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Mamó was the most anticipated opening in Howth in recent memory (and one of the most generally of 2019), and with owners Jess D’Arcy and Killian Durkin’s CVs including Etto, Chapter One and Thornton’s expectations were high. Thankfully they were met, and Mamo's cod chips, by-catch ceviche and Howth honey tart seemed to have charmed everyone who’s walked through the door. Mamo Website mamorestaurant.ie Address Harbour House, Harbour Road, Howth, Dublin 13 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Mamó was the most anticipated opening in Howth in recent memory (and one of the most generally of 2019), and with owners Jess D’Arcy and Killian Durkin’s CVs including Etto, Chapter One and Thornton’s expectations were high. Thankfully they were met, and Mamo's cod chips, by-catch ceviche and Howth honey tart seemed to have charmed everyone who’s walked through the door. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Vibrant, joy-inducing Middle Eastern food, whose flavours far surpass the very cheap prices. Shouk brought something to Drumcondra that it was desperately missing, and it's been packed every day since. The outdoor terrace at the back (covered in winter) is the place to be on a sunny day, and don't miss the arayes and the mezze. There's a wine list but you can also BYO. Shouk Website shouk.ie Address 40 Drumcondra Road Lower, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Vibrant, joy-inducing Middle Eastern food, whose flavours far surpass the very cheap prices. Shouk brought something to Drumcondra that it was desperately missing, and it's been packed every day since. The outdoor terrace at the back (covered in winter) is the place to be on a sunny day, and don't miss the arayes and the mezze. There's a wine list but you can also BYO. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

The best of Irish produce in a bright, airy room overlooking the Liffey. Open since 2006 but feels like it’s been a stalwart of the Dublin restaurant scene forever. The Winding Stair Website winding-stair.com Address 40 Ormond Quay Lower, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story The best of Irish produce in a bright, airy room overlooking the Liffey. Open since 2006 but feels like it’s been a stalwart of the Dublin restaurant scene forever. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Lip-tingling, totally legitimate Thai food, without compromises for Irish palates. Don't miss the Laab Moo (spicy pork salad), Pad Kra Pao (spicy Thai basil stiry fry) and the whole deep-fried fish. Spice levels can be high but staff will advise based on your threshold for heat. Full Moon Website fullmoon.ie Address 8 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Lip-tingling, totally legitimate Thai food, without compromises for Irish palates. Don't miss the Laab Moo (spicy pork salad), Pad Kra Pao (spicy Thai basil stiry fry) and the whole deep-fried fish. Spice levels can be high but staff will advise based on your threshold for heat. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Chef Niall Davidson's nomadic restaurant finally settled down in Grand Canal Dock in 2024, with an à la carte menu of the country's finest meat, fish, vegetables and more, cooked in surprising, inventive ways. Industrial space with seating at low tables, the kitchen table or the bar. Allta Website allta.ie Address allta, Three Locks Square, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Chef Niall Davidson's nomadic restaurant finally settled down in Grand Canal Dock in 2024, with an à la carte menu of the country's finest meat, fish, vegetables and more, cooked in surprising, inventive ways. Industrial space with seating at low tables, the kitchen table or the bar. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

The Legal Eagle An old favourite takes flight again with sizeable Sunday roasts and a great wine list Posted: 14 Nov 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What’s the story with The Legal Eagle? Despite a couple of stuttered mid-covid re-openings and a handful of popups, we’d started to worry The Legal Eagle might be destined to go down as one of the more high-profile pandemic casualties as its doors remained closed well into this year. But fear not, the once and future hot spot gastropub recently took flight again with a revamped menu and a return to its famed Sunday roast offering. Our Insiders are forever asking us where to get a really great feed of a Sunday lunch – could we have a new easy answer? Where should we sit? Nigh-on four years since the Eagle last opened its doors for any real length of time, stepping into its mahogany and exposed brick interior brings as much of a sense of nostalgia as the unmistakable smell of roast meat and veg in the air. If you’re looking for old reliable comforts, the heady whiff seems to say, you’ve come to the right place. The leather sofa seating lining the walls is where you want to find yourself here – there’s just not the same satisfaction of leaning back stuffed in a hard-backed wooden dining chair or, heaven forbid, a high stool. What’s on the menu? The revamped menu keeps the classic Irish gastropub vibe – all the lamb stew, coddle, and chowder you could want on the lunch menu – with a higher-end twist through its focus on meat and veg provenance and a tilt toward the western Mediterranean, especially across the smaller plates. Most of the dinner menu is available at Sunday lunchtime for those of us whose eyes are bigger than our bellies, with the large plates’ sides swapped out for all your typical trimmings. You’ll be steered to snacks and small plates, if you’re so inclined, as your server advises it’s a twenty minute or so wait for the roasts – don’t mind if we do. Homemade crisps are a reliable favourite from plenty of prior visits and are like an embrace from an old friend, with the salty-sharp slap of bacon and cheese dust. Marinated Gordal olives are glistening with oil and gloriously meaty, generous in number and giant in size – there’s plenty here to keep a full table happy. Conscious of the heaped plates of roast we’d passed en route to our table, we heroically held ourselves back from over-ordering and stuck to two of the more modest small plates. Pan con tomate pairs chewy, airy slices of house focaccia with salty, garlicky puréed tomato. The bread’s a delight, golden crust and soft, stretched crumb the perfect host for the tangy tomato, especially as alternating with olives and crisps we found the salt in it a little overbearing. The trio were each great in isolation, but all together left us a bit parched. Seared tuna tostada might not quite fit the Sunday roast brief, but trust us here: this is a detour worth taking, and a fine showcase of the Eagle’s new lease of life. The crisp tortilla and firm-fleshed tuna make for a wildly satisfying small bite, with the sweetness of avocado puree and punch of pickled carrot and togarashi pepper making every morsel a moreish treat. Hold back a little focaccia to mop up every last blob of sriracha mayo, if you can. And so to the main event, even with that hard act to follow. There are three choices for the classic roast plate, with whole-roasted fish and courgette options there to cater to pescetarian and veggie tastes – neither gets the full trimmings. The Black Angus striploin is two thin slices of rare beef just glistening with juices - it’s tender, fatty, flavourful stuff. Wafer-thin slicing gives the meat a texture we wouldn’t see lost to thicker cuts, but a third slice here wouldn’t go amiss. Wood-fired half chicken feels more substantial by contrast with its meat oozing juice, and the black, blistered skin’s crackle – classic comfort food. Root veg are the star of the show where sides are concerned, with slivers of honey-roast carrot and parsnip bringing sweet and earthy tones to the plate, and a carrot purée dissolving into the gravy for an endlessly rich sauce you’ll slather on every forkful. Stuffing and Yorkshire puds are spot-on in their simple satisfactions, but the roasties make for a disappointing damp squib with a softened crisp shell and over-dry interior that bear all the tell-tale signs of having been kept warm. There is no substitute for oven-fresh, and no sorrow like good spuds spoiled. What are the drinks like? A solid if smallish craft beer selection on draught should keep most happy, even if Guinness as the priciest pull here had us scratching our heads. We stuck with the similarly small and serviceable list of wines by the glass – the light acidity of the Azevedo Alvarino was a welcome balm from the mouth-puckering saltiness of those first few plates, while the Coquard Beaujolais 69’s red fruits and low tannins came to life with the beef. The top tip here is to bring some friends and dive into the bottles, an unusually exciting list for a pub, and one running lower margins than some of the competition around town on standouts like Preisinger's 'Puszta Libre' and Ponce's 'Reto'. How was the service? Happy and helpful – that little nudge on small plates feels more like a friendly FYI than an opportunity to upsell, and we really appreciated a little extra jug of gravy brought over to the table after the plates arrived, “so you don’t have to ask in a minute”. You’ll be well looked after here, but note they expect to be busy on Sundays so table times are kept strictly at a two-hour turnaround – no latecomers or lingering. And the damage? €115 for two each of snacks, small plates, roasts and a glass of wine with 10% tip automatically added. There is more than enough here in the main event to sate you, especially for lunch, so in and around €30 a head is more like what you can expect if not drinking. As Sunday roast prices around the city go, it's on the higher side - their beef roast is €27 in comparison to FX Buckley at €22.50, Hawksmoor at €23, and The Old Spot at €28. What’s the verdict on The Legal Eagle? Every bit a return to form, The Legal Eagle has landed again with a welcome mix of old favourites and new flutters that should satisfy fans of yore and newcomers alike. If there’s an occasional slight touch of the production line to things here, it’s one easily forgiven in the high calibre food and great value wine on offer. Taken together with the warm, welcoming vibe of the staff and space here, there’s all the makings of a classically comforting Sunday lunch. Except the roasties. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

John & Sandy Wyer's Ranelagh bakery is a departure from their more fine dining restaurants, but stays firmly in the French canon with superior bread and peak patisserie. Don't go on a fully empty stomach on weekend mornings, or the queue will surely induce a serious case of hanger. It's all good here, from sweet to savoury to all the bread in the back, but don't miss the almond croissant, which is one of the best in the city. Una Website unabakery.ie Address Una, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story John & Sandy Wyer's Ranelagh bakery is a departure from their more fine dining restaurants, but stays firmly in the French canon with superior bread and peak patisserie. Don't go on a fully empty stomach on weekend mornings, or the queue will surely induce a serious case of hanger. It's all good here, from sweet to savoury to all the bread in the back, but don't miss the almond croissant, which is one of the best in the city. