Rowan & Bean

Open today 7:30 – 18:00

Slow coffee and warm bread, on the corner since 2014.

Rowan & Bean is a bakery and espresso bar, thirteen seats and one oven. Everything on the shelf is mixed, proved and baked in the room behind the counter — the sourdough goes in at five, the pastries come out at half seven, and when a tray is empty it stays empty until tomorrow.

  • Baked here every morning
  • Roasted in Inchicore, ground per cup
  • Thirteen seats, four more outside
Book a table See the menu
Illustration of the shop: a green sign above a striped awning, a window stacked with loaves, a rowan tree in leaf on the left, and two cups steaming on a pavement table. ROWAN & BEANBAKERY & ESPRESSO BAR OPEN

The corner window, drawn from across Kinsale Street.

Fresh from the oven today

  • Sourdough out at 7:30
  • Almond croissants
  • Cardamom knots
  • Soda bread
  • Filter: washed Ethiopian
  • Seasonal tartine

Behind the counter

Three of us, one oven, and a levain older than the lease.

Aoife Rowan and Peter Ncube opened the shutters in March 2014 with one oven, one grinder and a borrowed till. Everyone assumes we are named after Aoife. We are not — it is the rowan tree that leans over the front door and drops berries on the pavement every September. The bean half is Peter's fault.

Nothing here arrives frozen in a van. The levain is the one we started with in 2014 and it has been fed every day since, Christmas included. The coffee is roasted by two people in Inchicore, bought the week it is roasted, and dialled in twice a day — if it tastes wrong at four o'clock, that is ours to fix, and we will.

We are not trying to be a restaurant. There is a short menu, a bench by the window and a stack of newspapers nobody ever folds back. Stay as long as you like.

Loaves a week
240
The levain's age
12 yrs
Seats inside
13

Aoife Rowan

Baker and co-owner. In at 4:40, hands in dough by five, gone by two.

Peter Ncube

Coffee and co-owner. Roasts on Tuesdays, dials in the grinder at opening and again after lunch.

Marta Zielińska

Pastry, Wednesday to Sunday. Laminates on Wednesday, danishes Thursday, two trays of knots on Saturday.

The shelf

Six things that are on the counter most weeks. Illustrated rather than photographed — the light in here is far too good for a phone.

A scored loaf of sourdough
SourdoughForty-eight hours, start to finish
An almond croissant
Almond croissantFolded three times, never rushed
A cardamom knot seen from above
Cardamom knotPulled into shape by hand
A flat white in a wide cup
Flat whiteSix ounces, poured to the rim
An open tartine on thick sourdough
Seasonal tartineWhatever the market had
A slice of treacle and ginger cake
Treacle cakeThick slice, salty butter

Notes from the people who come back

We do not run a loyalty card or a points scheme. People mostly just keep turning up.

I came in for a loaf and stayed for a second coffee. Nobody has ever once made me feel like I should move on.

Fionnuala, Ranelagh

Best flat white south of the river, and the sourdough is worth the queue.

a regular, weekly since 2016

We order six tartines across the bridge every Thursday. They are always out of the oven when we arrive, and Marta remembers what the office does not eat.

Séamus, Hanover Quay

Questions we get most weeks

Answering them here saves everyone a queue at the till.

Do you take bookings?

At weekends, for four or more. Ring us and we will hold a table for fifteen minutes. Any other time, just walk in — we would rather keep the seats for people who are already here than hold them for people who are not.

Can I buy bread for my own café or shop?

Yes. We deliver wholesale on Tuesdays and Fridays to a handful of places between here and Portobello. Email wholesale@rowanandbean.example with what you would need and we will send the list and the prices.

Is anything gluten-free or vegan?

We cannot honestly call anything gluten-free: it is one small kitchen and the flour gets everywhere. There is a dairy-free cake most days, and the filter and the espresso are as they come. Ask at the counter and we will tell you exactly what is in front of you.

Do you sell coffee beans?

250g bags of whatever is on the grinder, €13. We will grind it for your pot or your machine if you ask, though it holds up better whole.

Is there anywhere to park?

The street is metered until 19:00 and the wardens are prompt about it. There is a multi-storey five minutes away on Baggot Street, and the Green Line stop is a four-minute walk. Most people cycle — there are stands on both sides of the door.

Visit us

On the corner where Kinsale Street meets the canal path. Thirteen seats inside, four on the pavement when it is dry.

Opening hours

  • Monday – Friday7:30 – 18:00
  • Saturday8:00 – 18:00
  • Sunday9:00 – 16:00

Bank holidays 9:00 – 14:00. The kitchen stops at 15:00 on weekdays, and we close for a week in January to fix the oven and paint the door.

Book a table

Tables of four or more at the weekend, please — ring or email and we will hold it for fifteen minutes. Smaller groups, just walk in; there is usually a seat by the window or at the end of the counter.

Call 01 555 0142 Email us

Getting here

12 Kinsale Street
Dublin 2, D02 XY45
Sketch map: Rowan & Bean sits on the corner of Kinsale Street and Baggot Street, with the Grand Canal to the south, a park to the north-east and the Green Line stop four minutes east. Kinsale StreetBaggot StreetGrand Canal Green Line Rowan & Bean
  • Two minutes along the canal path. Look for the green door and the striped awning.
  • Metered parking on the street; a multi-storey five minutes away on Baggot Street.
  • Step-free entrance, but the pavement gets tight once the tables are out.
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