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Ex-Etto head chef Barry Sun’s first solo restaurant Volpe Nera (meaning black fox) opened in between Blackrock and Foxrock in 2019, and every critic who walked through the doors was wowed. The menu has a lot of similarities to Italian/Irish Etto (which can only be a good thing) with the occasional Asian flourish, like the cep dumpling with aged soya, trompettes and chives. Grown up and comfortable dining room over two floors with table and bar seating, and the wine list gets better every time we look. Volpe Nera Website volpenera.ie Address 22 Newtown Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Ex-Etto head chef Barry Sun’s first solo restaurant Volpe Nera (meaning black fox) opened in between Blackrock and Foxrock in 2019, and every critic who walked through the doors was wowed. The menu has a lot of similarities to Italian/Irish Etto (which can only be a good thing) with the occasional Asian flourish, like the cep dumpling with aged soya, trompettes and chives. Grown up and comfortable dining room over two floors with table and bar seating, and the wine list gets better every time we look. 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

Daddy's is a ray of sunshine in Rialto, with their Turkish eggs, croissandwiches and brightly stuffed sandwiches some of the best breakfast and lunch fare for miles around. They champion small Irish producers, like Salter's free-range ham, Shine's wild tuna, and Annascaul pudding, and use them to the best possible effect. Daddy's Website daddys.ie Address 538 South Circular Road, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Daddy's is a ray of sunshine in Rialto, with their Turkish eggs, croissandwiches and brightly stuffed sandwiches some of the best breakfast and lunch fare for miles around. They champion small Irish producers, like Salter's free-range ham, Shine's wild tuna, and Annascaul pudding, and use them to the best possible effect. 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 Lucky's Website cokelanepizza.ie Address Lucky's, 78 Meath Street, The Liberties, 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

Japanese bar with small plates, sushi and a robatayaki grill in Temple Bar, just off Dame Street. Daily sushi specials, plenty of vegetarian options, and more interesting small plates than most Japanese restaurants around town. They do a great line in sake, either in low alcohol cocktails or straight up, and it's worth walking in if you forgot to book somewhere for dinner. Daruma Website @daruma_dublin Address 13 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Japanese bar with small plates, sushi and a robatayaki grill in Temple Bar, just off Dame Street. Daily sushi specials, plenty of vegetarian options, and more interesting small plates than most Japanese restaurants around town. They do a great line in sake, either in low alcohol cocktails or straight up, and it's worth walking in if you forgot to book somewhere for dinner. 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

A neighbourhood café from the former owner of V-Face which sat in the same spot previously. Vada's main focuses are on sustainable food and drink and creating zero waste, so water kefir is made in house from kitchen byproducts, meat and veg are locally sourced, and as little as possible goes in the bin. The menu changes week to week but you might find a porchetta sandwich, a coconut laksa, or a miso pumpkin salad, with something sweet for afters. Vada Website hellovada.com Address 30 Brunswick Street North, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story A neighbourhood café from the former owner of V-Face which sat in the same spot previously. Vada's main focuses are on sustainable food and drink and creating zero waste, so water kefir is made in house from kitchen byproducts, meat and veg are locally sourced, and as little as possible goes in the bin. The menu changes week to week but you might find a porchetta sandwich, a coconut laksa, or a miso pumpkin salad, with something sweet for afters. 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 original opening in the Kinara group is still going strong on Clontarf's seafront, with the best tables at the window. Pakistani food is at Kinara's core, but there's plenty you'll recognise from your favourite Indian. Kinara Kitchen Clontarf Website kinara.ie Address 318 Clontarf Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story The original opening in the Kinara group is still going strong on Clontarf's seafront, with the best tables at the window. Pakistani food is at Kinara's core, but there's plenty you'll recognise from your favourite Indian. 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

Deep dish Detroit-style pizza served out of a hatch on Dame Lane, at the back of cocktail bar Pawn Shop. A quick, inexpensive option for something tasty on the go, with the carnitas of doom, and the pancetta and pineapple taking all the headlines. You can sit at a few unstable tables outside, or take your slices into the bar. Doom Slice Website doomslice.pizza Address Doom Slice, Dame Lane, Dublin 2, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Deep dish Detroit-style pizza served out of a hatch on Dame Lane, at the back of cocktail bar Pawn Shop. A quick, inexpensive option for something tasty on the go, with the carnitas of doom, and the pancetta and pineapple taking all the headlines. You can sit at a few unstable tables outside, or take your slices into 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