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Andhra Bhavan Take a deep dive into Southern Indian cooking without leaving Dublin Posted: 7 Feb 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope & Ronan Doyle What's the story with Andhra Bhavan? Andhra Bhavan opened on Marlborough Place (just off Talbot Street) last November, with the bold claim that they were " Ireland's 1st Authentic South Indian Restaurant ". This is not exactly true - both 3 Leaves in Blackrock and Indian Tiffins on Parnell Street serve Southern Indian food, and food truck Dosa Dosa has given dosa their moment in the spotlight, but Andhra Bhavan has certainly brought the most extensive menu yet. The guys behind it are two friends, originally from Southern India, who've been working in Dublin for over 15 years. Praveen Madire is an entrepreneur and CEO of two tech companies, while Sainath Reddy was a brand manager for a pharma company. They say they missed the dining experience of home, and wanted to bring the food, ingredients, decor, hand-drawn paintings and the right chefs to Dublin, so that people living here could taste real Indian cuisine from the five states of the South, like Dosas, Idlis, Vadas, Uttapams and Pani-Puri (there's a counter where they make it fresh but it wasn't operating on either of our visits.). Andhra Bhavan is named after the famous government-run canteen in Delhi where food is highly subsidised, ensuring every resident can eat very well. The owners say they interviewed hundreds of chefs in India before hiring their kitchen team, led by head chef Venkata Ramana Manthri, and moving them to Ireland to get started on the menu. We were already struck by how overwhelmingly positive their online reviews were, with mostly Indian-expat customers declaring it the taste from home that's been missing in their lives, but when Indian born, Dublin-residing food writer Vritti Bansal declared various elements "fearless" and "worthy of applause", we found our fingers promptly making a booking. Where should we sit? They've packed the tables in so it isn't exactly roomy, but it fits with the canteen vibe of feeding as many people as possible. The room at the front has banquettes, whereas the one at the back has standard tables and chairs, and there's a lovely high table with a tree in the centre of it that's perfect for solo diners who don't want to take up a table. What's on the menu? The menu is huge - a novella to Southern Indian cuisine - and while we tried to get through as much of it as possible over two visits, it would take 20 to do it justice. There are 11 sections, including an all day breakfast menu, and here's what we loved, liked, and have already forgotten from what we tried... First the loves . Don't leave without doing a dosa. That is a direct order. Vritti recommended the onion rava, which is served everywhere in India but hasn't appeared here before now. It's the size of a full length adult arm, with frilly, crispy edges, and just cooked onion inside. Tearing it apart piece by piece and scooping up the brilliant peanut, coconut and ginger chutneys is some of the most fun you can have in Dublin for €11.99. There's also sambar, a watery lentil stew, that you'll probably (happily) eat most of with a spoon. Also on the breakfast menu are Medu Vada, which are no exaggeration, a revelation. You’ll find these savoury deep-fried lentil flour doughnuts in other places around town, but none come close to these, with their crispy-soft contrast of crust and filling. The three pieces again come with a generous pot of sambar and the three chutneys, and the mix-and-match flavour possibilities would bring us back here again and again. The other dish there was almost a fight for (also from the breakfast menu, guess we really love Indian breakfasts) was the Chole Bhatura. The chole is the spiced, tangy chickpea curry. The bhatura is the soft, fluffy, deep-fried bread. Once again hands are needed here to tear and dip and scoop, and expect to fight off other hands in the process. Veg manchurian is an Indo-Chinese dish of fried vegetable balls in a spicy, sweet and sour sauce, and having never seen them here before we had to add them to our order. Beautiful textures range from soft batter to crispy veg, and the sauce is just spicy enough to have you come back for another, and another. Onto the likes . Like the American pancake counterpart to the dosa’s crepe-like thinness, Uttapam is another Southern Indian staple with seven options on offer here including plain, tomato and cheese. We went with onion, and unlike the dosa approach of filling and wrapping, toppings are baked directly into the dough pizza-style, for a loaded tear-and-share that works well with a crowd. We’re more partial to the satisfying crisp of a dosa, but this is the way to go if you like something a bit thicker. If you want to know where everyone's favourite celebrity restaurant got its name, it's from the spicy soup-like dish with a base of tamarind, herbs, spices, lentils and vegetables, served here with idlis - little fluffy pancakes made from fermented rice and lentil batter. It's full of flavour, and full of spice, with the idil crumbling in your mouth and the rasam keeping your palate wide awake. We were disappointed that they didn’t have saag paneer on (despite what many Indian restaurants in Ireland advertise, saag is made with mustard greens rather than spinach), but as consolations go the all-spinach palak paneer did nicely. The lightly-spiced sauce has a flavour as intense as its bright-green colour, and the mildly-melted curds of what tasted like homemade paneer are a tangy treat to dig for. You’re offered plain rice or paratha on the side, but scooping greedy pools with the flaky dough will win out for us every time. Our server recommended we tried the Mutton Chettinadu, prefacing it with the question - "do you like spice?" We do, so we did, but buyer beware - there's Irish spice, and Indian spice. We downed at least three 1.5 litre jugs of water while eating just a few spoons of this, and if there was a fire extinguisher close by someone would have probably undid the safety and let it rip. You'll need a lassi for your digestive system, and a napkin for the sweat. The meat is also on the bone, so look out for small shards in the sauce. Mains come with a choice of steamed rice or paratha, and you'll probably end up with both if you have a few dishes. We also dried the roti and found it surprisingly dry and lacking in flavour. The paratha is the superior bread, but if you're counting calories... Beside a lot of what we tried, the Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani stood out less. The fragrant steamed rice packs plenty of flavour to accompany the tender, rendered fat of buried drumsticks, but this is more standard staple than standout special – you can safely skip this section of the menu and save room for the bigger highlights. There are a few traditional desserts, like gulab jamun, and jilebi (a pretzel-like dessert soaked in sugar syrup), but seen as it was a wintry Dublin day we tried the Semiya Payasam, a soup-like pudding with cardamom-infused milk, vermicelli, sugar, nuts and raisins. It's warm and soothing, and while it might jar to be eating what we're more used to as noodles/pasta for dessert, the perfumed, sweet, fruit and nut-filled mouthfuls are very satisfying. A whole bowl is a lot however so sharing is the way to do it. What about drinks? Drinks are standard softs, beer and house wine, but the lassis are what you want to be drinking. We tried both mango and rose and both were cooling, fresh and sweet - but not too sweet. They were gone before the food arrived. How was the service? Very slow. This was the main downside of eating here. We had to wave servers down for menus, water, napkins, we had to order drinks twice because they didn't arrive the first time, and it was a struggle to get anyone's attention. When we did staff were lovely and very helpful, but maybe there needs to be more of them. What was the damage? Everything we ate was over two visits, but you could eat very well in here, with leftovers to take home, for €35-40 a head, including a lassi. Head in for breakfast and dishes are on average €10-€12. And the verdict? Andhra Bhavan aren't the first ones to cook authentic Southern Indian food in Dublin, but they are the first to bring a menu this extensive. A visit here is as close as you're going to get to the government-run Delhi canteen without having to leave the capital, and having our own Southern Indian enclave in which to take a deep dive through dosas, uttapams and vadas have made Dublin's food scene sizeably richer. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Souvlaki shop Yeeros branched out from the Northside in early 2023 with a second location in Dublin 2, serving the gyros, stuffed pittas and Greek snack food they grew their fan base on. Ordering can be done by screen or by human, and the menu is extensive, covering every possible base. Corn pittas are available for gluten-free diners, and make sure you don’t leave without an order of loukoumades - warm, freshly-fried doughnuts drizzled in honey, cinnamon and walnuts. Yeeros Wexford Street Website yeeros.ie Address 32 Wexford Street, Portobello, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Souvlaki shop Yeeros branched out from the Northside in early 2023 with a second location in Dublin 2, serving the gyros, stuffed pittas and Greek snack food they grew their fan base on. Ordering can be done by screen or by human, and the menu is extensive, covering every possible base. Corn pittas are available for gluten-free diners, and make sure you don’t leave without an order of loukoumades - warm, freshly-fried doughnuts drizzled in honey, cinnamon and walnuts. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Bistro One A chef to watch in Foxrock Posted: 11 Feb 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Unless you live locally you probably haven't heard of Bistro One in Foxrock. It's one of those under the radar suburban spots - loved by locals but unlikely to have anyone venturing from the other side of the city to eat there. Local love can get you far though (helped by meticulous food sourcing from both the local area and Tuscany, where they grow their own olives), and Bistro One has managed to survive for an incredible 27 years. The age profile is considerably greyer than your average city centre establishment, with plenty full of monied Foxrock residents remarking on how well the current release of Pomerol is drinking, and if this sounds like it's not your kind of thing, keep reading, because a few months ago everything changed. Bistro One owner Mark Shannon has a son, Rory Shannon, who's been making food waves in London for the past few years, in The Canton Arms and Tom Oldroyd's The Duke of Richmond amongst others. We'd eaten and adored his food there (including but definitely not limited to the best Sunday roast we've eaten out, in a Deptford wine bar, and a lot of housemade charcuterie), and he'd been named by London food guide Hot Dinners as part of their ' Murphia' list for 2019 , of Irish people making an impact in food and drink in London. At the start of last year he decided he'd had enough of London life and wanted to slow things down. He moved home, unsure of what his next move would be, but when Bistro One lost a chef last summer he found himself stepping into the kitchen to save the day. It must be somewhat painstaking for an ambitious young chef to step into a restaurant with such a loyal, local clientele and try to shake things up, so changes have been slow and considered, but we'd seen enough on his Instagram feed recently (like this and this ) to convince us it was time for a visit. Where should we go for a drink first? There's not a lot around, but you could grab a glass of wine in The Gables or Kerb across the road. Otherwise we hear that Byrne's pub on the Stillorgan Road is great for a pint, but you'll need to drive or hop in a cab. Where should we sit? The dining room is in need of an refresh, but it's bright and comfortable. You can either sit in the main room, or around the corner where there's a more secluded area - perfect for (semi) private conversations or those early dates when you spend the whole night holding hands and trying to eat with the other one. What's good to eat? We really struggled to choose as we wanted everything on the menu - usually a very good sign - and Sunday lunch is exceptional value (considering the quality of produce they're using) at two courses for €24 or three for €29. It starts with bread, as all good meals do - housemade sourdough and brown, both excellent. Then the kitchen brought a taster of a dish we hadn't ordered - Mooncoin beetroot, buttered hazelnuts and St Tola goat's curd, a beautiful combination of colour, flavour and crunch. Our first starter was one we had to have from the minute we saw the robata grill on social media - barbecued line caught mackerel with pickled cucumber and horseradish. Mackerel gets a bad (fishy) rep, and this is the spin doctor to change public opinion. Tender, fatty, smoky flesh was cut through with cucumber and pushed into flavour overload with freshly made horseradish. One of the most perfect plates of food this year and one we wish we could eat daily. Another of Kilkeel crab on chargrilled sourdough (€5 supplement) with endive, radish and apple was everything you could want from crab on toast, with the sensible mix of white and brown crab meat. Another starter of burrata, olives and focaccia was a plate of very clever assembly, with creamy burrata, warm focaccia, sun-soaked olives and a caponata like element with sweet and sour raisins and black olives that were more like prunes. The family's own grassy olive oil from Tuscany