…best coffee in the city (and queue for bread...)

The holy grail of pastries delicatessens…

One of the best cafés in the city, next to the Silicon Docks

...their specialty is hand-made croissants fashioned 100% butter...

...il pane e I dolci migliori della capitale, come vi potra’ confermare tutta la bella gente di Dublino che ci fa regolarmente un salto...

At the 2014 Docklands awards Il Valentino was awarded the Best Food prize by a joint vote customers vote & Judge panel

Throughout the winter, the bakers at il Valentino will be selecting ingredients to create special recipes around and for the next three weekends they’re celebrating a bumper apple harvest. You’ll find strudels, crumbles, pithiviers and tarts on sale, but the show stopper they’re planning is a croquembouche choux pastry tower decorated with pommes d’amour, or toffee apples.

A great place to have breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning... Try their cannoli: awesome! Great coffe, fantastic focaccia, sandwiches and pastries. You can also buy some bread, take home a yummy cake for pudding and have a look at some Italian cooking books while you enjoy your coffee. This place is charming and cosy, just the kind of bakery I would love to have next to my house to spend all my Sunday mornings.

Modern décor belies the traditional values at play in this top class Italian bakery. Expect artisan breads, authentic pizzas and delicious treats.

We could smell the care and attention in the air, and I mean that literally, the smell of dough as we descended the stairs...

Food can be healing in many ways. The joy of eating something that tastes wonderful can make you feel great... inhaling the beautiful aromas of something delicious can give you an out-of-body experience. And when you have all of the above, and you're eating something pure, natural and prepared with love, you're in heaven.

The motto for il Valentino is 'Celebrating Life' and this is visible in everything they do. From Owen and Valentina's passion for good, real food, to the baker's pride in their work and their staff's enthusiasm behind the counter, the happiness is infectious

I chose the Moroccan orange cake which was made with breadcrumbs. The cake was delicious, moist, light and the citrus scent went very well with my lovely cup of tea made from proper tea leaves.

And I continue to love Il Valentino... where everything is lovely. Make the customer feel valued, that's how a place thrives in a recession... it strikes me people who are doing it right, who demonstrate the cliche of the old fashioned Irish friendliness and hospitality and who don't seem to be just interested in grabbing your money and getting you out

Emailiano Gargiulo, a barista at the Il Valentino coffee shop and bakery overlooking the Grand Canal in Dublin, admires a seven kilo chocolate Easter Egg.

Owners Owen and Valentina Doorly have been running special winter weekend-themed events since October, and next weekend it's the turn of cakes and breads made using oranges and lemons...while you're there, be sure to pick up some of the Doorlys' fantastic artisan breads - you won't find better anywhere in the city

...If you go to Rome, Florence or Naples.. your nostrils are invariably filled with the aroma of good espresso coffee and the unmistakable scent of freshly baked croissants.. Italians living in Ireland longed to experience something like that... Well, Il Valentino Continental Bakery answered their prayers

...Il Valentino has become the quintessential source of Italian pa-tisserie and deserts artistically prepared with great imagination and care...

Il Valentino is a Aladdin's cave of fresh breads, cakes and pastries... Customers will be forgiven for wondering if they have been transported to the continent.

...it is the pastries and cakes that are worth queuing for...

I met the husband-and-wife team behind the bakery at the Italian Embassy, they were presiding over a spread of food that would make, well, an Italian Ambassador proud.

For the good of our health, we need a little piece of scripture. Instead of "And give us this day our daily bread” we need to be alittle bit more specific...