Named after the famous government-run canteen in Delhi, Andhra Bhavan has been struggling to keep up with demand since bringing their dosas, idli and uttapams to Marlborough Street. The restaurant focuses on Southern Indian cuisine with no shortcuts, but the extensive menu occasionally dipping into other areas too. The tables are crammed together, the noise levels are high, and the flavours are next level. The value for money here is among the best in the city too. Andhra Bhavan Website andhrabhavan.ie Address Andhra Bhavan, Marlborough Place, North City, Dublin 1, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Named after the famous government-run canteen in Delhi, Andhra Bhavan has been struggling to keep up with demand since bringing their dosas, idli and uttapams to Marlborough Street. The restaurant focuses on Southern Indian cuisine with no shortcuts, but the extensive menu occasionally dipping into other areas too. The tables are crammed together, the noise levels are high, and the flavours are next level. The value for money here is among the best in the city too. 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

3 Leaves Redefining Indian food in Ireland Posted: 2 Apr 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Three years ago, a little Indian food stall quietly popped up in Blackrock Market selling 'Indian Street Food'. Chef Santosh Thomas and wife Milie Mathew were the couple behind 3 Leaves , and very quickly gained a dedicated following for their pani puri, palak pakora chat and daily changing curries. Soon demand had overtaken supply, so they decided to take on the unit next door and put in enough tables to seat 12 people. These soon became some of the most difficult to get seats in town (not least because they only opened for dinner two nights a week), and in January of this year they knocked into the next one, giving them another 12 seats. When talking to Dublin food obsessives, 3 Leaves comes up again and again as somewhere that's totally reinvented their idea of what Indian food is, and the fact that's it's BYO with a corkage charge of just €5 makes it ever more appealing. On a weekly basis we seemed to be met with abject horror when we admitted to not having tried it yet (we have actually tried numerous times to get a booking to no avail), so we thought we'd better make a serious effort to rectify that and hold onto our street cred for a bit longer. Where should we go for a drink first? Two reviews in a row in Blackrock and the pre-drink options aren't any more inspiring. For pints or a G+T head to Jack O'Rourke's on the main street, or for wine you could pay a visit to El Celler wine bar in the market itself. And if you need to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner head to Blackrock Celler where they'll give you 10% off if you tell them you're going to dinner in 3 Leaves. Where should we sit? Seating is limited and much of a muchness inside - you could ask for a view of the kitchen but most of it is obstructed by the pass. As summer approaches the outside tables are going to be the ones everyone will want, but we'd say getting your hands on one will be a mean feat. Definitely request one on booking if the weather's looking good, or get there very early and cross your fingers. What's good to eat? All the food. From start to finish we lost count of the amount of times we heard 'wow', from every table in listening distance (and ours), and there wasn't a low point from beginning to end. We were eating from a two-course menu with optional dessert (mandatory), but before any of the dishes came they brought out a dahi puri for everyone - thin, crispy, hollow balls made from semolina flour filled with chickpeas, potatoes and sauces including tamarind chutney and yoghurt. We were told under no circumstances to bite into it as everything would fall out, and although it's a sizeable chunk to put in your mouth in one go, as soon as it's in there it pops, and 'flavour explosion' is the only appropriate descriptor. Of everything we had this is very much on the "best things we've eaten this year" list. We tried all four starters and loved all of them, particlarly the lamb and the seabass. The chawpati chaat was a soft, mildly spiced potato fritter on a bed of chickpeas, with 'chef's signature sauces' (of which there are five, made fresh every day - taramind, mango, mint, yoghurt and Thomas' special signature sauce). A galawat lamb kebab was meltingly soft with a really vibrant tasting salad of chickpeas, pomegranate, pea shoots and more of those sauces, all sprinkled with sev, that crunchy noodle type snack made from chick pea flour which adds a whole new level of texture to the dish and really takes things up a gear. A sukha adraki chicken kebab consisted of boneless chicken thighs marinated with ginger and cardamom and served with those signature sauces, more pomegranate seeds and more sev. As far as we were concerned every dish could have been drowning in those same few elements and we would have left very happy. Finally for the starters, a really delicately marinated fillet of seabass came wrapped in a banana leaf, with more of that crunchy