in a puddle on the plate made it a home run. For mains we'd been dreaming of the curried pheasant pie for weeks, so that was a non-negotiable. Lucky for us it was on for one that day (some weeks it's for two), and it was everything we wanted it to be. Crispy, buttery pastry, very generous amounts of game, and a savoury, mildly spicy curry sauce. It came with colcannon (great) and a pear chutney (inspired) and was the kind of wholesome Sunday lunch we'd like to make for guests at home. Our other main of slow cooked Fui Bui venison, turnip gratin & walnut salsa verde was akin to a shin of beef, cooked until you could eat it with a spoon. The turnip gratin was such a refreshing change from potato, with the turnip flavour very subtle (if you have memories of your mother over-boiling it as a child, this is like a different vegetable). The whole dish was very rich and filling, but the walnut salsa verde did a good job of lifting the deep flavours and providing a nice, sharp contrast. A side of chips were the only bum-note, not crispy or fluffy enough, and it struck us that having chips on the menu is likely to be more of a box-ticking exercise than a labour of love. Another of buttered hispi cabbage was enjoyable if not exciting. For dessert, again social media had dictated both in advance of us even arriving. We'd seen them perfect the salted caramel tart with creme fraiche over the course of a few days, and it lived up to the images in the wobbly flesh. Getting the salt/sweet balance right is key with salted caramel anything and they nailed it, the biscuity pastry and smooth, sharp crème fraîche the perfect accompaniments. The other of a buttermilk doughnut with rhubarb and custard was the stuff of our dessert dreams. Alone the doughnut would have stood up against the best, but with the sharp, stringy (seasonal) rhubarb above and the vanilla-scented custard below we were going out on a high with possibly the most fitting dessert for a cold Sunday in January. What about the drinks? The wine list here is compact but impressive, with a nice mix of classics like Burgundy and Bordeaux (at non city centre Dublin prices), and a lovely smattering of the new and the natural. Specials on the blackboard included Austrian Claus Preisinger's juicy Putza Libre and Meyer-Fonne's Riesling, and there were 17 wines available by the glass and the carafe. We had a rich, creamy Rully (chardonnay from Burgundy) from Phillipe Milan and a Mercurey (Pinor Noir from Burgundy) from the same producer, and both were excellent examples of the region. And the service? One of the loveliest things about family-run, neighbourhood restaurants tends to be the service, and Bistro One is a case in point. They obviously know a lot of their regulars, make it very clear that families are welcome (straight over with colouring pencils and paper for children, and kids even eat free on Saturdays), and nothing you might be after is too much trouble. Owner Mark is still on the floor and is warm and welcoming, but so was everyone who served us. The verdict? The return home of Rory Shannon has made Bistro One relevant for more than Foxrock locals. He's dragged it into 2020 and made it into a restaurant worth crossing the city for - not something we say lightly. They already had the produce, he's given them the panache. The type of kitchen talent and dynamism here is found only in Dublin's best restaurants, so the sight of so many other tables only eating Sunday roasts and fish and chips while we feasted on mackerel, game pie and rhubarb doughnuts was depressing to watch - we can't imagine how much more depressing it is from the kitchen's viewpoint. We don't know how long Rory's going to be in the kitchen here, or what's next for the Shannon family, but our advice is to get to Bistro One and try his food as soon as you can, and if he goes elsewhere, follow him. We'll be right behind you. Bistro One 3a Brighton Road, Foxrock, County Dublin bistro-one.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Fish, chips, snacks, wine. Casual, bar counter dining at its best, with lovely service from warm staff. Brilliant wine list full of interesting discoveries that the team will be more than happy to talk you through. There's nowhere better for fish, chips and a bottle of Champagne. Fish Shop Website fish-shop.ie Address 76 Benburb St, Smithfield, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Fish, chips, snacks, wine. Casual, bar counter dining at its best, with lovely service from warm staff. Brilliant wine list full of interesting discoveries that the team will be more than happy to talk you through. There's nowhere better for fish, chips and a bottle of Champagne. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

No Messin' only opened in 2020, which is odd because we feel like Cardi-Bs, hun buns and dudnuts have been part of our vocab (and lives) since we learned to talk. The younger sibling of Smithfield's Proper Order Coffee (now housed in the café) has jaw-dropping pastry skills, and if you don't order one of everything to go you're not doing it right. No Messin @ Proper Order Website nomessinbakery.com Address Unit 1, The Distillery Building, Smithfield, Dublin 7, D07 WDX9, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story No Messin' only opened in 2020, which is odd because we feel like Cardi-Bs, hun buns and dudnuts have been part of our vocab (and lives) since we learned to talk. The younger sibling of Smithfield's Proper Order Coffee (now housed in the café) has jaw-dropping pastry skills, and if you don't order one of everything to go you're not doing it right. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Drury Street bar Rei Momo has a full Brazilian snack and grill menu, and is having a lot of fun with flavours in their food and drinks. They have the best selection of caipirinhas in Dublin, and all the deep-fried snack foods are perfect for sharing with friends over some cachaça based cocktails. Rei Momo Website reimomodublin.com Address 56 Drury St, Dublin, D02 HT29, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Drury Street bar Rei Momo has a full Brazilian snack and grill menu, and is having a lot of fun with flavours in their food and drinks. They have the best selection of caipirinhas in Dublin, and all the deep-fried snack foods are perfect for sharing with friends over some cachaça based cocktails. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Forêt The Wyers do it again with fine dining French bistro cooking at accessible prices Posted: 26 Nov 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope Tell us about Forêt? It's the new French bistro from Sandy and John Wyer in the upstairs room formerly home to The Sussex gastropub, which quietly closed a few months ago. The couple opened Forest Avenue next door on Sussex Terrace in 2013, and the more wine bar leaning Forest & Marcy around the corner three years later. The past decade has seen some chopping, changing, moving and closing, with Forest Avenue at one point moving into the old Forest & Marcy space after it closed, and the original turning into " Forest Avenue Wine Bar ", but eventually it moved back to its first home. (Forest Avenue) The Wyers are also behind bakery Una in Ranelagh, which opened earlier this year, and became an instant queue generator, with their bacon jam escargot , pain au chocolates promising 50% more chocolate, and quiches the size of a baby's head. (Una Bakery) They don't put many feet wrong when it comes to food, so when whispers started a month or two ago that their next adventure was going to be a fully fledged French bistro in the old Sussex site, the ooohs and aaahs were heard in every corner of the industry. It's one of Dublin's major culinary gaps, with nothing to rival Paris's or London's best - was Forêt going to be the change-maker? What's the room like? They've done remarkably little to the room, and yet it delivers all the French bistro vibes. Dark wood, green walls, an open fireplace, and wall-mounted metal sconces with exposed bulbs, give the room a warm, cosy feel, that was especially lovely to step into on a baltic winter evening. There's nothing stuffy or uptight about Forêt - it gives the vibe of somewhere you could just as easily pop in for a glass of red and a terrine de campagne, as a multi-course French feast spanning a few hours. In an environment where more and more diners are being priced out of dinner, it all feels refreshingly accessible. As you walk upstairs and through the door you're met with the bar on your right, and a few tables straight ahead to your left. A narrow corridor joining the front and back rooms has three high tables for two, with a bird's eye view into the kitchen and pass. The room at the back is the cosiest though, and one you might have to be surgically removed from later. The leather seats, the low lights, the candles, the gentle hum of people having a lovely time - you might find your two hour dinner slot insufficient. A drink while deciding? There's a nice opening menu of aperitifs, cocktails, beer, cider, sparkling wine and non-alcoholic options, all designed to make you part with your cash while browsing the menu, and why not. As far as fizz, Albert Mann's Cremant d'Alsace (€17 a glass) is an good an opening gambit as we've had in a while, and not at Champagne's break the budget prices either. What's the menu like? Here's where the problems start. Have a good long look at the menu before coming in because you're going to want it all. There are eight snacks before you even get to starters, and if you have the willpower to skip them, well you need to live a bit more. In an effort to try as much as possible we kept it to one main, and then suitably over-ordered to make up for it with four petites assiettes, three entrées, and two desserts. Here's what we (happily) over ate... The order... Egg mayonaise with celeriac rémoulade - You'll find oeuf mayonnaise on nearly every bistro menu in Paris, but what's usually a basic boiled egg with homemade mayo has been given the John Wyer treatment. A half soft boiled egg comes tossed in and on top of a gribiche-like sauce, snowed under with crispy breadcrumbs and chives. Sometimes the old ways aren't always the best. Fish cake with sauce ravigot - A perfect square of breaded, deep-fried fish sitting in a puddle of sauce ravigote, which is like a mayonnaise without eggs. Instead Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and other additions like capers, shallots and herbs make a beautifully acidic, creamy accompaniment. Leeks vinaigrette - This is not a classic leeks vinaigrette, it's basically the egg mayonnaise dish but with leeks instead of egg. Very delicious, the leeks not remotely stringy, but not the usual preparation. White anchovy, ratte potato, fresh cheese - A beautiful combination of ingredients, perfectly prepared and balanced, that will have all of your taste receptors firing. Rillettes of trout, cucumber, horseradish - A delicate, dill-laced dish (albeit not a looker on the fish side thanks to gelatine), with crunchy vegetables, horseradish yoghurt, and that Forest Avenue sourdough bring every conceivable texture to the plate - so lovely to eat. Chicken liver parfait with fig chutney - We nearly didn't order this because once you've had 100 chicken liver parfaits, can any really stop you in your tracks? It turns out the answer is yes. This is knock you down good, so silky, so richly flavoured, the toasted, buttered sourdough and fig jam such incredible bedfellows you might have to muffle your moans. Steak tartare - Missing the bright red colour of a made to order steak tartare, the meat having more of a grey tinge, presumably due to an earlier preparation. This was all forgotten however from the first bite, and we're still mentally retasting it trying to work out exactly what combination of cornichons, capers, egg yolk, shallots, chives, mustard, Worcestershire sauce (?) is in there. Top of the class. Chicken au Vin Jaune with riz à la paysanne - Forêt: making chicken cool again since 2024. A wow way to serve the often all too boring bird. That juicy flesh, that shatteringly crisp skin, the depth of flavour in that Vin Jaune (a nutty, oxidative wine from the Jura) sauce with cream, morels and chunks of wild mushrooms. Spell-bindingly good. Recipes for riz à la paysanne don't seem to exist outside of a couple of old French cookbooks, and you won't find one on Google. We gather the rice is cooked with bacon, onion and tarragon pilaf-style, and the fragrant end result is served with more tender chunks of chicken on top. Croissant pudding, Calvados ice-cream, custard - Can it get better? Yes it can, with the pudding made from Una's leftover croissants. So chewy, so caramelised, even when sitting in custard with soft, melting ice-cream on top. A modern day miracle. Warm chocolate mousse, vanilla ice-cream - A replica of the one from The Sportsman in Kent's cookbook , which later found its way onto the menu at Noble Rot in London (there with a milk sorbet). It was a divine ending in both of those places, and it is here too. After all that we couldn't venture into cheese, but they're all French, and always will be - like it should be. Tell us about the drinks? The wine list is all French (we do love when they fully commit), with glasses ranging from €14 - €22 (or €34 for Champagne). There's no glass size specified but we hope it's a 175ml for those prices. Bottle prices seem average for the city, with a good range of regions and styles, and we drank a silky, spicy Chénas (Beaujolais, made from the Gamay grape) from Anthony Thevenet (€58), which was light enough to work well with everything. How's the service? Very welcoming, warm and chatty, with dishes coming in twos at most so we were never overwhelmed. It was all just very relaxing, and while we had a two hour eating window we never felt rushed - it was midweek though, can't guarantee the same for peak weekend. What was the damage? €197 before tip for three snacks, three starters, a main, two desserts, a glass of Crémant, a bottle of Beaujolais, and a coffee to finish. If you're not as greedy and stick to two starters, two mains, a shared dessert and one of the least expensive wines you could have a very nice meal for closer to €130, which in today's market feels like exceptional value. What's the verdict on Forêt? How soon can we go back? With approximately zero dining low points we've now made it our mission to taste everything on this menu. There's nothing not to like about Forêt , from the food, to the room, to the prices, to the feeling of everything just coming together, and while it's definitely on the fine dining side of French bistro cooking (there's no slapped out slow-cooked stews, or redundant salad garnishes), we've got no complaints. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Nomo Ramen Dublin's new ramen shop opens to all the buzz Posted: 17 May 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? The hype train certainly came in with this Nomo Ramen didn't it (which we take partial responsibility for). Our fair city's general lacking in ramen-ness has been a point of concern for many of you over the years, so talk of a new ramen shop, which owner Kevin Hughes had been painstakingly planning for years, had food circles alight with talk of a 7-hour chicken broth, 24-hour marinated eggs and noodles imported from David Chang's favourite supplier in the US - Sun Noodles . They cleverly planned a soft launch for their first weekend with reduced menu prices and tickets which unsurprisingly sold out, and the feedback was as good as the team there could have hoped for, with many proclamations across social media (and in newspapers ) that it was the best ramen in the city. While they started with just two ramens - one topped with pork and one vegan - they recently added a spicy version of each, with rayu on top, so we thought it was a good time to pay the bear a visit in person. Where should I sit? This is fast food (in the best way) so you won't be settling in, and the hard back seating reflects that. There are low tables, window seats perfect for one, and counter seats looking in at the chefs in the kitchen. We loved that most of the window seats are sectioned off one by one, meaning no awkward leg touching with your neighbour, and the perfect excuse for a bit of solo dining, people-watching and ramen eating in peace. What's the food like? There are four sides and four ramens for the moment (but really a spicy and non-spicy version of the same two ramens). It looks like they will be expanding the menu over time, and it would be nice to have more variety with the ramen in particular. We tried all of the sides except for the gyoza (they're not homemade so we didn't waste the calories / money) and our favourite was the hirata bun. It's a bao bun filled with 24-hour marinated pork, homemade pickles and hoisin sauce, and it's a beautiful meld of soft, smoky pork with tangy, crunchy pickle, spring onions and a little smear of homemade hoisin far more subtle than the one in your fridge door. An all round excellent start. to a meal here. Next up the Izakaya chicken wings marinated in Nomo's "specially blended sauce", which is a bit sweet and quite a bit salty, so keep a drink on hand. The crispiness has been nailed, and our only major complaint is that they're not from free-range birds - hopefully they can find a source for this in the future. Lastly we tried the mushroom karaage with hoisin mayo dipping sauce. We've lost count of the amount of message we've had from readers telling us how much they loved these juicy, meaty mushrooms in their pefectly light and crispy batter, but we felt they could have done with a bit of seasoning. The tangy dipping sauce definitely helped, and you'll crunch through them nicely while waiting for your ramen. For the ramen there's just two options - a meat and a vegan. The OG Nomo Ramen (€14.99) is made with a 7-hour simmered creamy chicken broth (tori paitan) hiding those wavy ramen noodles (the shape is supposed to catch more broth), and topped with slow-cooked and blow-torched chashu pork, shredded leek and half a 24-hour marinated egg. The broth is so creamy you'll be scratching your head wondering what's in there, the pork melts to the touch, and the egg is just perfect (although it would have been nice to have the second half - you can add it for another €2). The wavy noodles have more bite and chew than what you might be used to, which is what they were going for, and it's a very satisfying bowl of flavours and textures. It's a more simple offering than most ramens around town, but they're going for quality over quantity. The San Diego ramen (€13.50) is the vegan version, and comes with marinated tofu, roasted tomato (incredible) and caramelised onion, whose layers pull out one by one, acting like a little boat to scoop up the broth. It's similarly creamy from the use of oat milk, and while we loved the veg, we can't see why you'd order this if you weren't vegan - that pork and egg are too important. You could however order it and add on pork or eggs as extras, but we'd rather add the tomato and onion to the regular OG version. Saying that, add on another half egg, a tomato and the onion and you're looking at €21 for a bowl of ramen - inflation eh? The new two 'Karai' ramens just involve adding some homemade rayu on top (an extra €1.50) so we asked for a portion on the side, and were very glad we did. While the broths were rich and creamy on their own, the addition of the chilli oil kicked them into another flavour space, and if you love spice it's a must-order. If not you'll be fine without it. We can definitely see the argument for small but perfectly formed, but another couple of ramen options would definitely be welcome here, and would give diners more reasons to return. What about drinks? Very basic - Kirin or Whiplash beer, a couple of soft drinks and water. Seems like a missed opportunity to increase the spend per head, particularly for non-beer drinkers, but maybe they just want you in and out. How was the service? So lovely, jovial, welcoming. How any new opening is finding such great staff in times like this is hard to fathom. And the damage? With three sides between two, a bowl of ramen each, water and a tip it came to €30 each for lunch, which felt punchy enough considering we had no drinks or dessert, but that's probably because the whole set up feels so casual. Add on some ramen extras and a couple of beers and you'll be closer to €50. This kind of pricing pushes it somewhat out of the casual lunch stop space, but it's worth noting that the ramen is less expensive than both The Ramen Bar and Soup (both starting at €16, although you get more toppings), so by current city standards it's not out of step, and the work involved in the kitchen processes here are clear to see. The verdict? There's lots to love about Nomo, and ramen obsessives will no doubt love the simplicity of the concept and quality of what's in the bowl. We'd love to see the chicken and meat move to free-range, a few more ramen options on the menu, and a couple more drinks options, but they don't look like they'll be sitting still any time soon. Nomo Ramen 4 Charlotte Way, Dublin 2 www.nomoramen.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Pickle chef/owner Sunil Ghai opened the more casual 'Street' in Clonskeagh in 2021, to satisfy a southside need for venison samosas, tiffin boxes and 36-hour black dahl. The attention to flavour is no less intense than in Pickle, and it's all available to go too, for a majorly improved Friday night take-away. Street Website streetrestaurant.ie Address 1 Bird Avenue, Farranboley, Dublin 14 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Pickle chef/owner Sunil Ghai opened the more casual 'Street' in Clonskeagh in 2021, to satisfy a southside need for venison samosas, tiffin boxes and 36-hour black dahl. The attention to flavour is no less intense than in Pickle, and it's all available to go too, for a majorly improved Friday night take-away. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Some of the best ramen in the city (if not country), with everything homemade in house, from the noodles to the broth. You'll find lots of fermented foods here, from kimchi to kombucha, all the small plates to share, and the space is large and laid back. Plenty of big tables for group gatherings. Soup Two Website soupramen.ie Address 44 - 47 King St North, Smithfield, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Some of the best ramen in the city (if not country), with everything homemade in house, from the noodles to the broth. You'll find lots of fermented foods here, from kimchi to kombucha, all the small plates to share, and the space is large and laid back. Plenty of big tables for group gatherings. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

John Farrell’s modern Mexican 777 opened in 2012 and is still as heaving as ever, thanks to innovative, ever-changing small plates and excellent margaritas. Sunday is the best day to visit when selected dishes are €7.77, and the covid born 'Afuera' area out the back is now a permanent fixture. They only take bookings for more than six people. 777 Website 777.ie Address Unit 7, Castle House, South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story John Farrell’s modern Mexican 777 opened in 2012 and is still as heaving as ever, thanks to innovative, ever-changing small plates and excellent margaritas. Sunday is the best day to visit when selected dishes are €7.77, and the covid born 'Afuera' area out the back is now a permanent fixture. They only take bookings for more than six people. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure Out of gallery

