Search Results

It's June, which means nine new prizes for our biggest and best supporters! This month we've giving away some of the best restaurant experiences in the city, a prize pack from Stanley Tucci's favourite gin, and a bumper lot of tickets to an end of summer food festival. ATF Insider s is how we operate with no ads , pay for all of our meals , pay our writers , and operate independently to give you the only advice you need about eating out in Dublin. If you enjoy our content, we would very much enjoy if you signed up to keep it going. Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight on Monday 17th June, will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th June. Here's what we've got for you this month... 1) A €100 voucher for Row Wines Folded flatbreads , summer ceviche , disco drag dinners - is there anything Row Wines can't do? The Coppinger Row wine bar and restaurant has brought an injection of colour and energy to this laneway off South William Street, with their outdoor seating some of the best in the city centre - if you like stupidly tasty food, eclectic wines and excellent tunes (read our once over here ). We're giving away a €100 voucher for Row Wines this month, which should let you cover most of their endlessly delicious menu. 2) Dinner for two with wine at Tang Tang at Cumberland Place have just started sprinkling their Middle Eastern magic on Thursday and Friday night dinners, and wait until you see the outdoor courtyard  you could be eating in. Pick from nibbles, plates and sides like sesame seed focaccia with harissa butter; lamb kofta with lemon and pickled plum; and baby carrots with labneh and chimichurri, and there's a lovely contingent of natural wines to complete the package. We're sending one of you in for dinner for two with wine - check out the menu here  and book here . 3) €100 to spend at Nan Chinese's new Dim Sum Brunch Nan Chinese , the only restaurant (we know of) serving Huaiyang cuisine is bring a brand new brunch to the city centre, and there's going to be a lot of dim sum. On the menu you'll find pork xiao long bao (soup dumpling), golden buns with char siu pork, and puff pastry egg tarts for afters - who needs granola and avo toast anyway. We've got a €100 voucher for Nan to give away this month so you can run the brunch gammut (and order anything else you want too). Read our Nan Chinese once over here . 4) €100 to spend on Korean toasties and Champagne at Toast Korean-style toasties and Champagne - we've found our new favourite combo. Toast is the new pop up at Silk Purse on Nassau Street, from the guys behind The Pig's Ear and Spitalfields, and in our humble ATF opinion you NEED to try these - we left veeerrrryyy happy . We've got €100 for one of you to spend on toasties, cheesecake and drinks, either in repeat visits or on one shrimp cocktail and Champagne filled blowout. Check out Toast here . 5) €150 voucher for Pichet Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Pichet is celebrating an amazing 15 years serving Irish food with a French accent in the centre of Dublin, and we've got a €150 voucher to give away to celebrate their landmark birthday. Use it over drinks and snacks at the bar, or over a long lunch or dinner in the award-winning Trinity Street restaurant, from founder and chef Stephen Gibson and Head Chef Harry Quinn. 6) €120 voucher for H2G Wines We recently landed (and loved) an outside table at H2G Wines in Glasnevin , feeling more like we were on Greek island Delos than on a suburban street in Dublin 9. The brother and sister-owned wine importer's full range is on show in the shop and bar, and the perfect for grazing small plates have been planned and prepped with quality up front. We've got a €120 voucher to give away for H2G Wines this month that can by used in the shop or on food and drinks in the wine bar. We recommend the sparkling Carricante with a Mediterranean plate for starters. 7) Bottomless Brunch for four at The Porthouse Cava The Port House Cava on Camden Street has just launched its new wine bar on the ground floor, open for all the drinks and mini wine topper charcuterie boards - which come free with your glass of wine for the month of June. To celebrate we've got a bottomless brunch for four people to give away, where you can pick between veggie and meat boards, with bottomless cava, sangria and cerveza. It's served every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 17:00, and we think summer is the time to hit it. 8) A Tanqueray gin prize pack Stanley Tucci's favourite gin Tanqueray are making their debut at this year's Taste of Dublin festival, with complimentary masterclasses, tips on cocktail making and ‘pick your perfect martini’ activities. Whether yours is a ‘Gingle Bird’ pineapple, a ‘Tiny Ten’ grapefruit serve, or a classic Negroni, is there anything gin can't do? We've got a bottle of Tanqueray London Dry, a bottle of Tanqueray 0.0, and a Tanqueray branded ‘La Boujie’ candle to give away to one of you this month. 9) Eight tickets for Taste of Kildare Taste of Kildare is back at Naas Racecourse this September, with some of Kildare’s leading chefs cooking all weekend, including Derry Clarke from The Club at Goffs; Gary O’Hanlon from The K Club; Sean Smith from Cliff at Lyons, Natalie Collins from The Japanese Gardens; and Duro Vdovic from Fallons of Killcullen. Other restaurants cooking over the weekend include Two Cooks, Ely Wine Bar and The Ballymore Inn, and buses go directly to the race course from the centre of Dublin. Taste of Kildare is on from the 20th - 22nd September, tickets start at €17 for entry, and we're sending one of you off with seven pals for a brilliant food-filled day out. Check them out on Instagram here . Everyone signed up to   ATF Insiders   for June (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 the 17th June to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

It's officially summer, and while we're waiting on that heatwave to arrive, we recommend hitting places that will give you all the holiday feels this month, as well as some brand new arrivals to the city, and an excuse to hop on the train and head for the seaside. Here's where you should be eating in June... For something brand new: Daalo, North Frederick Street East African/Somali food isn't something we see a lot of in Dublin, so new Northside opening Daalo has been getting a lot of interest in foodie groups, with early reviews praising their beautiful food, big portions and warm welcome. Try the lamb haneeth (slow roasted lamb), injera with tibs (Ethiopian flatbread with stir-fried beef), or ugali with hilib (cornmeal with goat meat). For a shiny new update: Proper Order, Smithfield Coffee obsessives Proper Order opened their brand new, substantially larger space in Smithfield yesterday, meaning a lot more room to enjoy some of the most premium pour overs in the city, alongside some of the city's best baked goods from No Messin' . This isn't just another café, it's a five-star coffee and pastry experience... For all the holiday feels: Crudo, Sandymount Whether you're counting down to your summer holiday, or kicking yourself for not booking one, you can get all the Roman/Venetian/Sicilian feels at Crudo in Sandymount. Their scampi risotto has been Irish-ed up with a Dublin Bay Prawn bisque, and the prawn oil and crème fraiche on top are the cherries on a truly lovely plate. Get similar holiday feels with the bruschetta with marinated Datterini tomatoes, and the pappardelle with slow-cooked meat sauce and aged Parmesan. For the hit of the summer: Row Wines, Coppinger Row We don't think anyone is capturing the food and drink zeitgeist right now like Row Wines . Practically every day we see another plate or glass that makes us want to rush in, with seabass ceviche, folded flatbreads, and peach, parma ham and ricotta salad keeping that terrace out front nicely busy. Join the cool kids and reserve a table here . For a tasting menu train adventure: Ingredient, Skerries Andrew Kelly and Kate Kettle have been shaking things up in Skerries with their pop-up restaurant Ingredient , currently operating out of Olive Deli. Their six-course tasting menu is €70, or there's an à la carte with nibbles, snacks, small and large plates, like scallops with truffle foam and pickled shimeji mushrooms. If you want a taster of what they're up to you can take a table outside with some snacks and a few glasses of natural wine, which we think sounds like the ideal ending to a day at the seaside. For not your average sandwich: Toast @ Silk Purse, Nassau Street The Pig's Ear team have been putting a multitude of ideas through their paces in their Silk Purse space underneath the restaurant, and the latest is Toast - a wine bar with Korean-style brioche sandwiches. There are four flavours to choose from - pork bulgogi; shrimp cocktail; egg and cheese; and marinated tofu, and they're serving the famous Pig's Ear ch eesecake for dessert. Swerve your usual ham and cheese for one of these. For the mega menu update: Amy Austin, Drury Street Chef Victor Lara from Amy Austin has just launched his brand new menu at the Michelin Bib Gourmand wine bar on Drury Street. If you thought what we ate when we reviewed it sounded god, wait till you hear about the prawn agua chile with blue corn tostadas; Iberico pork cheek with a gooseberry glaze; and white asparagus with black garlic aioli. We might need a do-over.

With Leaving Cert Weather™ right around the corner, you're going to be looking for all the excuses to go for lunch - ideally as close to the Irish Sea as possible - and how better to travel than by Dublin Area Rapid Transit and make a day of it - 10 points if you hit them all. You've got from now until the first week back at school (aka our Indian Summer). Go! North of the city centre Mamó, Howth (six-minute walk from Howth DART station) We're kicking off the list with one of our favourites - Mamó , the pearl of Howth's clam shell. Husband and wife Killian and Jess run a tight ship, meaning the food, wine and service is always faultless. The cod chip always floats our boat, and try your hardest to get a table by the window for a view of Howth harbour. Lunch runs from Thursdays to Mondays, or book in for dinner and watch the sun go down. Kajal, Malahide (three-minute walk from Malahide DART station) Kajal are known for serving up some of the best Pakistani food in Dublin, so good in fact that we would travel to the very end of the DART line for their chargrilled lamb chops. On weekdays they serve a two course lunch menu for €28, and on weekends their two course lunch menu plus an adult drink is €34. They also have nan wraps to go for €14.95 if you're looking for something to eat in the marina, looking out at all the boats you can't afford. Just Chubbys, Clontarf (eight-minute walk from Clontarf DART station) Barry Stephens of 147 Deli opened up Just Chubbys outside Lotts and Co. in Clontarf back in 2022 and the tacos have been flying out of the truck ever since. Open from 12:30 on Saturdays and Sundays, we suggest you pick up a couple of tacos, a chilly bottle from Lotts and Co. and head across the road for the picnic to end all others. Read our two minute review of Just Chubbys here . South of the city centre Crudo, Sandymount (ten-minute walk from Sandymount DART station) Tucked away in Sandymount village you'll find Crudo , run by Jamie McCarthy & Sean Crescenzi (the son of the Dunne and Crescenzi empire). Open every day for lunch, sit in and enjoy their baseball sized crayfish and lobster bisque arancini, gambas with focaccia, and hand-rolled ravioli. They also have robust paninis including the "Hot Beef" inspired by TV show The Bear - take one to go and enjoy by the strand, where you'll also find exercise machines if you want to burn it off afterwards. Read our Crudo once over here . 3 Leaves, Blackrock (ten-minute walk from Blackrock DART station) Recent winners of " Best World Cuisine Dublin " at the Irish Restaurant Awards, 3 Leaves serve a walk-in only lunch from 12:00 Thursday - Sunday. During the week they do the choosing for you (music to our ears) with a meat or veg Thali taster, or there's a daily changing curry and dhal. Weekends there's more choice with an additional street food menu, and it's worth whatever the waiting time is for a table. That's Amore, Monkstown (four-minute walk from Salthill and Monkstown DART station) The impossible to get into That's Amore in Monkstown is definitely worth the journey if you're organised enough to secure a reservation (and there's no online booking so you'll have to pick up the PHONE). Serving food from 16:30 Monday - Saturday, you'll find all the Italian antipasti, zuppe and pasta you could want, before being handed a heart-shaped blackboard featuring dessert specials. Seapoint beach is calling your name, either beforehand to work up an appetite, or afterwards to shift that tiramisu while the sun goes down. 64 Wine, Glasthule (four-minute walk from Sandycove & Glasthule DART station) If you're looking for a lazy lunch with all the wine after a scenic train journey, you can pick up any bottle from wine shop and café/bar 64 Wine in Glasthule and drink it in there for €15 corkage. It also happens to have one of the best selections of the good stuff in Dublin. On their daytime menu you'll find salads, sandwiches and sharing boards, and the friendly staff are always on hand to make recommendations - and there will be many. Lunch is served Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 14:30. Cavistons, Glasthule (five-minute walk from Sandycove & Glasthule DART station) Cruising along our coastal coach course (aka the DART line) demands a stop at a seafood establishment on the Southside, and we're pegging Cavistons as the one. Their fresh seafood heavy menu changes on a regular basis, but don't be surprised to see Kilkeel scallops, wild Atlantic prawns, brill and swordfish, with a handful of veggie and meat options for those who aren't feeling fish. Lunch is served Thursday to Saturday from 12:00, and Sunday from 13:00. Oliveto, Dún Laoghaire (seven-minute walk from Dún Laoghaire DART station) We like to make excuses to get out to Dún Laoghaire as often as possible for two reasons, and they're both in Haddington House . Oliveto 's outdoor, sea-facing tables have some of the best views in Dublin, only matched by their homemade pasta and chargrilled meats. They open for lunch every day with a midweek set offering two courses for €27.50 or three for €32.50, as well as full à la carte all week. Their Parlour Bar (reason #2) opens from 14:00 at the weekend, and from 16:00 during the week, but you could easily make that long lunch slip into late afternoon cocktails. The Grapevine, Dalkey (three-minute walk from Dalkey DART station) Once you've have your fill of looking for Bono's gaff in Dalkey, head to the Grapevine and secure a spot outside on their south facing terrace. The menu is a catch all of things like pasta, burgers and seafood, but the stars are on the shelves. Pick from an ever-interesting wine list, or ask the staff for a recommendation. Lunch runs Tuesday - Sunday from 12:00. Nine, Bray (one-minute walk from Bray DART station) The closest spot on this list to a DART station is Nine in Bray, and it's worth the jaunt across the border to Wicklow. The kitchen is led by chef Ciara O'Leary, formerly of Brookwood and Pearl Brasserie , and they serve brunch/lunch until 15:00 from Wednesday to Sunday, with bangers like steak and eggs, truffled mushrooms on toast and Korean fried chicken buns. Coffee is 3fe , and they offer a full wine list if it's one of those lunches. Daata, Bray (five-min walk from Bray DART station, and also in Blackrock, Glasthule and Greystones) If you're looking for lunch with a view, Daata in Bray have a rooftop terrace that is straight up vibes for days. Their brunch/lunch menu runs from 11:30 - 14:30 and has fun options like Burrata chicken and anda masala - savory chopped boiled eggs served with a buttery flatbread. The signature dish is their "Famous Afghani Chicken" - a creamy and spicy chicken curry with tomatoes, fenugreek, black pepper and lemon. If it's good enough for Gordo , it's good enough for us. Scéal, Greystones (thirteen-minute walk from Greystones DART station) Yes it's the longest walk from a DART station, and at the very end of the line, but we would travel the entire DART line ten times for anything that's come out of Scéal 's kitchen . Each month their seasonal pastries kill us (full on skull emoji) and we find ourselves scrolling Daft.ie to see if Greystones property prices have come down at all (they haven't). They're open seven days a week, but on the weekends be prepared to queue. Did we miss somewhere great on the DART line? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie .

What should we know about Pickosito? With a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it entrance tucked inside and above Wayback Burgers, Pickosito Taqueria popped up off Capel Street in the middle of May. It’s run by a trio of Northern Mexican women whose longing for their home cuisine, and the lack of an authentic answer in Dublin, led them to take matters into their own hands. The name comes from the fruity, savoury Mexican hot sauce the owners love so much. What should we have? Those not familiar with regional variations might struggle to see the substantial differences in the menu here, but the wheat and cattle-heavy plains of El Norte are known for their bounties of beef and flour. That's why their full-size tacotons (€8.90 - €9.90) are on flour tortillas, but keen to try as many of the eight fillings as possible, we mixed four mini corn tacos instead (€14.50). The best was chorizo. The ground pork mix, like all the tortillas and sauces, has been made in-house to an old family recipe, and its spicy succulence had our eyes flaring up as well as our nostrils. This is where Pickosito sets itself apart. Chili con carne packed just as much punch, even if, like the grilled beef and caramelised onion asada, it felt as though its flavours might better assert in the bigger tacoton.   Adobo sauce-marinated pork had the crisp char of rendered fat, but also the dried texture and flat taste of too long on the grill – the only real disappointment. A lot of things here come with a handful of fries, and while we're not sure why, and they're not homemade, they're of a decent quality. Sliders (€4.50) are another chance to try out a smaller portion, so we tried the barbacoa. The soft, chewy bun falls somewhere between bap and bao, a good vehicle for tender, slow-cooked shredded beef. Its quality comes closer to the asada than the chorizo, with more pleasing depth of flavour than any novel knockout kick.   Enchiladas (€15.90) offer a more substantial option for those who arrived hungry. Packed with shredded chicken and baked with a green tomato and chili sauce, they’re served over tomato-rich rice in a well-balanced dish that's just a bit stodgy. Pickosito nachos (€8.50) are an oozing mess of cheese sauce and sour cream hiding nuggets of sliced jalapeno and sweetcorn. The tortilla chips aren’t homemade, but they’ve gone with good quality, and as a sharing starter to keep hunger at bay they do the job nicely.   Neither tres leches nor arroz con leche desserts were on for our visit, so we half-heartedly plumped for a cheesecake instead (€5.90). Lucky us in the end - the creamy cake’s semi-sweetness is elevated by an intense guava syrup we lapped up every last drop of. It’s the dessert we didn’t know we needed, and a parting reminder of where Pickosito hits the high gear. Why should I go? In a part of the city where Mexican food’s more often handy high-turnover than anything homely and heartfelt, Pickosito has arrived with flavours that mean business, and prices (it undercuts all the chains) that prove an authentic touch needn’t come at a premium. This might be quick and casual dining, but there's quality here too.   Pickosito 62 Mary Street, Dublin 1 instagram.com/pickosito.taqueria

The best of Irish ice cream meets a cookie, a pizza slice with an insane amount of pineapple, and a beef tartare that summers are made for - here's what we most want to eat in Dublin's fair city this week... 1) Frank's beef tartare, Piglet Piglet on Cow's lane is always a reliable stop for French classics to go with all that wine, and their latest insta post has reconfirmed that. Their "Frank's beef tartare" (no we don't know who Frank is) is served with anchovy mayo, egg yolk and house pickles. This, on a sunny day, on their terrace, is currently top of our to do list. 2) Peach & blackberry galette , Bread Naturally This summery peach and blackberry galette on a crisp pastry with a demerara coated crust from the bread boys at Bread Naturally is what weekend mornings were made for. Add a flat white and a stroll around St. Anne's Park for peak pastry enjoyment. 3) Pancetta & pineapple pizza, Doom Slice Not only is the "pineapple on pizza" debate incredibly boring (it's allllll the talk on dating apps), it's also the correct thing to do. It's a superior topping on the right kind of pizza, bringing a splash of zingy sweetness to salty meat and cheese, and Doom Slice are illustrating our point perfectly with their Detroit-style "pancetta and pineapple". Tell us you don't want this. 4) Tofu bánh mì , The Streets at Hynes' Bar We didn't think Hynes' in Stoneybatter could get any cooler, but when The Streets set up shop at the end of January it gave us another reason to brush up on our cúpla focal and head to Cowtown. Their salt and chilli tofu bánh mì comes with cucumber, pickled radish, and fresh coriander, and when it popped up on our feed we immediately cancelled all of our plans. 5) Ice-cream cookie sandwich , Murphy's It's the season of maximum ice-cream ingestion, and one of the many ways we'll be getting our weekly quota this summer is in sandwich form - where the bread has been replaced with cookies. We love the look of this effort from the Dingle crew, and plan to recreate that photo the next chance we get.

From ceviche to crab rolls, and Sake meets Tiramisu, we're officially gagging for an al fresco meal in the sun, inhaling all of this. These are the five things we most want to eat in the capital this week, and if you too are gagging for a meal with the sun's rays hitting your arms, check out our comprehensive guides to eating outdoors in Dublin here and here ... 1) Leek Tarte Tatin, Bread 41 It's said that the Tarte Tatin was invented accidentally just south of Paris by a female hotelier back in 1880s, who left her apples cooking too long and tried to rescue the situation by throwing the pastry on top and flinging it in the oven. So maybe we have Stéphanie Tatin to thank for this oniony artwork from Bread 41 . Their leek tarte tatin is available from 11:30 on Saturdays and Sundays, and if you brave that queue you better leave with at least one. 2) Ceviche & shortrib, Row Wines Row Wines have dropped their new seasonal menu and summer just got a little more interesting. Summer is ceviche season, and the Row Bros are bringing it with this seabass, burnt pineapple, and habanero combo. Their orange crusted pork croquettes with burnt apple puree sound like a winner to us, and we haven't even mentioned the shortrib with caramelised celeriac, pickled walnuts and a spiced crumb. One (at least) of each please. 3) Apple cake, Milo's Dropping this weekend at Milo's is this burnished apple cake given the summer treatment with a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. They lace it with the same legendary salted caramel that's used in their caramel lattes, and as we'll be using all and any excuse to eat Ice cream for the next few months, this feels like a good place to start. 4) Crab rolls, Charlotte Quay Crab and lobster stuffed brioche rolls are a summer right of passage around here, and this crab roll with pickled cucumber and fries from Charlotte Quay has us pleading for the good weather to stick around. Eating this on the waterfront at Grand Canal Dock needs to be ticked off our summer bingo card. 5) Sake Tiramisu, Gopan This Sake Tiramisu creation from Japanese bakery Gopan is our kind of drink. Based in Bray, Michiko Ishimoto's bakery operates on a pre-order basis only (to combat food waste) twice weekly and delivers to Dublin. Japan meets Italy over dessert - what's not to like.