salad, edible flowers and tiny dots of very mild wasabi yoghurt for the tiniest hit of spice. Perfectly cooked and perfectly balanced, both in flavour and texture. For mains there were options of chicken or lamb curry, dahl, or a taster menu with a bit of everything, so there was only one choice. It also came with mixed vegetables (mainly potato, onion and green beans), and palak pakora chat - deep-fried spinach with sauces, pomegranate seeds and more of that sev, which was the highlight of the taster plate for us. That and the dahi puri have pretty much monopolised our thoughts ever since. The other components were murg mumtaz (a creamy chicken curry), gosht falaknuma (slow-cooked lamb curry with more spice), muradabadi dhal (a creamy, deeply-flavoured yellow dahl), chickpea bread and rainbow rice - coloured with dehydrated spinach, beetroot, carrot and saffron. This was so much food for the price with so much going on in terms of tastes, textures and smells, and even though we ate ourselves stupid we didn't feel the usual fullness verging on sickness that we associate with eating mass amounts of Indian food. It really does feel like being cooked for in someone's house, the type of food they eat themselves on a daily basis - this is not the stuff of high street curry houses or uber eats deliveries. Indian restaurants in Ireland aren't generally known for their desserts, so the temptation is to skip it, but we'd been told from past diners not to make that mistake, so we ordered one of each. A carrot halwa trifle somehow managed to get carrots to taste like spiced caramel, on an almost cheesecake like base, the sweetness diluted with just whipped cream. Pretty perfect. The other of mango dulaat ki chat Milie described as "a cloud" - it's made from sweetened milk and mango and does quite literally feel like taking a bite of a cloud, the spoonful evaporating in your mouth as soon as it touches the sides, leaving behind tiny shards of candyfloss, which somehow manage to avoid being over sweet or in any way sickly in the grand scheme of the dish. A really unexpected, pitch perfect way to end an Indian meal. And the drinks? 3 Leaves is BYO with a bargain corkage charge of €5 so it's a great place to bring a nice bottle that you don't fancy paying Dublin restaurant mark-ups on, and as we said earlier, Blackrock Celler will give you 10% off anything to take over there and will happily recommend wines to go with the food. We took an Austrian Riesling from Holzer (available in Clontarf Wines and Jus de Vine ) which worked really well with the abundance of flavours and hits of spice throughout. They have applied for a wine list so are hoping to have their own short list of wines available too in the coming months. What about the service? Everyone who's been here leaves talking about how warm and welcoming Milie is, and she really is the perfect host, taking time to explain the meaning and make up of each dish, and constantly (but gently) checking if everyone is okay and enjoying themselves. Santosh also does a lap of the room after the main courses have been served, to say hi to everyone and answer any questions - and presumably get deluged with compliments on daily basis about how his cooking is so far from what they thought Indian food was. It's such an intimate space and experience and we think it would be hard to leave here without feeling rejuvenated on a few levels. The verdict? If you're someone who thinks Indian food means greasy baltis, chicken tikka masala (invented in Glasgow) and indigestion, you need to get yourself here as soon as possible. This will be an eye-widening experience for a lot of people, and after eating here it's very easy to see why they've gained such a following, and why people travel from across the city to sit in this basic room with market stalls outside the window. This is undoubtedly some of the best Indian food being cooked on the island right now and eating here should be on your restaurant bucket list. 3 Leaves Unit 30, 19A Main Street, Blackrock Market, Co. Dublin www.3leaves.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Gursha was many a Dubliner's first experience of Ethiopian food, and their original pop up in Cloud Café in the North Strand was harder to get a seat in than a Harry Styles concert. Since moving to Poolbeg Street they operate a supper club system where you buy tickets in advance for their set menu of injera with a multitude of Ethiopian dishes, from Doro Wat (chicken stew in berbere sauce) to Yebeg Alicha (lamb with garlic, onions and tumeric). Meals end with a chocolate fudge brownie and a traditional coffee ceremony, and it's phenomenal value for a completely pure experience. Gursha Website gursha.ie Address 7A Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Gursha was many a Dubliner's first experience of Ethiopian food, and their original pop up in Cloud Café in the North Strand was harder to get a seat in than a Harry Styles concert. Since moving to Poolbeg Street they operate a supper club system where you buy tickets in advance for their set menu of injera with a multitude of Ethiopian dishes, from Doro Wat (chicken stew in berbere sauce) to Yebeg Alicha (lamb with garlic, onions and tumeric). Meals end with a chocolate fudge brownie and a traditional coffee ceremony, and it's phenomenal value for a completely pure experience. 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

