A five-star stay in Dublin city centre, multiple meals out across Dublin, and luxury food deliveries - here's the nine prizes you're going in the draw for this August if you're one of our premium subscribers (i.e. our favourite people). As an ad and invite-free website, ATF Insiders is how we operate autonomously, ensuring every recommendation is made without bias, and that reviews are honest and not bought via gifts from external forces. Everyone who signs up for ATF Insiders by midnight on Monday 17th August will be entered into this month's prize draw, and winners will be selected on Tuesday 18th August... 1) An overnight stay at The Fitzwilliam with dinner at Floritz If the end of summer has you craving a night away, how does a five-star Dublin staycation sound? We've teamed up with The Fitzwilliam Hotel to give one lucky Insider an overnight stay for two, with breakfast the next morning and dinner at neighbouring restaurant Floritz, where chef Matt Fuller and his team have created an East Asian-inspired menu that we absolutely loved. Check in, get dressed up, walk around the Green for dinner, and roll back into bed afterwards. Ideal. 2) Four Calfreezy Burgurr meals at Hawksmoor Hawksmoor have teamed up with YouTuber and self-appointed burger obsessive Calfreezy to create The Burgurr, a limited-edition bacon double cheeseburger that's landed in Dublin for August. It's made with two dry-aged Irish beef patties, American cheese, smoked streaky bacon, white onion and burger sauce in a potato bun, and comes from the same kitchen responsible for some of the best burgers in the city. We've got four Burgurr meals to give away this month, so gather three burger-obsessed pals and prepare to get messy. 3) €100 to spend at Nippon Kan by Daruma The team behind Daruma have opened Nippon Kan, a new Japanese café on Capel Street designed to bring a more everyday side of Japanese food culture to Dublin. There's coffee and Japanese food to enjoy in the spacious garden right now, with an open kitchen and Japanese food and retail offering still to come as they build out the concept. We've got a €100 voucher to give away this month, so one Insider can get in early, work their way through what's there now, and have plenty of reason to go back and see what's coming next. 4) €100 voucher for award-winning Uno Pizza in Rathmines Uno Pizza in Rathmines has been one of Dublin's most reliable spots for a Neapolitan-style pizza for years, and now it has international recognition on top, after being named Ireland's best pizzeria and #49 in Europe in the 2026 50 Top Pizza Europa Awards. Not bad going for a neighbourhood pizza joint on the Lower Rathmines Road. We've got a €100 voucher to give away this month, giving one lucky Insider free rein to order plenty of pizza, throw in some burrata or focaccia for good measure, and still have room in the budget for tiramisu. 5) Brunch for four at Flower & Bean Dublin 8 café Flower & Bean is celebrating four years on Cork Street this month, and they're marking the occasion with wine, deep house music, and food from AA Carribean, which sounds like our kind of birthday party. We've got brunch for four people, including coffee and cake, to give away, so you can gather the gang for a very civilised weekend feed (whether or not you choose to share your cake is between you and your conscience). 6) €100 voucher for Takumi, North Wall Quay Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Liffey aren't a bad backdrop for dinner, and that's what you'll find at new Japanese restaurant Takumi on North Wall Quay from J2 Sushi. The menu covers sushi, sashimi, noodles, rice dishes and plenty more, and this month we're giving away a €100 voucher with free rein across the à la carte menu. Just bring someone hungry and order what you fancy (ours is a deluxe sushi boat). 7) €100 hamper of Nutshed goodies If you've been following ATF for any length of time you'll probably know that Irish sister-led brand Nutshed makes our favourite peanut butter, and no, they're not paying us to say that. Their Original Smooth contains just single-origin peanuts and Irish sea salt, but there's a whole cupboard-filling range now, from Very Crunchy and Crunchy Honey Roasted (our all-time fav) to Oat & Maple, Smooth Cacao and Smoky Harissa. Did we mention the peanut butter granola!? We've got a Nutshed hamper worth €100 to give away this month, which should keep even the most enthusiastic spoon-straight-from-the-jar eater going for a while. 