Biang Biang Hand-pulled noodles and refreshing Liang Pi are going to have the crowds queuing before long Posted: 30 Apr 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Biang Biang? Biang Biang is the newest restaurant from the guys who brought us Hakkahan , Nan Chinese , Bullet Duck & Dumplings and Little Dumpling . The Chinese/Irish owners are good at spotting gaps in the food market, with Nan Ireland’s first (and currently only) place to eat Huaiyang cuisine, Bullet Duck one of the only places in the city serving Chinese roast meats, and the tiny Sichuan-serving Hakkahan in Stoneybatter perennially bursting out onto the street with hungry customers. Biang Biang is all about th e food of the Shaanxi Province in Northern China and its capital Xi'an, a cuisine heavy on noodles and strong, savoury flavours. Having been introduced to the complex, "one serving is never enough" flavours i n Guirong Wei's Xi'an restaurants in London ( Xi'an Impression , Master Wei and Dream Xi'an ), it's long been a source of culinary agony that we didn't have our own sanctum for Liang Pi, beef biang biang noodles, and hand-pulled fried noodles with lamb, so we were always going to be straight in here with wide eyes and empty tummies. ( In case you're wondering, we were also straight into Xian Street Food , but when the Liang Pi arrived missing the all important steamed gluten/kaofu we were out. Incidentally they took a trademark case against Biang Biang which was initially supposed to be called Meet Xian, saying it would be confusing to customers. Incredibly they won, even though it's the equivalent of two restaurants with the word 'Rome' or 'Venice' in their name ). Where should we sit? It's a petite space with just five tables of four, and you might have to share with strangers if it's busy. There's bench seating on the right, and parents take note - as you walk in, the table right in front of you on the left has a perfect space just inside the door for a buggy. What's on the menu? It's nice and compact - just the way we like it (when it delivers). There are four sections - "Roujiamo" Chinese hamburger, "Liang Pi" cold skin noodles, handmade dumplings, and Biang Biang hand-pulled noodles. You're going to want to try it all, which you can easily do between two, but a table of four will allow you to try more combinations. The Roujiamo (meaning meat in a bun) is a flatbread which has been cooked then sliced open and filled with either pulled pork or beef (€6.50). It's not a weighty portion, but it packs plenty of flavour in the chewy crust and sweet pork filling. We recommend lathering on the chilli oil for an extra flavour punch. You'll never forget your first taste of really good Liang Pi, a refreshing, cold, slippery, tangy, spicy noodle dish, and are likely to spend the rest of your days trying to get that flavour high again. The springy, elastic noodles are made by washing the starch off basic white dough, then steaming the starchy water and chopping it up to make noodles (there's a good video of the noodle part here ). The remaining stretchy gluten (basically seitan or kaofu) is then steamed and served on top along with cucumber, bamboo shoots, and a sauce made from chilli oil, black rice vinegar, soy and other kitchen specific flavourings. It's made to be slurped and if you don't wear a bib, you're likely to leave covered in it. We coincidentally ended up in Dream Xi'an in London two days after eating here, and in a tale of two Liang Pis, there's very little in it. With a dumpling specific restaurant in their stable, these guys always deliver, and the choice here is between beef, chicken or vegetable, either doused in chilli oil or in a hot and sour soup. Dumpling skins are fat, chewy and slightly uneven – the type that can only be achieved by hand-rolling and wrapping, not factory line precision. The beef filling is rich and savoury, with just the right amount of chilli oil, soy and spring onions to bathe in, and six for €9 felt generous (not a word we're using much of these days while eating out). Biang Biang noodles get their name from the sound the dough makes as it’s slapped down on the counter while being stretched into fat, flat noodles. We ordered ours with minced pork (there's also diced pork, beef short rib and veggie options), and they’re another star of the show here, as good as Guwron Wei’s in London. The only thing we didn’t get was the tiny diced potato and carrot, which had the appearance of frozen veg, and added nothing in terms of texture to the dish. There’s a tomato and egg version that we were considering, but after Katy McGuinness said most of her table found them "challenging" and that they were nowhere near as good as she was hoping, we're glad we swerved. Do they do dessert? They do not, but if you're there at lunchtime you can pop a few doors down to Café Lisboa for a Portugese custard tart as good as any in Lisbon. If you have a post-dinner sweet tooth, Ayla Turkish Foods on Capel Street is open until 20:00 and does the best baklava, as well as a large range of Turkish delight. What about drinks? Functional at best, with soft drinks, house prosecco, white and red wine (nondescript Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot), Tsing Tao and Sierra Nevada for beer, and the most interesting option an NA grapefruit IPA from Norwegian brewery Lervig. We wouldn't plan on hanging around post food, and if you're looking for something more exciting, the brilliant Bar 1661 is just around the corner to fulfill all of your cocktail dreams. For a traditional boozer, you can't beat McNeill's , especially if there's a trad session going. (Bar 1661) How was the service? Extremely nice, with the sole server keeping a watchful eye over everyone, happy to point out his favourite dishes and answer any questions with a smile. The food all came when it was ready, and everything was on the table within 10-15 minutes of ordering. What was the damage? €37 for a very filling meal for two, with tap water. Bianging value (sorry). What's the verdict? Rejoice. FINALLY Dublin has Xi'an food we would have previously gotten on a plane for. It's a great day for the parish, and all the food adventurers out there wanting something new to introduce their taste buds to. Our only caveat is that this is not the most elegant food to eat (see above), and you'll be so excited digging into it that you're likely to end up with a face that's been slapped by noodles and spattered with chilli oil. You may want to avoid for a first date or business meeting, but otherwise go quick before the buzz really builds. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Lotus Eaters From modern Irish to Japanese grilling - The Pig's Ear team go rogue Posted: 23 Jul 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Lotus Eaters? Up until a month ago it was The Pig's Ear , open on Nassau Street since 2008. Nothing and no one stays relevant forever, but it takes a brave restaurateur to upend a working formula for something totally new. In June they announced they were going to "park The Pig's Ear for now", and launch "a more casual but comfortable offering" to fit with "the zeitgeist of the moment" - Lotus Eaters . The main gist is Japanese-inspired dishes with Wagyu burgers cooked over a charcoal grill, and with the two mains topping out at €20 a piece, they're aiming for this to be " a more affordable dining experience ". The name comes from Greek mythology, from those who spent their time in a state of blissful forgetfulness after eating the Lotus plant. It also refers to someone who prefers to indulge in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns - sounds strangely familiar. Where should we sit? The room is still The Pig's Ear, apart from some new art on the walls and rows of sake behind the bar, and it jars a bit with the new concept. It feels like it's passing through before the original makes a return, and makes it hard to settle into as a totally different experience - we kept expecting to see a shepherd's pie or stripy pink bag carrying dessert coming out of the kitchen. The wine glasses still have The Pig's Ear branding on them too, and while we wouldn't be ones to advocate waste, it's another marker that makes you feel they haven't fully committed - and if they're not convinced, it makes you wonder whether you'll be. The best seats in here have always been at the window, overlooking the College Park in Trinity, so request them if you can. There are two more floors above that (sometimes used as private dining rooms) that will also open if demand is there. What's on the menu? They get full marks for pushing the boat out with a menu that's very different for Dublin, although only having two "main" options of omelette or Wagyu hamburger won't appeal to everyone - adventurous eaters assemble. You can order as you go or leave it up to them for €60 a head, and the latter option means getting to try everything if there are two of you (bar the luxury add ons) - the menu says you'll get the hamburger, but they said we could sub in an omelette. Doing it this way means you get everything for €120, whereas if you ordered all of the parts separately it would come to €135.10. The all-in experience starts with soba salad, a pile of buckwheat noodles served with a dashi dipping sauce (more like a broth). Our noodles had been overcooked so were missing bite, and while the broth is pleasant it's very subtle. Fans of big flavours won't find them here. Oysters with nahm jim (a Thai dipping sauce with chillies, lime and fish sauce) and bonito (skipjack tuna flakes) on the other hand have the flavour dial turned to high, while masterfully managing not to overwhelm the delicate oysters underneath. A grilled scallop arrived plump and juicy, sitting on pig's head pudding (made in house) that has the spreadable consistency of Spanish morcilla, as opposed to Clonakilty's finest. It's all swimming in Café de Paris butter, supercharged with herbs, spices and other savoury ingredients, and you'll struggle not to pick up the shell and drain every drop. Scallops and black pudding is an overdone, clichéd dish - this is how to do it for 2024. (If you're sharing the "leave it up to us" menu they'll bring two scallop shells with half in each). We love crudo/sashimi/ceviche, but a plate of raw hamachi (young yellowtail) looked and tasted like it had been beaten with a blunt object, with the flattening treatment making the flesh taste more mealy and bitty than the firm, delicate pieces we were expecting. The tangy yoghurt felt too heavy on top of the subtle fish, and we would have preferred a more polished preparation along the lines of soy/yuzu/sesame/chillies and the rest. The only thing putting us off the all-in menu was the tartare with brioche. We knew it was going to be dirty delicious after our trip to Toast downstairs , but it's a meal in itself, and eating half of a sandwich after everything that had come before, with a main and dessert still to come, will be too much for most stomachs. It's another good main option if you don't want the burger or omelette, expertly flavoured with all the textures, and a burnt leek ash mayo for dipping to push your calorie intake to even greater heights. For the omelette there's a choice of crab (€20) or maitake mushroom (€18), with optional add ons of caviar (€30) and truffle (with truffle oil pesto and fresh truffle - €10). Never have we ever seen an omelette this tight, shiny and satiny smooth - we reckon a video on how to make it would go viral. We cut it on the diagonal as instructed, revealing a mound of expertly dressed white crab meat that looked like more than €20's worth - we may have had special treatment here. The only slight off note is that the exterior and the interior feel like two separate entities - warm omelette, cool filling added before plating, when we expected them to be more enmeshed. Before your mains a tray of condiments and sauces arrives, and this is where the fun really starts. Bowls of pickled ginger, burnt jalapeño salsa, togarashi, crispy onions, and bottles of sriracha and ponzu allow you to mix and match as you like. We tried the sriracha with the omelette, but the rest are better with the burger. And what a burger. Wagyu beef, the Japanese breed known for it super marbled meat, is used here, and while the marbling might be lost to mincing and frying, you can taste the fat content in the juicy patty, glazed with burnt honey and black vinegar. They include a soy egg yolk in the all-in menu and you should too if ordering separately. Mix it up and pour over the rice, along with chopped up bits of the burger, and have fun adding in all the flavours. If you eat anything here, have this. Again there are add-ons - caviar, truffle, bone marrow and duck liver (foie gras), but we didn't feel the need. Both desserts are included if you go for the whole hog, and you'll be struggling for space at this point. A chocolate burnt Basque cheesecake made us rethink our view that you don't mess with a classic, the sour yoghurt and tangy passion fruit seeds slicing through the rich chocolate and forcing us to eat more than we'd planned. At €15 though this must be one of the most expensive desserts in Dublin. Another of yuzu parfait with matcha, white chocolate and raspberries was sweet and pleasant but the flavours weren't jumping out of the bowl. What about drinks? Classic cocktails, beer and "little treats to start" provide plenty to tempt, and the wine list has a good amount of choice with 23 by the glass. It's confusing though as everything is listed out of price order (even within the smaller categories), so if you're going in with a rough price range that you want to spend within, it makes it more of a struggle to see what's in your bracket. The other thing that might give you a jolt is some of the glass prices, which go to up €16.95, with no pour size listed - there's a big difference between 125ml and 175ml. Our server didn't know which it was, but after going into the back confirmed they're 175mls (just under a quarter of a bottle). The majority of newer, fresher restaurants in the city centre have moved