It happens. You're having a great night but dessert options in the place you're in don't look great. Or you've over extended yourself and can't possibly fit in another morsel until you've had a stroll around town. Or maybe you've eaten at home to save cash but want a catch up on the cheap. Here's where to go for dessert, dessert cocktails, and cheese post dinner...
Café Lisboa, Mary Street Little
Have them for breakfast, have them for a snack, have them for dessert - have Café Lisboa's creamy, crispy little egg custard tarts (the best in Dublin for our cash) any time you damn want. Team it with an espresso if you need help with digestion, or a glass of Port if you're not ready for the night to end. They're open until 9pm Tuesday - Saturday.
Spilt Milk, Drury Street
Spilt Milk is Dublin’s newest ice cream shop from the same owners as Roots (where Three Twenty used to be), and make all of their small batch ice-cream on site daily. They use organic milk sourced from one of 12 jersey cow herds across the country, and you'll always find Dublin-centric flavours, like Harry's nutbutter and whiskey and stout. If nuts and alcohol aren't your thing, try the cereal milk or mango lassi, and you won't find any sickly sweet toppings in here, they want the ice-cream to speak for itself.
Fallon & Byrne, Exchequer Street
The wine cellar in Fallon & Byrne is open seven days a week, for whatever food or drink your hungry/thirsty little heart desires. While sharing boards, pizza and pasta take up the bulk of the menu, they'd be delighted to welcome you in for a panna cotta, chocolate marquise or a baked cheesecake. There's plenty of cheese if you're steering clear of sweet, and if you time your visit from Sunday - Tuesday you can drink anything off the shelf for €1 corkage, which is one of the biggest bargains in Dublin.
Scoop, Aungier Street
Long-standing ice-cream shop Scoop are always coming up with new flavour combinations to keep things fresh, like spiced apple gelato with apple crumble swirl, and their "AI gelato" last Christmas, which was developed by Chat GPT - we're still not entirely sure what was in it. There's also a bumper menu of sundaes, Belgian waffles, crêpes and milkshakes if you really want to do the dog on it.
Ely Wine Bar, Ely Place
A wine-filled hideaway a few steps from St. Stephen's Green, Ely Wine Bar is full of little corners to enjoy a late night chocolate mousse, or a hazelnut praline with amaretto crumble. With copious amounts of wines by the glass and bottle you won't be stuck for something to wash it down with either.
Il Fornaio, Liffey Street and the IFSC
Italian café Il Fornaio looks like it's been plucked out of Lazio and dropped in the middle of Liffey Street. The are few better places for an easy evening drop in for a "mini dolcetti" and an espresso, and they also practice the art of the Aperol Spritz. Their Dawson Street café closes early, but you'll find them going in Liffey Street and in their IFSC restaurant until 8-10:30pm depending on the night.
Cellar 22, St. Stephen's Green
A Rhum Baba with Chantilly cream and a glass of Château Suduiraut Sauternes to end an evening - if we absolutely must. Or maybe a chocolate tart with praline tuile paired with a twenty-year-old Tawny port. It's all too easy to settle into basement wine bar Cellar 22 on St. Stephen's Green, for however you'd like to end the night.
The Rolling Donut, O'Connell Street
The original, the classic, the first Rolling Donut was the iconic kiosk on O'Connell Street, and while we don't go in for the neon-coloured, ultra sweet creations in their newer sites, these simple little sugar or chocolate rings will always be the O.G. dessert en route home. At €1.20 each or €6 for six they're unbeatable value too.
Brother Hubbard, Capel Street
Open late from Thursday - Saturday, Brother Hubbard on Capel Street is another easy breezy place to drop into on the fly. Their Middle Eastern influences extend to dessert with the "Noah's Ark" featuring coconut sorbet, kadifi pastry, mango & black lime; or make a date with one of the only Baked Alaskas in the city - currently a lemon meringue. If you're too full for sugar in food form, you can drink it. Try an Amaresso Martini with chocolate and hazelnut baci from the dessert cocktail menu.