After last week's guide to the best places to eat outdoors in Dublin city centre , it's time for part two - the suburbs. Here are the best terraces, tunnels and parklets to spend your money in, north and south of the Liffey... Dublin 8 Two Pups, Francis Street The weekends are always heaving at walk-in only Two Pups - and for good reason, with the sheltered tables out front and the courtyard within offering up some of the nicest spots around the Liberties to grab a sunny, always delicious bite. Alma, Portobello The seats outside Alma are some of the loveliest in Portobello, and an iced dulce de leche latté in the sunshine while you wait for brunch is as perfect a morning as we can imagine. Check for tables here . Gaillot et Gray, Clanbrassil Street French pizzeria and natural wine hangout Gaillot et Gray  is open for lunch (mainly sandwiches on their own bread) and dinner (pizza) on their terrace out the back. You can book by calling them on 014547781 or they take walk-ins if they have space. Lucky's, Meath Street Liberties hotspot   Lucky's  has added some seating out front as well as their always in-demand courtyard with delicious pizza from Coke Lane . They're open seven days a week and you can make a booking enquiry through their website . Daphne's, Rialto Daphne's  has plenty of covered tables on their terrace available for dinner Wednesday to Sunday and weekend brunch. Their early bird from Sunday - Friday is particularly good value at €29 for three courses or €26 for two. Book here . Dublin 4 InterContinental Dublin, Ballsbridge If you're feeling fancy, there's a five star outdoor dining experience going in D4's InterContinental Dublin hotel, with booking for afternoon tea open now  and dinner starting this week. It's a great way to feel like you're living that RHOBH lifestyle without leaving the city. Angelina's, Baggot Street Angelina's outdoor tables are the ultimate in goals on a sunny day in Dublin 4. They're open seven days a week for lunch and dinner with brunch at weekends. Book on their website   or by emailing book@angelinas.ie . Asador, Ballsbridge Asador 's impressive (covered and heated) terrace reopens is available to book for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday each week for a whole range of fire-cooked dishes. Look for a table here . Smithfield/Stoneybatter Korean Table, Stoneybatter Korean Table  have created a lovely little spot in Stoneybatter to enjoy kimchi and bibimbap in the sun with hanging lights and plenty of greenery. They’re walk-in only but it’s never too long a wait to get seated. Slice, Stoneybatter Slice 's brunch and lunch menus put so many other daytime cafés to shame, with their Hicks pudding and miso mushrooms; buttermilk pancakes with "feuilletine crispy bits", and a brunch cocktail menu you'll need to study before getting there to have any prayer of making a decision. Their outdoor seating now has a handy cover just in case , and they don't take bookings but they will take your name and let you know when your table's ready. Nutbutter, Smithfield Nutbutter 's tacos, tostadas, rice bowls and pho are sunshine in food form, and with any luck you'll be able to enjoy them in the actual sunshine, on one of their outdoor tables on Smithfield Square. South Dublin Nightmarket, Ranelagh The D6 destination for authentic Thai food, Nightmarket has a fully-heated side terrace "tunnel" open for outdoor dining, so you can stay on to sample the cocktail menu long after the sun sets. You won't be feeling the rays on your skin, but with any luck the air will be warm. Book online . Tacos Lupillo, Inchicore The crowds have yet to let up at newcomer Tacos Lupillo  since we first visited back in January , and they've leapt at the chance to expand their capacity outdoors with a few newly-installed high and low tables outside. It's not the most scenic setting, but the food's a sensation and the suntrap factor is strong in the evening, which is good enough for us. Rascal's Brewing, Inchicore Rascal's  pizzeria and tap room has become an Inchicore institution since opening in 2014, and their bustling outdoor space has grown into a really atmospheric evening spot across the course of several pandemic re-openings. Look for tables here . Volpe Nera, Blackrock Volpe Nera  have only a small number of tables available on their covered, sheltered terrace so an advance booking is recommended. They've been putting a sharp twist on summer cocktails with their yuzu spritz, and nothing says summer like ceviche. Book here . Mermaid, Monkstown Bresson have rebranded their lovely outdoor courtyard as Mermaid , serving dinner from Wednesday - Sunday, and brunch at the weekend. The crowd-pleasing menu should have something for everyone, with dishes like grilled goat's cheese, seared tuna, and fish and chips, and it can be fully covered in case that becomes necessary. Book online . The Purty Kitchen, Dún Laoghaire With 45 seats and a retractable roof, The Courtyard at Dún Laoghaire's Purty Kitchen  is an ideal space for fine weather dining with a weather-proof backup plan. It's open Wednesday and Thursday evenings and all day Friday - Sunday with a menu full of gastro-pub classics. Book online here . Oliveto, Dun Laoghaire There might not be a better spot to enjoy a perfectly clear day than Oliveto 's gorgeous garden terrace perch in Dun Laoghaire, serving equally beautiful-looking food. They've got plenty of parasols to escape the intensity of that heatwave sun, if it ever comes, and some of the dishes wouldn't be out of place on the Italian Riviera. Read our once over here , and book here . Soup, Dun Laoghaire Soup  in Dun Laoghaire, with their special ramen, deep-fried kimchi and super cute cocktails have outdoor dining space as well as a deal with neighbouring bar Lockie's to take the food into their beer garden. Walk in or book on their website . Riba, Stillorgan Riba 's outdoor, covered and heated terrace is open for dinner Wednesdays through Mondays as well as weekend lunch, with an early bird special running up to 18:30 every day. The menu is Italian-influenced with loads of local and Irish produce. Booking can be made online here . Grapevine, Dalkey Grapevine in Dalkey are open for outdoor dining and wine-ing from Tuesday - Sunday for lunch and dinner. They've got a very fair value early bird menu   and shelves packed with wine. Book here . Bubbas Fish Market, Dalkey Bubbas Fish Market on Dalkey Square have gone all-in on an upgrade to their patio seating area, and it looks like a new highlight for seafood lovers south of the county. They've got both covered and uncovered sections, as well plenty of heaters for when it gets chilly. North Dublin Mamó, Howth Mamó 's miniature terrace out front is another pristine spot to savour sun and sea in the company of great food. Their focus on seafood fresh-off-the-boat and ingredients from around North Dublin makes this one of the most memorable al fresco experiences in the city, and we've never had a dud dish, wine or service experience there. There are just three tables outside for the full menu, with more casual seats coming next week for drinks and snacks, and because they're weather dependent you can only book by phone on the day. Try your luck on 01 8397096 King Sitric, Howth Howth institution King Sitric  has some of the best seats in the city for the right kind of summer day, especially after an afternoon's walk on the hill working up an appetite for their seafood selection. They're child and dog-friendly too. Book online . H2G Wines, Glasnevin Filling a wine-bar shaped hole in this part of the North city, H2G Wines  opened earlier this year and have two outdoor tables in full eye of the setting evening sun that we can already see being wildly in-demand. They've got small plates and platters to enjoy alongside a changing by the glass list. Milo's, Drumcondra The second opening from the Two Boys Brew guys, Milo's has filled a major gap in Dublin 9 for great coffee, thoughtful food, and all the effort you probably won't make a home. Their outside area seats around 12 and diners move fast so you shouldn't be waiting long for a table. Shouk, Drumcondra Shouk  have revamped their already very nice outdoor space with plenty of additional shade and rain cover for whatever the weather might throw at us. There’s not much more we’d rather do in this part of town of a summer afternoon than crack into their sharing Middle East Feast with a few friends. Juno, Dorset Street The brilliant bar food in Dorset Street's Juno can be enjoyed on one of their outdoor benchs, which just happen to be in prime position for those evening rays. Ours is a hot fish sandwich washed down with a melon and jalapeno sour, followed by an affogato. Read our once over here , and book here . Old Street, Malahide Neighbourhood restaurant Old Street in Malahide have a covered and cushioned outdoor area open from Tuesday through Sunday, but the best night to visit is Wednesday when their entire wine list is 50% off . Book online here . Harry's, Malahide Across the road, newer wine bar Harry's serve their menu of small plates, sharing boards and pastas with grower Champagne, white Burgundy and Italian reds in their outdoor parklet, complete with blankets (and sometimes dogs). Honey Honey, Portmarnock Expect a fight for the limited outdoor seats outside Honey Honey in Portmarnock, but if you can get them you'll feel like you've won the jackpot. The simple menu is always done just right, the coffee is faultless, and if all else fails you can take it to go and head for the beach. Want to eat outdoors in Dublin city centre? Check out our guide here ...

What should we know about H2G Wines? None of the recent mini-boom of new wine bars in Dublin have got our hopes up as much as this, the latest venture from sibling duo Colm and Brid Carter, whose Honest2Goodness wine import business largely focused on trade supply until a pandemic-prompted pivot to direct sales. They announced late last year they’d be stepping back from the Glasnevin food market that had borne their name since 2009 (happily, several of the other stallholders have since stepped in to create a new one in its place), and opening this new space with a rotating BTG list, with small plates and regular themed tasting events. What should we have? Limited kitchen facilities are fit for assembly only, so we’re firmly in the charcuterie, cheeseboard and snacks space here – no gripe from us when the wine is the star of the show. Open bottles will change regularly, while corkage for anything on the shelf is €10 on Wednesday and Thursday and €15 from Friday to Sunday.   We arrived just in time to nab one of the two tables they’ve fit into the space they own outside, and on a warm summer evening we can think of few better seats to secure this side of the city. We’re sure the Noblesse sparkling Carricante and Verum Cabernet Franc rosé we started on didn’t need the full glare of the setting sun to bring out their respective merits, but it surely helped.   It helped the menu’s broadly Mediterranean slant too, and as we greedily loaded mounds of nutty hummus and sweet roasted peppers onto thick slices of Tartine sourdough, we felt closer to Greece than Glasnevin – an intense and juicy glass of Zafeirakis Limniona helped that idea along. When the weather assents, an afternoon on the terrace here has the potential to feel like a short-term holiday.   The Mediterranean plate (€12.50) is substantial as small plates go, with two generous balls of Macroom buffalo mozzarella surrounded by salted anchovies, nduja, red pesto and a pair of plump olives. Had we much in the way of space remaining, we’d have called on another bowl of those olives after - they are heavenly. Everything on the plate is, though a touch more pesto and nduja might have better balanced out the ratio of creamy cheese to those sharper flavours.   Garlicky chicken liver paté goes great with more of that bread, its fatty richness tempered by the redcurrant acidity of a Cumberland sauce on the side. Given their kitchen restrictions you could forgive the H2G team a basic spread, but the food here doesn’t let its enforced simplicity come at the cost of quality. Much like with their wine, they have sought out top quality stuff and brought it to life with sure-footed service.   Why should I go? H2G Wines’ terrace is about as good a summer evening spot in Dublin as we can think of to drink a good glass – and they’ve got plenty of those. Whether for just a quick catchup drink after a stroll round the Botanic Gardens , or a longer afternoon lapping up the sun with simple, satisfying plates, this is a place we would come back to again and again. H2G Wines 49 Botanic Avenue, Dublin 9 instagram.com/h2gwinesbotanicavenue

