If you're not already thinking about where to get the turkey, ham and mince pies for the 25th then it's time to turn off the news, put away the antigen tests and focus on something much more enjoyable. From at home boxes covering the whole dinner, to our favourite places for individual sides, sweets and pies, here's where we'll be doing our Christmas Day food shopping this year.
The Main Event - Christmas Dinner
Margadh, Howth & Dublin 2
Head to Margadh if you want to do the turkey and ham yourself but have someone else do all the heavy lifting when it comes to the sides. Their Christmas shop has everything from duck fat roast potatoes with confit onion, garlic & thyme, to gratin dauphinoise & applewood smoked cheddar; glazed fresh stem carrots with spiced honey butter & pistachios, to glazed brussels sprouts, chestnut & sage brown butter, and there's sticky toffee pudding if you're not into desserts full of dried fruits. Collections from Howth or their RHA site in town. Order here.
Beach House At Home
One of our favourite lockdown food experiences was Beach House in Tramore's weekly food deliveries, packed with pork rilettes, seafood stew and leeks au gratin, and for their sins they're now offering to provide your Christmas starters, sides and desserts. You can get treacle cured Gravadlax with marinated beets, horseradish cream & homemade brown bread; trimmings of gravy, bread sauce, pork, sage & onion stuffing, cranberry & blood orange relish; and desserts of their signature almond tart with clementine cream, and mince pies with brandy custard. Get it all or mix and match here.
Old Street, Malahide
Old Street have the whole thing covered, with their family Christmas dinner box serving 4-6 people with leftovers. For €269 you'll get a boned, rolled and stuffed turkey; a whiskey and ginger braised ham; sausage and chestnut stuffing, duck fat roast potatoes and dauphinoise, various fancy veg like brussel sprouts with a spiced cranberry crumb, and braised red cabbage with apples, gravy, cranberry sauce, mini desserts and a Christmas pudding. There's also a full instruction and timings booklet. What could possibly go wrong. Order it here.
Fallon & Byrne
Fallon & Byrne is a one-stop upmarket shop for the starters, dinner, snacks, drinks - because what even is Christmas without turkey and stuffing crisps and a Christmas coffee blend. From the truffle mash to the chocolate chip and amarena cherry panettone, it's Christmas with notions, and if you're having a smaller than average gathering and don't want a full turkey, they do boned, rolled and stuffed turkey breasts for two. Spend all of your money here.
Le Poulet Bonne Femme
Bad news. Poulet Bonne Femme's Christmas feast has sold out, but you can still get slow-roasted, free-range Irish bronze turkeys, and honey-roast hams. They come fully-cooked, so no brining, braising or glazing will have to take place, and this is one for when you just can't deal, which is most of us right now. Order here.
The Village Butcher
If you're searching for something different this year, The Village Butcher in Ranelagh have goose, pheasant, beef Wellington, and even capon - a French chicken fed on milk or porridge that's said to have a richer flavour. They've also got every type and joint of ham and turkey you could possibly want if you're sticking with the tried and tested. Order here.
McNally Farm
Now that we've got our own order in, we can tell you that McNally Organic Farm in North County Dublin is the absolute best place to get your Christmas veg from. Everything is grown on the extremely impressive farm, and can be collected from the farm shop or at one of their markets in Stillorgan and Glasnevin. They also sell jams, relishes, homemade yoghurt, dried goods, and McNally Christmas puddings, amongst others. Order on their website.
Eatto
Meal delivery service Eatto has everything from just the trimmings to the full feast, and individual side options too if you want to pick and mix. There's also vegan nut roasts, veggie lasagne and desserts. Delivery dates are going on a first come first served basis so don't hang around if you're interested. See what's on offer here.
Drop Chef
If you want to do the cooking yourself, but find the whole thing a bit intimidating, Drop Chef will deliver you all the ingredients plus recipe cards for their free-range, Irish woodland bronze turkey, brussel sprouts with bacon and shallots, and homemade stuffing. There are loads of add-ons like West Cork ham, smoked salmon and Irish cheeses, and there's a plant-based roast stuffed with chestnut, cranberry and mushroom if there are any non-meat eaters at the table. See the menu and prices here.
Dessert
No Messin'
We've yet to be convinced there's a better mince pie in the country than No Messin's suet filled, crumbly pastry wrapped, Highbank Orchard's brandy butter topped masterpieces. Pre-orders have sold out but they'll be available in Proper Order Coffee Co. every day in December, and you can still order their puddings, brandy butter and butterscotch to be packed and waiting for you. Order here.
Bread 41
For another Christmas baking masterclass, head to Bread 41's online shop to tie down your Christmas eve pastry pick up. Mince pies, morning buns, sausage rolls - what a way to wake up on the 25th. You can also fill the freezer with bread for all of those turkey and ham sandwiches. Order here.
Bragadeiros
For an after dinner treat with a South American twist, Bragadeiros sell box sets of the beautiful Brazilian truffles in different flavours, as well as choccotone, and Brazilian honey cakes. They also have DIY gingerbread men kits, which would be fun to make on Christmas eve and leave out for Santa. They deliver nationwide or you can collect in Dublin 1 for free. Order here.
Mud Bakery
Mud are good, that's all you need to remember, and we're expecting their Christmas puddings and mince pie filling to be no different. Puddings are available for nationwide delivery, or you can pick up both at their stand at Honest 2 Goodness market in Glasnevin. Hopefully you'll get lucky and also manage to grab a Crimbo cruffin with spiced custard, clotted cream, pan-fried pudding and a gingerbread star. Order here.
Cream Of The Crop
We've already told you about this one as we gave it away to one of our lucky ATF Insiders last month, but we're still reeling over the rum and raisin gelato stuffed panettone - imagine unveiling that on the 25th. Also in Cream Of The Crop's deluxe dessert hamper you'll find four limited edition flavours of their gelatos, and the Irish food products that inspired them, like Harry's nutbutter and Katie's kombucha. Available for delivery in Dublin up until the 18th December. Order here.
Bistro One's Christmas Pudding
There are few things more convincing than the words "family recipe", so when we saw Bistro One were selling Granny O'Connor's christmas pudding, made by chef Rory Shannon's mum Vivienne, we knew we'd be onto a winner. They'll be ready for collection from the Foxrock restaurant from the 15th December and you can order one here.
Coconut & Moo Moo's Cheesecakes
Can't understand the dried fruit fascination at Christmas? Looking for something (anything) different for Christmas dessert? Coconut and Moo Moo's Basque burnt cheesecakes come in original, Belgian chocolate, coconut mocha and matcha latté flavours, and for Christmas they've launched a limited edition with gold leaf on top - if you're into that kind of thing. They're delivering in Dublin on Christmas eve, or there's a collection in Sandyford on the 23rd. Order here.
A Cheese Box From Iciar
If you don't fancy a trip to your nearest cheesemonger for some slabs of their finest, there is an easier option. Iciar is a new Blackrock-based cheese venture by Parisian Julien Comte, who is living up to his birthname impressively. Everything is French, and options include the Paris box with five cheeses, the Lyon box with mixed cheese and charcuterie, and the Courchevel box, made for that Raclette machine in your stocking. Cheeses come beautifully presented so it's just a case of opening it up and popping it on the dinner table. The perfect option if you're tasked with providing the cheese for Christmas dinner, but also a great gift for the host. See the range here.
