U Cafe is on James Street near St Patrick’s University Hospital and not too far from the Guinness Storehouse. We were actually bungling our way towards the Irish Museum of Modern Art when we popped in to get out of the rain and have some lunch.
The big cafe is rather modern looking inside and has an air about it that suggested to us that it may have been a Chinese or Thai restaurant in a previous lifetime. The family running the cafe were of that persuasion and their young son was sitting with colouring books and toy gun at one of the tables while we ate. As you can see from the photo the place was empty when we arrived, but a few people wandered in out of the rain while we were eating.
We both had sandwiches, some water and a couple of diet cokes – regular caffeine seemed to be required for most of our long weekend in Dublin to combat the effects of unusual levels of Guinness consumption.
Service was friendly and quick, and both sets of sandwiches were toasted. While neither came close to the delights of 37 Dawson Street, they filled a hole and the cafe was a relaxing place to escape the rain for a while. The cafe seems to have an identity crisis as in some text it was called ‘Yu Cafe’, but the sign outside definitely said ‘U Cafe’.
couchmagpie 