The House

The House always shows up on the best brunch lists for their crab cake Eggs Benedict, so on a sunny Sunday afternoon we decided to take the DART out to Howth & give it a try. Unfortunately, we were horribly disappointed. The poached egg… yes, I said egg as in one egg, along with two teeny tiny crab cakes, was served on a huge hunk of toasted bagel. The bread overwhelmed the dish as there wasn’t much else to it. I’ve eaten my share of Eggs Benedict before and never has it been served with one sad, lonely egg. The crab cakes were more of a fried crab ball. Not at all what I was expecting. The dish was served with a side of greens dressed with a mustard vinaigrette that was heavy on the mustard seed. The price point was certainly not worth it, especially when I was hungry again two hours later. There are far too many excellent choices of restaurants along the pier for me to venture over to The House again.

After much waking and battling the gale force winds and rain, we needed somewhere to kick back and relax and warm up a bit.
Needless to say we stopped off here as it was the first place we had seen for ages! Overall the place is pretty welcoming and quaint inside and the staff were really friendly and inviting. They probably made one of the best coffees I have had in ages as well!
It was also great to see how much care they give to their customers going above and beyond to accommodate them and meet all their demands and requests without trying to make excuses (one of the joys of people watching). Definitely worth a visit

This place, near the centre of Howth, best suited menu preferences. We ordered a seafood chowder and were not disappointed as it was not only delicious and packed with clamps and mussels but also came with various types of bread. A little minus was that I ordered a Kir from the menu and the staff did not seem to know what it was, but that did not take away from the lovely food. It was also decorated nicely and perhaps more importantly: visited by locals, which proves the decency of the food in my opinion.

Food served doesn’t match the menu or reality — sloppy joe served open-​face?!? «Pancakes» for kids are actually one pancake. Service is really slow and prices are not cheap.
Loads of restaurants in Howth — avoid this one

After working up an appetite with a walk around the pier at Howth, we decided to get some brunch. The House had a lot of good reviews so we decided to give it a try.
We arrived in ten minutes before brunch was supposed to finish and the place was packed. We asked one of the waiters if it would still be possible to get a table for brunch and he that he would check and walked off to count tables. We were left waiting at the door for about 5 minutes, until another waiter approached us and asked were we ok. We told him we were just waiting to be seated and he went off to check table wait times too. Shortly after that, the first waiter arrived back and told us it would «just be a few minutes» before we would have a table and he gestured for us to sit at the bar. We asked would brunch still be available at that stage, seen as it was already supposed to have finished for the day the waiter just rolled his eyes and smirked, as if to suggest we were stupid for asking, then grunted «Yeh of course» before marching off.
The bar was a tiny cramped area stuffed into the corner of the premises. There was barely enough space for 4 people there yet we were the 5^th and 6^th to be crammed into the area. While we sat at the bar and seen as they neglected to give us menus to browse while we waited, we were entertained by watching the staff fumble around and mess up drinks orders. It seems like nearly every drinks order placed was in some way wrong. That should have been a warning sign to leave right there but we were blinded by hunger and decided to stay. A few more groups came in after us, and were squeezed around the bar, so they could wait for tables too. After waiting for over half an hour, we were finally seated at a large long table with two other groups sharing.
Pretty much right after we were handed the menus a waiter came over to take our orders. We had barely a chance to read the thing. We asked for more time and he went rushing off to deal with other tables. He didn’t come back for a long time.
When I did finally get to order, I got the smoked haddock hash and my girlfriend got the avocado crostini. The food was not worth what they are charging. My girlfriend was happy enough with her food, but said it was not worth what they are charging. Essentially it was crushed avocado, with an egg and some salad on toast and they charge € 14.50 for this. You would pay less than a tenner for the same kind of dish in other, better brunch places. The smoked haddock hash was pretty poor. It was basically a large potato croquet with a little bit of smoked haddock in it. It looked store bought and had just about enough haddock in it to give a slight taste of fish, but all that did was make it into a fishy tasting potato cake. The other bits, such as the sausage and the salsa, that came with the hash were nice enough. One nice addition was that they gave a dish of hollandaise with meal, which is always welcome but really didn’t make up for the poor dining experience. Also the price for this dish was also ridiculous. € 13.50 for a dish that was at about Café Kylemore standard. This place is trying its very hardest to be a trendy and fancy eatery but is seriously failing at it. Just because you use fancy words to describe your poor quality food, doesn’t mean you can get away with charging more for it.
When it was time to get the bill, we asked for it and the waiter walked off and returned 5 minutes later and offered us dessert menus. We asked him for the bill, again, and he sauntered off into the back. It took him a while to finally get back and give us the bill. We paid
One more baffling thing about this place was its menu pricing. Eggs Benedict costs more than a full fry, which usually is not the case in other brunch places. An avocado crostini with an egg and some salad costs more than haddock hash and sausages with an egg. It really seems like they were just charging more for any dishes they thought sounded more fancy. This place is desperately trying to market itself as something that it is not.