It’s finally the weekend, you’ve been dreaming about brunch all week but can’t be arsed trekking into town. You need some proper tasty nourishment, preferably in your hood, and only the best coffee will do. You need our guide to Dublin’s best brunch options in the ‘burbs... (and if you are arsed trekking into town, you need our guide to the best brunch options in the city centre ) Northside Two Boys Brew, Phibsborough   Kevin and Taurean of Two Boys Brew  opened up the now iconic Dublin 7 café back in 2016 inspired by their time in Berlin, Copenhagen and Australia. They're still pumping out some of the best brunch on the Northside, like avocado toast with crispy halloumi; eggs benedict with pulled pork shoulder; and baked ricotta hotcakes. They're also pouring some of the best coffee in the area and are eternally busy so get there early if you want to avoid getting hangry in the queue. 3fe, Phibsborough   3 fe seemed to sneak in overnight in Phibsborough last September, basically next door to Two Boys Brew, aka the flagship brunch spot of D7 - an interesting move. Now becoming a bit of a cookie cutter operation, their first suburban Northside location's menu is virtually the same as their other spots, but you can't deny the coffee is great and their food is solid with their chorizo and romesco hash and their fried chicken thigh bap being highlights. The perfect spot in Phibs when you can't get into TBB. Bang Bang, Phibsborough Slightly off Phibsborough’s main drag, just behind Dalymount Stadium, nestled among the 1890s red brick houses is Bang Bang , home of the legendary brunch burger - a Dublin brunch right of passage. Their specials change daily, with an option each for carnivores, veggies and vegans, they pour Silverskin coffee and their sweet treats are all homemade. It's an all round super brunch spot with great food, banging tunes and friendly staff. Slice, Stoneybatter Stoneybatter is basically heaven for food loving D7 dwellers, with some of the best dining spots in the city. For brunch though, Slice is where it's at . The café is cosy, and the food is always excellent (bit fans of their sausage scramble), and lucky for us they serve an all-day brunch six days a week, so none of this weekend only BS. With additional outdoor seating, Slice is the brunch spot to be on a cracking day. Still not convinced? Three words. Watermelon. Aperol. Spritz. Social Fabric Café, Stoneybatter   Another point on the scoreboard for Stoneybatter is Social Fabric , located in an old post office now transformed into a friendly, casual space. Their brunch menu is varied, with a very generous full Irish alongside porridge, granola, pancakes and more. They're vegan and vegetarian friendly, and also serve Cloud Picker coffee so you’re chanced of a decent flat white are better than average.   Two Pups, Fairview   March 2023 was a good month for brunch seekers in Fairview when revered Two Pups in Dublin 8 expanded across the Liffey with a slightly smaller premises than the original. A small but potent menu, they have fun scrambled egg on brioche bun creations like the McDivil and the Boldy, as well as their loaded hash browns. Pastries are homemade and coffee from these guys is always excellent. Póg, Clontarf, Howth & Malahide Póg is a protein pancake palace, with a full menu of sauces, toppings and premium add ons for their signature stacks. If that's not your bag there's also the mortgage busting avocado on toast, breakfast brioche and acai bowls. Although they started in the city centre, the last couple of years have seen them expand to specifically seaside North Dublin suburbs including Howth, Malahide and most recently Clontarf. Orani, Blanchardstown Orani in Blanchardstown might not be the first spot you think of for brunch, but trust us, you should be. They describe themselves as "Asian Fusion" with dishes like Orani eggs Benedict with a miso hollandaise, and quinoa taco pancakes, but the owners' Filipino roots have thankfully spilled onto their brunch menu too. Orani is the ideal place to try popular Filipino breakfast staples Longsilog - sausage with garlic rice and a fried egg - and Tapsilog - an all-day breakfast dish with beef tapa, fried egg, garlic fried rice and fresh vegetables. Dublin 8 Daddy's, Rialto Daddy’s  have been knocking it out of the park since they opened in late 2019, bringing their modern Irish dishes to the people of Rialto. They do an all-day brunch menu on the weekend, and have a few brunch style dishes on their weekday menu too, including the croissandwich and the Turkish eggs. Decisions, decisions... The Fumbally, Fumbally Lane   Some of the best chefs and food entrepreneurs in Ireland have ‘graduated’ from the Fumbally , which operates a non-hierarchical kitchen, allowing everyone the equal chance to create new menu items. This freedom has paid off for both the employees and the café, with a queue of hopeful young chefs waiting in the wings to get their shot. It's almost as long as the queue of hungry zillennials gagging for brunch on a Saturday morning. ALMA, Portobello   Another Portobello diamond, ALMA  is a family operation, with the name stemming from the four initials of the children, and you’ll usually see one or more of them on the floor. ALMA is bringing an Argentinian twist to the traditional brunch, with dishes like choripan Argento featuring Argentinian-style sausage on sourdough. Our favourite though would have to be the dulce de leche pancakes. We repeat – dulce. de. leche. pancakes. 31 Lennox, Portobello   An Italian-style brunch is something we didn’t think we needed until 31 Lennox  came along with their toasted Porchetta Benedict, chicken parmigiana burgers and of course some good quality Italian sausage. Brunch is available Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 15:00. Groundstate Coffee, The Liberties   This café roastery  based in the Liberties, Dublin 8 works with small growers for their coffee beans and roast everything in small batches in-house. They're keen to use quality local suppliers and are nailing it with McNally Farm, Firehouse Bakery and Pigs on the Green on their roster. Overnight oats are a popular order, but they also have weekend worthy dishes like brioche brekkie buns and saucy scrambled eggs.    Bibi's, Portobello & Dun Laoghaire   This quiet but buzzy little spot in Portobello has recently opened a seaside outpost in Dun Laoghaire, but the original  in Portobello is always a go-to when we’re thinking about where to grab brunch in Portobello. Go early to grab a table, a flat white, and a plate of their Turkish eggs, and be sure to pick up a few of their signature brownies too, cos hey, it’s the weekend. Southside Grove Road, Rathmines   Located right at Portobello Bridge, you’ll want to try snag a window seat here for peak people watching as you sip your cuppa. Grove Road serves brunch all day on the weekends and even have a smaller brunch menu that they serve all day during the week, so you don’t need to wait until the weekend to enjoy their avocado and feta smash toast with properly crispy bacon. Mad Yolks, Rathmines (& Smithfield) Brothers Hugh and Eoin O’Reilly of Mad Yolks  expanded from their Smithfield location to Rathmines, which we're sure the locals are very happy about. The menu is the same as their Smithfield spot, with free-range egg sandwiches, homemade hash browns and chilled mimosas. Flavour combinations are ace, and you should prepare to leave with a newfound grá for eggs. You'll never, ever, need to eat an Egg McMuffin again. Read our once over here .   Dillinger's, Ranelagh   If you’re in the mood for brunch that might turn into lunch that might turn into dinner, Dillinger's  is your guy, with classics like Shakshouka and pancakes, as well as hangover busters like fried chicken with waffles or their full Irish. Serving from 11:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, Dillinger's take as much pride in their drinks as their food, so you can pick from a host of cocktails for your hair of the dog. Their Bloody 's are spot on, or if you’re with a gang get the mimosa & Bellini tray to ease yourselves gently into the weekend. Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh People of Ranelagh rejoice! The institution that is Brother Hubbard opened up shop at 27 Ranelagh Village back in 2022, and the Southside suburb suddenly had a new must-visit for all day brunch, all week long. No need to trek into town anymore for their eggs menemen, or cinnamon and walnut scrolls. Breads, pastries, pickles, ferments & preserves are made in house, and they have an impressive list of suppliers for the rest. Happy Out, Donnybrook and Dun Laoghaire   We challenge you not to get a coffee from Happy Out when you're going for a walk along Bull Island or Dun Laoghaire pier. Or if the weather is wild or your head is feeling a bit too tender, try their Donnybrook location. In Dun Laoghaire they’ve collaborated with Together Academy in the most stunning spot right on the water. Sea views, toasties, and killer coffee. What more could you want out of this little old life. Juniors, Beggar's Bush   Juniors  is owned by brothers Paul and Barry McNeary, who are also behind Paulie's Pizza and Lotts and Co. , and it’s been on the go for years, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their brunch is American-style with buttermilk pancakes, Southern fried chicken and waffles, and a potato rosti/FXB sausage patty breakfast stack. This is where we’d head for some recovery after a night on the tiles. 3fe Five Points, Harold's Cross Five Points  in Harold’s Cross is a 3fe creation, so you’re destined for good grub and coffee in the comfort of your own neighbourhood. Similar to the other 3fe menus, you've got the staples like the fried chicken bap, Boston beans, and the chorizo hash. An oldie but a goodie, 3fe is a handy dandy reliable. Southbank, Harold's Cross Much as we might fancy the comfort of an old favourite, we’ve always got eyes open for something distinctive on a brunch menu. That’s where Southbank’s charred cabbage on toast comes in, topped with tahini, crispy shallots and sumac – you won’t find that anywhere else around town. Fear not if that’s a bridge too far - there are full Irishes and eggs benedicts aplenty too. With an under-12s kids menu on at the weekends, it's also a great bet if you’re brunching with little ones. Hatch, Blackrock Hatch  in Glasthule is the go to coffee spot in the area, but the space here is limited so they always kept it simple with coffees, pastries and treats. Luckily for the folks of Blackrock, they expanded to a much bigger premises in the last couple of years. They serve a small brunch menu, which includes one of the best iterations of mushrooms on toast that we've tasted, and best not to miss out on their brown butter cookie which scooped a silver medal in the 2023 Blas na hÉireann awards. It's the perfect spot for early birds as they start serving from 08:00 on the weekend, and from 07:00 midweek. Fable + Stey, Blackrock A true neighbourhood café, some of the most local locals don’t even know it’s here. Hidden off Newtownpark Avenue, Fable + Stey serve a constantly changing menu with monthly specials taking pride of place. Their brunch is no different so keep an eye on their Instagram  to see what they’re serving up, and always leave room for their homemade bakes. Overends Kitchen, Dundrum Sitting on the large Airfield Estate in Dundrum, Overends Kitchen  has probably the most locally grown produce around as lots of it is grown on the grounds, and their menus change depending on the harvest. It’s a family friendly spot and designed to be explored and enjoyed by all. You could arrive early and help collect the eggs that will end up in your breakfast, or burn off some of your brunch with a walk around the six acre gardens. Either way, you won’t be disappointed by the garden greens shakshuka, buttermilk fried chicken and waffles, or brioche French toast. Looking for brunch in the city ? Check out our guide to the best brunches in the city centre here .

It's May, which means nine new prizes heading in the direction of our biggest and best supporters! This month we've giving away festival tickets, a Champagne lunch in a five-star hotel, tablescapes, premium dairy products and loads more. ATF Insider s is how we operate with no ads , pay for all of our meals , pay our writers , and operate independently to give you the only advice you need about eating out in Dublin. If you enjoy our content, we would very much enjoy if you signed up to keep it going. Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight tomorrow, 17th April, will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th April. Here's what we've got lined up for you this month... 1) Two Sunday tickets to Kaleidoscope Festival, Wicklow Kaleidoscope ,  Ireland’s largest family music festival, is back at Russborough in Blessington from Friday 28th - Sunday 30th June. with three music-filled and memory-making days and nights for kids and adults. This year's line up includes The Kooks, The Waterboys, Lyra, Dec Pierce’s Block Rockin Beats and loads more. One of the other big highlights is always " Scrumdiddlyumptious", the festival's food tent, where you'll find workshops, chef demos, wine tastings and more, from some of Ireland's best chefs like Derry Clarke and Sunil Ghai. We've got two tickets to Sunday at Kaleidoscope to give away, so you can party to The Kooks then head over to decorate cupcakes with The Cupcake Bloke. Tickets are available at kaleidoscopefestival.ie  and Ticketmaster . 2) Lunch for two on the Champagne Terrace at The Shelbourne The Shelbourne 's Champagne terrace has just reopened for May, with Laurent Perrier this year's featured fizz, and a new menu of caviar and Champagne pairings if you really want to go wild. Hidden upstairs at the back of the hotel, The Terrace is a flower-filled sanctuary in the middle of the city centre, with all the outdoor dining feels, and none of the jostling for space. The summer menu features dishes made to go with Champagne, like oysters, seafood platters, and peach melba for dessert. Champagnes are available by the glass and bottle, with Champagne cocktails too, and w e've got a two-course lunch for two with a bottle of Laurent Perrier to give away to one lucky Insider this month. 3) Dinner for two with cocktails on the Garden Terrace at the five-star Intercontinental Dublin Outdoor dining on the five-star Intercontinental Dublin 's incredible garden terrace kicks off on Monday 27th May, and we're giving away a three-course meal for two with cocktails to celebrate. You can dine on burrata; white asparagus; lamb chops; and mango and passionfruit entremet for dessert, in the middle of their beautifully landscaped gardens - and there's a covered section if the weather doesn'tco-operate. Book your garden terrace dining experience at intercontinentaldublin.ie   or call 01665400. 4) Dinner and cocktails at the NYX Hotel in Portobello The brand new NYX Hotel opened on Portobello Harbour a few months ago, and if you don't have an excuse to check in, you can always hit up the bar for waterside dining. There's snacks, sharing plates, burgers and sundaes (see the menu here ), and don't miss their signature and classic cocktails list. To celebrate the new all dining menu we have a three course meal for two with a cocktail of choice to enjoy at The Bar at NYX. Visit  NYX-Hotels.ie   to book a table. 5) A seafood lunch for two with wine at The Purty Kitchen, Dun Laoghaire The Purty Kitchen 's Friday seafood lunch sounds like the best possible way to get the weekend going, particularly if you can snag a table in their sun-filled courtyard. Each Friday a two course lunch showcasing fresh Irish seafood is served with a glass of wine for the very fair price of €37.50, with dishes like Moules-frites, open prawn sandwich, and Wicklow Wolf-battered Haddock and chips. We've got lunch for two plus a bottle of wine to give away this month, and all you have to do is time your visit with the sunshine (but if you can't the courtyard roof is fully retractable). 6) A tablescape for six worth €250 from The Designed Table We love hosting dinner parties, but tend to put so much thought and time into the food that the tablescaping gets totally neglected. Enter The Designed Table , made to alleviate your "good at cooking, bad at laying tables" woes. They do all of the work for you, from tableclothes, to napkins, to placemats, and we've got a tablescape of your choice for six people worth €250 to give away to one lucky winner. Check out their summer collection here . 7) A €150 voucher for Glas The innovative team at vegan/vegetarian mecca Glas never set out to serve ‘meat substitutes’, but to make fruits and vegetables the main items on your plate, and ensure that even meat eaters will want to come back for their Irish produce focused, plant-based food (there's cheese too). With eclectic wine and cocktails and a location two minutes walk from St. Stephen's Green, it's open seven days a week - including for lunch and brunch from Friday - Sunday. We've got a €150 voucher to give away for Glas this month so one of you can see what all the meat-free fuss is about. You can book a table at glasrestaurant.ie . 8) A €100 voucher for Yeeros Earlier this year, Greek restaurant Yeeros won Deliveroo's " Independent restaurant of the year 2024 " for the WHOLE of the UK and Ireland, judged by Jimi Famurewa , restaurant critic for the London Evening Standard. The family-run restaurant which opened in 2018, with branches in Drumcondra, Wexford Street and Glasnevin, was described as " ticking every box ", with " innovation at the heart of everything they do ... and most importantly, everyone who orders from Yeeros becomes part of their family ." Awww... We've got a €100 voucher to give away this month so one of you can join the Yeeros family too. Check there out here , or follow them on Instagram . 9) The full premium dairy range from Macroom Buffalo Adding a bit of premium dairy luxury to breakfast, brunch, salads and picnics just got even more appealing. Macroom Buffalo ,   the ‘farm to fork’ producer from Co. Cork, have just added brand new products to their award-winning range, made with milk from their 840-strong herd of Water Buffalo, who roam freely across 640 acres. We've got a cooler bag worh €100 packed with the full range, including their brand new Buffalo Yogurts, Burrata and Paneer, as well as their Mozzarella, Bocconcini, Ricotta, Greek-style Cheese, Buffaloumi (their take on Halloumi) and cheddar. Find them in selected retailers nationwide, and check them out here . Everyone signed up to   ATF Insiders   for May (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 Friday the 17th May to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

Dublin is officially in its pizza slice era, with the arrival of only one that's been missing up until now. Doom Slice is Dublin’s first Detroit-style slice shop, and they open their hatch on Dame Lane at 17:00 today. If you remember our trip to Flout! in Belfast a few months ago, this will probably excite you. Founded by New York native and pizza lover Tom Sicotakis, he says Doom Slice is the culmination of his lifelong passion for pizza. His love of Detroit-style deep dish pizza began during a trip to the Motor City, and inspired him to work on perfecting the iconic slice that's been missing in Dublin until now. Detroit-style pizza is known for its thick, rectangular crust, which is crispy and chewy from being baked in rectangular steel pans, traditionally borrowed from the auto industry, and topped with a layer of cheese that caramelizes along the edges to form a crispy, cheesy crust called frico. Tom has interestingly partnered with husband and wife filmmakers Ben Cleary and Angela Stempel, who came up with the branding and mascot, ‘Lil Doom’, and are fellow Detroit-style pizza enthusiasts who also couldn't understand why this type of slice wasn't available in Dublin. Doom Slice open at 17:00 today from their Hatch on Dame Lane inside Pawn Shop . It can also be ordered from inside the bar. Check them out at www.doomslice.pizza or on Instagram .