Tiller + Grain's owner/chef Clair Dowling worked for Ottolenghi and Skye Gyngell in London, before bringing her flavour-popping salads and sandwiches to Dublin city centre. Meat and fish is cooked on an indoor barbecue, bread is from Bread 41, fruits and vegetables are predominantly Irish and seasonal, and it's hard to surpass the flavours in their salads. Tiller And Grain Website tillerandgrain.ie Address 2 Frederick Street South, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Tiller + Grain's owner/chef Clair Dowling worked for Ottolenghi and Skye Gyngell in London, before bringing her flavour-popping salads and sandwiches to Dublin city centre. Meat and fish is cooked on an indoor barbecue, bread is from Bread 41, fruits and vegetables are predominantly Irish and seasonal, and it's hard to surpass the flavours in their salads. 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

Ristorante Romano Old-school Italian that's so satisfying Posted: 18 Apr 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Romano's has been on Capel Street (in its current form) since the 1980's, but you don't see much of it on social media, or hear it mentioned when people talk about the 'must-try' restaurants in Dublin. Until Tom Doorley reviewed it in the Daily Mail a few weeks ago we hadn't heard the name for a long time, but suddenly it seems to be having a revival, with people remembering how good it was. Armed with warnings that it might be more 'Irish-Italian' than nuanced Tuscan or Venetian, we went with empty stomachs, eager to taste some homemade egg pasta. Where’s good for a drink beforehand? Panti Bar is a few doors down if you feel like a Cosmopolitan and some Girls Aloud. For a pint, Slattery's , McNeill's or The Boar's Head are all good options on Capel Street. For wine your best bet is probably Bagots Hutton around the corner on Ormond Quay. What’s the room like? There's a fine line between unattractively old-fashioned and quaint, and Romano's is on the right side of it. It feels like stepping into one of those family-run Tavernas off a square in a little Italian town, when you know the room is exactly as it was 30 years ago. Paper napkins, paper tablecloths, candles dripping with wax, an electric fan on the counter - it all just screams holidays, and you forgive a lot on holidays. What's good to eat? The menu is pretty simple, which in this case made things easier. Starters of bruschetta and garlic bread (that non-Italian favourite) were both excellent, the bruschetta toppings fresh and flavoursome, and the generous, oozing garlic bread, the most comforting thing we've eaten in ages (maybe not one for first dates). Pasta is hand-made each day, and all three that we tried were hard to fault, with the fresh, perfectly chewy pasta the star of each dish. Spaghetti Bolognese was one of those rare examples that doesn't disappoint, the type you try to perfect at home by letting it simmer for 58 hours but it's still never quite as good as you wanted. This one is. Pasta Amatriciana with chilli and bacon was beautifully simple, with a really good tomato sauce, a generous amount of bacon and a perfectly balanced chilli kick. The standout dish, the one that's calling us back, was the pasta with prawns, garlic and basil. A dish of few ingredients but bags of flavour. The kind of simple perfection you might expect for dinner if you went to the house of an Italian friend who takes their food seriously. Pizza is the kind your Dad would like - thin and crispy with none of this sourdough, blistered-crust type nonsense. More Roman than Neapolitan, but there's definitely a place for thin-based pizza and the 'Romano's Special' was light, generous and highly enjoyable. There are places to go for more interesting toppings or fresh oregano rather than dried, but if you know what you're getting you won't be disappointed, because the food is just so satisfying. There's a bit of the Irish-Italian about it, but it reminded us of going to Italian restaurants as a child, being knocked out by the smell of garlic and thinking it was the best meal you'd ever had in your whole entire life and when can we go back please. Guttingly, the Tiramisu had sold out by the time we got to dessert. When we got there the place was full of people taking advantage of the ridiculously good value early-bird (€14.95 for three courses), and they'd nabbed it all - at least we know it's made fresh every morning. We tried the pavlova with fresh fruit instead, which was fine if forgettable, and another retro childhood throwback. That could be one of the reasons why we felt so warm and content all night - memories of happy times. What about the drinks? The most expensive wine on the list is €23, and you can get a 500ml carafe of house for €10, but like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Neither of the two whites we tried (both Trebbiano) were up to much (make sure they are very chilled, it helps), and the red, a Chianto Classico, was fine with food, less so without. We all had headaches the next day, which after 3 glasses of wine is not a good sign, and usually results from drinking more industrially made, mass produced wines. And the service? Very pleasant, but basic - no-one's going to offer you a taste of the wine to make sure it's not faulty. Saying that, we're pretty