The House is a lovely restaurant in Howth, up the main street in to the town but away from the harbour and seafront.
Nicely decorated inside and out, it also has a small area outside where you can also eat.
Lots of fresh fish etc on the lunch & evening menu however a friend and I went for brunch so will only be recommending it for breakfast/​brunch!
A simple menu with the classics; fry up, pastries, granola, bacon/​sausage sandwich, toast and pancakes, however all using really good quality ingredients. I went for the pancakes with fruit which is 2 whopping great pancakes (not the best texture and taste but not bad) with yoghurt, maple syrup and tonnes of fruit and nuts (fruit was a little odd — melon, grapes and apple). My friend chose the fry which looked incredible — good sausages and toast!
In all; a very nice breakfast, with friendly staff, in a lovely area. Unfortauntely * rating based on some of the other pancakes I have had at other restaurants. A definite must if in Howth and hankering for an enjoyable brunch!

One of the best meals I have had while staying in Dublin.
This restaurant was worth the DART trip!
It’s a beautiful building in a beautiful town, you can even walk off your meal on the pier!
The food was excellent! I had an asparagus and gruyère tart on puff pastry and I split the banoffee and warm brownie sundae. It was delicious.
The brownie is worth the trip alone.
Go!

It was myself and my friends first visit to the House today and we had a great experience! The waitress began by telling us the specials which were not on the menu so we were impressed she offered to explain them and my friend subsequently ordered a special. I ordered the braised beef ciabatta and fried onion rings meal which was amazing, highly recommend — and I will probably get the same when I go back it was that good! The food was great and the service was great, all round lovely meal! I’ll be back again :)

Very pleasant lunch. This spot is a great find for fish, sandwiches and coffee after a brisk walk along the pier. Id definitely pop in again however, it is a little more pricey than I’d like and the sauce that came with the cod special was a bit plain. Think I’ll go for the chowder next time, as it looked Devine as it passed me on route out of the kitchen!

I brunched here for the first time last week and had my first Eggs Benedict (late to the party or what) !
What I like:
— The Menu! I am rarely stumped when it comes to ordering, but they have a seriously good selection! French toast, pancakes, eggs any way you like em… its a really really good menu!
— The eggs were perfectly cooked. Probably not the most difficult task, but my dish was mega tasty. Enjoyed it big time!
What I didn’t like:
— The seating arrangements. They have what I can only describe as «canteen» style chairs. I would usually never even notice seating but these guys were so uncomfortable.
— The service was slow. Granted, the place was very busy, but we waited about 15 minutes to be greeted and it took 20 minutes for the bill to come. The waiter also forgot my coffee which I never got in the end!
Having said that, I did enjoy my meal. If they introduce some cushions I’d be thrilled!

Awesome little find in Howth. Great lunch food and pleasant staff & surroundings. Will return next time I am over that way

What a great start to our Ireland tour. We detoured through Howth on our way from the Dublin airport I the city center. The House easily accommodated our group of 22 with a great breakfast. Service was polite and the food could not have been better. I would gladly go back for another meal. Thanks to Karl and all of the staff for a great experience.

We visited here with a friend we had visiting. I intended on being healthy but my Fiancé bumped into a friend of his on our way in & they recommended the sloppy joe so I had to have it (not many places in Dublin do them at all).
I’m sorry to say it wasn’t in fact a sloppy joe as I would make one (which is beef bolognaise in a burger bun), this was a little more rustic and artistic than I make them. It was a big thick slice of bread piled high with the mince. The flavours were delicious.
Our visiting friend ordered a club sandwich if I remember right & he seemed to have drawn the short straw as there wasnt much meat on that one but he said the flavours were good. All round not a bad spot to eat.

Met this girls for lunch today. Food is amazing, really well presented and just enough. Between the give of us we had pasta, chicken and sloppy joe. Real hearty food. Girls got a desert, chocolate brownie with raspberry and white chocolate served warm with vanilla ice cream… I’d recommend going there just for the desserts alone!
They have specials during the week, including a € 10 surprise dinner on a Thursday night and also a jazz evening on a Wednesday which I’ll be checking out.
Great little spot which is deceiving from
The outside but definitely with a visit!

Craic brunch after a dip into church, the sausages are like little meat pillows, go for the specials. Good quality good value.

Had a lovely meal here at the weekend. We shard the mixed starter between four of us and it was the perfect amount. I had muscles fr main course which we really good. It has a nice varied menu and I pretty good value.
The service was excellent and they advised us very well on what to order. A very nice restaurant right in the village of Howth so deffinitly a winner for me !

