They’re all in the Mongolian Barbeque (MBBQ) (www.mongolianbbq.ie) on the corner of Anglesea Street and Cope Street. This place, …

… where I went for lunch today.

It does this

so it was, as they probably say, a no brainer.

I’d been there before with the spouse. Many years ago. I remember not being that impressed. The sort of control that you’re used to when cooking, where you can plan, taste and adjust, or even when ordering in a restaurant, when you have a reasonable idea what the food will taste like, is absent. And the consequence is that you can end up with food that tastes of nothing, or is over-flavoured to to the point of being the culinary equivalent of grey.

Interestingly, this seems to matter less when you’re getting fed for a fiver.

So here’s how it works (click to enlarge):

Here’s the food:

There’s noodles, onion, leek, carrot, bean sprouts, courgette, corn, spinach, tofu, mushrooms, mixed peppers and bamboo shoots.

The meat selection (excuse the crappy photo) comprises

chicken (naked), pork (also naked), or chicken in various sauces/marinades. To the right of this unit there is a selection of spices and flavourings (ginger, paprika, chilli powder, garam masala, five spice, garlic, fresh coriander and so on). Further on are containers of sauces (wine, sweet and sour, honey and soy, ‘tikka masala’, and a few others that I can’t recall).

There were two chefs, only one of whom was a ‘him’ as indicated by the instructions above. The one that wasn’t a him took my meat (I chose naked pork) and popped it on a big hot plate where it sizzled for a while alongside the sizzling meats of other lunchers.

As one’s meat progresses clockwise around the hot plate, the chef that is a him takes your non-meats (mine comprised leek, bean sprouts, courgettes, spinach and bamboo shoots) and tosses it on top of your by now pretty well cooked meat. Eventually your lunch reaches 12 o’clock and gets shovelled into a bowl and handed to you.

The operation is pretty slick. The place was VERY busy which makes a nice change from my usual eatforafiver experiences. When I first got there, there was a queue at the door so I went for a little wander and came back about 10 minutes later. The queue was gone but I had to wait a few minutes for a table to be available. I was managed with brisk courtesy by a helpful staff member who explained to me how the system worked and brought me to a table.

While I was making my selections and waiting for my food to be sizzled, a bowl of rice was brought to my table and later I was supplied with a big jug of iced water.

As the title suggests, the place was full of students most of whom had learned that the capacity of a bowl is not limited by its physical properties and that noodles, being quite heavy, can act as a stabilising force for a massive wobbling pile of food underneath.

My lunch …

… was OK. I suspect that after a few goes one would get more used to the proportion of flavouring to use relative to the quantity of food. I under-flavoured mine significantly. On the table was pepper and salt, soy sauce and a big bottle of what I suspect was sweet chilli sauce, which I left well alone. The bowl of rice was waiting for me to join it for some time and wasn’t that hot by the time I arrived.

So there you have it. The place is very well organised, it’s kind of fun putting your food together and it’s very good value.

It’s not really a place you’d go to alone – I think part of the enjoyment of somewhere like this is comparing choices and seeing how they turn out, so go with a few others.

I found this guy on the wall opposite:

Oh. And I bought a hat.

I didn’t mean to do two noodle bars in a row. I had intended to try out Kylemore Cafe on O’Connell Street to see what might be on offer for fiver. I could have had a 4 piece all-day breakfast but, to be honest, I didn’t fancy it so I thought I’d have a look around and see what I could find.

North Earl Street is dominated by Boyers, home to the polyester cardigan. Infrequently, I go into Boyers just to remind myself what department stores used to look like in the 1970s. Today several staff members seemed to be stuck in what I can only describe as an intimidating pose: arms folded, frowning, grimly set lips. As ever, the dominant colours of the shop are grey and brown and the displays are as lacklustre as they’ve always been. I did a swift wheel and left.

I found the Hot Wok by accident. It’s just at the junction of North Earl Street and O’Connell Street, opposite the Kylemore Cafe.

