Stoner’s Guide to Dublin
Words: Shamim de Brún and Sian Conway
For many people, a quick splif or little toke before a meal is one of life’s true pleasures. Not only does the weed make everything taste better, but satisfying a raging case of the munchies is spiritually fulfilling.
Every stoner has a favourite munchie, based on their personal tastes. The complex ways cannabis affects the appetite also heightens sensations of taste and smell, lowers inhibitions, and can trigger un-ignorable food cravings.
There are certain elements that many popular stoner foods share. Many, like Pringles, nachos, and twenty Mc Donalds chicken nuggets, are crunchy or crispy. Some snacks, like mighty munch, are powerfully spicy; others offer lip-pursing sour flavours, like Tangfastics.
The common theme is the intensity of flavour. Other unifiers are large amounts of salt, sugar, acid, fat, and spice — occasionally bolstered by a dose of MSG. The result is craveability, with flavours that linger.
To help you travel down this path of culinary enlightenment, we’ve gathered the best Dublin spots to hit up when you’ve lit up and put them all in one place to create the ultimate guide to boosting your cannabis-tasting experiences.
Lightly Toasted
Being a little high is kind of like being lifted up into a little cloud, and everything is a smidge hazy, but in a nice way, like the sun in your eyes, but also in your tummy. A little high feels like everything slows down just a little bit, and you feel like you’re floating.
Imagine you’re on a lovely sunny walk through town and fancy a little treat. Popping into The Morning on Pleasants Street is a perfect choice. It’s affordable and peppered with sweet treats that are choc-full of butter but also seasonal goodness. Plus, The Morning is a gorgeous little sun trap. The perfect place to sit if you just want to have a lovely time after a little toke. If that’s not enough, the coffee is gorgeous, especially the filter – which would be all the more enhanced by a little THC.
If you want something a little more elevated then you can’t beat a glass of Pet Nat and a four cheese toasty from Loose Cannon. Another little sun trap, this beautiful spot is a great one if you’re into people-watching while quaffing wine and chowing down on the most flavourful of Irish cheeses.
If the weather isn’t forgiving enough for you to sit in sun traps, another well-priced favour packed spot to pop into is Kinara. Pakistani flavours are well documented as being optimum high-time buds. Redditors describe the post-joint Pakistani feed as “like orgasming while high. Something already amazing turned mind-blowing”.
Grano is a must in many circumstances, but it is a perfect all-in treat when you feel like the world is cushioned by the joys of mary jane. The place itself is small and simple, with wooden tables, and twinkly fairy lights. So it looks like how a little high makes you feel. You can’t beat fresh pasta – ever – but the soft, precise flavours of their notoriously phenomenal pasta will be heightened and brightened by a touch of THC.
Steak is next to perfection as far as most food enthusiasts are concerned. Irish beef doubly so. A well-prepared steak dinner ticks all the boxes for the perfect meal to enjoy with a little high. Depending on the cut and grade of the steak you opt for, it’s fatty, juicy, and texturally decadent and comes with salty sauces or sides as required. These are all things Mister S has in spades. On top of that, they have their burnt ends spring rolls which are the perfect flavour bomb to kick of a cannabis-fueled festivity. It’s a beautifully atmospheric space after dark and would lend itself well to the stoner that likes to imagine themselves as being in a movie when they’re lightly stoned.
Zooted & Booted
The munchies make themselves known when you cross over into medium heights. This is the level where many become introspective philosophers. You want bigger flavours, and the giggles escape you at an increasing level, but you’re not so high that you’re a menace to society. This is the perfect level of high for real gustatory enjoyment.
Pho Kim’s pho is a perfect dish. Full Stop. However, the pure decadence of the restaurant’s whole beef rib pho makes it an excellent munchie food. The casual festive space makes it easy to meld into the background and focus on the simple joy of a bowl of noodles and broth. The music is gentle and the staff are sound. Perfect for when you’re just tipping past lightly buzzed to fully faded. Plus, it’s easy on the wallet for the sizeable portion.
