Cafe Sofia

I’ve been here a few times since it is close to my work and every time I have found the food to be good the service to be good, and they always seem to be open. I’m sure they aren’t always open but on the weekend when other shops on Montague Lane are close this place is open for a nice breakfast or lunch.

Didn’t expect much as the place lacks atmosphere and looks a bit tired, but for a quick bite it’s fine — there’s a small selection of breakfast items and sandwiches and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back, the food was fine and came quickly. We had an absolutely lovely waitress (very patient too, I watched her deal with a group of unruly kids) and she even brought us a couple chocolate digestives to round off our meal. Very nice service!

My husband and I are in Dublin on vacation and I saw this place on Unilocal so we checked it out. Super friendly service! You also got a lot of food for a great price. We both tried the student breakfast which came with coffee and a biscuit. It was a very filling meal and a perfect way to start our day. It was a quiet little restaurant close to St. Stephens Green. If you’re in the area it’s worth trying.

Best irish/​english breakfast ive had in a while. Staff are really nice, very good atmosphere. Only ?6 student (?6.50 non student) you really cant go wrong.

If you’re looking for a well cooked, substantial breakfast, served by friendly staff in a clean environment then Café Sofia is the place. I eat here regularly, as do many other people, and the service is second to none. There’s always a happy feeling in the place and smokers have the opportunity to sit outside in comfort.
There are plenty of alternatives to the served all day breakfasts as well, and the prices are very reasonable. Student discounts and deals are also available.
It’s a great place to eat and relax with an atmosphere that makes chatting and meeting people a warm and welcome experience. I think of it as my second office.

I found the place as I was passing one day. I drop in regularly now for breakfast. The breakfast is excellent, quality, taste and portions of even the smaller breakfast is genuinely fantastic. The pricing is excellent with real value. The staff are really friendly and welcoming.

Upgrading to a five star review.
The staff here deserve it, they’re the best. On my last visit I spotted how they rushed to the door to help an elderly customer in to the café. They helped him to his table then too.
As for the fare, well the pot of tea is excellent. And the fryups have chips as well as beans.
We recently went to another café for breakfast and all I kept thinking about was how it was no way near as good as Sofia’s.
Enough said.

Café Sofia is a very famous café with the people of Dublin.
Its a no-​frills place, but better than a greasy spoon would normally be.
The breakfasts are pretty cheap 7.50 for jumbo a breakfast, 3 sausages, 2 bacon, egg, beans, pudding, tomato and chips. (and toast as well!)
But the thing is, the breakfast is pretty good as well! No fancy overpowered in taste sausages here. Just tasty normal sausages, great bacon and well done toast.
Its a Gem, i think there are discounts for students as well! Not that I am one.
All in all quick service, nice environment, cheap and good honest food. What more can you ask in an area not renowned for either quick or cheap food!
Also there’s a distinct lack of hipsters in the place which is also unusual for the area! So if you have a beard phobia or don’t like skin tight yellow trousers its the place for you.

Pretty good little place off the beaten path. Not really in a touristy area, but that was part of the charm for us. Affordable breakfast which included tea or coffee. My husband said the coffee wasn’t great, but my tea was good. The toast was served hot. The meal itself was pretty good. Not the best we had, but adequate.

I have yet to see someone come in here and order a bowl of cornflakes and tea. I’d love to see that person. I wonder if they come in the cute little mini-​boxes that are never enough, or if they pour it out of a normal sized box…
Aaanyway, I have now, finally, had the pleasure of getting one of Café Sofia’s fry-​up breakfasts in me. Don’t judge me when I say I wasn’t hungover, post-​party, or in anyway effected by the demon drink…
What you have here is a good solid ‘fry-​up’ as we like to call it. No sourdough, no extra sauces, greenery, herbs or spices. Piping hot, crispy, sausage, bacon, pudding, egg, beans, mushrooms, chips, and toast.
And of course, pivotal to any Irish breakfast success story, the tea. Giant pot. Steaming hot.
The other great thing about this place, besides the super-​friendly staff, are the customers who frequent it. I sat near a big group of lads recounting tales of last night over their breakfast — truth be told, I couldn’t have asked for better entertainment!
There are no airs and graces here, that’s for sure, but that’s all part of the charm. It does what it says on the tin.

I had you bookmarked on Unilocal before I even had my tickets and truly and surely you did not disappoint.
Online grumblings and even reviewers on Unilocal seem to describe Café Sofia as a greasy spoon type of place. This was what attracted me to the place, but after having eaten here 5 days out of my one week stay; If this is the Irish people’s idea of greasy spoon than they certainly haven’t seen what we call greasy food in America. Unless it can flame a heartburn or feel like you have 20 lbs of greasy kettlebells tied to your ankles, or unless it has plastic menus that glisten with oil, waitreses that refer to you as ’”Sugar”, and most of all to the average snob they appear to be dirty, un-​renovated, cheap and full of old people. Sofia Café is none of the above. But It shares one thing with all others — It is packed with working class folks. The people that make every city what it is. It is cheap, unpretentious and everyone that walks through their single door is treated as If they have been coming there for years. It is an unfortunate thing that most of these diners are on their way out but I am glad to see a few still standing. If none of the above didn’t attract me to begin with than there is Clare and Val (wife and husband — owners). It is a rare thing now days to see genuine kindness for total strangers and Clare and Val are the epitome of treating everyone the same way. Truly a rare thing.
I have already made a promise to myself that no matter where in Ireland I am next time, I will pay Café Sofia a visit.