What should we know about The Middle Child Bakery? The little Northside 'burb of "Beau-mount" (or "Beau-mont" if you're posh) has had its baked goods status upended with the arrival of Shona Quinn. The pastry chef has worked around the globe from the French Alps to NYC, and opened The Middle Child Bakery at the end of 2023, after supplying other cafés beforehand. What did you have? Never have we ever seen a bakery with so many options for sugar overload. Rice Krispie squares, brownies, jaffa cakes, jammy dodgers, bakewell tarts, banana bread, coffee slices, cream cakes, shortbread, cinnamon rolls, scones, not to mention the cookies. It's a sugar fever dream. The lovely staff told us that the cookie squares and the jaffa cake are must haves, and lord knows we needed help navigating it all. A Kinder cookie square (€3) was very fudgey, but verging on the sickly side of sweet - we were glad it wasn't any bigger for our insulin's sake. The jaffa cake (€3.20) had a crumbly sponge topped with generous tangy orange jelly and a dark chocolate coating - we concur it's a must. We're suckers for a cinnamon roll (€3.50), and here the fluffy dough had lashings of cinnamon and sugar in every gooey bite, with the icing having a slight citrus tang. Another must order. An almond croissant is our bakery litmus test, and since opening they've had to double their production due to sell outs. This one (€3.50 if you're keeping tabs on the #almondcroissantindex) was more crunchy than flaky, a little overdone maybe, but the butter was evident, and the almond sweetness of the well portioned filling was spot on. The "crookie" (€ 3. 90) is t he TikTok pastry du jour , going so viral that even Parisian patisseries have starting baking cookies into their croissants, and The Middle Child are flying the flag for Dublin. Similar to the almond, the pastry was very crunchy, but how they got chocolate chip cookie into every bite is some kind of sorcery. Similar to the cookie square, we could only manage half of it before starting to feel the sugar coma. We were back on track with their classic croissant. Topped with powdered sugar (the drug of choice here), it was light, airy and nicely puffed up. The apple cinnamon crumble was another knockout - moist, spongy and ideal apple/cinnamon ratios, and the sugar felt more restrained than some of the others. They bake bread too, with a couple of loaves rotating daily. We tried their white poppy seed (€3.50) and their rye (€6), and while they didn't blow our socks off, generally needing more chew, they were decent. Are there seats? They have a bench inside the bakery, but if it's a nice day Ellenfield Park is close-by for a picnic. What is there to drink? Their coffee is Roasted Brown and from the handful of times we've visited it's the best in the area, and well-priced. They also have soft drinks, but you won't need any more sugar. Why should I go? The Middle Child is a sanctuary for anyone with a sweet tooth, and a great addition to the area, and to the ever growing list of great Dublin bakeries . The Middle Child Bakery 76 Shantalla Road, Beaumont, Dublin 9 themiddlechild.ie

The weekend that just was sums up the wildness of life in Dublin, with scorching sunshine and stormy showers all liable to occur within the time it takes to eat two courses. That’s partly why our outdoor dining scene has lagged behind many of our European cousins, not to mention restrictive regulation, but the pandemic twisted the arms of many places and now we’re comparatively spoiled for choice. But where are the really good suntraps, and more to the point - which of them have the best food? Here’s your one-stop guide for where eat outdoors in the city this summer, with the suburbs coming in our next mail out... City Centre Library Street, Setanta Place "Everything is made to be shared" says the sign over Library Street 's door, and that goes for the sunshine too. Their scattering of outdoor tables are back and available for wine and small plates. Sure to be a very hot seat of a summer evening, you'll have to rock up and try your chances for these. The Champagne Terrace At The Shelbourne The Shelbourne 's annual Champagne terrace is back with Laurent-Perrier on board as sponsor this time around. Five Champagnes are available alongside a very on-brand caviar menu, with champagne cocktails and other food are on offer too. Book online  for Wednesday to Sunday slots. Cellar 22, Stephen's Green The basement-level terrace out front in Cellar 22  might not be the biggest suntrap in the city, but it's a covered and heated cosy space to chill out with a good glass of wine, while enjoy the fresh air wafting across from St Stephen's Green. They recently rolled out a new cocktail menu too, and their small plates and charcuterie selection are made for lazy summer evenings. Book here . Row Wines, Coppinger Row The small selection of seating available outside Row Wines is always in hot demand when the sun shows up, and that’s only likely to increase with the midweek lunchtime flatbread menu they’ve just launched. Get to this one early. Mani, Drury Street As if Drury Street wasn't thronged enough in the sunshine months, new opener Mani has ensured this is going to be the most bustling part of the city all summer long. The high turnover on their outdoor space should mean you won't have to wait too long to enjoy a slice, but you'll want to move quick when you see someone picking up their bag. Bootleg, Drury Street Another new arrival to Drury Street, Bootleg  is smartly making a play for that plentiful passing summer trade with an outdoor drinks bar beside its handful of little tables. We're not shocked to report it was absolutely thronged at the weekend. Note, Fenian Street One of the best new additions to the city's outdoor dining scene of recent years, Note 's terrace out front is a heavenly spot for wine, small plates and a bit of a buzz on a scorching day. You can book online  for a table inside or walk-in for a weather dependent outside one. Tang, Cumberland Place Just across the road from Note, sustainable, climate-conscious café Tang has a suntrap of a garden area that's one of our favourite city spots for a quick coffee and food to make you feel good. They’re open from 08:00 weekdays and from 10:00 on Saturday for brunch, with walk-ins only. They've also just added a Thursday and Friday dinner option you can book online . F.X. Buckley, Pembroke Street F.X. Buckley are making the most of their Pembroke Street premises with not one but two outdoor areas, including a gorgeous two-storey section that opens out onto the front. It's conveniently close to Merrion Square Park and St Stephen's Green, for the walk you'll be needing after this feed. We recommend calling 016764606 or emailing pembroke@fxbuckley.ie to nab the good seats. Loose Canon, Drury Street Loose Canon is perfectly sited to lap up the best of the midday sunshine and take in the buzz of Dublin on a summer’s day, so it’s no surprise their walk-in only outdoor tables are always in hot demand. They’re worth waiting for, with a cold glass in hand of course. Davy Byrne's, Duke Street The Ulysses destination pub's linen-laid tables on the terrace are always popular with Grafton Street shoppers when the sun is shining. Book online here to beat the crowd and get your fill of gorgonzola sandwiches and bottles of Burgundy. Big Fan, Aungier Street Big Fan 's outdoor dining area on Aungier Street has stayed popular all year, with the heated patio full throughout the winter, but there's no doubt it's at its best when the sun shines. Get in for a feast of bao, jiaozi and lots of other outrageously delicious plates by booking here . The Seafood Café, Temple Bar It won't be long now until lobster rolls are back on the menu at Niall Sabongi's Temple Bar institution (currently it's a crab fest which we ain't complaining about either), and the little sheltered seating area outside The Seafood Café is the ideal place to tuck into the best Irish seafood while watching the world go by. Book here . As One, City Quay Health food focused As One have sunshine filled seating for breakfast, brunch and lunch on the quays. Book a table for some gut-friendly food on their website . The Commons at MoLI, Stephen’s Green Opening out into the Iveagh Gardens, the open area to the rear of the Museum of Literature now plays host to The Commons ’ garden terrace, a beautifully secluded spot to enjoy their all-day breakfast menu and range of toasties. They’re walk-in only, and what a walk. Hang Dai, Camden Street The covered, heated terrace of Hang Dai 's rooftop 'Gold Bar' offers a great view out over the Camden Street action, as well as a buzzy area to enjoy some of their unique cocktails and Chinese dishes. They’re also making more of their street seating this year, with a special small plate menu in the works and nothing topping €12 – we’ll bet on that being popular. Osteria Lucio, Grand Canal Quay With a small number of high-stool and barrel setups, as well as some covered low tables, Osteria Lucio is one worth booking ahead for. Owner/Chef Ross Lewis had taken the lead in the kitchen here since handing over the Chapter One reins to Mickael Viljanen, and just before Christmas he installed Josh Plunkett (with a CV featuring some VERY impressive restaurants in the US) as head chef. Book online . Charlotte Quay, Grand Canal Dock Charlotte Quay  has ample outdoor space overlooking Grand Canal Dock that gets the sun all evening. The lunch and dinner menus have plenty of smaller sharing plates so be sure to bring a crowd. Bookings available online . Fairmental, Grand Canal Street Upper D4’s fermentation lab and deli Fairmental is making very smart use of the space out front with some cosy tables set out to enjoy your rice bowls and kombucha from. It’s open for weekday breakfast and lunch and Saturday brunch, and it’s walk-in only. One Society, Gardiner Street Blocked off from the busy streets with planters, One Society ’s sizeable covered outdoor section is a great choice for a weekend brunch or pizza and pasta on a sunny evenings. Walk-ins only. Chez Max, Palace Street Palace Street feels distinctly classier with the Parisian chic vibes Chez Max brings in summer. They gave their courtyard terrase a major makeover last year and it's still a lovely spot to sit back and forget you're in Dublin, if not the best French food you've ever had. Book here . Urban Brewing, Custom House Quay Urban Brewing offers an ideal summer setup with tonnes of outdoor seating outside the CHQ building. The new tapas brunch menu has loads of varied sharing plate options to enjoy alongside an Irish mythology-inspired cocktail menu. Book here . Drury Buildings, Drury Street T he gorgeous garden courtyard in Drury Buildings is serving food and summer cocktails seven days a week, and the balcony tables overlooking the garden will be the ones to nab if you're very, very lucky. Look for a table here . Las Tapas De Lola, Wexford Street An outdoor table at Las Tapas de Lola is always a tall order so plan this one as far in advance as you can. Last minute cancellations may also be your friend here - call 014244100 or email book@lastapasdelola.com for enquiries. 777, George's Street 777 went all-out a few years back converting a car park into their "777 afuera" (meaning 'outside'), complete with a margarita-serving airstream. You can only book for tables of six plus here , otherwise it's walk in only. L'Gueuleton, Fade Street Fade Street French bistro L'Gueuleton have considerable outside space, mostly covered. It's prime real estate for people watching, small plate eating and Champagne drinking. Book through their website . Fade Street Social, Fade Street Fade Street Social is open outside with a wood-fired menu seven days a week. There's a solid vegetarian selection as well as the expected meat options, so plenty of variety to satisfy a mixed crowd. Book a table here . Nomo Ramen, Charlotte’s Way A big bowl of ramen isn’t our first instinct on a summer’s day, but Nomo have been introducing plenty of lighter bites like their pork bao and shitake chashu korokke that we’d happily snack on from their seated area out front. Walk-ins only. The Woollen Mills, Ormond Quay The Woollen Mills has a spacious first-floor roof terrace overlooking the Ha'penny Bridge and Liffey Street. They're open for lunch and dinner seven days a week as well as weekend brunch. Book on their website . Brother Hubbard North, Capel Street Brother Hubbard have lovely terraces at both their Capel Street and Harrington Street locations, with tons of seating to handle the high demand they always attract. Brother Hubbard North is taking reservations here , but Brother Hubbard South remains walk-in only. Saba's Secret Garden, Baggot Street Saba 's secret garden out the back of their Baggot Street location has canopies and heaters, holiday style lighting and art by Subset. It's open seven days a week serving food all day, including black pepper squid, Thai beef salad and Pad Thai. There's also a pretty extensive cocktail menu. Look for a table here . Piglet, Cow's Lane Piglet ' s outdoor terrace catches the sun perfectly right around lunch, and they make the most of it with two and three course set menus, and the same for early bird dinner, all washed down with an excellent selection of wine. Book online . Ukiyo, Dame Court Ukiyo ' s outdoor terrace on Dame Court always has a lively buzz on the weekend, but they're open for lunch and dinner all through the week. Bring a group if you can - this is a lengthy menu you'll want a hand in making your way through. Book here . Glas, Chatham Street Vegetarian and vegan Glas have a very Parisian (and appropriately green) vibe going on outside their Chatham Street restaurant. The planters make for solid insurance against the ever-unpredictable Irish weather. Book online here . Suesey Street Suesey Street 's terrace is one of the best in the city and has a retractable roof to deal with whatever the elements happen to throw at you. They're open for lunch and dinner every day but Sunday, serving up Irish cuisine with a focus on local ingredients. Book on their website . Did we miss your favourite spot for outdoor dining in Dublin city centre? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

