Temple Bar Cultural Trust

Karuna’s Kitchen (Prop Karuna Ryan)

Speak to any Irish vegetarian and you will hear a familiar refrain – “yes it’s still not easy to find good food, but ten years ago things were much, much worse”.

Such was the predicament facing Karuna Ryan some seventeen years ago when she herself embraced vegetarianism, but rather than settle for tasteless tofu or mungbean mush she decided to take matters into her own hands and learn how to prepare her own food.

Taking her inspiration from “The art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking” (a key text for any student of food) she began to explore this ancient cuisine that has attracted non-meat eaters for centuries. We should all be thankful that she did – for eight years now she and her husband have been delighting their Temple Bar regulars (both vegetarians and omnivores alike) with delicious, innovative and wholesome dishes that draw heavily on the Indian tradition without being restricted to it.

Along with their rightly famous chutneys and pickles, Karuna dishes out frankly incredible finger food such as samosas, koftas, matar paneer and croquettes to expectant customers. Her signature dish, chickpea and vegetable curry in a creamy sauce with basmati rice has a following all of it’s own. This is just great food, made from scratch and made with love. It shows.