8) €100 of handmade chocolates from Mabrook Chocolate Mabrook founder and master chocolatier Emil Mustafaiev had a luxury chocolate business in Ukraine since 2015, but the war forced him to close up and move to Ireland with his family. Here he's started all over again, and his new business Mabrook Chocolate is based in Thurles, Tipperary, where you can stop at the chocolate shop next time you're passing through. He handmakes everything from filled chocolates and ganaches to fruit pâtes, and we've got a €100 selection of his luxury chocolate to give away this month. Check them out on Instagram here. 9) €100 voucher for Achill Mountain Lamb If you care about knowing exactly where your meat comes from, it doesn't get much more traceable than Achill Mountain Lamb. The Calvey family have been rearing sheep on Achill since 1866, with the flock roaming the mountains eating heather, grasses, native plants and wild Atlantic sea herbs. Six generations later they still control the whole process themselves, from rearing the animals to butchering them in their own on-island butchery, packing the orders and sending them out. We've got a €100 voucher for the new season Achill Mountain Lamb to give away this month, which is a great excuse to clear some space in the freezer. Everyone signed up for ATF Insiders in August (both new and old) will be automatically entered into the prize draw. You don't need to do anything! If you're not signed up yet, join here before midnight on Monday 17th August and you could be getting a very nice email from us next week...

What’s the story with La La Burger? There isn’t much worth queueing for around the IFSC, so we weren’t the only ones shocked to see a snaking line of salivating punters packing the footpaths outside the Harbourmaster in March. It wasn’t €7.70 pints of Guinness they were out the door for, but a peculiarly placed In-N-Out Burger popup. The California chain’s milkshakes might have brought all the boys to the yard, but this was less a market toe-dipping than planting a flag lest anyone be too tempted to flog burgers under yellow and red branding. Erm… In with a healthy dose of plausible deniability comes “Los Angeles style” La La Burger, whose successful summer stint in Kerry last year might have been one of the things that had In-N-Out feeling defensive. The single cheeseburger (€9.95) looks the part, with American cheese oozing over a crisp-edged smashed patty a little more done than we’d like – more juice needed. The in-house OG sauce plays like a Thousand Island with added kick, a needed twist in lieu of pickles. The Applewood double (€13.95) dishes up that missing moisture and smartly switches up fresh onion for caramelised – offering that option across the board might be a wise move. With a commitment to 100% Irish grass-fed Hereford beef you can really taste, we’d wonder if a trick isn’t being missed by bringing in local cheese too. Applewood is a-okay, but just imagine how Knockanore or Hegarty’s here could take this to another level. If they are echoing In-N-Out, the chicken fits the bill – skip it. Over-drenched and over-priced wings (€13.95; no excuse for that with Cluck round the corner) sit in a puddle of hot sauce in the container, a delivery disaster just waiting to happen, while soggy BBQ tenders (€8.95) lose all crisp appeal from kitchen to counter – stick to standard with a dip instead if you must. Skin-on chips from North Dub spuds bring more local character, though again less crisp than we’d like – up it from double to triple-cooked and then we’d be talking. Still, these made a solid vehicle for a properly tangy house garlic sauce in the damn fries (€6.50), whose generous shower of genuine article aged parmesan goes a long way. As does the world-beating beauty of Irish dairy. They’ve teased a special source of ice-cream and we can’t blame them for keeping their lips sealed - in both the Éire mint shake (€5.95) and fudge sundae (€5) is the rich, full flavour of the scorching sun we’ve had the last while. Everywhere the menu leans local it starts to shine. Will we be seeing queues in Kimmage? Top-tier product at Dash and off-peak offers at Bolt are two local models for how to draw a crowd. A little more of both here would go a long way to standing out in a seriously stacked market. Solid €9 kids’ meal deals and a convenient location beside a pub and bus stop will see plenty of local crowds looking in on La La – it’ll take a bit more to get the wider public in and out happy. La La Burger 21A Ravensdale Park, Kimmage instagram.com/lalaburger_