sure that if you did have a complaint it would be whipped away quick-smart. Romano himself was on the floor taking orders, and every other staff member we encountered had nothing but smiles and a helpful demeanour. Time ran away with us towards the end of the night, but rather than asking us to leave they just started hoovering around us, which seemed to further reinforce the feeling of being in a little Italian town rather than on Capel Street. The verdict? This is simple, incredibly comforting Italian food. Wild boar and truffles it is not, and some parts of the menu may be designed to appeal to the Irish palate (garlic bread, we're looking at you) rather than focusing on authentic Italian cooking, but the pasta is faultless and the flavours are big. We might not be picking it for a special occasion meal, but for something inexpensive that feels like a giant hug it's a very solid choice. So much focus these days goes into new openings and new, young chefs on the scene. It's nice to find someone who's been quietly doing the same things day in day out for years, and doing a great job of it. Just make sure you get a piece of that tiramisu before the early birds nab it all. Risorante Romano 12 Capel St, Dublin 1 ristoranteromano New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bovinity Capel Street gets a sleek new steakhouse Posted: 9 Aug 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? Bovinity just appeared, fully formed, on social media at the end of June, and opened its doors to influencers and celebrities (Keith Duffy himself graced their presence on opening night) mere days later. With the neon signs, industrial chic fit out and high end cocktail shots it was clear who their target demographic was, but we struggled to get more meaningful information out of them - like who owns it and where they were sourcing their food. We eventually found out through the grapevine that it's the same owners as All Bar Chicken across the road and in Stoneybatter, which we've never been to due to the absence of free-range chicken, and were told that their steaks are sourced from FX Buckley. Things were looking up. With all the eye-catching Instagram posts and reels, including some from those there on an #invite , you guys wanted to know what it was really like, and whether Hawksmoor have anything to worry about. Where should I sit? It's a big space and there are loads of seating options. High tables seating a max of four run almost along the full wall leading from the front to the back, where you'll find lower tables and semi-private seating areas that would be ideal for small groups. There's also a lovely booth at the front inside the window that would seat at least six, but they might let you push it to more. Generally we're more fans of natural light than neon, so we'd be out front, but if you're trying to hide, talk in private or carrying out an illicit affair, head to the back. Decor is sleek, modern and industrial, and they've done a great job on the fit out. What's the food like? This is a steak house for the TikTok generation. It's simple, accessible, and there's no fancy information on there, like the provenance of their meat, fish and vegetables, or who the chef is. If you're a fan of Featherblade on Dawson Street you'll find the menu is quite similar here, with a little less flair. We started with some "bits" - very good Nocellara olives, and slightly over-toasted sourdough with truffle mascarpone. Let's be straight, there is absolutely no need for bread in a steakhouse, but it disappeared almost as fast as it hit the table - that "just sat down and starving" hunger tends to do that. If however you feel as Irish Times food critic Corinna Hardgrave does about truffle oil (that it has no place in civilised society and should be extinguished from the planet) you might want to avoid it. (Read more about that here ) On "oyster shooter" came in a pleasant Asian style dressing flecked with chilli and sesame, but when we asked where it was from we were surprised to hear "France". Even in months not ending in R (the generally accepted best months to eat oysters) there are plenty of farmed oysters available across the country, so we can only assume the choice to use imported ones was for cost reasons, and this one was very small. A starter of burrata, mixed heritage tomatoes, splodges of puréed basil and an olive crumb on the other hand hit all the right notes. A clever addition of pink pickled onions brought welcome sour notes to the plate of sweet tomatoes, creamy cheese, fragrant basil and that crunchy crumb, and this is exactly the type of summery starter you might want before diving into a steak - with a whole ball of burrata you could even share it. Our other starter of "prawns pil pil" had enough chilli, garlic and lemon to wake up the most jaded palate, and we unashamedly cleaned the plate with extra bread, but the pedantic in us was irritated by the fact that this is not pil pil - there is no lemon or any form of creaminess in pil pil. Either cook the original dish in bubbling hot, spicy, garlic oil (bread on the side thanks), or just call this prawns with garlic, lemon and chilli and we'll chill out. Onto mains and there was a choice of three steaks (one sharing), a double smash burger, and spiced aubergine for the veggies with dukkah and whipped feta. We started with the burger