Settled on the top of the hill where the Chef could probably cast a pole to the ocean from the roof (well a really long pole) serving up Modern Irish Home cooked food. Enjoy your meal in a house Capt. Bligh once occupied «Mutiny on the Bounty» Bligh. This place is quaint, simplistic yet tantalizing. The kitchen is serving up some of the freshest soups I have ever devoured. Nice Global wine selection. Things I must have here
*smoked fish spreads
*ham
*salmon

To Preface: I was excited to try this place as I’d heard a lot of very positive reviews of The House. I finally got a chance to have Brunch there with a friend of mine, but was very disappointed, and the two stars are solely for the Food.
We arrived around 1 pm and were seated right away, despite it being busy. Although the waitress took our Orders only a few minutes later, we had to wait a good ten minutes for our coffee to arrive. It took about 40 minutes for our Brunch to arrive. We’d ordered Eggs Benedict and a side of Fries, so nothing super fancy that would take a lot of preparation time.
The food itself tasted really nice, portions are generous and good value for money. We didn’t see much of our waitress after she’d brought the food, though. While we were eating, we weren’t asked whether we’d like another coffee (yes, please) nor were our empty Bellini glasses cleared away, despite four waiters walking past our table every couple of minutes. Once we’d finished, it took them fifteen minutes to clear away the plates.
If we hadn’t asked for the dessert menu, the waiter (different from the one who took our order) wouldn’t even have offered it to us, nor did he ask if we wanted anything else to drink. He brought the menu to our table a few minutes later by casually dropping them on the table while he was walking past. My friend and I were both quite irritated — really, you can’t take ten seconds to stop what you’re doing and hand us the menus? We should’ve left, but the desserts sounded too good to pass up on, so we both ordered something.
My friend’s Brownie arrived first, with my Apple Crumble arriving a good five minutes after — another No-​No in my book for a restaurant like this. Desserts were both delicious (although my Apple Crumble contained a piece of plastic. (!)…and my friend’s Brownie was slightly undercooked).
Since it was a lovely day, we asked for the bill — it took a while to find a waiter to ask for it, though. This was after having finished our desserts for about 15 mins and no one coming by to clean up the empty plates — again. Asked for the bill, waiter said he’d bring it. Ten minutes later, still nothing. I stopped a different waitress and asked for the bill, mentioning that we’d like to pay by card (which, in my books, is a very obvious hint she should bring the card reader with her.).
She came back a few minutes later and put the bill down in front of us — without the card reader. We reminded her we wanted to pay by — yes, card. She had to go back and get it and we could finally pay; however, I should mention that she seemed quite disgruntled that we didn’t leave her a tip. Now I’m usually not someone who doesn’t tip, but by this point I was so annoyed with the bad service overall that I didn’t leave one.
TL;DR: great food but the service is some of the worst I’ve experienced in Dublin. It was busy, but not overwhelmingly so that it should have taken them this long. We were there for over 2 hours (!) — definitely won’t be coming back.

Nach einem Spaziergang über die Klippen von Howth wollten vier Freunde und ich etwas essen und etwas warmes trinken. Nach einer überaus freundlichen Begrüßung an der Tür bekamen wir einen Platz zugewiesen und von einer anderen Angestellten die Frühstückskarte überreicht (um ca. 14.00). Wir bestellten bei der etwas mürrischen Bedienung jeweils einen Kaffee und unterzogen die Karte einer genaueren Inspektion. Auch nach mehrmaligen Lesen: auf der Karte gab es nur Frühstück.
Auf Nachfrage, ob es auch eine andere Karte gäbe, wurde heftig verneint. Auch die weitere Frage, ob wir eine Suppe bestellen könnten (wie die beiden Damen am Nebentisch aßen) wurde wütend kopfschüttelnd verneint. Sogar die zuvor freundliche Dame an der Tür sah nicht mehr ganz so freundlich zu uns herüber. Da wir uns hier extrem unwillkommen fühlten und es nichts gab, was wir essen wollten, bezahlten wir den recht teuren, jedoch in Ordnung schmeckenden Kaffee, und gingen.
Woher diese ablehnende Haltung und latente Feindseligkeit kam, die nur uns entgegengebracht wurde, konnten wir uns nicht erklären. Wir waren nicht besonders laut und ordentlich gekleidet. Entweder mag man hier keine Touristen, keine Ausländer oder keine Menschen, die um 14.00 einfach keine Lust mehr auf Frühstück haben.
Jedenfalls war es das erste Mal, dass ich ein Restaurant/​Café verlassen habe, weil ich mich unwohl fühlte.

Went to Howth for the day with the in-​laws and had the BEST SALAD OF MY LIFE. See the photo I uploaded. I was not joking when I captioned it ‘saladgasm’.
Not only do they have killer salads but they also have a delicious pan au chocolate. I also appreciated the small but discriminating booze selection including Schneider-​Weisse and Aspall cider.
Add comfy tufted leather couches and here’s the bottom line: I am convinced. If I am in Howth, I will eat and/​or drink here. I just will.

I’ve eaten here about four or five times now — typically for afternoon brunch at the weekend.
Lovely room, nicely decorated, and very cosy and comfortable. Not formal — very relaxing. Staff are the same — very helpful and chilled out, whether it’s two people or (as we had one time) eight including three kids.
Food’s great — unpretentious, modestly priced, freshly cooked. Everything I’ve had, from their undyed smoked fish, to eggs benedict, to their roast of the day — has been great. Wine and beer menu, plus outdoor seating out the back.
Excellent — highly recommended. Plus they do specials every evening now which are terrific value.