Assassination Custard Small, seasonal and perfectly formed Posted: 2 Aug 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Ken Doherty and Gwen McGrath's tiny restaurant on Kevin Street in Dublin 8 is probably on the radar of most self-respecting Dublin foodies, but because they only open for lunch Tuesday - Friday we know just a handful of people who've managed to get there. The limited opening hours are to allow them to have a manageable family life and see their two children, but they do occasionally do pop-up dinners, like the one at Green Man Wines a few months ago which sold out almost as quickly as it was announced, and we hear you can book the space (and the chefs) for private parties in the evening. Both Ken and Gwen had worked in places before where produce is king (Good Things Café, Café Paradiso, Dax), and it's the same in Assassination Custard. Vegetables come from McNally Family Farm, with Ken himself often cycling to collect them, and meat is locally sourced. Offal appears regularly. A fter very complimentary reviews this year in the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner (and from everyone we know who's been there) we thought it was time for a midweek pilgrimage. What’s the room like? Teeny, with a max of 12 covers we're told (if even). There's one long rectangular table that fits three, and another round table where you can expect to sit with strangers, which is all part of the fun. We would definitely advise getting here as close to opening as possible, unless you're not in a rush. By 12:30 they were full with four people outside baying for seats. Despite this there's no feeling that they're trying to turn tables at lightning speed and the whole things is very relaxed, like having been invited into someone's kitchen who's going to make you the lunch of your life. What's good to eat? The hand-written menu changes daily depending on what produce they can get their hands on, but we'd be surprised to find a dud dish, and it always reflects what's in season. The panelle (pronounced pah-nell-eh) seem to be constant - savoury, salty slices of addictiveness made from chickpea flour before being deep-fried. It would be very easy to do a portion per person. From the other dishes on the menu that day we loved the fish pickle with homemade piccalilli, the oily tuna and anchovies lifted and balanced out by the vinegary pickle, which made for a perfect palate kickstarter, the juices mopped up with their chargrilled, homemade bread. We also loved the jalapeños with labneh, the thick, creamy yoghurt a perfect accompaniment to the charred, occasional fiery hot peppers (there's a bit of Russian roulette involved with the McNally jalapeños). A steaming bowl of chickpeas with sobrasada was so simple and so comforting, particularly on a cold, wet day in July (the return of the Irish summer), and is the kind of basic but brilliant dish that makes you pledge to start making it at home. Pointed cabbage with tahini sauce, Sichuan peppercorns and a dusting of curry powder was a deliciously brilliant example of what can be done when vegetables are put centre stage. The dessert option when we were there was flan covered in a thick caramel sauce, which tasted like the filling from the richest, densest cheesecake. They're famous for their "ugly but good" meringues with coriander and hazlenuts but they weren't on that day. If you see one, grab one. We ate most of the menu and the bill came to just over €40, which was really good value for food of this quality. What about the drinks? They only serve chilled tap water and coffee, but you can BYO for free. And the service? Wonderfully warm, almost like being entertained in someone's home. It's just Gwen and Ken, and they talk diners through the menu, making suggestions when asked and delivering the dishes to the table. There's a really intimate atmosphere because of the size and you get the feeling that nothing would be too much trouble. The verdict? A really special place for lunch that's well worth a midweek detour to Dublin 8. If you like eating with the seasons and food that comes from as close to the source as possible, you'll fall in love with Assassination Custard as soon as you walk through the door. If you can round up a gang of family and friends and take over the space for an evening, even better. That's something that's just gone to the top of our food-related wish list - although unsurprisingly we hear they're quite booked up for the next few months. Assassination Custard 19A Kevin Street Lower, Wood Quay, Dublin assassinationcustard New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Aobaba Obsession-worthy banh cuon on Capel Street Posted: 12 Dec 