and were very pleasantly surprised at how good it was (we thought the steak would be the star). Two juicy patties (they would have been better if they were more pink but it takes a brave soul to do that with Environmental Health Officers breathing down your neck), excellent burger sauce, a single leaf of lettuce, cucumber pickle, melted cheese (there could have been more) and a nicely toasted brioche bun was almost faultless, and any burger chasers will want to add this to your beef patty bucket list. For steak we'd been mentally eating the sharing Côte de boeuf (a bargain at €55-€65 we were told) since Bovinity opened, so there was much dropping of faces when we were told it wasn't on. Instead they had a sharing striploin or a t-bone, priced from €55 - €85, depending on the size). We didn't fancy paying top dollar for either of those cuts, so went with a 'chef's cut' which we were told was flank (€17), and a rib-eye (€23). The chef's cut arrived and we doubted if it was actually flank - it had none of the grain, texture or mounded shape you would associate with that cut of beef. Instead it was very soft and tasted woolly, as if it had been cooked for too long in a water bath. It looked and tasted more like Featherblade, which is a beautiful cut when cooked right, but something had gone wrong here. The rib-eye was much better, cooked perfectly medium-rare, nicely browned on the outside, and great flavour throughout. They're not huge steaks, but as city centre prices go it felt like value for money. We've been told by multiple people that steaks come from FX Buckley, and we're not sure why they're not shouting about that. The only problem with both steaks was the sickly sweet onion marmalade that came on the side, and would be far better suited to a cheese plate than a chef's cut of meat. It was completely over-powering, ruining the flavour of the meat, and we advise you to scrape it to the side or ask them not to bring it at all. Especially because the sauces are so damn good. Both the béarnaise and chimichurri were textbook perfect, so automatically adding the onion stuff to plates is ill-judged. There's also peppercorn, mushroom, and we were very, very tempted to order the bone gravy. Chips were good too, skin on, crisp and hot. You can get them naked or with truffle and parmesan (see earlier note on truffle oil), and one is clearly more wanton than the other so choose based on stomach space/satiety needed. You're going to want to try the onion strings (more wanton abandon here), which consist of long strings of deep fried onion, just cooked so there's still the slightest crunch, and although we thought they would have benefited from being a touch crispier, this is a side of the "take it away from me or I'll keep eating it" variety. The only bum-note came with the 'creamed spinach', which first came as a ramekin of 'dry spinach', flaking around our forks like tiny pieces of crepe paper. We called staff and said we didn't think it was right, and were told "that's how it comes", and had to persist until it was taken back to the kitchen and shown to the chef. Eventually we were delivered actual creamed spinach, and it was actually very good, with the perfect amount of cream and nutmeg - we were just left scratching our heads as to how it went so wrong first time round, and why staff weren't falling over themselves to take this dry pot of flaky greens away from us. There are two desserts on the menu, both incredibly heavy for following steak and chips (and the rest), and we think they would have been wise to have something simple, straightforward and lighter on there to end with. Instead you've got a pistachio and apricot bread and butter pudding with crème anglaise and vanilla ice-cream. It's very good, we'd happily eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but after a heavy meal you'll want a spoon or two at most. The other one they're calling "The Marathon - If ya know ya know". If ya don't know, it's a bowl of very good (but again very heavy) chocolate ganache with whole peanuts, a light, creamy topping (somewhere between whipped cream and ice-cream), and more chocolate on top along with edible gold leaf. The same applies to this one - a few spoons and you'll be begging for mercy (or a second stomach). Basically you will not need a dessert per person, but they're worth trying. What about drinks? We were told by past visitors to try the bell pepper sour and it was excellent, with all the tang, bitterness and smoky depth you would hope for. It's clear that work and energy has gone into the cocktail list, and there's loads on there we would have liked to order, including their version of a Negroni with Valentia Island vermouth, and a Bloody Mary with tomato and pickle juice. The beer list is short but not the usual suspects either, with local options from Rascals and the Dublin City Brewing Company. An Irish craft cider would complete the picture. Wines are sadly less exciting, and the two we tried tasted sterile, more like something from a supermarket than a quality steakhouse. We had to send back a Mencia as it tasted off, as if it had been open too long. A freshly opened bottle was better, but as Mencia goes this was not a great example. An Italian blend wasn't much better, and we found ourselves wishing we'd stuck to cocktails. Clearly they're focused on price/value rather than