down to 125ml or 150ml, which many diners like as they can try more and stop their chilled wines getting too warm - others feel short-changed getting less than a bowlful. Many of you will love that glasses here are on the larger side, but the accompanying sticker shock is real, and margins are high - those wines selling for €16.95 by the glass are available retail for €23 - €26 for a bottle. This is not unusual for the city centre, but with diners still squeezed from every angle, it's sad that restaurant economics have push things to this point, and it's undoubtedly making former restaurant frequenters stay home more often. From a quality perspective we had no complaints, loving a sparkling Blanquette de Limoux from Antech in the south of France made from the Mauzac grape , a white Burgundy from Alain Chavy, and a Langhe Nebbiolo from Virna Borgogno. There are three sakes too, with Hakutsura's 200ml glass cup of chika sake enough for two to have some easy sips. They also brought us a yuzu sake FOC with the bill (we're not sure if this is standard or not) which was a sweet yet zippy way to wake our palates up again after all that food. How was the service? We had the distinct feeling we'd been rumbled as soon as we walked in, getting more attention than seemed necessary, and while the service was very amiable and amenable, we felt eyes on us every time we looked up. It makes it a lot harder to tell you what Joe public can expect, but they're an experienced team in here so we wouldn't be expecting any service-related curveballs. What was the damage? €202 for two people before tip for the works, which is standard for a full feed with drinks in a higher end restaurant around this part of town, but you could have a small plate, one of the mains, and a couple of drinks each for around €65 a head. What's the verdict on Lotus Eaters? You need courage and confidence to take a leap of faith on a new food concept in a 16-year old, very successful restaurant, and there's lots to like at Lotus Eaters , but it's missing a clean break from The Pig's Ear. We can't help feeling they would be off to a stronger start if they'd fully committed, but can also understand the desire to test the water. We're not sure €17 glasses of wine and €15 slices of cheesecake fit with their objective of providing a " more affordable dining experience", but you won't get crab omelettes, tartare toasties or Wagyu hamburger rice bowls like these anywhere else in the city right now, so jump to it if you're in the mood for brand new food. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Notions @ Two Pups Superior spring plates and a new place for natty wine, right in time for the sunshine spell Posted: 15 Apr 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Notions? It’s the age-old Irish, casually thrown out there cut-down for anyone getting ideas above their station - the notions . Nearly ten years into their tenure on Francis Street, with a second site in Fairview opened in 2023 and a new bakery Bold Boy serving both sites just launched in January, it’s no surprise Two Pups have given their after-hours wine bar venture a tongue-in-cheek title. Sure what are they at. Expectations are high here, with Two Pups’ longstanding reputation for top-class coffee and quality, well-sourced ingredients across their brunch offerings giving plenty of cause to hope for another new hot spot in Dublin’s growing wine bar scene . The idea of seasonal small plates and a small natty wine menu spilling out into the street just in time for this mid-spring sunshine spell had us racing to the Liberties to get an early look at Notions . Where should we sit? Outside, if the weather and your timing will allow it – the original walk-in only policy has already pivoted to bookings by Instagram DM , so you can request an al fresco spot if you’re early enough. It’ll be into the summer before the sun gets high enough in the sky to hit these seats directly, but it’s still a super spot to enjoy some fresh air. Inside, the three open, vintage-furnished rooms have plenty of two and four-top tables at various levels of privacy – we spied an assortment of gabby group catch-ups and intimate date nights that all looked equally at home in the spots they’d settled in. There’s another outdoor space to the rear they haven’t opened up yet, but are actively considering if demand builds up. What’s on the menu? It’s split into nibbles, snacks and plates (small and large) with no demand that you have to order a certain amount – a two-course minimum joint this ain’t, we’re glad to report. Notions is very much eyeing up the neighbourhood bistro vibe, welcoming all from the post-work glass-and-olives gang to the more gluttonous, work-your-way-through-the-whole-menu hordes. No points for guessing where we landed. Polenta chips with truffle aioli (€8) had set up camp in our minds long before we arrived, courtesy of this Instagram post , and we couldn’t wait to sink our teeth into those golden crusts. They yielded less crisp satisfaction than we’d fantasised about, as though they’d gone in the oil just a moment too early - with a touch more crunch, the well-seasoned cornmeal would be an amuse-bouche worthy of all the hype. If we’re venturing into improvements, we might also switch out their sauce for the mustard aioli that’s dabbed under and atop the ham hock croquettes (€9) – its nose-wrinkling kick has much more to offer than the artificial earthiness of truffle (oil) aioli. Versus the one-two punch saltiness of the tender shredded ham and molten smoked Gubbeen cheese within, it’s a perfect trio. It will have been a springtime for the ages if we have another seasonal plate half as good as what came next. Crunchy, lemon-dressed radishes (€9) are halved and scattered over a chunky romesco sauce bathed in wild garlic oil, finished with a flurry of grated hazelnut. Regular readers will know we’re nerds of the highest order when it comes to seasonal eating, so trust us when we say that every forkful, then spoonful, then wiped-finger-ful of this dish is the optimum taste of spring. One plate like that is good grounds to get booking at some point – two is cause to drop everything and go now. The asparagus dish (€14) is as ravishing as the radishes, with tender pan-fried spears and crunchy-crisp cavolo nero sat in a pool of parmesan cream, topped with caramelised cubes of guanciale. There’s a profoundly satisfying simplicity here - birdsong, sunny spells, and quietly confident cooking like this are what make spring so special. Since our visit this one has been bumped up to large plate status with the addition of pan-fried gnocchi – more soakage for that sauce can only be a good thing. More seasonality came in a "charred seasonal greens" salad (€12) that threatened to spill out over the table at the first hint of a fork – we’ll not lament the impression of an almighty portion, but a bigger plate or smaller serving was dearly needed. We found little evidence of the menu’s promised “charred” greens" among the assorted baby spinach and wild rocket leaves, though buried bunches of tender stem broccoli did look to have met with a pan. With ample anchovy chunks in the Caesar-style dressing however we didn’t take long to finish the refreshing lot. Fungiphiles’ hearts will be aflutter at the oyster mushroom plate with shimeji, black garlic and tarragon (€12). Not content enough with the mushroominess of crisped oyster and crunchy shimeji, they add duxelles-esque puree and airy cream in for what feels like a treatise on the essential flavour profile of the humble mushroom. Fans like us will lap it up, and not for the first time we got the sense that the Notions team has thought very deeply about what they’re cooking, and how to bring its best qualities out. A classical treatment is sometimes the answer to that - enter the Iberico pork cheek cassoulet (€26). The mound of meat disintegrated at the sight of a knife, so tenderly braised in its stew of butterbeans and nduja, that the resultant rich, deep flavour profile can’t help but bring on sighs of satisfaction. Salsa verde on top is a necessarily fresh, zesty intervention, lest you be tempted to slump into a coma. Once again, this is food to make you swoon. What are the drinks like? We liked the wine menu’s layout, with by-the-price sections for go to, treat yourself, or spoil yourself style nights – vital for the price conscious customer. However vital too is value, and while we found the atmosphere and experience worth the final bill, markups that go above even the usual absurdity of Dublin were the only thing here that really did reek of notions. For context, the sparkling Sampagnino below is €55 by the bottle here, and €41 in Lena , Portobello. The Vina Illusion white Rioja is €55 here and €44 in Uno Mas . The El Troyano which is €52 here is €42 in Hera . None of these places work off low margins. A better selection on the cheaper end of the menu, or wine mark ups that feel less like a knife to our bank balance would go a long way, particularly considering that barely anyone is eating out as much as they did 12 months ago, because of, ya know, the bleedin' price of everything. Instagram posts attest the staff’s involvement in building out the selections and it shows – their knowledge is second to none, with tasters and tips offered in abundance. We started with the Bulli Sampagnino frizzante, a pleasantly dry sparkling alternative to the bog standard Prosecco found in most places, then the Sassara Pinot Griso, an earthy orange that opened up the radishes and romesco. Our server was endearingly enthusiastic about the Colbacco Quarto Protocollo from the funky section as a pairing for the pork, and its smoky, volcano soil character was an excellent rival for the nduja spice. How was the service? Best seen when discussing the wine, the team here is really into what they’re doing, and it’s infectious. Everyone is casual, chatty and completely clued-in to the menu and how to help you make the most of it. The food is reason enough for us to come back - knowing what a warm welcome you’ll get is the cherry on top. And the damage? €128.50 to sample almost all of the menu and enough wine to get a good sense of the standard – the things we do for you. A go to glass and one of the smaller plates would keep you closer to €20 a head if you fancied a quick pit stop – go on, you deserve it. What’s the verdict on Notions? The very notion of “notions”, if you will, is a double-edged sword. It's an Irish attitude of comic modesty, sure, but a sometimes-suffocating aversion to the new too, a sense that we can’t be having with those nice, y’know, continental things. As we glugged the last of our over-priced glasses and looked out at the outdoor tables of punters stubbornly pretending it’s still warm enough to sit out after the sun sets, we were grateful that aversion is fading faster all the time. We may not have the weather, but in an increasing number of places like this we have a quality of ingredients, a talent for using them, and a growing culture for embracing it all that does Irish food proud. We'll always cheers to notions like those. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

What started as Dorset Street gastropub Juno has had one side reinvented as Hera (Juno is now the bar to the side). A very sleek and modern refurb is the setting for a bar food menu full of things you'll want to eat, like meatballs and focaccia, deep-fried Tallegio, and one of the best value steaks in Dublin. Drinks are at a similarly high level, with great options for beer, wine and cocktails, and there's a semi-private dining room just crying out for you to bring along five of your friends. Hera Website junobar.ie Address JUNO, Dorset Street Lower, Dublin 1, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story What started as Dorset Street gastropub Juno has had one side reinvented as Hera (Juno is now the bar to the side). A very sleek and modern refurb is the setting for a bar food menu full of things you'll want to eat, like meatballs and focaccia, deep-fried Tallegio, and one of the best value steaks in Dublin. Drinks are at a similarly high level, with great options for beer, wine and cocktails, and there's a semi-private dining room just crying out for you to bring along five of your friends. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