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? A few weeks ago we asked on Instagram what people's favourite cheap eats in Dublin were, and Vietnamese Aobaba on Capel Street came up quite a few times, with much enthusiasm from the recommenders. More than once we heard "this is my favourite place to eat in Dublin", and we were given various tips on what to order when we went. After a bit of investigation we found out that it opened in 2012, and is connected to four other Aobaba's in London. It's had nothing but positive reviews since then on various Dublin-based websites and blogs, but funnily enough, it doesn't seem to have come to the attention of any of the national restaurant critics, something we'd like to see rectified. Where should we go for a drink first? We're big fans of McNeill's pub, just down the road, with their consistently warm welcome and nightly trad music. It feels a bit like stepping back in time, and we've heard the Guinness is very good (the gin is too). There are plenty of other pubs on Capel Street like Slattery's and The Boar's Head, and Panti Bar is a bit of fun if you fancy a 90's style, super-sweet cocktail served by flamboyant bartenders. Where should we sit? It's pretty cosy in here. There a few four top tables, which you will definitely be sharing if there aren't four of you, a counter at the wall to the right and another facing out onto Capel Street. That would be our preference for the people watching, but it was so packed when we visited that we just had to take whatever we could find. What's good to eat? Since eating here we developed a complete obsession with Banh Cuon - Vietnamese steamed rice rolls filled with pork, mushrooms and shallots, with a fish sauce based dip. They have the strangest, gelatinous texture, but are one of the best things we've eaten this year. What we could have done without was the sheets of plasticy, ultra-processed pork that came with them, but next time we'd ask them to leave them off and save the food waste. If that's your thing, go nuts. We're big fans of Bun Cha, the cold noodle dish, with vegetables, herbs and peanuts, topped with meat, prawns or spring rolls, and served with a sauce to either dip in or pour over (we prefer the latter). Aobaba's is the best we've had in Dublin. Perfectly crispy spring rolls packed with flavour, on a really well balanced base of noodles, vegetables and herbs, and the accompanying sauce brought it all together incredibly well. A 'happy pancake', or Banh Xeo was also good, but we think Pho Viet 's on Parnell Street is better. The rice flour and coconut milk batter pancake was crispy with good flavour, but was a bit lacking in the filling of pork, prawns, beansprouts and other vegetables. It was also missing the traditional lettuce leaves and mass of herbs are usually used to wrap up pieces of pancake before dipping it into sauce. We asked for herbs, and at first they said no, then they brought some. That was the only surprising (and disappointing) thing about Aobaba. The norm in Vietnamese restaurants is to provide an abundance of fresh herbs to mix into or eat with your food. We were recommended to try the special Pho with beef, pork, chicken, tofu and prawn, and it was huge with a really flavoursome broth. It was a great example of Pho, but as always happens in these situations we find ourselves wondering about the provenance of the meat. Some of the beef was quite fatty, and we didn't see any descriptions denoting free-range anything, so it's probably safe to assume that it's not. Aobaba is very cheap, the bill for an enormous amount of food for two people came to €29, with a tonne of leftovers to bring home, and obviously with more ethically sourced meat the prices would rise, so unfortunately this is often the trade off for cheap food. We would have happily paid a few more euro per dish for free-range anything, but they obviously feel that cheaper prices are more important to their customers. What about the drinks? There are a tonne of drinks to choose from, like iced teas, milk teas, bubble teas and Vietnamese cofee, but no alcohol, and they don't do BYO. They probably don't want people hanging around as space is so limited. And the service? Ranged from sweet and smiling to brusque and barking with a side of eye-rolling, depending on who you got. You order and pay at the counter and then they bring the food to you when it's ready. The wait was only around 5 minutes, and they're clearly operating a tightly run ship. Take away boxes to bring home leftovers are 30c each - or save plastic and bring your own if you have a habit of over-ordering like we do. The verdict? This is currently in the lead for our favourite Vietnamese in the city. Despite a few flaws, the food is of a seriously high quality, and it's great value. Prepare to wait for a seat as it always seems to be jammed, and don't leave without trying those addictive Banh Cuon. Aobaba 46A Capel Street, Dublin 1 aobaba.