Given Q’s description, I knew I just had to try this out.
Now, you understand, that one cannot simply walk into Café Sofia. You have to be in the right state of mind. A visit to this place cannot be attempted by any sane or able-​bodied person; only those quivering wrecks — shadows of former humans — may pass through the door.
And so, to prepare, you suggest to your company:
«Lads; let’s go for pints.»
It’s six or seven pints in before you discover cause for celebration. It could be anything; from a birthday to an emigration. The particulars don’t matter. What matters is an excuse for more. Ten or twenty pints later, it’s time to get some whiskey; the whiskey at this stage is absolutely critical. You have an important announcement to make.
«Gentlemen. Rest now; for tomorrow we dine at dawn.»
You wake up in a cold sweat, shivering and having lost a significant proportion of your body mass. It’s just after 3PM.
«It’s time.»
Everything happens slower now. Pain reinforces every movement and ensures only the most minimal of actions are performed in only the same way that years of Zen training can reinforce. You slither out of bed and go to freshen up, leaving a messy trail in your wake. It takes hours before you can even leave the house. Crawling to Sofia’s is a monumental challenge.
Your claw-​like hands struggle to open the door; you get inside by chance and collapse into a chair. You don’t look at a menu; you can’t say anything — language is far beyond the capacity of both your brain and your vocal cords. Your primitive visual system can’t even attempt to make eye contact with the staff. You know this is to be your final resting place. You curl up and wait for the end.
After a short eternity, breakfast is served. You tuck in. Grease courses through your veins, breathing new life into your body. Your soul is replenished and as the room stops spinning, you are reborn.

Sofia’s breakfasts are great: good portions –and with fries… It was ready before I knew; indeed fast as was mentioned already by Quentin a few years back; they didn’t slow down ;)
The staff is friendly and gave cookies after I was finished eating, and enjoying the exquisite americano… A nice touch indeed!

There’s something comforting about white toast… When it’s buttered, cut into triangles and served with beans, sausages, rashers, chips, a fried egg and a cuppa, you’re in the zone… And all for six euro!
The club sandwich and chocolate cake are delicious too and the staff are friendly, polite and accommodating.
As a recent student of DIT Aungier Street, I have many fond memories of long lunches in Café Sofia. Despite probably scaring off custom with our uproarious laughter and loud conversations about sex, the staff would put tables together for our large group and bring us free saucers of chocolate biscuits as we ordered more tea and skipped our afternoon lectures.
We often threatened to go back as graduates and order a bottle of wine rather than pots of tea… Reunion anyone?

The best way to describe Café Sofia is ‘cheap and cheerful’. The food isn’t fancy, but good and cheap. I mean, as a student is there anything better than going to a place that does a student fry up for 6 quid? No, of course there isn’t.
The staff are very friendly and tend to recognize their regulars, which is also always a big plus. The café isn’t too big or particularly fancy, but you don’t really need that when you come here. This is the kind of place where you come to get a decent hangover breakfast for as little money as possible.

Unquestionably one of the best frys in town, portions are huge and staff are agreeably fast, friendly and efficient… its quite a testament to their professionalism given that for the most part they are dealing with the terminally hung over on a Sunday afternoon… I have wandered in on occasion and the place smelled like a stale pub… all due to the clientèle and their collective nasty hangovers.

Café Sofia is the ultimate greasy spoon. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been here without about ten pints from the night before splashing around my stomach, but their student breakfast (sausage, pudding, rasher, egg, chips toast, tea/​coffee and a penguin bar for 6 euro) seems to mop up all the nasty barley & hop fizz of the night previous.
Café Sofia definitely appeals to the common man, but who can really argue with seven euro shepards pie?

I agree that the best thing about Café Sofia is that the food is priced right. They have a menu full of items that you would expect to cost a bit — steaks, chicken kiev, pasta, curry and burgers — but everything is really reasonably priced. Does this speak to the quality of the food, some say yes and some say it doesn’t matter. The food is decent, but not spectacular. I have only had the coffee and a few of my friend’s chips, but they were good. The rest of the group wasn’t head over heels in love with their food, though they did like it. It was generously portioned and cheap and they were more than satisfied with that fact.
On the other hand, the atmosphere is nice and they have a big outdoor seating area. It is also almost always pretty busy, which goes to show a well-​priced meal is quite the crowd-​pleaser.

Café Sofia has the benefit of being very cheap — five spots for a fry up is very decent. But the fry is almost on the cheap and nasty side of inexpensive. I mean it’s alright, I’d possibly eat their again if I had to, but it’s definitely not the best fry I’ve had in Dublin by a long shot.
Still, he staff are very friendly, and it is nice to be able to sit outside on the busy corner of Cuffe St and Wexford St.
Café Sofia’s breakfast are just about good enough if you’re absolutely hanging, just about under acceptable apart from that.

I have an awful lot of time for Café Sofias. Great food all day long and very nicely priced too. But you go there for the atmosphere as much as anything else. It’s relaxed, extremely friendly and with a decidedly local feel.
It helps that the staff are lovely. If you hang around long enough they’ll freshen your tea and give you penguin bars-​no joke! Great place for a good long chat.