I’d love to recommend Aobaba for all the same reasons, but they’re cash only, and that is one complication too many when you’re under the munchies’ influence.
If you’re looking to spend a little bit more after splitting a spliff, then Izakaya is a perfect spot. Central, well known, with quality flavour bombs galore on the menu; it’s a great spot. The low lighting and high ceilings will entertain even the most “I’m not even that high” bro in your group. The music is as big a sell as the famous Izakaya Burger. Think low-fi but with a bit of an edge. And not to advocate crossfading, but their basil smashes would taste supremely baller after a puff or two.
When isn’t Big Fan a good choice? The menu is printed and left on the table for you to tick tick boom. Meaning you don’t have to engage with the staff too much if the giggles come for you. The colours are seventies chic, and the backstory is as much fun as the food. If you think the enoki mushrooms are good on a regular day, imagine them with the heightened tastebuds of a moderately high person, and you are in a kind of flavour nirvana known to few.
If ya have a few more euros to be shelling out, then you can nab yourself some high-quality and hearty grub at Orwell Road. Big on flavour. Chill in terms of atmosphere, Orwell Road is perfect if you want a high-end feast with your giggly pontificating. It’s got art deco flare and smooth beats in the custom-built sound system, making it a perfect place to ride the wave of a good buzz well. Tucking into their spring lamb might make you exclaim louder than when Harry Met Sally.
Big Mikes‘s Surf n Turf is the ultimate munchies feast. There is legitimately too much food served to be tackled without the munchies, even if you don’t go for starters. Which you obviously will. Their terrace is the perfect place to sit and watch the sunset over Blackrock while you tuck into shellfish and tear steak off the bone with your bare hands. Plus the staff are well known to be excellent craic. So you wouldn’t even have to hide your bloodshot eyes if you didn’t want to. You can’t buy those kinds of good vibes.
Intergalactic
Sometimes you just wanna go hell for leather.
When you’re really high, and you want a lot of food without making too many decisions, then Lucky Tortoise is the place for you. Just opt for the all-in menu and watch the food appear before you. It also comes in vegan. There are also these pork buns on the menu that I would swear were made to save the lives of stoners the world over. There is nothing that wouldn’t blow your mind after a pinner here, so you’re safe to order to your heart’s content.
Mr Croquetta is a new contender on the scene. Basically, it’s a whole place that serves nothing but croquettes with all different flavours and dips at very reasonable prices. Spanish flavours are already impeccable. Can you think of anything better after smoking a fatty?
When I asked every single weed-inclined food enthusiast I know, and believe me, there are quite a few of them, two names came up over and over again. Happy’s being the first. Happy’s is what happens when Colonel Sanders and your favourite Asian street food vendor have a satisfyingly sleazy one-night stand. It’s all bold flavours, fried chicken, and banging tunes. Absoloute full-blazed perfection.
Chimac was the other spot that came up over and over. The Kim Cheese is one of the most intensely flavoured dishes at any Dublin restaurant. Add to that that each of their burgers is enough to feed Arnold Schwarzenegger at his physical peak for days, and you have some idea about why they would be the ultimate spot to hit up when you have gone full throttle at the herb and need some chow right the hell now.
Vice is the ultimate all-in choice because chicken and pizza are the gold standards of high foods. Here you can get them at ‘high’ quality with a choice of powerfully flavoured dip. The skin is super crispy, the glaze is thick with caramelised sugar, and the fish sauce offers a jolt of umami. Squeeze lime wedges over the wings before eating to brighten the flavours. And if spicy munchies are your thing, dip them in gochujang.
Shout out to: Vietnom, Krewe, M&L Chineese, AA’s Caribbean, Vietnom, Bahay, and El Milagro. Yizz are all places that would be brilliant to hitch your munchie waggon after a joint. But I have a word count to stick to.
Elsewhere on CHAR: Are You A Little Treat Girlie ?
