Spoon #29: Out of the Blue

Ms. Dish and I were ultimately successful at spoon-swapping in Ireland at Out of the Blue in the tiny seaside town of Dingle:

Out of the Blue was highly recommended by our travel guidebook, and it did not disappoint.  They serve up nothing but seafood and have a strict "no chips" policy.  I'm no expert when it comes to seafood - I leave the that to Ms. Dish.  So when she said this was some of the best seafood she'd ever had I could not disagree!  Apparently the menu is made up daily based on what was caught and brought in that day to the harbor across the street!  

And here we have our first international spoon, number 29:

Unfortunately, #29 gives us very few clues as to its origin.  Only the words "18/0 STAINLESS STEEL".  Looking similar to an Oneida Baguett, but with an extra little detail where the handle meets the bowl;  a mysterious spoon from the Emerald Isle.

Goldilocks'd in Ireland

Greetings Spoon Swappers!  Very sorry for the delay in this post, but as mentioned last time, Ms. Dish and I have been on holiday in Ireland!  Aside from having an absolutely wonderful time, we did pack along Spoon #28 with the hopes of fitting a couple of international swaps.

As it turns out, it was not easy to swap spoons in Ireland!  All too often we ran into the oversized soup spoon and the tiny coffee spoon!  A regular 'merican sized spoon like #28 just didn't seem to fit in around here.

Such was the case at Apsley's in Larne, a seaport town in Northern Ireland.

 

We happened to stop in on a Sunday after arriving in Dublin several hours earlier.  Being a Sunday, most of the town was closed, but Apsley's seemed welcoming enough.  Aside from being our first Irish meal, this was our first Irish "Fry", a breakfast consisting of eggs, ham, sausage, potatoes, tomato, and soda bread toast.  In this case the fry also included baked beans.  Unfortunately this was a true Goldilocks situation as the beans came with a soup spoon and the coffee with a tiny spoon.

Next up was The Grill Room in Belfast: 

Apologies for the "street view" of The Grill Room.  The Grill Room was actually the restaurant attached to the hotel where we were staying.  Usually Ms. Dish and I are a little hesitant when it comes to hotel restaurants.  Often over-priced and under-delicious here in the States, this does not seem to be the case in the places we visited in Ireland.  Our dinner at The Grill Room was in fact very delicious, and Ms. Dish and I even ordered coffee and the desert with the hopes of swapping.  Unfortunately we were again thwarted by the tiny desert spoon!

On to the tiny town of Mullaghmor, just north of Sligo on the western coast of Ireland.  Ms. Dish and I headed up to Mullaghmor with the hopes of taking some photos of Classiebawn Castle before the sun set. As the sun went down the temperature dropped and the winds picked up - we found ourselves quite hungry.  Fortunately we found the Quay Bar & Restaurant just across from the town's tiny harbor:

Again had a great meal of traditional Irish pub fare, but we were Goldilocks'd by the tiny desert spoon!

In Galway, Ms. Dish and I stopped in at Mc Donagh's, famous for their fish and chips: 

Ms. Dish even tried the Fried Salmon, which I had never heard of before. With our fish & chips we ordered up some chowder with the hopes of swapping, but as the trend continued, it was served with a soup spoon.  Goldilocks'd yet again!