the best Spanish food in Dublin: Viva

Happy Thursday! You’re nearing the end of the week! How are you feeling? Are you taking time to check-in with yourself and give yourself the care, love, and attention you need? If not, it’s perfectly okay to set aside time for yourself to do whatever you want/need to do during ‘me time.’ Maybe your thing is yoga, meditation, running, reading, tending to a pallet garden you built, sewing some pillowcases for your home decor, making a dress to match your homemade mask, paddle boarding, bringing old furniture back to life, woodworking, tooling around with some new tools, or even playing animal crossing with family and friends, but whatever you want to do during your assigned ‘me time,’ make sure you’re doing it and giving yourself a break.
If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “my Irish love, Cork: Live at the Marquee with Daryl Hall and John Oates” - you can click here to read my 300th unique blog post to date while singing along to the musical stylings of the most successful musical duo of all time. Otherwise, if you’re all caught up, let’s head back to Dublin! I admit, I’m absolutely dying (dramatic) to write about my trip to Venice, Italy, but as I was going through my travel journal, I realized that I needed to pop back in to Dublin first as there’s an amazinggg restaurant I need to note!

When I lived in Rathmines, I didn’t have any sort of transportation besides my two feet. Everywhere I went was either by walking, the LUAS**, or an occasional taxi (and for bigger trips, the train or the bus). When I would make the trek to Trinity’s main campus from my flat on Mondays and Fridays, I would pass by this amazingly cute little Spanish tapas restaurant called Viva that sat on an alleyway corner just over the canal bridge in Portobello. A couple friends from Trinity and I had all agreed to see Avengers: Endgame together when it came out at the Rathmines Omniplex just down the street from my flat, so as a pre-Endgame celebratory dinner, we all met up at Viva for some tapas!
The restaurant itself was cozy inside (with a few small tables setup outside on the sidewalk), and the service was phenomenal. I ordered the Pan Catalán (like bruschetta), the Champiñones Pil pil (pan-fried mushroom caps with garlic and chili oil), and the Berenjena Gratinada (baked aubergine/eggplant, chestnut mushrooms, garlic, and onion covered with melted cheese and a balsamic glaze - truly the highlight of the meal). My friends also got some tapas and some paella, and we all made a point of sharing (though there, admittedly, were times I did not want to share it was so delicious).
Have you ever felt territorial over your food because it was so good? I wish I could say I was a total saint who always wanted to share with others and never second-guessed her altruistic instincts, but I am a human being, so although my instinct is altruism, sometimes I just do not want to share when there is a mouthwateringly delicious dish set before me. If you can think of a dish like that - one where you hate sharing - please let me know. I love to cook and am looking for new things to try out in the kitchen! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been receiving a lot of really incredible stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe! Other people’s stories that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about whatever stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have any restaurants/eateries/pubs/coffee shops/ice cream joints/theatres/lookout spots you would recommend in other countries or even in your current home town or city, I'm absolutely 100% all ears!! I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.
Sincerely,
Johny
** the LUAS is the tram/light rail system in Dublin that you can pop on and pop off to get where you're going a bit more quickly.
P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of travel adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):
2. grateful for starbucks and sandymount strand
3. Once Upon a December in the National Gallery
4. plant a smooch for that gift of gab
5. may the 4th be with you: Dingle style
6. cinco de mayo: the best Mexican food in Dublin
8. mussolini’s window and the philosophers’ metro stop
9. father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife
10. it's the vatican, not the vatican't
11. spoiler alert: i did not lose my hand
12. more pizza and gelato and Neptune, oh my
13. craft beer, romper season, and volcano magic
14. bus singalongs and the okey dokey karaoke origin story
15. the beginning of the journey to the land of outlander
16. the boy who lived and the musical rapper
17. oh i just can't wait to be kingggg
18. fudge and haggis, quite the dynamic duo
19. the banshee labyrinth... or, my first time trying buckfast
20. the world's most magical toilet
21. gwyneth paltrow's (improv) sliding doors
22. scottish sombreros and jam, thank you
23. bob seger, a cèilidh, and arthur's seat
24. the next maxim cover girl!! 25. you can vote now!!
26. kindness at… the airport??
27. conversations with strangers and #basic meals
28. aren't gas stations amazing?!
29. not just mac's... supermac's
30. American vs. European Cell Phone Providers
34. a love of Dublin pizza: Manifesto
35. a love of Dublin pizza: Dublin Pizza Company
36. a love of Dublin pizza: with my dad
37. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
39. a love of Dublin pizza: and every other pizza
40. ahh-oooooh werewolves of london
41. a special london edition nerd alert
42. defying gravity is a WICKED good time
44. The Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre
45. LA girls love London green juice
46. Super Bowl LII Champs at Wembley
47. champagne fizz and fruity cocktails
50. juneteenth
55. 13.1 in Dublin
57. every girl likes a bad boy
59. conflict, bias, and propaganda in belfast
62. Maxim Cover Girl Quarter-Finals!
63. gulliver's travels in belfast
64. all aboard the HMS Caroline
65. all aboard the RMS Titanic
66. you know nothing, jon snow
70. the Kingsroad
73. Maxim Cover Girl Semi-Finals!
75. Dear Nana
79. Shane Lowry's Open Championship
80. maxim and Belfast Chinese food
83. my Irish love, Cork: hot chocolate
84. my Irish love, Cork: knit life
85. my Irish love, Cork: English Market
86. my Irish love, Cork: Blackrock Castle
88. pastis and the French Riviera
90. French weddings
91. Saucisson and delicious olives
92. wine and mustard at Château Virant
93. beers, brats, and salt mine showers
94. salted white dresses and blue satin sashes
95. salt mines and bowling alleys
96. science tea and pure comedy
98. youtube, a chalk horse, and stonehenge
99. Yamamori: the best Japanese food in Dublin
100. 100th post of quarantine!
101. my Irish love, Cork: Crawford Art Gallery
102. my Irish love, Cork: Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra
103. my Irish love, Cork: Live at the Marquee with Daryl Hall and John Oates
#dublinireland #crawfordartgallerycorkireland #ireland #corkireland #visitireland #cork #visitcork #corkcity #countycork #darylhallandjohnoates #hallandoates #liveatthemarquee #concert #restaurants #restaurant #spanishfood #spanish #spanishtapas #tapas #recommended #recommendation #restaurantrecommendation #dublinfood #dublineats #irish #irishfood #2018 #2019 #2020 #coronavirus #covid19 #globalpandemic #pandemic #globaleconomy #wheretoeat #trinitycollege #trinitycollegedublin #trinity #postgrad #postgraduate #mastersdegree #masters #americanabroad #liveabroad #studyabroad #abroad #marvel #avengers #avengersendgame #bestfriends #friendship #friends #dinner #publictransportation #wanderlust #wander #adventure #adventures #throwback #throwbackthursday #tbt #bloggin #travelblog #blogpost #blogger #blogging #videoblog #blog #traveler #timetravel #travel #solotravel #travelbug #girlswhotravel #womenwhotravel #travelwriter #traveling #natgeotravel #rathminesdublin #rathmines #vivadublin #vivatapas #viva #vivarathmines #omniplex #rathminesomniplex #omniplexrathmines #writing #writerslife #writer #write #writerslife #acting #actress #actorslife #actor #actors #globetrotter #act #worldtraveler #europe #european #europeanunion #altruism #portobello #portobellodublin