Chez Max Epicerie, 133 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2

I already wrote a post about how much I love Chez Max restaurant. This little piece of France in the heart of Dublin: delicious food and excellent service for a great value.

Last week, I visited their grocery shop Chez Max Epicerie on Lower Baggot street for the very first time.

The moment I walked in I had a crush on this place. From outside, the place looks proper French and once inside you really feel that you aren’t in Dublin anymore.  I almost felt like Amelie Poulain stepping into her Montmartre Epicerie, though unfortunately I’m far from looking like Audrey Tautou.

The Epicerie is also a coffee shop where you can grab a hot or cold drink, a viennoiserie (croissants, pains au chocolat, chaussons aux pommes), a sandwich or a salad. Colombe greets her customers in her charming French way and it works because most of them are regulars that come back and even practise a bit of their French while ordering a coffee.

You can either sit at the terrace on a sunny day, wrap yourself up in a warm red blanket during the winter and look at the world passing by or you can make yourself comfortable in their inside seating area to enjoy your coffee while reading the papers like the French do.

The epicerie is a true heaven for French expats, Francophiles or any French food lovers and it brought me back to my childhood memories and pre-Dublin life.

They sell sweets that any French person would know: Carambar, Malabar, Batna, Michoko, Dragibus, Car en Sac and more.

 If you fancy an afternoon tea or ‘Goûter’ as we say, treat yourself to a chocolate éclair, a strawberry tartlet or just buy some biscuits (Langues de chat, BN, Savane, Petit Beurre , Figolu, Prince, Pepito...).

They also have the main products you would find in any French kitchen’s pantry for baking or cooking.

If you plan a French aperitif you’ll be happy to know that saucisson, cornichons (French gherkins), Belin gateaux d’apéritifs (savoury snacks) are also available.

Here is a list of some of the great finds at ‘Chez Max Epicerie’, it’s far from being exhaustive:

•     Petit Salé, Tartiflette, Choucroute (tinned French specialities)

•     Compotes (Fruit purée)

•     Ebly, Coquillettes (wheat, coquillettes pasta)

•     Poulain and Benco (chocolate drinks)

•     Cracottes, Biscottes (French breakfast products)

•     Confits de canard, Gésiers (Tinned duck specialities)

•     Sirops (Syrups)

I was totally charmed by this little epicerie (grocery shop), the decor, the products and also seeing the Irish customers saying ‘Bonjour’ , ‘Au revoir’ and ‘Merci’.  I left the shop feeling like ‘Amelie’ more than ever with with my fav’ childhood sweeties and products that I would have never suspected to find in Dublin.

PS: I’m aware that many readers aren’t French and wouldn’t know many of these products, sorry about that. I’ve been contacted by French expats many times regarding French products and thought it could help them. It's always lovely to find products from home that you miss when you're an expat. Please if you have any questions about this French stuff, feel free to comment, email me or contact the shop.

Chez Max Epicerie
133 Lower Baggot Street
Dublin 2
01 661 8899
Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm
http://www.chezmax.ie/epicerie/