A Fianco, Stoneybatter
Grano’s sister restaurant A Fianco is now bookable (praise be for anyone wishing to travel there) and serves just two desserts - a first rate tiramisu and their "Bignè" - a trio of baked pastries (an Italian version of beignets) with hazelnut cream, Sicilian pistachio cream and lemon custard. Pull up a high stool, ask for an Italian wine recommendation and settle in for a very good time.
Chimac, Aungier Street
Chimac's ice-cream sandwiches are still going strong and are big enough to share between two. The flavours change on the regular so you'll have to ask staff what's on, but we have very happy memories of salted caramel between chocolate chip, dipped in melted chocolate with a pretzel crumb. Don't forget to give it a few minutes to soften up before biting in.
Murphy's, Wicklow Street
Murphy’s have been making ice-cream for more than twenty years, with flavours varying by the season. We love the OG mango and raspberry sorbets, and if you're in need of ice-cream it's got to be the dingle sea salt or brown bread. At €5 for a small cup it's some of the most expensive ice-cream in town, but the tourists will keep them in business whatever the price.
Ayla Turkish Foods, Capel Street
Ayla Turkish Foods stocks every middle eastern ingredient you can think of (it’s where we go to get our pul biber chilli flakes), and they serve a dazzling array of Turkish delight and nougat. For our money the best thing on the menu is the pistachio baklava - layered filo pastry filled with chopped pistachio. It's priced by the kilo but you'll be satisfied with a couple of pieces each (only open until 8pm).
Note, Fenian Street
The staff in Note will be happy to pull out a seat at the bar and help you pair their desserts and cheeses with a digestive or dessert wine. They also make their own limoncello which is a far cry from the sickly sweet syrup you may have had elsewhere. Bar chats and tiramisu spoon scraping i.e. the perfect end to your evening.
Wigwam, Middle Abbey Street
If you want to keep your night going but still need to satisfy those sugar cravings, head to Wigwam. Their simple dessert menu can feature Brazilian Brigadeiros, churros with chocolate, and mini açai bowls (handy if you stay so late you're getting hungry for breakfast), and there's plenty of sugar in the rum cocktail menu too.
Bar 1661, Smithfield
If you want your dessert in drink form, Bar 1661 is very hard to beat. Constantly voted best cocktail bar in Dublin, their take on an Irish coffee (the Belfast coffee, served cold) is made with Two Fifty Square cold brew, poitín, cream, demerara sugar and topped with nutmeg. We've seen people who don't like coffee knock this back with gusto, and once you're tried it you'll want it again and again.
Dolce Sicily, South Anne Street
Save yourself the flight to Sicily and head to Dolce Sicily, a Sicilian patisserie on South Anne Street, for pistachio cream-filled cannoli and some of the best fruit tarts for miles. Cannoli are available in three sizes and are best enjoyed with an espresso, and fruit tarts come in minis and large too - ideal if you have an occasion coming up that you don't want to bake for.
Peruke & Periwig, Dawson Street
While Peruke & Periwig have disbanded their dessert cocktail menu, their "signature cocktail" menu still features a lot of drinks on the sweeter side of things, like "The Duchess", with lychee cream cheese, hibiscus, rose, elderflower and gin; or "The Chupalla", with pineapple, toffee caramel, chillies, citrus and pisco.
Sweet Churro, Temple Bar
The guys at Sweet Churro have upgraded from their former market stall and now have their own premises in Temple Bar. They describe their churros as ‘crunchy clouds of deliciousness’, and you can add strawberries, bananas or crushed Oreos. The most tempting as far as we're concerned are the ‘Sweet God’ Churros, which are hollowed out in the middle and filled with chocolate, dulce de leche, Nutella or vanilla sauce. (open until 7pm Sunday - Wednesday, 8pm Thursday - Saturday)
Frank's, Camden Street Lower
You won't always find dessert on the menu at Camden Street wine bar Frank's, it depends on whether the chef can get his hands on some particularly beguiling fruit, but you will always find cheese, and sometimes you just need to end the night with cheese.
Loose Canon, Drury Street
Put yourself in the hands of the cheese experts at Loose Canon and finish the night on a savoury note with a side of natural wine. The weekly cheese specials are in prime condition and there's always some with a bit of funk, just like the wine.
Did we miss your favourite place for post-dinner dessert? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie
