Eating out with baby | Church Bar and Restaurant Dublin

During our 12 day Ireland trip we dined out in quite a few places and to be honest, most were impromptu decisions based on a quick Trip Advisor search (if Wifi was available) but there were a few spots that really stood out. In this post I told you about the awesome meal in Dingle. For today’s Tasty Tuesday post we’re featuring the Church Bar and Restaurant in Dublin. Many have written about this spot but what I was thrilled about was how baby friendly they were. And I can now say… I’ve dined in a Church!!!

The Church Bar and Restaurant is a great place to have a few drinks at in their lounge area but we opted to have our last dinner there and enjoyed the view from the top of the church. Yes it’s an old Church, complete with a  restored Renatus Harris-built organ as its centrepiece along with stained glass windows. In fact back in the day Arthur Guinness got married here at the St. Mary’s Church. The Church closed in 1964 and saw some major restoration work  by it’s new owner before it was purchased by yet another owner in 2007 to be named The Church Bar and Restaurant. There’s your history lesson for the day!

They don’t have a high chair but they do have a kid’s menu! Our Little Monkey was quite happy to sit on the adult chairs despite the fact that I forgot the My Little Seat for this visit. One tip would be to sit away from the staircase as it can be busy and if your toddler is walking about in can be a bit of an issue. Our server was uber nice and even brought out a free cup of carrot soup for the Little Monkey. She downed that like no business! The soda bread and the pumpkin bread was by far the finest I’ve had in all of Ireland and the meal that followed was just as lovely. I was tempted to have some traditional pub grub here but instead I opted for the Chicken Ala Brassa which had a lime, coriander and chilli cream sauce along with roasted garlic baby potatoes and steamed greens. The rest of the family all got the Prime Irish Rib Eye Steak which came with a roasted vegetable stack and pink peppercorn sauce. Ginger Beer was indulged in and the hubs had one of the local craft beers  from the 5 Lamps Brewery.

Soaking in the historical and literary surroundings is definitely what you’ll be doing whilst at the Church Bar and Restaurant. What I liked best was that you can pop in for a quick drink at the bar downstairs, enjoy a fine dinner overlooking the bar or just pull up a chair and watch the entertainment on offer whilst having a few snacks. They even turn into a nightclub from what I hear! Plenty of options that you have no excuse but to swing by if you’re ever visiting Dublin. We were greeted half way through our meal with a traditional Irish dance – Check out the video to see more!