trying to create an award-winning wine list, but they could do better, and to not have something big like a Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon by the glass seems like a big oversight. How was the service? Mostly pleasant but after having to call the server a couple of times to complain, there was a subtle sense of "here go the Karens" again. Situations could have been handled with more care and genuine apologies - instead we felt as if we were the problem. We've had far, far worse service experiences, but some training is needed. And the damage? €145.50 before tip for enough food to comfortably feed three hungry adults with a drink each. As the city centre goes right now it felt like decent value, but would be more so if they just tightened things up a bit. The verdict? Bovinity has brought a bit of glam to Capel Street, and many, many Instagrammable/TikTokable opportunities for anyone who walks through the door, phone firmly in hand. There's a lot of potential here if they can tighten up the food and iron out the creases in service, and we imagine they're looking at more sites, so hopefully this is their number one focus before any expansion plans. There's plenty of gaps in the Dublin market when it come to casual, quality dining experiences, on the lower side of spend and the higher side of fun, and if they put all of their energy into elevating the experience here, and forgot about getting screentime on influencer accounts, we think they'd get to where they need to be much sooner. Bovinity 123 Capel Street, Dublin 1 bovinity.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Allta Niall Davidson's wild wine bar comes to Setanta Place Posted: 10 Dec 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Oh we do love when a chef who's been a hit elsewhere prodigiously returns home, bringing bits of other cities in their armour and implanting them in our own. One thing is guaranteed, it's not going to be boring, and it's most likely going to be something brand new for the city - especially if they're coming home from London, scene of some of the most exciting cooking in the world right now, where unexciting/average/samey just doesn't cut it. So colour us fit to burst when the news broke last summer that ex- Nuala chef/owner Niall Davidson was coming back to Ireland to open a restaurant in the capital. Nuala was pegged as a 'modern Irish' restaurant using the best produce from the British Isles, and Allta (Irish for 'wild') was pitched much the same (with Irish substituted for British), but from early on they referred to it as a wine bar, and much of the talk was about small plates and handmade pasta (both of which we like a lot). Davidson brought ex-Luna head chef Hugh Higgins in as head chef and partner, along with Christine Walsh (ex-Loam) as sous chef, and the trio spent months leading up to the opening travelling around the country meeting producers, and testing recipes in a Terenure test kitchen. When they finally opened last month our readers got first access to the soft launch , and they had so much interest their system crashed. When reservations were released until the end of the year they had over 1,000 bookings in 24 hours. Safe to say people were excited about this one. Where should we go for a drink first? You're definitely not short of options around here. 9 Below (pictured), Peruke & Periwig and The Sidecar (our fav) are all a few minutes walk away if you're after a pre-dinner Martini/Mezcal Smash/Manhattan. For a proper pub head for Kehoe's or Davy Byrne's, and for a good glass of wine head for Isabelle's on South Anne Street, basement wine bar La Cave or La Ruelle. Where should we sit? The long table down the centre of the room is half kept for walk ins, with the other half used for groups. On the side nearest the kitchen the tables are all for two with extremely Instagram-friendly lights above, but there's one light-free 'date table' in the corner if you like things a little dimmer. The tables nearest the window are all for four, so plenty of options. There's also a private dining room downstairs (due to open any day) so if you did want to have your birthday/anniversary/leaving meal there it's a possibility. What's good to eat? The menu is a food sharer's dream, starting with snacks and moving onto a variety of plates, most of which include pasta. They've also just introduced a chef's menu for €48 per person where you get practically everything, but you will have to choose between the spider crab bigoli and the BBQ lamb pappardelle - a choice no one should ever have to make. Cromane oysters come with rhubarb vinegar and are of the dissolve in your mouth variety, with added zip from the vinegar, and the subject of the mural on the wall is the oyster fisherman in Kerry that they buy them from. Anyone who grew up in Dublin was probably raised on ray (or skate as all the cool kids are calling it now), and they've done a very clever take on it with their crispy skate wing and seaweed cream. The bone is used to pick it up (a fish first for us) and it was perfectly crisp, tender and seasoned. A small plate of grilled broccoli, pickled green tomato and goat's curd had immense flavour, and had us kicking ourselves for stripping the leaves off broccoli all of these years. Here they topped the dish like smoky crisps, with the broccoli stems beautifully chargrilled