Summer almost feels like a distant memory to me now, it’s colder, the lovely sunshine is gone and I’ve no holiday filled with days on the beach or at the pool to look forward to.
End of summer also means the end of a great run of food related days out like Taste of Dublin & the Tapas Trail. Luckily this year we had one extra one added to the list in the form of The Big Grill Festival in Herbert Park which took place over the weekend.
This is the first year for this event but I had high hopes after all the Twitter talk on it! It was a decent enough day and we wandered down to Herbert Park from town, taking a few breaks along the way for the odd glass of wine 🙂
The park is in a lovely area and size wise is perfect for a smaller event like this. There was a lovely crowd and plenty of families and kids too.
There were numerous restaurants from around the city with stalls there including Kinara Kitchen, The Grill at Donnybrook Fair, Asador (have been wanting to try them out for ages!) Diep, The Big Blue Bus (pizza heaven!) 3FE..
And of course the main event – Pitt Bros.
The drinks options were from the many craft beer providers or else some wine or prosecco cocktails from Winesonline.
We were absolutely starving when we arrived and headed straight to Asador where we picked up a burger and a hot dog to share. The burger was absolutely delicious, cooked medium and was juicy and tasty. The hot dog was a bit tasteless to be honest, had we not thrown some mustard on it I don’t think I’d have bothered with it!
After a bit of a wander and still feeling hungry we decided to brave the queue for Pitt Bros. There was a constant line of hungry people for their fare and after scoffing the delicious pulled pork I can see why. It was fab and at €10 for the huge burger and a side, it was decent value for money.
After all the food we just chilled on the grass for a bit. Usually there’s some live music to keep you entertained and there possibly was some at different times of the day but not while we were there. Every few hours on the stage there was a food challenge like the hot pizza or hot wing challenge but other than that it was just music from the speakers. Have to admit we got a laugh from the Hot Wing challenge though 🙂
We finished the day off with the obligatory treat from the Choc Fountain.
While I had a nice day there I didn’t feel that it was worth paying €15 per person into the event, there just wasn’t enough going on. This part is a personal choice but I do prefer to get slightly smaller plates so that you can taste food from numerous restaurants instead of larger portions. For it’s first year I think they did a good job but there are some changes I’d like to see if I were to go again should it take place next year.
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kateskabin 
I saw a lot of mixed reviews on Twitter of this event. Someone commented that there was a shortage of craft beers early on Saturday. The food looks fab but maybe they need to think of more than just the food.
Definitely. I wasn’t drinking beers but a friend’s husband was and was limited to only 2 that were left and that was at 4.30pm when the event ran till 9pm! Just feel for the money that you want more than the food you are paying for anyway, a bit of entertainment or something. Am sure it will be bigger and better next year! (hopefully 🙂 )
I was there on the Sunday and was really looking forward to it, Ive been BBq’ing now for nearly 20 years and its my idea of heaven. Returning home me and the wife both thought it would have been a better Idea if most vendors had tasters so you could see what you liked before buying. I wanted also to observe the pitmasters doing their thing, but felt like I was getting in the way of the guys selling the stuff.. Perhaps I was expecting it to be more of a celebration of BBQing and grilling instead of a commercial exercise, Special shout out to the Red Dog stand as he was friendly and knowledgeable. Looking forward to Biggrill15.
Agree Clive. I definitely prefer the tasting plates way of doing things, I mean I could just go to Pitt Bros and get that burger for a tenner… therefore why did I bother paying 15 quid in, there wasn’t even a bit of live music and I didn’t see any proper BBQ demos or anything. Just felt they could have and should have done a lot more but I think they’ll hopefully up their game next year! 🙂
That’s such a teasing photo. Drool. Dribble etc. (I’m very old)
I was drooling doing the post up today … Must pay a proper visit to Pitt Bros!
To the Organiser and participants of the weekends Big Grill Festival in Herbert Park. I attended the Bar-B-Q in Herbert Park on Sunday last. Firstly let me start on a positive note,the setting was perfect as I had less then 10 mins to travel to the event and the weather on Sunday was nice and warm and sunny.(neither of which had anything to do with the organisers). Now sadly let me move to the negatives of the event and there are so many I don’t know were to start. Firstly the entrance fee of €16 (no I did not wish to avail of the book of six that work out at approx €8).I was penalised for buying the ticket on the day,100% charge in the price for waiting until the Sunday to buy my ticket,its rip of Ireland at its best. Secondly I still have €10 in useless vouchers that I HAD to buy in order to purchase at the over priced food and drink stalls. The remaining food and drink vouchers were non-refundable.What is that about,even Ryanir refund your unused voucher. Its the second rip off. Only one designated stall for coffee that wasn’t great for competition . Now on to the food stalls for rip off no 3 of the day €8 for a hot dog and a small carton of cold chips. The hotdog was lovely but not €5 worth of loveliness ! No animals allowed in the park ! Is Ireland trying its best to become the worlds unfriendliest country for pets with event organisers doing their fair share to promote same. I have attended many events in my life but I would place this Bar B Q event near the very bottom of my list. I got absolutely nothing extra for my €16,ZERO return for my buck !! not even when I asked for a taster from the venders displaying their products for tasters was it forthcoming,actually some of the dishes on sale were more expensive then they would normally retail for in the actual restaurant of the venders. Yesterday Big Grill Festival was poor value for money,badly organised (they ran out of tickets at around 3:30pm Sunday) unfair in context of value for money and a sharp reminder that the “Glory Days” of rip off Ireland are only a heart beat away. Regards Mel Devlin
Thanks for the comment Mel, my experience wasn’t quite so bad as yours but let’s hope the organisers read your comment and take it on board for next year! 🙂
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