AS THEY SAY, you can’t out exercise a bad diet.
One issue I see with clients is their perpetual struggle with eating clean while eating out.
Eating clean is tough enough when you’re eating in and have total control of everything you put on your plate, but the task of abiding by your clean eating resolution becomes even more challenging when you’re at the mercy of a restaurant or cafe.
Living in Dublin, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out and staying healthy.
You just need to know where to go. So whether you are following a paleo, low carb, vegan or raw diet or whether you simply want to make better food choices and not negate all the hard work you have been doing in the gym, we have you covered with our six favourite go-to places in Dublin for lunch and dinner.
Breakfast and lunch
Borlottie
Borlottie, based in the IFSC as well as Baggot Street, offers healthy breakfast and lunch options to discerning Dublin diners. Their salads are delicious as are their hot boxes.
I would definitely recommend the Mexican quinoa hot box with cajun spiced chicken and sweet potato drizzled with a sticky Thai dressing.
They also stock tasty protein treats as well as fresh fruit juices. It ticks all the boxes for me. It has a heavy emphasis on fresh food produce, offers protein cooked that day in their kitchen, serves up good fats with lots crisp fresh greens and does that all within minutes of ordering.
Counter Culture
Counter Culture, opened by a husband and wife team, is based on the second floor of the Powerscourt Shopping Centre and offers health conscious patrons, breakfast, lunch, juices, smoothies and treats at a good price point.
They pride themselves on producing high quality, fresh, healthy, tasty food, made to order.
Their brunch, served at the weekends, is delicious and there is a real feeling of ‘why wait until Monday to eat healthy’ which I love. I would certainly recommend their 3 Free Range Scrambled Eggs with Salmon.
Dinner
The Rustic Stone
High end dining and health conscious food do not often go hand in hand.
The Rustic Stone, on Georges Street, bucks this trend by offering healthy nutritious food with five star service. They cook with olive oil and pledge that all their dishes are devoid of butter and cream.
How much more paleo can you get, cooking your own piece of steak or fish on a sizzling hot stone? I love that the menu is clear and succinct, with each dish marked as to whether they are low in saturated fat, wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, super food or sugar free. No excuses for making poor food choices.
Forno
Forno is a lovely little Italian restaurant in Donnybrook which offers customers the option of substituting pasta for a Paleo/Carb free option. They simply substitute pasta for delicious vegetable noodles which taste incredible.
I would definitely recommend their Prawn Linguine with zucchini noodles. Forno is also ‘BYOB’ so you can bring along a bottle of wine on cheat night.
Take Away
It’s cheat night and you don’t want to gorge yourself. Check out these two great take-away’s where the food is nutritious as well as indulgent.
Bombay Pantry
When I think of Indian food, I think of cream, butter, rice, gigantic portions of Naan bread and a colossal amount of calories.
While Bombay Pantry offers all of the above, they also have a vast selection of healthier and lower fat options as well as dishes that are focused around superfoods like their kale and chickpea curry or sweet potato dahl.
I am not a big believer in measuring life by calories as not all calories are equal, but some people like to know these things.
I would certainly recommend their chicken curry (500 calories) with a side of sautéed broccoli (91 calories).
Camile
Camile has branches located all over the city and is an authentic Thai take-away with a difference.
Camile offers a number of lighter main courses that come in at 600 calories or less, including a portion of rice or noodles.
Camile has also collaborated with Olympian sprint hurdles athlete Derval O’Rourke and Olympian pentathlete Natalya Coyle to design and produce some really healthy, wholesome and delicious foods.
Their Coconut Poached Salmon with Teriyaki sauce on a bed of Stir Fried Asian Greens is just delicious and at 497 calories, it comes minus the post-take away guilt.
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