British food in Dublin: a proper cuppa, a Sunday roast and the footie on the telly

Of all the places Brits move to, Dublin is the one where you'll miss home food the least. The pubs show the Premier League, the supermarkets are half familiar, and the breakfast is basically a full English with white pudding.

The short version

• Tesco has a big Irish chain, and M&S is on Grafton Street, so lots of British staples are a short walk away [1][2].
• The tea aisle is the surprise: Irish shelves are ruled by Barry's and Lyons, and we couldn't find PG Tips or Yorkshire Tea on Tesco Ireland's website [1].
• For a Sunday roast, Hawksmoor on College Green does the full works, Yorkshire puddings and all [3].
• For the footie, Sinnott's and The Bleeding Horse are proper sports pubs [4][5].
• Since Brexit, you can't bring meat or dairy from Great Britain in your suitcase or by post. Bacon, sausages and cheddar have to stay in Britain [6].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002), rounded.

Shopping for the taste of home

The Irish supermarket scene will feel familiar. Tesco Ireland has stores all over Dublin, plus Irish-owned chains like Dunnes Stores and SuperValu and the German discounters. Many British brands are on the shelves, though not always the ones you expect.

When we searched Tesco Ireland's website in November 2026 [1]:

Prices change, so treat these as a rough guide.

Marks & Spencer on Grafton Street is the other obvious stop for homesick shoppers, with its clothing, beauty and homeware departments [2]. M&S food is a reliable source of British-style ready meals, biscuits and Christmas treats, and in December it's where a lot of Brits go for a pudding and mince pies.

The great tea question

Here's the thing about tea in Ireland: it's a serious tea-drinking country, and people are loyal to their own brands. Barry's and Lyons dominate, and they make a strong, malty cup that most Brits come round to within a week. If you really can't live without your usual, stock up on trips home (tea is one of the things you can bring in, see below), or order online and check the delivery charges.

What you can and can't bring from Britain

This is the bit that catches people out. Since Brexit, Great Britain counts as outside the EU for food rules, and Ireland is in the EU. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine says personal consignments of meat, milk and their products from Great Britain are not allowed, whether in your luggage or ordered online and sent by post or courier [6].

So these have to stay in Britain:

• bacon, sausages, black pudding and pork pies
• cheddar, Stilton and other cheeses
• milk, butter, cream and yoghurt

But you can bring, for personal use [6]:

• bread, cakes and biscuits
• chocolate and sweets
• tea and coffee
• soup stocks and flavourings packaged for sale, such as stock cubes
• pasta and noodles without meat
• liqueurs and cordials

There are no new checks on food moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic [6], so a run up to Belfast is a different matter from a flight from Stansted. Fruit, vegetables and plants from Great Britain need a plant health certificate, with a few exceptions such as bananas and pineapples [6].

Ordering from UK websites has also changed. Parcels from Great Britain can attract Irish VAT, customs duty and handling charges, which can turn a cheap order into an expensive one. Check whether a retailer ships from an EU warehouse before you click buy.

The full Irish

You won't find many cafés selling a "full English", because Dublin has its own version. A full Irish breakfast is the same idea, with rashers, sausages, eggs, beans, mushrooms and tomato, plus black and white pudding and often brown soda bread on the side. Most cafés and hotel breakfasts do one, and it'll cure a Saturday-morning head just as well as the fry-up back home. Irish rashers are back bacon, so no complaints there.

A Sunday roast

The Irish do a good roast too, often as a carvery lunch in a pub, and you'll see "carvery" signs all over the city. For a proper British-style Sunday roast, the stand-out is:

• Hawksmoor Dublin, College Green. The British steakhouse does a Sunday roast of dry-aged rump or slow-roasted sirloin, with beef-dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and bone-marrow gravy [3]. It's not cheap, but it's the real thing.

Sinnott's on South King Street also does a carvery alongside its sports [4].

Fish and chips

Dubliners call it a chipper, and the city takes it seriously:

• Leo Burdock, 2 Werburgh Street by Christ Church, is Dublin's oldest chipper, open since 1913 [7]. Takeaway, in the paper, eaten on a bench.
• Fish Shop, 76 Benburb Street in Smithfield, is a sit-down chipper-restaurant with daily changing beer-battered fish and Irish seafood [8].

Ask for "a one and one" (fish and chips) if you want to sound local. Curry sauce is common; mushy peas less so.

Afternoon tea

For a birthday, a visiting parent or a bit of a treat:

• The Shelbourne, St Stephen's Green, serves afternoon tea in its Lord Mayor's Lounge overlooking the Green [9]. Book ahead.
• Bewley's Grafton Street, the landmark café, does afternoon tea Thursday to Sunday from 1pm to 3.30pm [10].

Bewley's is also where generations of Dubliners have gone for a cuppa and a sticky bun, so it's worth a visit even if you skip the sandwiches.

Pubs for the footie

Premier League football is huge in Ireland, and Dublin pubs show the big matches as a matter of course. Expect a lot of Liverpool and Manchester United shirts. For a proper sports bar:

• Sinnott's, South King Street (Dublin 2), with more than 30 screens, often showing several matches at once [4].
• The Bleeding Horse, Camden Street Upper (Dublin 2), a historic pub showing the Premier League and rugby [5].

If England are playing Ireland at rugby, choose your shirt carefully, and be gracious in defeat. Six Nations weekends are the best fun you'll have in a Dublin pub, whoever wins.

Fancy a pint with other Brits, or want to know where to watch your team? Our community group for Brits in Ireland is a good place to start, and our guide to British life in Dublin covers the clubs, churches and Royal British Legion branches.

Sources

1. Tesco Ireland online groceries, searches for Marmite, Christmas pudding and Yorkshire Tea (checked 7 November 2026)
2. Marks & Spencer: Dublin Grafton Street store
3. Hawksmoor Dublin
4. Sinnott's Bar
5. The Bleeding Horse
6. gov.ie (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine): Information on personal consignments in luggage or through postal, courier and online services (updated 12 June 2026)
7. Leo Burdock: locations
8. Fish Shop: contact
9. The Shelbourne: The Lord Mayor's Lounge
10. Bewley's Grafton Street: afternoon tea

Keep reading

• British life in Dublin
• Nightlife in Dublin
• Cost of living in Dublin
• Moving pets and belongings from the UK