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Amai by Viktor Brazilian food gets a fine dining showcase off Grafton Street Posted: 19 Aug 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What do we need to know about Amai by Viktor? This one caught us on the hop. Usually when a new restaurant cooking at this level opens, especially one metres from Grafton Street, there's a lot of build up. A chef makes their name in one restaurant, gets backing to go out on their own, a PR company is hired and we're subjected to months of teasers before actually getting to eat anything. Up until a few weeks ago we had never heard of Viktor Silva, eaten his food (we think), or had any idea there was this serious a contender en route to the capital's restaurant roster. Amai by Viktor is a partnership between the chef and the owners of The Corkscrew downstairs on Harry Street (facing The Westbury, what a location). After the wine shop's last partnership with Sicilian restaurant Amuri , who they installed upstairs in their old location on Chatham Street, we're starting to think these guys could have an alternative career in spotting the next big thing in food. Silva's last position was as head chef in Amuri , and he's also worked in Bang , on events with Jordan and Maiken Bailey , and staged in multi-Michelin starred restaurants like L'Enclume. He grew up Brazil's favelas (scenes from which he's hand drawn on one of the dining room walls), and says the idea for Amai developed during the pandemic, when he was thinking about his family, identity and legacy. His grandparents were unable to read or write, and survived by cooking food which Silva's parents then sold in the city. Their sacrifices and " meals full of love " started his passion for cooking. Amai means "mother" in Shona (an African language and part of his heritage) and “to love” in Portuguese, and the chef says it's a tribute to the women who raised him. What table should we ask for? This is a beautiful old room (it used to be a shoe shop!) that's gotten the fit out it deserves, with comfortable, elegant seating, and Brazilian touches throughout - Silva's aunt's paintings are dotted around the room; a cavaco banjo hangs on the wall; a large black mural of an African woman covers the wall that greets you as you climb the stairs (painted by the chef). There are hanging florals, a parquet floor, a timber-lined bar with a swirling green marble countertop, rich dark wood and terracotta cushions on a creamy backdrop - it's a joy to take in, light flooding the room from those old sash windows. The best seats however are the two tables for two at the windows. On a muggy summer evening in Dublin it felt like having our own personal wind machine, the loveliest breeze drifting in through the window. Add to that the 10/10 people watching below (including right into The Westbury's lounge) and these aren't just the best seats in the restaurant, they're some of the best in the city. What's the menu like? It's a tasting menu only for €79 with no options (but they'll happily accommodate dietary requirements, just give them notice please ). Snacks first. A thickly crusted croquette with a rich feijoada interior (the famous Brazilian bean stew), animated by orange and nam jim on top. A smoky yucca (starchy root veg common in Brazil), egg and Gubbeen custard with lardo powder on top - dig deep for sweet and tangy black garlic underneath and scoop it up onto a crunchy tapioca cracker. A foie gras, coffee and açai (actual berries, not smoothie slush) tart that looked and tasted like it had come by taxi from Chapter One . If you weren't paying attention before, this opening salvo will have you correcting your posture. The statement cooking continues with barbecued o chra (a vegetable native to Africa but popular in Brazilian cooking), sitting on a ring of Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, with candied strawberries, nasturtium leaves and puffed rice. Watermelon gazpacho is poured in at the table, along with mint oil and fermented tomato honey (made in house, obvs). Getting your greens is rarely this exciting. Fennel brioche is a wow moment (the same way Jordan Bailey's brown soda bread course at Aimsir was), corn-cultured butter moulded