It’s been called the Irish version of the HSP (Halal Snack Pack). Like the HSP, the spice bag is based on potato chips and is best known as a late-night takeaway after consuming rather too many alcoholic beverages.

Sometimes called a Dublin spice bag, the dish had its origins in the Irish capital, allegedly created by the Sunflower Chinese restaurant in 2010. It consists of chips and fried chicken pieces coated in a Chinese spice mix, usually with the addition of capsicum and onion, and served with a container of curry sauce for dipping. It can come in a paper bag or in a box. In a survey conducted in 2020, it was voted Ireland’s most popular takeaway food.

It took some time for the spice bag to arrive in Australia. Its first known appearance was in 2020 at an Irish pub in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, Jimmy O’Neill’s. It was during the COVID lockdown, and food could only be served to take away. The pub introduced the dish to provide a taste of home to Irish backpackers stranded in Australia.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, demand for Irish Chinese food has soared since 2023, when more than 21,000 working holiday permits were granted to Irish residents aged under 35, the highest number in 16 years. Establishments offering spice bags tend to be concentrated in areas with high backpacker numbers, such as St Kilda in Melbourne or Bondi in Sydney.

In Ireland, if you want a spice bag, you go to a Chinese restaurant. In Australia, you’re most likely to find it at an Irish pub, although an Irish Chinese restaurant, Paddy Chan’s, opened in Sydney in 2024.  And in Perth, the Kum Leng Chinese Restaurant seems to be the venue of choice for Irish ex-pats. In a sign of the dish’s acceptance in Australia, News Corp’s website, taste.com.au, has published a recipe for making it at home.

The special spice blend necessary for the authentic dish, McDonnells Spice Bag mix, has been sold here for some years by retailers catering to British and Irish visitors and immigrants. In 2025, it officially launched in Coles and Woolworths. You can also buy the original McDonnells Curry Sauce, a mild curry sauce that has, for more than 30 years, been a regular topping for chips, chicken and, it seems, almost anything else in its native Ireland.

Here in Oz, although some establishments only offer the spice bag as a St Patrick’s Day special, this strange blend of stir fry and deep fry is becoming more common on pub menus. It’s on its way to becoming a fast food classic more than 10,000 miles away from its point of origin.