It’s small, with a cooking area behind a serving area in which all the menu items are on display. There are counters on either side of the door with 6 stools. Another 4 people can sit outside, at two tables.

I got there just before 1pm and I was lucky to get a seat. The place was incredibly busy just after 1. Behind the counter was one guy cooking and two very smiley, welcoming and quick servers, serving.

The menu is dominated by noodle and rice dishes with everything except the duck and prawn options costing a fiver or less.

They also do some combination meals for €6.90 comprising a rice or noodle dish, satay sticks or spring rolls and a can.

I opted for the Thai Chicken Curry and rice. As I’ve come to expect now, it was spooned out into one of those nice take-away boxes.

Lots of rice and a good three and a half spoonfuls* of curry. (*I would have written ‘spoonsful’ but then I’d get massive grief from my offspring for being pedantic (at best) or simply wrong: I’ve given up.)

The portion was very generous and steamy hot too. I grabbed a set of disposable chopsticks, found my seat and tucked in. The curry comprised a decent amount of chicken, with bamboo shoots, green pepper, courgette, carrot and broccoli. The sauce wasn’t anything special and I imagine that it originated in a jar. It was a generic Thai green curry: coconut-y and quite sweet with a mild spicy heat. Tasty.

This was one of the busiest eatforafiver spots I’ve been in. It’s a prime location (unlike that poor man I wrote about recently stuck up near Christ Church Cathedral), with lots of passing trade: shoppers and office workers. I got the impression that there were quite a few regulars but there were some who were evidently new to the noodle/rice box idea. The staff were helpful at explaining what was on offer. Most were takeaway customers.

Food eaten, I wandered around a bit. There’s a Polish foodstore near the junction with Marlborough Street that has a restaurant upstairs, offering different sized plates of food, with the smallest plate costing €4, so that’s gone on my list. In fact, it’s about time I explored some Euro-food. I seem to remember a place on Moore Street offering Balkan pies for a fiver.

Right so. The receipt …

Good value. Try it.

This place has two names: the Wok Inn and Wakin. Maybe somebody can explain why this might be. I haven’t a clue. It doesn’t seem to have a website but here’s the yelp.ie entry for it: Wok Inn.

There it is

Anyway, the young lad (being on a mid-term break) and I were in town doing other stuff and we decided to give it a go. It’s on Upper Stephen’s Street, near the Drury Street junction and opposite a hotel (the Drury Court Hotel) that, until 1.45pm today, I didn’t know existed.

... either ..

... or ...

The Wakin/Wok Inn doesn’t quite fit my self-imposed eatforafiver criteria in that it doesn’t have seats, but it does have a table (just one) that you can lean on while eating, so that’ll have to do. It’s small, clean and bright and service was both friendly and quick.

The counter

There’s quite a choice for a fiver or thereabouts: noodles, mostly, with beef, chicken or vegetables, and also curry and rice. Snacks (such as satay sticks) are a little less.

Neither of us was that hungry so we ordered a portion of chicken noodles between us. The noodles were spooned into one of those nice takeaway boxes and we were asked did we want some sauce with it. The choice seemed to be between soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and what looked like a sambal. We passed on the sauce, paid, grabbed a couple of disposable chopstick sets and settled at the table.

Ready to go

Massive amount of food ...

This was a very generous portion consisting of thin noodles, chopped peppers (yellow, green and red), onion (lots), pak choi (not much), broccoli (one piece) and chicken (real chicken, not formed, reformed, pressed or reconstituted). The sauce was soy based, a little overpowering and a little too sweet for my taste. The young lad thought it was good. I liked it but I would have preferred a less sweet sauce, or maybe another constituent to the sauce to make it a bit more interesting.

The young lad stuffing it in

We couldn’t finish it – and that was the two of us (admittedly not that hungry) with one portion. But even if I was hungry, I’m not sure that I could have eaten a whole portion. It was HUGE.

