Delicious Middle Eastern Breakfast

Another morning rolled around during our trip to Dublin, and we were once again stuck trying to find a place that was both (a) open, (b) looked interesting, and (c) wasn’t a place we’d eaten at already on the trip. As the week went on this became an increasingly more difficult task (and it’s one we abandoned entirely when it came to coffee places and there were only so many in town, and so few that were open when we were awake early in the morning).

We eventually wandered past a Middle Eastern cafe on a street corner, Tang, which not only had good smells coming out of it but also a couple of tables that weren’t already filled with other people. Tucking into the warmed, cramped shop, we had a small chat with the cook who was also working the register, and settled on a couple of solid breakfast selections to help carry us through a day of heavier touristing.

My wife ordered up the eggs on toast, which was pitched as a simple dish but came out far more complex. The meal consisted of two North Wicklow eggs (fried, in her case) on sourdough toast with tahini, Lebanese pesto, chilli oil, nut dukkah, spring onion and fresh chilis. It was a lot, but in a good way, with rich flavors, good spicing, and complex toppings. She didn’t actually expect the chilis (as they weren’t listed on the menu on the store’s board even if they’re on the printed menu), but while it had some heat she still enjoyed it (despite not liking spice).

She really enjoyed the clean, farm fresh flavors above all. The dish felt well made and delightfully warm, with ingredients that were so much heartier than what she was used to from breakfast in the States. That was a trend with many of the meals we got while we were over in Dublin, but it was especially the case at Tang. There was something about how they made their food, with the ingredients they got, that just felt especially hearty.

I, meanwhile, got the Shakshuka, and I had already half plowed into it by the time my wife reminded me I needed to take a picture (so forgive the mess I made of it). Like the basic Two-Egg, this had two North Wicklow Eggs on toast, but this time the eggs were baked in harissa and served with tomatoes & red peppers, along with the nut dukkah, tzatziki, spring onion, and chilies. I also added on feta to it, as an optional topping. And, man, it was so good.

The meal had that feel of a bowl of tomato soup, even though it wasn’t as soupy and certainly had a lot of other stuff going on within it. It was complex and deep, with the tomatoes accented by the spice blend Tang uses, along with the feta adding a sharp bite on top. I normally don’t like a lot of food for breakfast, and frequently had leftovers from all the meals we ate during this trip, but I finished every bite of this meal and longed to go back for more.

There was something really special about Tang, from its inviting interior, to the good smells from the cafe’s food, and the hearty, delicious meals they served. This is one of those places that I would love to visit again and again, if I could, because I want to try everything on their menu, not just for breakfast but also their lunch flatbreads and salads, their brunch specials, and their dinner menu as well. This place was too good to visit only once, which is sad because we were already nearing the end of our trip and we didn’t have time to go back for more…