Cafe Gray

I absolutely love this place — I have dragged multiple people here to try the sandwiches. They’re all delicious. The soup has also been amazing every time I’ve had it. It’s also filling enough to be a meal on its own.
I usually get my food to go, but on the few occasions when I have sat down, I really enjoyed how comfortable the seating was.
The staff are very pleasant and though they are serving people all the time, things never seem too manic. It’s surprisingly quiet on a weekday at lunch time. However, if you arrive an hour or two later, all of the sandwiches are gone.

I like to see all these coffee places popping up around the city. I had a double espresso the other afternoon. It was late in the day and very quiet. I enjoyed my coffee although I thought it lacked punch– I prefer the espresso in 3fe. The staff are friendly enough although they were busy chatting to each other rather than me. Overall a nice place to stop and take the weight iff.

I came here for coffee on my quest to try all the Dublin coffee spots and found Café Gray to be pretty nice. The café is really small with not much seating, but when I went in on a weekday afternoon there were hardly any people, so I’ll assume crowdedness is not a problem especially with it being squished between the likes of Starbucks, Costa, Lemon and Mooch. The décor is very minimalist and er. grey, but the sofas were really comfortable to sit on.
The coffee is 3fe coffee and tasted pretty good but not exactly extraordinary, and they don’t have any other variety of milk like soya or almond for those who don’t drink dairy. I haven’t tried the food, but I looked at the menu and they have soup, sandwiches and some delicious sounding salads and desserts. The staff were pretty friendly, the service was good and the prices are the same as most other independent coffee shops in Dublin but the sizes are a little smaller.

Ah, for every plus a minus with this place.
Some friendly bittabanter staff, some seemingly too busy to crack a smile. Some speedy friendly service when they aren’t so busy, but sometimes service is disjointed, forgetful and a slow when they are. Why have the same person running the till, making and serving the food and coffees and other drinks and bussing empty dishes to the kitchen when there are numerous people waiting in the queue at lunchtime? Stressed staff makes for a stressed environment to sit and eat lunch in.
That said, I enjoy their sandwiches (mostly the veggie) and their soup has been absolutely delicious whenever I’ve gotten it. I have to give kudos for a vegetarian option sandwich that isn’t just grilled cheese and has a bit of imagination, beetroot hummus with grilled aubergine and greens with lovely mild goats cheese. Prices are on the higher side for the area but still competitive and the coffee is pretty darn good.
The interior is cool industrial and understated, and while the service is spotty, the food (and free wifi!) makes me a return customer.

Found out about this place online, all that was mentioned was that it’s was a new café, and hadn’t heard much noise about it on Unilocal so I wasn’t expecting much.
I was impressed as soon as I stepped in, very cool space, the floor is all just bare concrete so is the counter that the till and fresh pastries are at. A metal plate just where you pay, trendy music playing, brown sugar on the tables which it a pretty good sign your gonna get a decent cup of coffee and…
The coffee is fantastic ! In the top 5 cups your going to get in Dublin in my opinion. I was really impressed.
The place was empty when I was there a little after 8, from what I know it’s only open since August, as business picks up for the place and word gets around I can defo see this place being a real hotspot.
I did not get to try any of the food but I will be revisiting for lunch some day soon and il update the review!

Yesterday was my first trip to Café Gray and I couldn’t have been happier. The three of us each had a salad plate which was delicious. I had a flat white which was lovely. It’s a nice alternative to Lemon when you’re on Dawson St and looking for something other than crepes with your coffee.

This place came highly recommended by a friend, but after looking at the reviews here I wasn’t so sure. Well, I went in today and checked it out — seems fine to me. Sandwiches averaged around € 5 – 6 and everything looked good. I got the potato leek soup with bread to go (€ 4) and it’s very good! The men behind the counter were perfectly willing to help and talk to me. I’ll probably come here again at some point, but there are cheaper cafes in the area that are better for my poor college student’s wallet.

I made my second visit to Café Gray today and it was a relaxing one. Staff were helpful and it feels spacious. I had a latte which tasted like more. I didn’t sample any pastries this time but I did enjoy a gigantic freshly baked cinnamon roll (don’t see these too often) on my first visit. I think next time I will try out some of their salads which looked pretty healthy. This is the place to go if you want to chill out in the middle of the busy city centre where space is often limited.

This review will seem harsh, but it’s because of one particular event. Please bear with me.
Now, this used to be The Walter Mitty Project. This was actually Café Sol cunningly disguised as a real coffee shop. The coffee then was bland and the food equally so.
It has now been reopened, under new ownership. This has improved the coffee no end. 3FE is the coffee of choice and it is its usual lovely self. The décor is a little ‘meh’ (or bland, whichever you prefer), but it is spacious and airy. I’ve not tried the food, so won’t comment.
The atmosphere was very flat and the staff seemed quite bored, understandable with not many customers there. This will surely improve once college starts again.
Now, why only three stars? Well, when I walked in there was a person sitting by the door on, I presume, a business call and using his shiny Mac. This person was YELLING down the phone at someone, swearing like a trooper, dishing out vile (and somewhat spectacular) abuse and generally being an idiot. I noticed a number of potential customers approaching the door, noticing this Father Jack character, turn on their heels and leave.
Not the best welcome mat, I think you’ll agree.
I will go back again and, at such time, revisit this review. If this dolt is there again, it will confirm a suspicion I have. If it was a pub, it may be acceptable but I suspect the staff would say something to The Incredible Sulk and advise him to tone it down.
The place is worth a visit as the coffee is good, but maybe wait until nap time.

I don’t often write 1-​star reviews, but today’s experience in Café Gray was so awkward and unpleasant that I hardly feel this place merits any stars at all.
Despite it being 9:30AM, we were nearly the only customers in the place. I was excited to finally try 3FE coffee after hearing its many praises on Unilocal,but the soya latte I ordered (€ 2.80) was extremely sour tasting, an unfortunate result of brewing the espresso incorrectly. My friend ordered a tea and they brought her the wrong kind, only half-​apologizing when we pointed out the mistake.
Then things got weird.
We missed the beginning of the conversation, but basically a female employee whom I expect was the owner got into a heated verbal altercation with a passerby on Dawson St, who had popped in to express concern about a homeless man who was unconscious on the bench directly in front of the café. The employee/​owner got very defensive and had no qualms about calling this passerby some choice words, loud enough for us to hear. When the passerby gave up and left, the owner stormed right by us to the back kitchen, where we could hear her ranting about this concerned citizen to the other employees.
Not long after, the homeless man came to and ambled away, and we left Café Gray for the first and last time.

I’ve had coffee thrice here and think I’ve got a pretty good feel for it… Very quiet, never anyone in there, but it’s only been open a short while (as at August 10, 2014) but great coffee and friendly folks in there make for a compelling café, so I would imagine it will soon be a bustling hub of caffeine consumption. I’m looking forward to trying the food and will update this review when I do!

Interesting Café. I want to love this café. I don’t think I will. More seating but although open a week oddly empty at 9am on a Thursday.
Décor feels a bit inconsistent. The bare concrete counter front and floor, the bleached oak flooring on the wall with the industrial steel framed mirror the cheap and nasty laminate perfectly smooth wood look table tops. Can’t help but feel it’s it’s a low budget makeover on the former café on the site that’s neither this or that.
Now into the coffee. Much lauded 3fe. Very distinctive taste from the crema. Not sure if it’s a good thing. Thin thin thin later of foam on a cappuccino if I’d wanted that if have ordered a latte. Would have had a scone with it but they don’t seem to do those.
Atmosphere flat as a pancake, no news papers, other customers and even the poor staff seem bored.