The place was busy. I’m not sure what time it opens until but if it’s open late, I’d say it does a roaring trade when Break for the Border disgorges its clients.

I’m going to go back, hungry, and try the curry.

Oh yeah: that's €2.50 each!

I spotted the Toki Doki noodle bar last Wednesday as I was driving up Lord Edward Street towards Christ Church Cathedral (the nicer, brighter, friendlier and more accessible of the two Church of Ireland cathedrals in the city). Toki Doki is on the corner of Lord Edward Sreet and Christchurch Place, in a premises that has seen many different ventures disappear down the black hole of liquidation. I’d like to hope that Toki Doki does rather better. It’s a brave venture.

Despite the best efforts of planners and city councillors to destroy the oldest part of Dublin with wide roads, anonymous office blocks, the Civic Office monstrosity, pathetic attempts at mirroring the grandeur of the cathedral, and permitting vacant sites to remain eyesores, this part of the city has some stunning attractions: Dublin Castle, the cathedral itself …

… Castle Street and, of course, City Hall. Lord Edward Street, by the way, was only built in the early part of the twentieth century. Previously one had to skirt around City Hall and wander up Castle Street to get to Burdocks.

So, Toki Doki then.

It’s plain inside, but clean and bright. The serving counter is opposite the door and, against one window and one wall is a countertop with about 5 chairs. It’s mainly a take-away place, really.

Here’s the menu (click to enlarge in a new window):

As you’ll see, all the medium dishes and several of the large dishes are a fiver or less. That’s pretty good, I think. There are a few other noodle bars in the city that I’ve come across and this one seems to have the broadest range of dishes for a fiver.

They also have a special deal going at the moment:

The deal

When they say ‘Any Noodles’ they mean any medium size portion of the noodle dishes on the menu. The drink is a soft drink (bottled water, coke and so on).

I went for the Spicy Beef Noodles and a bottle of water.

There’s a choice of actual noodles (Singapore – thin ones, and Chow Mein [I think: they spell it Chawmin on the menu] – thicker ones).

The server popped the noodles (I chose the thin ones) into one of those American-style asian food take-away boxes* and spooned the spicy beef sauce on top.

Lunch! Yay.

Utensils and condiments are found nearby:

I chose some disposable chopsticks, gave the noodles a stir and tucked in.

My first reaction was that the noodles could have been hotter. The sauce was hot but I would imagine that if you took this back to your place of work, the food would be pretty cool by the time you got there. I do understand that keeping pre-cooked noodles hot is not easy as you run the risk of drying them out. The alternative is using oil and my arteries are grateful that these noodles are grease-free. Still …

My second reaction was: YUM! The sauce was gorgeous: it was a Thai inspired spicy sauce with a full coconut flavour, a hint of lemongrass and a good spicy heat that didn’t overpower, or even dominate, but crept up on you, in a good way. The beef element was minimal both in size and in quantity but that didn’t really take away from my enjoyment of my lunch. The noodles were nicely cooked and the dish was pretty filling. So filling, in fact, that I’m glad I opted for the medium deal rather than a large portion.

Noodlesonstix

The man behind the counter said that Toki Doki had been open for about two months. It wasn’t phenomenally busy. There were four people sitting at the counter when I arrived and possibly three or four people came in for take-away food in the fifteen or so minutes I was there. It’s a little out of the way and in an area of significant food competition. Parliament Street is full of restaurants and there are quite a few at the upper end of Dame Street too. And of course Temple Bar isn’t far away either. It’s hard to see where Toki Doki is going to get sufficient customers from to survive.

Anyway. I enjoyed my lunch and I thought it was good value for a fiver. It’s a place I’d return to if I’m in the area and I recommend that you try it too.