Our 30 hottest list features the most talked about restaurants in Dublin right now, based on column inches, Insta love and the general pain involved in getting a booking. There are the restaurants with all the buzz, in alphabetical order, with four new entries for May... * This list doesn't include cafés or lunch only options, everywhere here is open for dinner at a minimum

We're going Italian heavy this week with a creamy cod croquette, Irish oysters meet Calabria, and the most beautiful maritozzo inspired by the Amalfi coast. Here are the five thing we most want to eat in Dublin this week, while we ponder whether we even need to go abroad this summer... 1) Oysters with spicy sardella, A Fianco A Fianco in Stoneybatter have fresh Connemara oysters on the menu right now, topped with spicy Sardella di Crucoli emulsion - a sardine/chilli mix locally known as the caviar of the poor. They've hit just in time for the Irish summer (that may or may not have already happened), and there are few things better in the sunshine than a rake of fresh oysters and a cold glass of flinty white - which they can also provide. 2) Amalfi Maritozzo, Berri Lab Italian microbakery legends Berri Lab are masters of the maritozzo, and look at this beauty they brought out in honour of the scorcher we had last weekend. Let's hope this lemon curd, whipped cream and mint combo sticks around. 3) Irish Wagyu ribs, Hang Dai We're not ashamed to say a little bit of drool slipped out when these 14-hour Irish wagyu ribs from Hang Dai appeared on the feed. Served with a beef chilli paste, a tangy pickle daikon done kimchi style, and soft steamed buns, they look fall off the bone tender, and will be living inside our heads for the remainder of the week. 4) All you can eat sushi, Panda Skip the Irish Mammy salads this summer and head to Panda in Dublin 8 for all you can eat sushi. There are two sessions e very day from 18:00 - 20:00 and 20:30 - 22:30, and €40 per person will get you as much salmon temaki, dragon rolls and tuna sashimi as you can handle - just make sure to book in advance. Sashimi and sushi rolls over jars of beetroot and shop-bought coleslaw any day. 5) Creamed Cod Croquettes, Grano Check out these crocchette di baccalà mantecato from Grano  in Stoneybatter - aka Venetian creamed cod croquettes served with roasted pepper cream and a red onion gel, that would surely convince even the croquettes haters. Best of luck trying to get a table, but with food like this is it any wonder they're always jammers.

It might be just anecdotal evidence, but this is only our second new openings update of 2024 – by this point last year, we’d run four roundups. There’s no question it’s becoming a taller order to open a new food business in Dublin these days, and our hats are off to anyone with the force of will to do it. From açaí bowls and street food noodles to bakeries on both sides of the Liffey, here are the latest openings we think deserve your attention. Jean-Georges at The Leinster, Mount Street Lower The latest celebrity chef parachuted in to crack the Dublin market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten boasts ownership or involvement in north of sixty restaurants worldwide, serving up his signature French and Southeast Asian flavours here blended with Irish ingredients – he’s at least making all the right sounds about the quality of our grass-fed beef, turbot and monkfish. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all on the cards, along with a weekend brunch menu too. The Leinster’s high-end fitout for the space includes an outdoor terrace it’s billed as offering great views of Georgian Dublin, though recent events on Mount Street might make that a little awkward as you’re enjoying your caviar and champagne. Read our Jean Georges once over here . September, Blackrock Colour us very excited about this one: food truck Leroy’s , who sling stunning-looking sandwiches on Tartine ciabatta at the Merrion Cricket Club, have just opened a sister venture in the form of a natural wine café. They're hoping to start Friday and Saturday wine nights in a couple of weeks, and we spy loads of lovely natural bottles on those shelves, but for now you can pop in for breakfast baps, lunchtime sandwiches and homemade cookies seven days a week. Biang Biang, Little Mary Street After legal woes and a last minute name change , the latest opening from the team behind Stoneybatter’s Hakkahan and Stephen Street’s Nan Chinese , Biang Biang specialises in the street food scene of Xi’an, most prominently the hand-pulled wide noodles that give it its name. If the promise of steaming chili oil sizzling its way through a bowl of noodles and fresh veg isn’t enough to tempt you in, other Xi’an specialties like dumplings and minced pork Roujiamo (sometimes called a Chinese hamburger) might sweeten the deal. They’re advising peak time patience as everything is made to order - music to our ears. Roots, Drury Street It’s more nice things for Drury Street as Monkstown health food truck Roots has put down city centre… well, roots… in between Loose Canon and Kaph and right across the street from Mani – we dread to imagine how packed the place is going to be of a sunny summer morning. Granola-topped açaí and dragon fruit bowls are the name of the game here with a choice between four classics or a build-your-own option. The extensive fitout has lovingly restored the 19th-century building’s redbrick walls after generations of previous tenants covered it up with layer upon layer of paint – we reckon that’s a good sign they're in it for the long haul. Previous tenants Three-Twenty Ice-cream Lab are back in the evening as Spilt Milk . CN Dumpling, Montague Street “Chinese tapas” is the pitch at CN Dumpling , with a wide range of small plates joining the expected dumplings at Montague’s Street’s latest arrival. Run by the people behind Zakura , there are six choices of hand-made dumpling cooked in your choice of four ways – ours is in a Sichuan chilli broth – while plates range from classics like lion’s head meatballs and mapo tofu to signature maggi mushrooms and a cucumber jellyfish salad. Una, Ranelagh If ever there was a dead-cert gap in the market, it was the lack of a neighbourhood bakery in Ranelagh: the queues we’ve see snaking from Una since it opened only confirm it. Of course it helps that it’s run by the people who brought us Forest Avenue . With French-style pastries like kouign-amann and (gird your loins) bacon jam escargot to the fore, it’s small wonder early demand has seen them sell out time and again in their opening weeks – you’ll want to be getting in early to have any hope of a choice. There’s sourdough loaves and focaccia aplenty if you do miss out on the sweet selection. Brown Bag Bakery, Blanchardstown Lest the Northside feel left out of the fresh baked fun, there’s more sourdough and pastries to be had over in Blanchardstown’s Roselawn Shopping Centre, where Brown Bag Bakery has just opened its doors. The pared-back décor puts all the focus on the sizeable bakery space itself and the wooden shelves stacking its produce, and really that’s all we’re here to see anyway. Groundwork Coffee Co are supplying the beans, while a loaded apple crumble brioche is among the baked goods to have caught our eye so far. They’ll be selling their wares from 08:30 to 15:00 every Tuesday to Saturday. Coming soon... Sister 7, Smithfield After their foray into the bar scene with Bootleg , BIGFAN are opening another restaurant inside brilliant beer bar Fidelity in Smithfield - Sister 7 - their sister bar in D7, geddit? It's also named after Head chef Chung Lee, who has worked at Big Fan since day one. Her Chinese colleagues call her "sister", and she will embody the new girl boss character "Sister 7", going toe to toe with the original BIGFAN boss man . The menu will be 70% BIGFAN classics and 30% crossover dishes developed with Whiplash using beer or spent product from their brewery, and there'll be an additional bar bites menu. Sister 7 opens next Wednesday. Oakberry, Blackrock Just six months on from opening its first Irish store on Anne Street South, açaí bowl empire Oakberry is expanding southwards with a new arrival in Blackrock. Since being touted as the latest superfood fad about a decade back, the popularity of this Brazilian berry has exploded globally, so quick growth for this franchise is no surprise.

It's obvious Dublin is having a serious bakery moment, and we are here.for.it. The doughnut trend finally got stale, and rising from its yeasty ashes is the artisan bakery. We've rounded up the only list you'll need for the go to bakeries in Dublin, and crust us, we know the score. City Centre Bread 41, Pearse Street No better way to start this list off than with the capital's favourite bakery, Bread 41 , the bastions of bread in Baile Átha Cliath. There are never not queues, and they are always whipping up something interesting, like rustic pop tarts, crazy cruffin combinations, and savoury pastries that will make you weak at the kneads. We mean... knees. No Messin', Smithfield No Messin' in Smithfield should be on everyone's radar. With fun mainstays on their menu like the Cardi B and the Hun Bun , Proper Order's self proclaimed buttery love child certainly aren't messin' with pastries as elite as this. Don't miss their monthly pie sale, announced via their newsletter, and seasonal specials like the current blood orange Danish. Bretzel Bakery, Portobello Dublin's OG Jewish bakery Bretzel opened over 150 years ago, and has been operating out of their Portobello location ever since. Breads like Challah, San Francisco Sourdough, and Round are their, ahem, breadwinners, and they offer smatterings of pastries as well as tasty sambos for lunch. Ella's Heaven, Talbot Street Ella's heaven  is a Georgian heaven (aka bakery) that specialises in cheese breads, savoury pastries, and fruit and nut filled sweets. When it comes combining cheese with bread, the Georgians are in the elite tier, and the Khachapuri is what you're after. The boat shaped bread is filled with cheese and finished with an egg yolk, to be swirled around and devoured. We'd also walk up and down Talbot Street for their doughtnuts. The Morning, Pleasant Street Sourdough buns, fluffy doughnuts, and the flakiest pastries are just some of the things you'll spot on The Morning's ever rotating menu. Open everyday until 16:00, there is no excuse not to stop by and pick up something gorge to gorge on. Russell Street Bakery, Dublin 1 Russell Street Bakery is a classic French bakery in that area that is not quite Croke Park, and not quite Mountjoy Square, where you will find the lightest, crispiest, and butteriest pastries that we can only assume were crafted by the pastry gods themselves. Or perhaps it was Tartine's Thibault Peigne. Same thing. Read our two minute review here . Bakeology Treats, The Liberties This Argentinean bakery in The Liberties have the most incredible alfajores (dulce de leche stuffed cookie sandwiches), empanadas (stuffed savoury pastries), and facturas (think a more buttery and fluffier but less crunchy croissant). A few visits are most definitely on the cards in order to eat your way through Bakeology’s range of ‘alfies’ alone. Fable, Dawson Street Just inside that Sprout on Dawson Street, you'll find Fable - a killer little bakery run by Elyse and Kate. Buns, cakes, cookies, and tarts, you'll mainly find sweet things here, with the odd savoury pasty thrown in for good measure. Another flyer of the Imbibe coffee flag, and we aren't complaining. Read our two minute review here . Hong Kong Taste Bakery, Eden Quay Char siu buns, pork puffs and Cantonese style egg tarts are some of the very inexpensive, very delicious reasons to visit Hong Kong taste bakery on Eden Quay. Owner/chef King Liu and his team start baking at 5am each morning and replenish supplies of sausage buns, milk bread and pandan swiss rolls throughout the day. Ayla Turkish Foods, Capel Street Ayla Turkish Foods  on Capel Street is there for all your Turkish baked needs, including (but not limited to): fresh breads, pastries, simit, borek, baklava, Turkish delight, halva and so much more. It's also a great place to stock up on spices. Northside Blossom Artisan Bakery, Ballymun Blossom Artisan Bakery in the 'Mun is inside Buddy's Farmer's Market , and run by Xenia and Peter who make everything fresh in house. You'll be pushed to find a better French baguette in the city, and don't skip the sweet stuff. Their menu changes monthly, be sure to check their insta, and word of warning - get there early. They constantly sell out, and with their updated shorter opening hours, you've gotta be the earliest bird in Ballymun to catch those chocolate twists. Read our two min review here . Elliot's, Phibsborough Micro bakery Elliot's of Phibsborough shall not be competed with. The Dublin Kings of the maritozzi, and the current lunch item that's having a moment , they're constantly coming up with new ways to make bread and pastries even more appealing. Their Instagram account is cream of the crop stuff. Gold Ribbon Bakeshoppe, Dorset Street Bahay started our obsession with Gold Ribbon 's pandesal and pan de coco after sending ATF Insiders home with a breakfast package after our Fillipino feast . They recommended toasting the salted bread roll and having it with an egg, and lathering the pan de coco with butter once hot, and breakfast was almost as memorable as dinner the night before. They're also famous for their cakes with ube (purple yam) and pandan, and you can order celebration ones for collection. Bread Naturally, Raheny In the sleepy village of Raheny you'll find exceptionally made sourdough at Bread Naturally . Simon May's bread has won countless awards and when it comes to pastry they have the art of lamination down. Go here before hitting up St. Anne's Park for a stroll - hashtag weekend bliss. Noisette, Rush Noisette is the bread-child of French-Mauritian couple Vaarsha Baugreet and Jérémy Pastor. Their various sourdoughs, focaccias, cruffins, and the signature hazelnut pain au chocolat from which they get their name, have the people of Rush in a chokehold. Read our two minute review here . The Rock Bakery, Skerries Out in Skerries you'll find one of Dublin's most detour-worthy bakeries with a monthly changing menu. The Rock Bakery is a micro bakery that does bread (brown, baguette, bagels, and sourdough), pain au everythings, danishes for days, loaded focaccias, and fancy sambos. It's worth the trek if you're not from around here. Southside The Bakery by The Cupcake Bloke, Rialto We love Graham Herterich aka the The Cupcake Bloke 's  Irish injection to the bakery scene, with his retro biccies (check out that Mikado), famous brack (top with blue cheese for a one way ticket to flavoursville), and obviously his cupcakes, with flavours rotating monthly. Artybaker, Grand Canal Dock, Kimmage, Sandymount, Dalkey Southsiders rejoice - Artybaker is taking over, and we're glad to hear it. With four locations now (and a Kimmage wine bar en route), they've come a long way since 2021 when they opened their first Dalkey branch. Their pastries have layers for days and they always have special treats for calendar events like Pride and Valentine's Day. Love the effort. Una Bakery, Ranelagh Ranelagh's much needed bakery Una had a little viral moment when they opened up with queues around the corner. We loved their massive custard tart and the almond croissant rendered us speechless. Read our two minute review here . Camerino, IMMA Caryna Camerino's bakery Camerino  has been capturing the hearts of Dubliner's for years now, one baked good at a time. Famous for her cookies and brownies (her chocolate chip cookie recipe  is the only one you'll need,) you'll find these plus more traditional lunch options (think boujie sambos on fresh Challah bread) at IMMA in Kilmainham. Did we miss your favourite bakery? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie

What should we know about Noisette? Bakers Vaarsha Baugreet and Jeremy Pastor bonded over a love of sourdough, viennoiserie and organic flour, and Noisette is the couple's first opening, in the North County Dublin town of Rush. Vaarsha was previously head baker at Bread Naturally in Raheny, while Jeremy was head pastry chef at Tartine . This site on Upper Main Street used to be a retail unit, but the couple have converted it to a bakery with some seating outside. Anyone familiar with NoCoDub with know that artisanal bakeries are MIA in this part of the world. Only in the last few years have things improved with An Bácús Beag in Donabate and The Rock in Skerries (also shout out to La Boulangerie Francaise in Swords, open for an amazing 20 years), but the gaps are wide and deep for real bread and handmade pastries. When Noisette opened in March 2023, Rush strawberry danishes and lime meringue cruffins generated soul-crushing queues, but a year on things have calmed, so setting your alarm for sunrise shouldn't be necessary. What should we have? Doughnuts have a bad rap in Dublin, all brightly coloured and sickeningly confected, but these ones are light, airy, and fried golden. They've one upped the classic jam with their "strawberries and cream" version - a hard approve from us. A cinnamon roll was the standout from two trips - an airy swirl neither light on cinnamon, nor icing, and all the better for it, with icing that's more of a glaze than a gloop. There was a fair amount of kickback on the €5 almond croissants at new bakery Una in Ranelagh - anyone offended by that will be thrilled to know you can bag one here for the relative bargain of €3.80. Layer upon layer of light, flaky pastry from expert lamination houses a dense, generous almond filling - so dense it was threatening to spill out onto our hands. We weren't complaining.   A hotcross bun special was stuffed full of orange zest and raisins, showing up every supermarket version you've ever inflicted on yourself, and their custard tarts are more like Bread 41's custardos than Café Lisboa 's pasteis de nata - good, but not quite the latter's standard. A Mediterranean veg focaccia had tomato, peppers and olives, and if you're looking for a standalone lunch before moving to something sweet, this will cover the hunger hole nicely - juicy veg, expertly seasoned, and the crust was faultless. We also took a French style baguette home for sandwiches and it's unsurprisingly a whole pile better than what we could produce at home. What about drinks? Coffee is from Imbibe and on both visits our coffee was perfectly made, which is often not the case, even with the best product. Why should I go? As a county/country we do not have enough independent, artisanal bakeries - with so many people not having the time to make real bread at home, having somewhere in the locality to pick up a loaf should be a human right. Rush might be a journey for many of our readers, but make a day of it and head to South beach to enjoy your haul, recently named one of Ireland's 50 best beaches . Noisette 3 Main Street, Rush, Co. Dublin instagram.com/noisetteartisanbakery

A Filipino stew bursting at the seams with flavour, lunchtime flatbreads taken to new levels, and a chocolate dessert that reads like a post-dinner rollercoaster... There are the dishes we can't stop thinking about this week in the capital... 1) Folded flatbreads, Row Wines Row Wines are about to drop a summer lunch special of folded flatbreads that will be available Wednesday to Fridays, 12:00 to 16:00, starting on May 1st. The selection includes pulled pork, king oyster mushroom, burrata with Parma ham, and confit duck, and they'll be available for takeaway too, See yis in the queue. 2) Jivara chocolate dessert, Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen What can't Mickael Viljanen at Chapter One do? His latest creation is, as the Tiktokers say, the most aestheticly pleasing little dessert, made with Jivara lactée milk chocolate (aka the Champagne of chocolate), buckwheat, olive oil, Swiss mountain vinegar, baguette ice cream, tamari soy and miso. What a flavour adventure. We must embark upon it... 3) Duck lasagne, Little Forest Little Forest appear to be hiding away, minding their own business, in the sleepy seaside town affectionally known as Blackrock, yet every so often they blow our minds with a pic like this. This duck lasagne is the way to take "comfort food" and kick it up several notches. Talk about showing off. 4) Squid with swede and wakame, D'Olier Street We've been dying to get back to D'Olier Street since they were awarded their Michelin star, and this starter could be the very reason we rebook. We're talking squid with swede, wakame, wild garlic and caviar, paired with an orange Falanghina/Fiano blend from Italy. Need. 5) Kare-Kare, Orani Food Café Restaurant We just love the dishes Orani are popping out, and their summer special is the latest in a long line of "need to eat that"s. Kare-Kare is a Filipino peanut based stew, and they serve theirs with crispy pork, pickled papaya, grilled aubergine, and pak choi. 'Stew' doesn't quite scream summer, but this one looks like an absolute banger. They're rolling it out from the 4th of May.

There's something special happening in the Dublin food scene. Food trucks in beer gardens of bog standard pubs are growing momentum. Pubs that don't do food are collaborating with small businesses  that do. What a magic combination. Can we really have it all. Pubs and killer food? We are truly living in the future. Here's where to go for drinks when you don't want the food portion of the evening to make you wish you'd eaten at home... Sister 7 @ Fidelity Studio, Smithfield Dream team alert! Big Fan have just joined forces with Fidelity in Smithfield for the collaboration that Dublin needed. Sister 7 is named after Chung Lee, the Head chef here who was part of the kitchen team at Big Fan . She's affectionately known as "sister" in the kitchen, and this second site from Fidelity next door is in D7. Their menu is mainly Big Fan staples, with a handful of dishes created using Whiplash beer or spent product from their brewery, including crackers, and a black stout vinegar, and they promise lots more menu development over the coming weeks and months. Read our once over here . Fuppin' Delish at Humphrey's, Ranelagh Fuppin Delish  bounced around the food truck scene for approximately five years before settling into a more steady home in the beer garden of Humphrey's  of Ranelagh. The husband and wife duo are pumping out Mexican inspired plates (with an Asian and South American influence) including tacos, nachos, chicken wings, and burgers. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but the food is as good as they claim in their name. Bonobo, Smithfield and Kodiak, Rathmines We can't imagine Dublin's food vista without Bonobo  and Kodiak . Both bars have such a great selection of beer and cocktails and the pizza is a serious contender for top spot in the city. One of the earlier adopters of outside pub pizza, we were spoiled when Bonobo opened up in one of the best beer gardens in Dublin. Juno, Dorset Street Dorset street is slim pickings when it comes to good food and/or pubs and Juno  is a double whammy of a shining light. With an exciting menu that celebrates Irish fast food, it's a great spot with lots of outdoor seating when the sun (if ever) starts to shine. Be sure to try their hot fish sandwich and their battered black pudding and thyme sausage. Read our once over here . Slice of Naples at the Quarry House, Ballygall Another top tier pizza truck nestled on the border of Finglas and Glasnevin is Slice of Naples , just outside the Quarry House . They boast some of the best pizza in the area, and are some craic on the 'gram. Bring your pizza into the Quarry (we recommend the bar - the lounge is lit akin to an operating theatre), and the lads will kindly bring it in for you when it's ready. Arctic Stone  ice cream recently opened in the beer garden too, so that's dessert sorted. Read our two minute review here . Benjamin's Hot Chicken at the Vintage Inn, Irishtown No one was happier than us when Benjamin's Hot Chicken  opened up at the Vintage Inn  in Irishtown back in November 2022. A neighbourhood with limited food options, the Nashville inspired chicken shop was a much needed addition. Fried chicken and beer is a winning combination and there's no better food truck for the job. Read our two minute review here . (Edit: Benjamin's have announced they're leaving The Vintage Inn , with their last service on Sunday 5th May, but they're making plans for their next location, and another food vendor will be coming into The Vintage Inn soon.) Knead Pizza & Bottle Shop at the Cat and Cage, Drumcondra When Knead Pizza and Bottle Shop  popped open in Drumcondra's Cat and Cage  back in 2021, the run of the mill pub finally caught our attention. We first recommend heading upstairs to scan their wines by the bottle that can be enjoyed in the pub sans corkage, then get down to the food. Sure, they're known for their pizza, but their mac and cheese suppli are also a must. While their pizza ain't quite in the neighbouring leagues of Slice of Naples or Bonobo , it's very decent for what was formerly an exclusively old man pub, and not in a cute way. Kimchi Hophouse, Parnell Street Dublin's oldest Korean restaurant, Kimchi Hophouse is an institution at this stage. Half set in an Irish pub slash dinky Korean restaurant, start with their anju bites (or tapas as they call them), which is a Korean term that basically means snacks to drink alcohol with. Famous for their Bibimbap and Zigae (Korean stew), one of these puppies with a pint of Guinness will set you straight. Coke Lane at Lucky's, Meath Street Lucky's is a little gem on the bejazzled crown that is Meath Street. It's always jiving, and their beer garden is permanently wedged. Coke Lane run the pizza truck in the back, thanks be to god, as it's the best pizza in the hood, and one of the only spots to grab a bite before a gig in Vicar Street. L. Mulligan Grocer, Stoneybatter We couldn't write this post without including L. Mulligan Grocer - a pub who were doing great food before it was cool. Their scotch eggs are legendary, and their menu has a heavy focus on local produce. There's no better spot to spend a Sunday with one of their famous roasts, and they keep the vegans in mind constantly. Goatsgruff at Strawberry Hall, Strawberry Beds Yes it's more pizza, but we're not writing the menus, and if you haven't been to The Strawberry Hall yet, are you even a Dubliner? Time travel down the banks of the canal into the past and experience one of the best little pubs in a part of Dublin that feels like you're actually down the country on your laethanta saoire. The Guinness is on point, and across the road, is a kick ass wood fired pizza/sandwich truck called Goatsgruff . The pizza is Neapolitan style with the fluffiest dough, and they also do a charcuterie box which sounds perrrrfect for when the weather gets a bit warmer. Disclaimer - it is €50 quid, and must be ordered in advance, but it looks right up our street. Sumi's Kitchen at Ryan's, Beggar's Bush Tucked behind the behemoth of a bar that is Ryan's at Beggar's Bush , Sumi's Kitchen quietly opened up September of 2023 cooking up Indian dishes with rotating specials. You'll find the likes of vadapav (deep fried smashed potato patties), the most incredible onion bhajis, and daily specials which they post to their instagram each day. Avoid though on match days, when they completely change their menu to cater to droves of rugby fans. Eatyard at the Bernard Shaw, Dublin 9 Yes it's nothing like the original Bernard Shaw, but we are not complaining about the addition of Eatyard to the space. With nothing yet being able to fill the Epicurean food hall hole, Eatyard is the closest thing we have while we patiently wait for 2026 to roll around when the fruit market opens. The dumplings in Janet's are perfection, El Fuego's birria tacos are chef's kiss, Gaucho Dog dogs are hawt, and Village Pizza Dublin has some really great wood fired pies. There's something to please each and every one of your friends.

