surprise performance from Manic Street Preachers into the bargain! (By the way, check out Sinnotts new lunch voucher, which gives you a free soft drink with your lunch main, and no you can’t exchange it for a pint of the black stuff!)

They say you can’t beat a good hearty lunch for a bit of soakage, and in memorial of Mr Guinness, many of the menus which we got in yesterday also had a twist of the black stuff! JL’s Cafe on Abbey Street had a special quick lunch of a Beef and Guinness Pie for only €6 (this lunch deal runs daily with a different dish too!), while on the other side of town, The Barge did the same.

Lagoona Bar in the IFSC kindly offered mylunch users a pint and a beef and Guinness stew for only 10 quid, (see their page for another voucher!) and Q Bar were enticing a lunch tipple with €3 pints all day!

Burritos and Blues put a Mexican twist on the old Irish drink with it’s delicious Steak and Guinness burrito for only €7, which was very tasty we can tell you, as is everything their menu! Pacinos on Suffolk Street provided the dessert for the party with specially made Guinness Ice Cream for the day, and staying on sweet things, that lovely cupcake and tasty lunch purveyor Lolly and Cooks crowned the mylunch office’s week with a special delivery of Guinness inspired cupcakes, which also flew out the door of Georges Street Arcade all day! These were so popular, and scoffed so quick that we didn’t have time to even take a picture! (See how much we really love food!)
However, we will be sure to take one the next time... (hint hint! :))

And so the big mans 251st came to pass, with rain not dampening revellers spirits, and all we can say is

To Martha Arthur!! To Mylunch!


(Oh and we will still be craving those cupcakes until next year!)

Viva la independencia!!

2010 is the year of the Bicentennial Celebrations in Mexico, celebrating 200 years of independence from Spanish rule, with the Bicentenario taking part in two celebrations: the Bicentennial of two hundred years since Independence (1810) and the second, no less important Centennial of 100 years since Mexican Revolution of 1910.

The uprising pitted the poor indigenous Indians and mixed mestizo groups against the priviledged classes of Spanish descent, pushing them into a violent and bloody battle for freedom from Spain, and on 16th September the entire country celebrates the day in 1810, when Mexico proved victorious with food and drink all being a big part of the celebration of course!

But if you can’t make it to Mexico City, Tijuana or Guadalajara for the celebrations, and you are looking for a Mexican flavoured lunch in Dublin, then we have a treat for you!

All next week from 13th-19th September, Hugo and the gang at Cafe Azteca on Lord Edward Street (Christchurch) have a special Mexican Food Festival ongoing!

Owned by an enthusiastic Mexican-Irish couple, the aim at Azteca is to transmit knowledge of the Mexican culinary art dating back to the Aztec empire and bring you right up to date, giving a taste of today's Mexican culture. You can be transported to Latin America for lunch if you so wish!

Certain foods are considered representative of Independence Day, and the team at Azteca has put together a special lunch menu, which will change daily for the week of 13th-19th September.
One favorite is pozole, a soup made of cacahuazintle corn, pork or chicken, while other like “chiles en nogada” and the famous “pico de gallo” have the colors of the Mexican flag; And it just wouldn't be a party without plenty of tequila!

Check out the full lunch menu here, and the specials here, and be sure to drop down for plenty of Mexican hospitality, Latino heat, and some of the best burritos this side of the Atlantic!

Some Mexican phrases if you do decide to pop down:

Waiter/Waitress- Mesero/Mesera
How hot is this Burrito?- Lo caliente que es este burrito?
Two tequila please!- Dos tequila por favor!
Best lunch ever! - Mejor comer cada vez!

Also, check out Azteca’s burrito offer, and special lunch voucher too!
VIVA MEXICO!!

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

Newcomers to the site!

We’re constantly adding new and exciting retailers to our site, and so we thought we’d keep you up to date with some of our recent newcomers! It’s been a very exciting week for mylunch.ie with a whole range of newbies coming on board, so keep reading for more info on these, and how they to offer you the best value, and crucially best quality lunch menus on our fair isle!

First up we have Lansdowne Hotel. With the brand spanking new Aviva open, the focus is set to shift back to the Southside of the city, and paces from the new stadium, at 27 Pembroke Road, you will find one of Dublin's finest drinking emporiums "The Den Bar". Home to the biggest rugby tie collection in the world (yes you heard me!), you can almost smell the history in this place! The Den Bar serves both carvery lunch daily, and for the late weekend risers, brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Along with the carvery, lunch options range from a bowl of hearty soup for €3, to the chef’s daily special, and also a selection of wraps and paninis.

Staying on the south side of the river, and this time moving out towards the sea, we have the Royal Marine Hotel, and also Harry’s Cafein picturesque Dun Laoghaire. Harry’s is located at Upper Georges Street, Dun Laoghaire, and is a great little funky diner. With the aim of providing homemade lunch options in a casual and relaxed environment, Harry’s is the perfect choice whether you are looking for coffee, breakfast, lunch , sandwiches and snacks, weekend brunch or dinner. A real local favourite, and a great addition to the site!

The landmark Royal Marine Hotel meanwhile has long been a favourite for lunch in Dublin . Hardy’s Bar, named after Laurel & Hardy, who stayed in the hotel for 33 days in 1953, is the main Hotel Bar. With an excellent food menu, and live music on most nights, this welcoming watering hole has a great atmosphere. Why not soak it up with a great value lunch if you’re in the area?

We’ve also had a really exciting addition on the North side in the form of Brams. Situated in Dublin 3, Brams is a friendly environment in which to enjoy an all day breakfast, a coffee and scone, a light lunch or even a home cooked dinner. With a daily updated special, often consisting of a mouth watering meal plus dessert for under a tenner, take the time to explore this somewhat hidden gem (though not to the locals!) and treat yourself to lunch.

So there you have it, four of many recent newcomers to the site, which I would advise you to check out! If your favourite local food place isn’t on the site yet, why not drop us an email at hungry@mylunch.ie or recommend a retailer. Be sure to check the site, and to bookmark this blog for more mylunch related news!

Shane