147 Deli - Dreams Can Come True!

Frankly, I had reached the brink. I just couldn’t take it anymore. For several weeks I’ve been following 147 Deli on Instagram . If anyone knows about the lick the screen rule of food photography, it’s these guys. The images of their epic sandwiches were imprinted on my brain. I wiped down the screen on my phone and announced to Husband that I could live in a fantasy world no longer. It was time to make my dreams a reality – we were going to 147 Deli for lunch. He seemed nonplussed. I knew he didn’t understand yet. But he would.

So Husband, Baba and I headed out for lunch. I was like a child going to see Santa, Husband was going out of his mind with hunger, and Baba was ready for a nap, so you can imagine how excitable we were when we arrived.

Inside was cosy but with plenty of space to manoeuvre a buggy. The counter is right inside the door so I think Husband felt pressured to make up his mind quickly. I told him to make his choice and then go and sit down and I’d look after everything, like a proper mammy. He took Baba to the back and got her set up in a high chair. It was a bit of a squeeze but he made it work.

In the meantime, I placed my order with the smiling counter attendant — a club sandwich for Husband and the special for myself, which was bbq brisket with creamed corn and pickled cabbage and carrot on a sourdough roll, along with two black coffees. Once all was paid for (€19.20 for everything) I made my way to the table, where Baba was crying and Husband was looking even more stressed.

I asked if there was any way they could heat up Baba’s lunch. Unfortunately, they couldn’t. Not to worry, I thought, she’ll eat it cold. Ha, unlikely! Our sandwiches arrived pretty quickly, which instantly made Baba’s cold lunch repulsive to her. All she wanted was a bite of what Mama and Dada were having, and I couldn’t argue with that. My sandwich was a bit spicy so I was wary of giving her a bite, but she certainly enjoyed the creamed corn and titbits of sourdough that came her way. Husband’s club sandwich was a tasty concoction of chicken, bacon, tomato, onion and greenery with chipotle mayonnaise on an onion bap. But hipsters beware: this saucy sandwich is a hazardous for a man with a beard. Plenty of napkins required.

Club sandwich

Barbecue brisket with creamed corn and pickled carrot and cabbage

Part of my excitement at being there stemmed from the fact that 147 Deli stocks doughnuts from Dublin Doughnut Company, and having been tempted by the pictures for far too long, I was determined to experience one at long last. I sent Husband up to the counter to choose his doughnut and get a Peanut Butter Cup one for me. He came back with a Sticky Toffee Pudding doughnut for himself and scant change from €10. That came as a bit of a shock, I have to say. For small doughnuts they were quite pricey at €2.90 each, but they were totally delicious so the price means they’ll just be an occasional treat, which is probably no bad thing.

Sticky Toffee Pudding and Peanut Butter Cup doughnuts from Dublin Doughnut Co.

Around this time, while I was in coffee and doughnut dreamland, Baba decided to “perform”, as my mother-in-law likes to say. I bundled her up, grabbed a spare nappy and wipes, and headed off to the toilets, only to find the single customer toilet didn’t have a baby-changing table in it. Bummer. Our only option was to pack up and head off in search of baby-changing facilities, leaving half-full cups of coffee behind us.

Although our outing had a disappointing ending I’d definitely go back another time, but without Baba. To be honest, I think we were all in a heightened state which wasn't conducive to a relaxing lunch anyway. But if Husband and I ever have the opportunity for a lunch date by ourselves I know it would be a very attractive venue. It’s the kind of place I could imagine going with a hangover, enjoying a delicious sandwich and taking my time over a couple of coffees, as I would have done in pre-Baba days. Maybe we’ll revisit in a few years when Baba’s out of nappies and we can all sit at the table together.

I can’t wait that long.

147 Deli is located at 147 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 and is open Monday to Friday 8am-5pm, and Saturdays 10am-5pm. Closed on Sundays though. Boo.