That's not what I had but it IS what I spent

* I’m old enough to remember some of the early Chinese take-aways in Dublin and, in particular, a place called Luna which was beside the (long gone) Adelphi Cinema in Dun Laoghaire in the 1960s. In those days you got your take-away in a regular Tupperware container which you washed at home and brought back to the take-away the next day. For some reason that I can’t quite understand, I  have loved those American-style containers ever since I first saw them on US television programmes years ago. They are here now and I’m happy.

Aaaand … we’re back. Holidays and real life took over for a while but the quest for good value eats resumes here.

We used to live just off Clanbrassil Street and I used to work on Montague Street so the Camden Street/ Wexford Street area is familiar territory. It’s changed hugely since then but it still retains some of its atmosphere with its vegetable stalls, small butchers, Go West clothes shop and Travel World, an excellent travel agent that has served us very well over the years. Devitt’s pub on the corner of Camden Street and Pleasants Street used to be called the Cusack Stand and was one of our firm favourites.

The area now caters for a massive nightclub crowd at the weekends, drawn to The Palace, (situated in an old cinema building where bits of The Commitments was shot in the very early 1990s) and a few late night eateries have opened there recently. I’ll write about Burritos and Blues in a later post as it does a slimmed down burrito for under a fiver.

I was driving down Wexford Street recently and the words ‘noodle box’ caught my attention. I just had that feeling, looking at the outside, that it might be somewhere worth exploring for this blog.

Two of my customary dining companions weren’t available. The big lad’s in Britain taking a Masters in Physiotherapy and the young lad was taking part in some high-end karate training session. The young lad is pretty good at the karate. A few weekends back he was part of the Irish squad at the JKS World Karate Championships in Edinburgh where he performed very well.

The spouse, happily and fortunately, was in town shopping and agreed to eatforafiver with me.

The Old Town Café Noodle Box is located half way down Wexford Street on the left as you’re going into Town. It’s surprisingly big inside, with about seven or eight 2-person tables on the left and tables for larger groups on the right. The kitchen area is at the back. The restaurant is clean, roomy and plainly decorated.

There’s a menu in the window, more in a leaflet holder just inside the door and others scattered around the tables. The menu is divided into four sections: Old Town Regular Boxes (noodle dishes), Old Town Rice Boxes, Old Town Malaysian Boxes and, oddly, Old Town Italian Boxes.

Prices range from €5 for some of the noodle boxes to €7.50 for some of the Malaysian meals. There are also some bits and pieces for under a fiver as you’ll see from the menu (for the full menu, click > here).

The spouse opted for the Lo Hon Box, comprising ‘thin egg noodles, tofu and Asian vegetables, wok tossed in special soy sauce’. I went for the Teriyaki Chicken Box, ‘thick egg noodles, chicken, prawn and Asian vegetables tossed in our teriyaki sauce’.

You order at the kitchen counter and, if you’re eating in, take your preferred table. I forgot to mention that it’s also a take-away.

We ordered, paid over the tenner to the nice man behind the counter, sat down and waited. The food didn’t take long. Contrary to the name of the restaurant, the food comes in bowls, on a tray, with chopsticks (not the disposable ones), a fork and a serviette.

The spouse’s food came first:

The spouse's Lo Hon Box

It was steamy hot. The spouse tucked in with gusto and gave it the thumbs up. It was nicely flavoured, with cucumber, broccoli, baby corn, tofu and onion, and a good heap of noodles, as you can see.

My Teriyaki Chicken box came soon after:

My Teriyaki Chicken Box

Thicker noodles, three or four big prawns and plenty of thin slices of chicken. The sauce had the sweetness of teriyaki but ‘teriyaki-flavoured’ might have been a more accurate description and it was a little salty for my taste.

That being said, I’m not complaining. It was a good wholesome feed for a fiver and there’s plenty more on the menu to bring me back, outside the budgetary constraints of this blog. It was also nice to eat with substantial chopsticks.

So, if you’re in Wexford Street and you’re a bit peckish for Oriental food, I’d say ‘go for it’. Good value, clean premises, friendly service. What more could you ask for?