It's April, which means nine brand new giveaways for our biggest supporters, and this month we've got a very big tab at the buzziest new opening in town, vouchers for new openings, a luxury food hamper and loads more. Our ATF Insider service is how we remain ad free, pay our writers, pay for our meals, and operate independently to give you the only advice you need about eating out in Dublin, so if you enjoy our content, you might consider signing up... Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight tomorrow, 17th April, will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th April. Here's what we've got lined up for you this month... 1) A €200 tab for Sister 7 & Fidelity Studio You can't possibly have missed Big Fan opening restaurant number two last week in Smithfield, but in case you need the downlow on Sister 7 , it's this week's once over . It's next door to Fidelity (from Whiplash beer) in the brand new Fidelity Studio , and the teams have cleverly combined to use beer in the menu - there's crackers made from spent beer grains and a Whiplash dark sour vinegar for the dumplings. It's all very clever and very delicious, and we're sending one of you in for a very good time with a €200 tab for food and drinks for four people. 2) Peculiar Afternoon Tea for two at The College Green Hotel The College Green Hotel Dublin has just brought back their Peculiar Afternoon Tea , and we're sending one of our Insiders into their beautiful Atrium lounge to try it out. This time there's a tropical twist, so after spiced barbeque chicken Waldorf salad ciabat ta and buttermilk scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream; you'll move onto p assionfruit crunch pillows on allspice biscuits , and cho colate tarts with pineapple and lime jam. If you want something stronger than tea, their gin-based cocktail, "The Pillars of Antiquity", is served from a teapot and infused with spices and citrus, and there's a non-alcoholic sparkling tea available too. The Peculiar Afternoon Tea is €75 per person and available Monday – Sunday: 12:00 pm – 17:30 pm.  Click here for all the details and to make a booking. 3) €100 voucher for The Terrace @ The Conrad The Terrace at the five-star Conrad Dublin , has been reinvented by in-demand Irish artist Ciara O'Neill (she of those amazing vases ), to merge the vibrancy of Dublin's city life with the tranquillity of an outdoor space. Right in the heart of the city on Earlsfort Terrace, it's ideal for after-work drinks, to throw the bags down post-shopping, or for weekend brunch, with the menu featuring sharing plates, salads and sandwiches, along with cocktails and craft beers. We've got a €100 voucher to give away this month to celebrate the arty new relaunch, and you can keep up with The Conrad on Instagram here . 4) A €100 voucher for Ingredient Pop-Up in Skerries Ingredient head chef Andrew Kelly (ex- Bastible ) and front of house Kate Kettle worked together in Potager , and have now gone it alone with their new pop-up, which will be operating out of Olive Café & Deli in Skerries for the next three months. There's a seasonal tasting menu for €70 and an à la carte with dishes like fried polenta, black garlic and Hegarty's cheddar; and braised featherblade with gremolata, Roscoff onions and red wine jus. To book a table email ingredientskerries@gmail.com or DM them on Instagram . 5) Pizzas, beer and a brewery tour @ Rascal's Brewing Everyone's favourite brewery, Rascal's in Inchicore, have just added four new pizzas to their menu, so if you've been slacking on a visit, consider this a sign. The new pizzas include their April special " Don't worry, Brie happy ", with Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Brie, garlic oil, chilli flakes, balsamic glaze, pine nuts and wild garlic, as well as " The Sausage Royale ", " Sweet pie of mine ", and the veggie " Liberty Belle " (see the current menu here ). To celebrate we've got a premium brewery tour, including a guided beer tasting for four people to give away, followed by four pizzas and pints of your choice. (Tours are run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and are subject to availability.) 6) €100 Voucher for Surge Coffee & Wine Surge has specialty coffee and natural wine wrapped up for Clontarf, and now they've brought the goods to their second location in Grand Canal Dock. Find them serving coffee, Medialuna pastries and Greenville Deli sandwiches seven days a week, and from Thursday - Saturday the wine and sharing platters come out until late - there's live piano too. We're giving one of you a €100 voucher this month which can be used on anything you like, in either of their locations. 7) Two places to the summer brunch launch @ Urban Brewing There's a new summer brunch option coming to the city centre, and we're giving away two spots to the exclusive press launch this Saturday 20th April. One of you and a friend will be heading into Urban Brewing in the CHQ Building to spend the afternoon on the terrace sampling their new crepes, brunch dishes, prosecco sangria jugs and summer cocktails, while enjoying live tunes from the DJ booth. You'll get to schmooze with press, influencers and industry bods, and there'll be prizes on offer throughout the day. For the rest of you, brunch at Urban Brewing is available Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm. Check out the menus (which includes fried chicken French toast and Cumberland sausage sandwiches) and book here . 8) Two tickets to Whiskey Live and a Fercullen Masterclass Whiskey Live is back in the RDS from Friday 17th - Sunday 19th May, and it's going to be the biggest one yet, with more exhibitors than ever before! Every Irish whiskey maker you can think of will be there, including Middleton, Red Breast, Teelings and Bushmills, as well as whiskeys from Scotland, Japan and the US (see the exhibitor list here ). It's n ot just for whiskey drinkers either - there'll be plenty of cocktails, gins and other drinks available to sample and purchase. Tickets are €48.46 (including booking fee and €10 to charity partners Down Syndrome Dublin), and everything is free to taste once you're inside. We've got two tickets to the Saturday night session to give away as well as two tickets to the Fercullen Masterclass at 19:30. Get tickets for the event and masterclasses here . 9) A luxury Italian food hamper from Little Italy Little Italy in Smithfield have long been Dublin's primo source of the best quality Italian ingredients in the city, from every obscure pasta shape you can think of, to top imported olive oils and vinegars, to all of the best Italian snacks. Go in person to check out their fresh meats and cheeses, only available for delivery to certain areas - it's our first port of call for premium pizza toppings. We've got a luxury food hamper worth €100 from Little Italy to give away this month,  including some of their best sellers, hand picked directly from Italy and exclusive to Little Italy, so you'll be living La Dolce Vita in your kitchen, for a few weeks anyway. Everyone signed up to   ATF Insiders   for April (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 the 17th April to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

What should we know about Una? The lack of an artisan neighbourhood bakery in Ranelagh has always seemed a big gap in the market - sourdough and this slice of the southside surely belong hand-in-hand? But finally comes Una , the latest venture from the folks behind Forest Avenue with some involvement from the guys behind Bunsen . The early buzz about the loaves and laminate pastries here has seen rain-soaked 8am queues patiently waiting their turn, so we had to find out if it was worth it. What should we have? Don't you dare skip the almond croissant, with laminated layers of flaky pastry shattering into sweet shards to reveal the frangipane within. Calorie counters are not welcome here - butter and plenty of it is front-and-centre, bringing a rich counterpoint to a light, airy interior. Absolutely top-tier. The chocolate chip cookie hit more of an old reliable beat with an in-between crisp-chewy texture that seemed eager to please but unlikely to amaze. It’s good, but it’s really not going to be what you think back on.   That’d be the kouign amann, an extremely indulgent Breton invention with layers of sugar that caramelise in the oven between the butter-enriched yeast dough, finished off with a wholly unnecessary yet wholly welcome drizzle of caramel. This is superb baking, no notes.   “Bakewell” might be a controversial name for the next pick, with its laminate nest taking the place of shortcrust, but we’re going to allow it, not least for the tangy treat of rhubarb jam buried beneath frangipane and crème diplomat. Inspired, if oddly named. The custard tart comes in a much more sizeable portion than the lesser versions you'll have seen all over town. This is one you could easily share, if you like anyone enough to forfeit a bite. At a fiver, it ties with the croissant and bakewell as the most expensive pastry we tried, but it's a strong price showing against the much less slick competitors out there. We weren’t convinced by the bacon jam escargot, a cheesy bechamel twist (literally) on that layered pastry style, and one of just two savoury items on the counter – the other, a mushroom and Gubbeen quiche, we almost wept to learn wasn’t on that day. There’s not a bum note in the flavour mix, but we felt a lot of its appeal got lost in the flaky layers.   After all that, it was a while before we felt up to taking on some of the signature sourdough we’d brought home – they also offer a sandwich bread and focaccia. Look at that loaf - the scale of expansion down that centre slash and the elusive ear it’s modestly showing off is a mark of the real talent Una is playing with behind that glass window. This is superb bread - we'd expect nothing less from Forest Avenue's John Wyer. Why should I go? Whether you’re a lucky local looking for a new stop in your morning routine – coffee, by Imbibe hits all the right notes – or just keen to know if this buzzy spot is worth the journey, Una is yet another feather in the cap of Dublin’s booming bakery scene. If they can keep the counter treats rotating and the queue moving swiftly, we can see this becoming a routine weekend visit for many near and far.   Una 116 Ranelagh, Dublin 6 instagram.com/unabakerydublin

We're well and truly into the Irish summer now, which tends to start in April and end in June, leaving July and August an utterly wet wash out (blame your boomer parents for not recycling). So there's no time to waste in getting out there and enjoying those rare but wonderful sunny days. You're going to need outdoor eating suggestions, park food, and seaside visits up your sleeves for all of those April meet ups... For the new kid on the block: Sister 7 , Dublin 7 You thought the guys at Big Fan could do no wrong? You thought right. Their second restaurant Sister 7 (in collaboration with Fidelity / Whiplash ) has been an overnight success, and when we went for dinner there last week we saw one hopeful person after another turned away at the door. Don't be those people. Make a booking now for your next night out and see why it's suddenly become the buzziest place in town. Read our review here . For your first outdoor dining experience of the year: Mani & Loose Canon Slag the Drury Street massive all you like - there's a reason why the place fills and swells as soon as the sun comes out. There are few sweeter, buzzier places to shoot the breeze with a cold of wine in one hand and a crisp slice of pizza in the other, and you don't need to worry about making a reservation. Just join the queue at Mani and swing onto one of their outdoor benches to enjoy your lasagne fritti and carbonara slices, and follow it up with a few more glasses at Loose Canon across the road. You might have to drink while standing, but it's all so Continental European. For Italian dessert in the park: Berrilab Italian micro-bakery Berrilab (currently based out of Herbert Park on Sundays) has blown up on social media over the past few weeks, with their multitude of Maritozzi flavours selling out in as little as 10 minutes. While this is a terrifying prospect, they are amping up production, and initial spikes in demand usually die down to a more manageable level over the following weeks. We still recommend getting in line early if you want to enjoy sunny Sunday buns in the park. To support the VAT 9 campaign: Copper + Straw You've probably seen the hospitality industry's VAT 9 campaign , to convince the government to bring VAT back to 9%, after it reverted to 13.5% last August. We don't think anyone has put the issues facing the hospitality industry as eloquently as Copper + Straw's Stephen Kennedy in this post , and if you want to help this brilliant indie café survive, you might think about paying them a visit in April for a cup of specialty coffee, the best cakes, and always charming staff. For seaside wine café vibes: September, Blackrock Coffee, wine, sea - it's the holy trinity, and new Blackrock wine café September are giving all the right springtime vibes. Breakfast brioches and overnight oats have already been bringing all the cool kids to the yard, and they're due to start opening for wine on Friday and Saturday nights from this weekend. Get in early and enjoy before the good word spreads. For a reward after a long hike in the Dublin Mountains: Woodruff, Stepaside With temperatures finally on the rise, you're running out of excuses to get out on that hike you keep talking about. What if we dangled the very attractive carrot of a visit to Woodruff in Stepside to rest your legs after a wander through Barnaslingan Woods , or Ticknock Forest. Visit Dublin have three great hike ideas here , and the first two will leave you a 5-10 minute drive from Woodruff 's door. Go foraging for three-cornered leek, then see how the professionals serve it - with razor clams, fermented black bean and white asparagus. Just like in yours, yeah? For when you're not going on holidays for ages and that makes you sad: Full Moon, Temple Bar Much of the Thai food round these parts is underwhelmingly drab, with big brand curry pastes coming out of industrial containers, rather than herbs and spices lovingly ground by hand. There are a few exceptions though, and Full Moon in Temple Bar is one of those places that will take you right back to that beachside shack where you first tried Thai food the way Thai people eat it. The plates are vivid, the flavours will send your brain synapses firing, and if you've no holiday on the horizon, at least this will give you a pep in your step for the rest of the day, and possibly make you want to book a flight to Thailand. Read our review here .