The Seafood Bar The perfect little restaurant to gorge on the best of Irish seafood Posted: 25 Jul 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's should we know about The Seafood Bar? It's the second restaurant from the team behind neighbourhood favourite Wood Fire Café just off Dorset Street. Owner Joe Oualadi is half Italian, half Moroccan, and says he's "mad about seafood" and loves to cook it. He couldn't understand why an island surrounded by fish doesn't have more places to eat great seafood (Amen Joe), and with a loyal clientele already on Blessington Street, he decided to take the site left vacant by Veginity (and briefly vegan deli Pretend) and get to work. Despite Wood Fire Café 's many D7 fans, we've visited in the past and didn't leave with a need to return - maybe we caught them on a bad day - so we weren't expecting to be first in the queue for this one, but between strikingly good reviews on Google and the total lack of a website/social channels for information, we thought it needed a once over stat. Can I book? Nope, and this is the one real drawback. With only 10 indoor seats we get it, but it's not very conducive to travelling across town or booking a babysitter. If it's dry and/or sunny you might be able to pull up at a barrel outside with some olives and a glass of cold white wine while you wait, which wouldn't be the worst way to pass the time. Where should we sit? There are three low tables of two, which can be put together for a four or a six (but you'd be lucky to find all three free at the same time, especially once the good word travels about this place). There are also two high tables at the counter, seating two at each. This is where we'd pick if we had the choice, to see all that seafood being prepped and cooked in front of you. Outside has another four tables of two (which again could be made into a four, possibly a six with some pushing and pulling), and a couple of barrels you could stand at. It feels very Spanish, and if we ever get sunshine again we can see this having a cracking atmosphere on a summer evening, those waiting for a table standing around with some olives, almonds and a glass of Loxarel Cava. What should we order? The menu has a strong Spanish slant to it, but with other cuisines like Italian and even Hawaiian (poke) thrown in. There's a cold section to start featuring peel and eat gambas with cocktail sauce, oysters, tuna salad and more, but our hearts fractured a little to hear that Ensalada Rusa with Cantabrian anchovies wasn't available, and that they're taking it off the menu. The rest of the menu features 12 starters and six mains, and expect to agonise over what to order, because this is a hell of a menu, with Porupine langoustines, Irish native shrimps, and a whole lobster with fries for €34 among the dishes you might feel the need to try. Getting over our Ensalada Rusa disappointment, we started with crab on toast - three pieces of thick, chewy, very lightly toasted bread covered with a mildly curried, lemon-scented, sparklingly fresh white crab meat mixture, topped with finely sliced radish. Adding unadvertised curry in here is a (possibly risky) curveball, but we loved the fresh, mildy spiced flavours, the contrast between the sweet flaky crab and the chewy bread, and the generous hand in plating this up. You can't come to a Spanish seafood restaurant without ordering fried fish, so deep-fried calamari and Native Irish Shrimps with tartar sauce were up next. According to the Irish Times , only 200 tonnes of these prawns are landed each year, and all (until now) are shipped to top restaurants in Spain and Portugal where they're sold at very high prices. That might explain this dish's €18 price tag, and why you only get two of the shrimp, but we loved it all the same, and it's a novelty to try something so rarely seen here. The batter was perfectly light and crisp, the tartar clearly homemade, and while a couple of calamari rings were chewier than we would have liked, there was no debating the freshness yet again. If you order one thing in here, make it the clams with garlic and salsa verde (€14), which has dive-bombed onto our "best things we ate this year" list. A sizzling cast iron dish arrives with bubbling olive oil (the good stuff) filled with caramelised, chewy, sweet garlic slices, clams floating above dressed with a generous spoons of zesty salsa verde. If sharing, expect to lose the run of yourself trying to dig out each little piece of fish, dunking it in the garlicky oil and smearing some salsa on top for one of the most perfect mouthfuls you could imagine. We had to ask for bread to mop up the sauce, and you should do the same. The paella (€26) was another knock me down dish, the saffron-scented rice with a perfect bite, seafood lavishly dispersed across it. Prawns, monkfish, mussels, and clams were not in short supply, and the roasted peppers and dollops of aioli pushing the perfection level even higher. It was missing the slightly crispy base, but from other reviews online we can see some people's did have this, and with or without it, it's as good a paella as we've tasted (here or in Spain). The portion is also huge - you could easily share one between two. Seafood linguine is yet another knockout, again with the generosity of seafood feeling almost shocking in comparison to other restaurants. Simplicity is often the hardest thing to get right, but this simple sauce of garlic, white wine and cherry tomatoes let the flavours of the gambas, clams, squid and mussels gleam, and it almost felt like more seafood than pasta. How often can you say that? At €26, you could not complain about value for your euro. Sides were a low point and we'd skip them next time and just focus on the fish. Hand-cut chips didn't look or taste like they were done in-house, and weren't crispy enough, while patatas bravas came with that delicious aioli and a roasted red pepper sauce, but the potatoes tasted more confited than deep-fried, and weren't remotely crispy. Desserts are a total mismatch with everything that's come before: 'Classic Tiramisu'; Crema Catalana; and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and caramel sauce - is there anyone in the country who wants a chocolate brownie after a seafood feast? Please raise your hand so we can see you. The only acceptable choice was the Crema Catalana, but our hearts broke once again to be told they didn't have it, but had a cheesecake with red berry sauce in its place. They told us all desserts were made in the Wood Fire Café, and it did taste homemade, but it was a dull, heavy ending to a dazzling meal. A silky-smooth, flan-like Basque cheesecake would have been a far better fit. What about drinks? Wines are a mixed bag, with some decent bottles on there like Zarate's Albariño, Domaine De La Pépière's Muscadet, and the brilliant co-op Les Vignerons d'Estezargues' Southern French red blend, 'Cuvee des Galets', for €32. It's a bit muddled though with no theme or thread running through it (e.g. Mediterranean), and they're in desperate need of some sherries/Vermouths/aperitivo offerings. By the glass options are very limited, but we tried the Jurtschitsch Grüner Veltliner which was a nice easy drinker served very chilled, and a perfect match for the seafood. There are also some beers on tap, and flavoured San Pellegrino as well as the usual soft drinks. How was the service? Lovely, friendly, and the food came out at a good pace. They didn't charge for the extra bread, or a juice they poured from their own staff stash - a nice touch. And the damage? €128 for a generous feast for three (who rolled out after lunch and could barely face dinner that night), with one glass of wine. We'd throw it at them every day of the week. What's the verdict? We love The Seafood Bar. We can't stop thinking about The Seafood Bar. We want to move into The Seafood Bar and have Joe feed us all day - crab on toast for breakfat, clams for lunch, that big dish of paella and a cold glass of wine for dinner. It's not an inexpensive place to eat, but there's a big difference between cheap and value for money, and we thought that what we got for our spend was remarkable. Sometimes places open with a serious generosity of spirit (and ingredients) and then reality (and bills) hit and everything gets pared back. We really hope that doesn't happen here, because right now it's the perfect little restaurant to gorge on the very best of Irish seafood. The Seafood Bar 1 Blessington Street, Dublin 7 seafoodbardublin.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bun Cha Website @bunchadublin Address 11 Moore Street, North City, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Vietnom Street food that's reason alone to got to Stoneybatter Posted: 30 Oct 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? We're really quite into this whole "dingy pub gets great pop up in the back" thing. Between Vurgerface in The Belfry and Dice Bar, Grálinn in MVP and Coke Lane Pizza in Frank Ryans and Lucky's, pub food has never been better. Another one that we've been hearing loads about over the past few months is Vietnom in the back of The Glimmerman pub in Stoneybatter, and while the idea of Vietnamese/Mexican fusion wouldn't have had us running for the Luas, after two excellent reviews in The Irish Times and the Irish Independent we had to check it out for ourselves. Set up by chef Milly Murphy and Alex Gurnee earlier this year, the menu at Vietnom changes every week, and most things on the menu are vegetarian, with at least one vegan option. They work with what's local and seasonal, growing some vegetables themselves, buying others from organic farms, and sourcing only free-range meat and eggs. So far so good. Where should we go for a drink first? The Glimmerman is atmospheric to say the least, with Charlie Haughey and Margaret Thatcher in a bed hanging from the ceiling, beer mats all over the walls and more nooks and crannies than we thought was possible to fit in a single pub, so a drink here is a good shout. Otherwise you've got L. Mulligan Grocer for an immense craft beer selection, The Cobblestone for traditional Irish music, or Walsh's, which was named best pub in Dublin at this year's Irish restaurant awards. Where should we sit? There's loads of seating out the back, ranging from quirky to "I'm sitting on a plastic-covered leather sofa in the middle of a tip", but with the weather turning colder you'll want a good winter coat to eat outside. Luckily the pub are cool about bringing the food inside, so just sit wherever you can find some mismatched furniture. What's good to eat? The menu is short with three main options both times we visited - tostadas, banh mi and fried rice. Ingredient and flavour combinations change each week and we tried everything twice, loving all of it. We marginally preferred the tostada with cauliflower, peanut sauce, chilli and pickled onions to the one with squash, tomatillo salsa and toasted sesame, but there wasn't a lot in it. We much preferred the banh mi with caramelised ginger and apple roast pork to the one with paneer, finding it lacking in flavour - the same could not be levied at the pork, and the lovely crunchy vegetables jammed in alongside it. Our only complaint is that we like a crisper bread for banh mi, Vietnom's being a soft sourdough, but they've had it designed especially for them and it's exactly what they're going for so we might be alone on that one. Both courgette and broccoli fried rice came topped with an assortment of nuts, chillis, pickled onions, herbs and flower petals, and might have been our favourite thing here. To make something as plain as rice taste this vibrant takes skill, and the courgette in particular was verging on "food crack". There was so much food we took some home and there were fork fights over the last of it the following day. What about the drinks? Those clever Vietnom people, knowing the type of customer they were likely to attract with their food, convinced The Glimmerman to stock a couple of very nice, inexpensive wines to go with it. Ciú Ciú are an organic producer from the Marche region of Italy and both the white and red blends are excellent, particularly for €6 a glass. We'd go so far as to say these could be the best value wines in any pub in the city right now (accounting for the quality). If you're going to drink wine here, this is what you want. Forget the rest. And the service? Alex and Milly do everything themselves, with a smile on their faces, and are happy to answer questions about the food or make recommendations. We also found The Glimmerman staff lovely, particularly the younger members of the team who were just super friendly. The verdict? Vietnom alone is worth a trip to Stoneybatter. They can do as much 'fusion' as they want if it tastes this good, and with their focus on local produce, organic vegetables and free-range meat and dairy, it's fast food to make you feel good. Go soon, go often, and order everything. Vietnom The Glimmerman, 14 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 @vietnom New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Contemporary Mexican from chef Jules Mak, whose first restaurant Mak D6 is around the corner. A menu of bites, tacos and meaty mains focused on the "parrilla" or grill, in a buzzy room full of people out for a good night. There's a huge cocktail list with eight different types of margaritas, and the George Clooney-founded Casamigos tequila is heavily tied into the menu. Parrilla Website parrillaranelagh.com Address Parrilla Ranelagh, Sandford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Contemporary Mexican from chef Jules Mak, whose first restaurant Mak D6 is around the corner. A menu of bites, tacos and meaty mains focused on the "parrilla" or grill, in a buzzy room full of people out for a good night. There's a huge cocktail list with eight different types of margaritas, and the George Clooney-founded Casamigos tequila is heavily tied into the menu. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Neighbourhood pizza as it should be: equal parts authentic and eccentric. Named after the nondescript little Smithfield alley out behind Frank Ryan’s pub where it originally set up stall in 2017, Coke Lane has steadily progressed to bigger and better things since opening in 2017, now serving up its wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas in two D8 sites: The Circular in Rialto and Lucky’s in the Liberties. Founder Dave Holmes brings vocational zeal to his work with irresistibly airy sourdough crusts, delicious home-made chilli honey and sophisticatedly simple flavour pairings designed to appeal to all palates. It's a particular hit with vegetarians, with half the menu meat-free. Coke Lane at The Circular Website cokelanepizza.ie Address 536–538 South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Neighbourhood pizza as it should be: equal parts authentic and eccentric. Named after the nondescript little Smithfield alley out behind Frank Ryan’s pub where it originally set up stall in 2017, Coke Lane has steadily progressed to bigger and better things since opening in 2017, now serving up its wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas in two D8 sites: The Circular in Rialto and Lucky’s in the Liberties. Founder Dave Holmes brings vocational zeal to his work with irresistibly airy sourdough crusts, delicious home-made chilli honey and sophisticatedly simple flavour pairings designed to appeal to all palates. It's a particular hit with vegetarians, with half the menu meat-free. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Kicky's is the solo debut of former Chapter One head chef Eric Matthews, along with friend and former Bang GM Richie Barrett. Bright colours and in your face flavours are the name of the game, and you wouldn't want to pay them a visit if you're on a diet. Prices are on the higher side of eating out in Dublin, so it's likely to be a special occasion choice rather than a regular haunt for most. Kicky's Website kickys.ie Address South Great George's Street, Dublin, D02 WK13 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Kicky's is the solo debut of former Chapter One head chef Eric Matthews, along with friend and former Bang GM Richie Barrett. Bright colours and in your face flavours are the name of the game, and you wouldn't want to pay them a visit if you're on a diet. Prices are on the higher side of eating out in Dublin, so it's likely to be a special occasion choice rather than a regular haunt for most. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure

Badam The tiny restaurant under the railway tracks that Clontarf locals don't want you to know about Posted: 24 Jun 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Badam? Open since 2021, there's been a gentle Northside hum about the restaurant under the railway tracks in Clontarf, but with only 14 seats you might not know anyone who's been there - and it's fair to say locals will be happy to keep it that way. Badam say their ambition is " to serve high quality Indian and Nepalese cuisine with the wonderful potent flavours of Indian and Nepal ", while mixing, roasting and grinding their spices and herbs daily; and making their sauces and chutneys in small batches to keep them fresh. Apart from knowing it was founded by someone called D.N. Upreti, and that "Badam" means almond, we weren't able to get much more information out of them, with emails going unanswered, but one look at the rapturous reviews online from utterly thrilled customers, and it's fair to say they're probably busy in the kitchen. Where should we sit? The tiny dining room only seats 14, with one long banquette and a single booth for four on the other side of the room. There are two seatings each night, the first from 17:00 - 19:30, and the second from 20:00 - 23:00, but they did allow us to arrive at 18:30 after we assured them we'd be gone by 20:00, so they are flexible. It's a warm, inviting room, with leather seats, rich wood panelling and soft lighting, and it feels intimate and cosy. We wouldn't plan on divulging your darkest secrets though, unless you're happy for your neighbours to hear. There's one outside table too which would fit three at a squeeze - we imagine it's more likely used as a holding area for the next seating or anyone waiting for takeaway, but you could certainly request it. What should we eat? Based off our visit, absolutely anything. While the menu skews Northern India and it's neighbour Nepal, a quick scan will tell you you're onto something different here. The right at the back " ethnic all time favourites " section complies with the regulation Korma, Jalfrezi and Tikka Masala, but it's clear that's not what they're here to cook. A basket of poppadoms is your welcome gift, the exhuberent mango and tomato chutneys uplifting in the way that only homemade food chopped and mixed and seasoned with love and care can be. How will we ever look at a jarred version again. There's a huge amount of vegetarian dishes on offer here, and the Laal Bhajie (€7.50) is a multi-vegetable version of the widely known deep-fried onion starter. The crispest of crisp batter houses softly spiced veg, with creamy yoghurt and tamarind sauces generously poured on top. If you've chosen to share this you might find yourself accidentally slapping people's hands away. The "pepper fry" is a dish that appears across the menu, and while it would generally describe a dry, stir-fry style dish found in Southern Indian cooking, Badam's Paneer Pepper Fry (€7.25) comes bathed in a coconut milk and cream sauce, tempering all that black pepper and spice. It reminded us of a creamy peppercorn sauce we might serve with steak or pork chops, and it's hard to imagine grilled paneer and just cooked veg tasting better than when bathed in this sauce. Another starter of Sherpa Lamb Pepper (€10.95) is more what we would have expected from a Pepper Fry - deep-fried slices of tender lamb tossed in dry roasted spices with crunchy peppers and onions and a yoghurt sauce hiding underneath. There is absolutely nothing to dislike here. With 33 main courses (and endless variations on them) you might want to study the menu in advance of arriving, but for our money the Tandoor Mix Grill (€25.95) must be on your order sheet. How many times have you had a plate like this that's been an underwhelming whomp of unmemorable meat - this one will wipe any bad experiences from your memory. Arriving loudly sizzling and piled high with beautiful lamb chops, seek kebab, chicken tikka chunks and a single giant King Prawn, the spices hit you in the face in the most wonderful way - be sure to order a raita for contrast. It's very hard to make bowls of brown things look good, so you'll have to trust us when we say the Baruchi Lamb and Goan Prawn curries were yet more highlights of one of our most memorable meals in ages. The lamb (€20.95) comes in a sauce made from grated coconut, spicy red peppers, tamarind, fresh coriander and mustard seeds, and every bite brings a taste of something different. It's listed on the menu as "hot", but that must be hot for Irish palates, not Indian. The Goan Prawn Curry (€22.95) is milder and but no less full of fragrant spices like coriander, turmeric, garlic and ginger, finished with coconut milk and vinegar. There wasn't a scraping of sauce left in either bowl once we were done. Garlic and peshwari naans were as pillowy and chewy as you could have hoped for, perfect flavour-packed vessels for scooping and cleaning plates and bowls with. No complaints on the pilau rice either. Desserts are a mish mash of Western and Indian, with a chocolate brownie alongside mango kulfi (€6.99), and it's obviously not their strongest point, but it would be hard to follow what came before regardless. A mango kulfi was so hard our server had to bring us a fork to dig into it - nice flavour, but the texture wouldn't leave you wanting more. The rainbow sprinkles on top (or hundreds and thousands as any self-respecting Irish person calls them) were a strange addition. Two "honey balls" (€6.99) looked and tasted like Gulab Jamun - the deep-fried, milk-based dough balls soaked in syrup - and while they veered on the side of overcooked, they were rich, satisfying and filling alongside the scoop of vanilla ice-cream (and more unexplainable sprinkles). What about drinks? God loves a trier, but the wine list here was not devised by someone with a love for God's great grape juice. It reads like a supermarket selection, and a couple of spenny bottles of Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape aren't enough to up the overall interest. Gun to head we'd go for one of the organic bottles, but it's all big name commercial stuff. If you're sticking to beer it's Cobra or Cobra. How was the service? One server was overtly lovely, full of smiles and enquiries as to whether everything was okay. Food was timed perfectly, and additional requests were dealt with smoothly and swiftly. We would have loved to see the chef come out to the dining room at some point, to bring out a dish and say hi. It felt a bit like the Wizard of Oz (the Wizard of food?) was behind the curtain, catering for this tiny group of diners, and in such an intimate setting we would have loved a peek behind it. What did the bill come to? €40 a head with no alcohol. Add on half a bottle of organic Verdejo each and you'll be up to €56 per person before tip. You won't find us complaining about those numbers, for this food. There's also an Early Bird menu from Monday - Thursday until 19:30 with three courses for €25.95 (a little more pedestrian on choice), and a Sunday lunch thali for €24.99. They won't be accused of not providing good value food options. What's the verdict on Badam? Eating in Badam feels less like you're a number on someone's P&L sheet, and more like you can't believe you've scored an invite to this person's house for dinner. There's so much copy and paste Indian food in Dublin that finding somewhere like this feels like a window into another region, and if you're someone who explores the world through food, you will love this place. We've been low key obsessing about going back ever since floating out onto the Howth Road on a balmy summer's evening, and a takeaway (around 30% cheaper than dine in) will most definitely be happening in our very near future. Sorry Clontarf, the Badam word is out. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

We heard whispers about this Turkish charcoal grill for months before we stuck our heads in for a taste, and it didn't leave us wanting (either in portion sizes or value for money). You'll find foods here that you won't find anywhere else, like Tombik bread and Iskender lamb, and the food comes back. The best is best for group meet ups and family dining, the front if you want to watch all the action. Pera Website instagram.com/peradublin Address 61 Mary St, North City, Dublin 1, D01 XP94, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story We heard whispers about this Turkish charcoal grill for months before we stuck our heads in for a taste, and it didn't leave us wanting (either in portion sizes or value for money). You'll find foods here that you won't find anywhere else, like Tombik bread and Iskender lamb, and the food comes back. The best is best for group meet ups and family dining, the front if you want to watch all the action. Where It's At Nearby Locales D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery Baily Bites @ Kish Spice Village Terenure