Travelling while trying to eat clean can be difficult and preparation is key. On the flip side I'm a big advocate of not missing out on the fun just for the sake of trying to be strict with your diet. Just chose carefully when you want to break away and decide if you think you've worked hard enough before hand to really deserve it. We enjoyed many a wonderful cocktails in Opium Restaurant, Dublin with our friends on Saturday night celebrating (wait for it) 2 recent engagements, an upcoming wedding, a birthday, a new job, an upcoming move of country and an unsuccessful wedding dress shopping day! Phew. We had passionfruit and honey prosecco (drool!), a fresh ginger, orange and schnapps concoction and my personal favourite basil, cucumber and Hendrick's Gin swirl (they are all healthy right?!). We paid the price on Sunday but a treat once in a while is well deserved. (Watch out for an upcoming post on 'cheat meals and treats' and when you should have them.)
Anyway, back to my point! As we we trawled Dublin shopping and our legs got weary it was time to eat. We were both prepared to spend the next few minutes scanning menus and signs looking for somewhere even remotely healthy to eat. As we both only eat gluten free my first instinct is to look to the bottom of the menu to the legend as most restaurants these days mark what is gluten free along with vegetarian. Then I scan upwards to see what is suitable for me. We passed a few restaurants but noting seemed to appeal to us.
The head chef and creator of Rustic Stone, Dylan Mc Grath
And then, there she was, like a shining beacon across the road we saw Rustic Stone. The name itself made me think at least they would have a nice, hearty salad or meat board we could tuck into. Imagine our delight as we scanned the menu when we realised every single dish is marked clearly with the nutritional details. I think we may have hugged and high fived each other we were so excited. This would mean we wouldn't have to be those 'difficult' customers who quizzed the server if foods contained certain elements.
On the menu they have marked everything with symbols if it is:
Gluten Free
Wheat Free
Lactose Free
Diary Free
Sugar Free
Nut Free
Super Food
Vegetarian
I'm not joking. We were besides ourselves. Tasty, nice restaurant food and we would be fully informed on what it contained. You'd think when you are paying money in a restaurant you'd know what you are paying for but often you are totally in the dark. This was heaven.
The waiter also handed us a Raw menu where everything on it is raw (dudh!) and even this made us salivate. Some dishes are even marked with little helpful pieces of information on the food items contained in the dish. Did you know mustard contains lots of antioxidants and is good for your skin? It was like someone crawled inside my head and made a restaurant from my dreams. Maybe we were delirious with hunger but I really couldn't fault the place!
Yes I was 'that girl' that took a picture of the food before she ate it. I got a wonderful eye roll from the waiter!
After much discussion we both ordered the Mightly Mustard Salad with a side of Polenta chips and Potato and Pesto chips to share. Check out their menu here for all the amazing dishes we wished we had tried!
Typically, we also checked the dessert menu before even ordering our main meal and it was all I could think about as we ate our food. We both got the Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Soup and guess what...The whole dessert is sugar free! It sure tasted good. We rolled out of there on a superfood, satisfied, soupy high!
You have no idea the discipline this took to take a picture instead of lifting the bowl to my face to drink in the chocolatey goodness!
Not only was all this food amazingly tasty it was nutritious, well informed and the service was excellent. People often think healthy food is bland and this just proves it is absolutely not.
From what I gather the restaurant is known for it's hot stone style meats which you cook yourself at your table, they have an extensive wine and cocktail list and Monday nights have half price cocktails. Just another reason to visit!
I am aware I sound like a blubbering idiot who loves every restaurant I go to but actually I'm quite the opposite. Having worked in restaurants growing up I'm highly critical and service is often one of my gripes. Just ask my friends about the Green Tea incident at brunch ("there wasn't even a string on the tea bag!")But the Rustic Stone staff were a nice mix of attentive without fussing.
I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone with an interest in healthy eating and also to anyone who likes delicious food. So basically everyone. Almost 90% of the menu was 'clean' which is so refreshing considering usually when I eat out there is 1 or maybe 2 choices available,often with me having to make modifications.
The chef is Dylan Mc Grath and as you can see here he has a passion for nutrition and has been awarded a Michelin Star. I wonder is he single...?
You can check them out on Twitter and Facebook here.
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