“Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper,”

Irish Breakfast Buffet

There is an old saying “Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper,” and the traditional Irish breakfast embraces this principle. It is wise to begin the day with a full meal designed to give you enough energy to get through the day. A typical Irish breakfast, or full Irish fry, consists of rashers (Irish bacon), sausages, white and black puddings, roasted vegetables, typically ripe tomatoes and mushrooms, eggs, and potatoes. This fry is cooked in a pan with a knob of Irish butter accompanied by homemade Irish soda bread or brown bread and washed down with a hot cup of tea. Though in different parts of Ireland the contents of the Irish breakfast can vary, the main ingredients remain the same, especially sourcing the ingredients from local farms and producers.

                  During our retreat you will experience the traditional Irish breakfast several times and don’t worry if you fall in love with it because many restaurants across Ireland offer the “full fry” as an option outside of breakfast time as well. Throughout the retreat you will experience many different kinds of food ranging from homemade salads foraged on your foraging excursion and locally produced meats and cheeses to gourmet meals created specially by our in-house chef.

Ireland is known for a few delicious dishes ranging from Irish bacon to Sheppard’s pie to roast lamb. Interestingly many restaurants in Ireland don’t server traditional Irish dishes. This is because when Irish people go out (they cook most of their meals at home) they enjoy trying foods from different places. Here in the United States, we are used to having restaurants open all day, sometimes even 24 hours. In Ireland however eating out is more specialized, especially in the country. There are many unique cafes in each village and town open only for lunch and fine dining restaurants and “takeaways” are open only in the evenings. There are many other differences in food culture in Ireland verses the States as well. Free refills are just something you see in movies in Ireland and if you order a sparkling water or soda it will come to your table in a can or bottle as there are very few drink fountains in the entire country. Ice in your water is also something you will need to request specially as ice is typically only served with soda and some cocktails.  

One place you will always be able to find Traditional Irish food is in the numerous pubs which can be found in every town, village, and city. Not every pub in Ireland serves what has been dubbed “Pub-Grub” but those that do are always busy at lunch time.