into the shape of a corn cob. Tear open the sweet, fragrant bread topped with salty crystals and lather it on. This is not the stuff for scraping or scooping, this is bread that needs its own moment. Monkfish is next, and Silva's take on the Brazilian fish stew moqueca, with red pepper, coriander, coconut milk and red palm oil. The frothy top hides a deep red sauce underneath that you'll be using your fingers to scrape from the bowl, and the firm, meaty fish was needed for all that tang and spice. We're always surprised to see beef on menus these days with prices out of control, but it is synonymous with Brazil. AGM Mariana told us this dish represents the churrascos in her and Silva's home town of Porto Alegre, where meat is cooked over an open flame, but like everything else it's levelled up with vinaigrette (our favourite salsa-like Brazilian condiment), a rich jus, and a long wafer filled with potato salad. Smoky short-rib to the side, so tender you could eat it with a spoon, was the best thing about this plate, with the striploin too firm and the "jus bras" slightly too salty. Why are tasting menus "mains" always the least exciting part of a menu? We're still waiting on that restaurant with a tasting menu of just snacks. The culinary sparkle was back with a dessert of mango sorbet, mango pieces, lime, polenta cake, camomile infusion, and vanilla caramel tuille with bee pollen. Got all that? You will once it's swimming around your mouth, every flavour holding its own. A tenacious chef ends a menu with the same strong statement they started it with. A blow-torched lemon meringue tart; a banana caramel choux; a Capirin ha pâte de fruits. Three perfect bites, ideally paired with a decaf espresso (10/10), and you'll float happily off into the night. What about drinks? Being the national drink of Brazil, you've got to try a Caipirinha (€16) - this is the best one we've had outside of Rio de Janeiro, and just LOOK at those custom ice cubes (there are more than a few Michelin-worthy touches here). They don't have mocktails on the list but delivered a beauty of a mango one with N/A gin on request. The wines are coming through The Corkscrew downstairs, with Drappier the house Champagne at €22 a glass. Bottles start at €41/€43 for basic white and red, with the more interesting producers starting from €50-60. You'll find something you like here, but we would have liked to see some more exciting, off-beat choices, and they've gone high with margins - the same wines (like Pieropan's Soave) are available in other Dublin restaurants for a good 10% less. Must be the Grafton Street tax. Glasses are also 175ml which is large for this type of restaurant, so expect sticker shock looking at a glass of Portugese Dao for €20, or an Italian rosé for €17. How was the service? They posted on Instagram that what they hope makes them stand out is their " warm, welcoming spirit—that rare quality both Brazilian and Irish cultures share. The genuine kindness, generosity, and love for making people feel at home that's fundamental to who we are ." That statement of purpose sums up our experience here, and the generosity that flowed from arrival to departure. From the broad welcomes on arrival, to the offer of any table we'd like, to the generosity of time chatting and explaining more about the food and concept, to the offer of any drink you want on the house to end your meal (what a novelty!), it's like sitting through a crash course in what it means to be "hospitable". What was the damage? The tasting menu is €79, and if you go all in on cocktails, wine and coffee you'll easily spend €150 a head after tip. We considered that money well spent. What's the verdict on Amai by Viktor? Dublin is on a hell of a roll right now. 2025 has already brought us Lena , Comet and Chubbys , all operating at the very top of their game, and now Amai by Viktor has swooped in as a challenger to the best of them. We said Comet was bringing something unique to Dublin that didn't exist elsewhere - now here's another player a couple of streets over doing exactly that. Brazilian food has never had a showcase at this level of cooking in Ireland, and it's clear from the first few bites that this is a chef with an obsessive focus, who's pushing harder every day (just look at Google reviews to see how the plating has developed over the first few weeks). Take our advice - book Amai by Viktor now before the Michelin men and national critics write about how impressive, unique and exciting it is, and those window seats become a lot harder to secure. New Openings & Discoveries More >>