Two Pups — Restaurant in Dublin

You know you’re in for something either great or ridiculous when you round the corner on Francis Street and see a queue spilling out of a café like they’re giving away free iPhones. That café is Two Pups — where brunch is a lifestyle and queueing is part of the ceremony.

We turned up as four men with one clear objective: to eat. Properly. No grazing, no nibbles, just a full-on brunch mission. Sausages, toast, coffee — the works. We weren’t hungover, we weren’t browsing. We were there to feast.

First came the outdoor wait. Not terrible, just long enough to build an appetite. Then, once seated, the twist: you don’t order at the table. You queue again. Off we went, back into the melee, dodging puffer jackets and tote bags, trying to hold on to the menu and our patience while someone behind us debated whether their dog prefers sourdough or rye.

Inside, it’s exactly what you'd expect. Cramped, cheerful, loud, and full of dogs with better coats than most people. No bar. No forced decor. Just a busy, brilliant little spot powered by caffeine and organised chaos.

Then the food arrived — and we stopped talking.

The avo toast was exactly what you hope for and rarely get. Thick sourdough with two fried eggs sitting squarely on top, a heavy-handed scoop of avocado sprinkled with sesame, and dabs of hot sauce around the plate like punctuation. Crunch, richness, heat — proper balance on a blue plate you’d probably pay €40 for in a design shop.

Then came the moment.

The Italian scanned the menu and lit up: “Oh — they do shakshuka.” Like he’d discovered fire. And of course, he had to be different. While the rest of us locked in sausage orders without drama, he went straight for it.

It arrived in a white enamel bowl: rich tomato and pepper stew, slow-cooked onions, feta crumbled across the top, a swirl of green yoghurt, black sesame, and two poached eggs sitting perfectly in the middle like it had all been arranged in reverence. He didn’t say a word. Just ate, slowly and silently, with the calm satisfaction of a man who knew he’d chosen right. Again.

The rest of us got on with our sausages — browned, juicy, and exactly what we came for. No nonsense, no regrets. Just solid food made by people who care.

The coffee was excellent too. Strong, smooth, and served with a perfectly swirled leaf in the foam. We said nothing. We noticed. And then we quietly enjoyed it.

There’s only one toilet — tucked out the back like a secret — so a second flat white becomes more of a strategic decision than a craving.

But once the food lands, all of that noise fades. No gimmicks, no pretence. Just real cooking, done well, in a place that’s packed because it deserves to be. The staff were flat-out but still friendly, and somehow the whole thing works.

Would I go back? Absolutely. Would I complain the whole way through the queue? Without doubt. But I’d still get the sausages. And I’d still sit there watching the Italian win brunch — simply because he had to be different.

Come hungry. Queue hard. And never ignore the man who says “oh — they do shakshuka.” He knows exactly...

We decided to travel in 30 minutes from Dún Laoghaire on Sunday for brunch. While we waited only a short time to be seated, the rest of the experience was exceptionally poor. When we looked at the menu, the one sweet brunch item, the French Toast, was not available and when we went to order our drinks we were told there was no Chai as the kitchen hadn’t had time to make more. We ordered two main dishes with some extras such as bacon, a side portion of arancini, an orange juice, a regular tea and a cappuccino which totalled a hefty €57.27. The drinks arrived promptly and were of an ok standard. The Arancini arrived and were quite nice, however 35 minutes passed and none of the rest of the food had arrived. We asked one of the waiters if there was a problem, after 5 minutes he returned to say they were plating our food. During this time, many people had arrived after us, ordered and finished their food. Another 10 minutes passed with no food, we called the same waiter back, he went to check and came back to inform us there was an unnamed problem with our food. People all around were having similar dishes, so what the problem was remains a mystery. We then informed the waiter we wished to cancel the order. He brought us to the till where a lady who seemed more senior kindly informed us that the full amount had been refunded - we will wait to see if it comes through. While the staff are polite, the service is pretty substandard, a lot of it is DIY, numerous items were missing from their menu on one of the days brunch would be most popular and there wasn’t much by way of an apology or explanation. Considering the inconvenience of travelling there and the experience thereafter, we could not recommend this café unfortunately. However, we then went to ALMA which is quite close and is always...

Just tried Notions for the first time this evening after being very excited to go for quite a while now. First, we were not given the option to sit inside because we didn't have a reservation, despite them hearing two more couples who also had no reservations be asked "inside or outside?". Next, after we ordered our wine, we were then left waiting for over half an hour to order food. The staff passed us by several times, and we had to flag one down (after several attempts) to order. Next came the food. Now I will say, what we had was delicious, however, what we had was essentially a singular slice of bread, a singular piece of broccoli, and approximately 5-7 mushrooms between two people. All for the grand price of €74. I have never been so shocked at a price in my life. I eat out quite often, I am very familiar with the the restaurant/bar scene in Dublin, both high end and lower and I honestly cannot wrap my head around how you could justify the pricing. Not to mention the staff, who while all very friendly, also watched a woman spill an entire piping hot pot of tea all over herself and her table and did nothing. Not even a piece of tissue emerged. They had to actually ASK the staff for new cutlery as theirs was covered in tea. And no one even offered to refill her tea pot, which I'm sorry, but, thats just hot water. Maybe after a pay day and I'm feeling fancy, I might pop in for a nice wine, but never in my life will I fork out that money, to cut a piece of...