and tender, the goat's curd creamy like the inside of a ball of burrata, and the pickled green tomatoes the perfect foil to lift it all up. Then come the pastas. If you've heard about anything it's probably been the chicken scarpinocc, a stuffed pasta filled with chicken liver mousse in a foamed sauce topped with crispy shallots. It's rich, it's luscious, it's perfect. You will groan - unless you really don't like chicken liver pate, or butter (in which case we can't be friends). The spider crab bigoli is the dish with theatre attached, and another must order. The bigoli pasta is topped with spider crab and an egg yolk when it comes out, before a chef holding a spider crab shell filled with bisque pours it over the top. It's every bit as good as it sounds, with the flavour of the crab coming through on so many levels. The pasta here is faultless, with the perfect amount of chew, and everything combined makes this a very special dish. Speaking of special dishes, say hello to the BBQ lamb with seaweed pappardelle, Cáis na Tíre cheese and wild marjoram. Mayo lamb is salted, confit then smoked over birch and glazed with their own Irish BBQ sauce, black apple purée, brown butter and salted cherry blossom vinegar. If you need to take a minute to process that go right ahead. You'll need another one after you've eaten it. Sticky, smoky, crunchy lamb, wafer thin strips of pasta, that cheese sauce... Swoon... They also sent out an extra dish that's not on the menu yet but will be soon, and form an orderly queue. Hand-dived scallops are flash fried on the pan, then put back in their shells, topped with gooseberry beurre blanc and hazelnuts and placed on top of some smoking juniper wood to finish cooking at the table. Will any scallop ever taste this good again? How did we not know that scallops and hazelnuts were meant to be together? Where has gooseberry beurre blanc been all our lives? So many questions. For dessert they're keeping it simple, with ice-cream or cheese, but obviously not just any ice-cream, 'nitro' (nitrogen) ice-cream, with smoked honey, sea buckthorn and white chocolate chunks. As you do. It's a pleasingly nostalgic end to a stellar meal, and one that won't have you leaving thinking you overdid it. Cheeses when we visited were Coolea or Young Buck, but they had run out of bread due to an issue with their flour supplier, so maybe check beforehand if you feel cheese without bread is like a weekend without wine. What about the drinks? The wine list is full of interesting bottles to drink but the prices are very punchy, so there's not much in the way of value. If that doesn't bother you or someone else is paying you'll have fun exploring it. We found the glass list offered more bang for your buck and lots of interesting wines are open so we'd stick to that. There's also a selection of wines on tap that are slightly more pocket friendly. The by the glass list is not separated into sparkling, white and red, but instead by genre, which those who don't have much wine knowledge might be uncomfortable with (especially considering there's a lot of unusual grapes), but just ask sommelier Ian Fitzpatrick or any of the other staff to point you in the right direction. The chardonnay based sparkling Tuffeau is a great meal opener at €8.50, and we also loved the Czech Krasna Hora rosé (€10.50) with the crab bigoli. And the service? Manager Gráinne Bates is well known in the industry having managed Etto, Forest & Marcy and Piglet amongst others, and her hospitable, bubbly nature is infectious, with other staff equally lovely. The chefs bring the dishes to the tables themselves and explain what's in them, and everyone seemed very chilled and on top of things, making for a very relaxing experience. The verdict? Despite only being open a couple of weeks, Allta is already one of the best restaurants in the city, and we look forward to seeing what the team get up to next, both with the menu and with the second more upscale site that's in the plans down the line. With what feels like a weekly increasing awareness of the importance of eating what's around us, and the sheer amount of world-class produce coming from our small island, places pushing as hard as Allta are going to be instrumental in taking Irish food and restaurants to the next level, and finally shaking off the global image that there's nothing to eat here but potatoes. Allta Setanta Place, Dublin 2 allta.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

M and L Chinese Sichuan spice and a seriously good deal on corkage Posted: 11 Feb 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? As diverse as Dublin’s dining scene is right now, we’ve always suffered from a lack of the type of Chinese food they actually eat in China (trying to avoid the ‘A’ word). There are spice bags and 3-in-1’s on every corner, but try to get a plate of Xi’an Biang Biang noodles or braised, fermented fish belly and you’ll have a job on your hands. M&L on Cathedral Street is well known as one of the few places to get real Sichuan food, but it’s having a bit of an industry boom of late, as word has gotten out about their €6 corkage charge. Cue half the restaurants in Dublin booking it for their post-Christmas Christmas party (no restaurant has their Christmas party in December) so they can BYO some serious wine. Where’s good for a drink beforehand? Let's be honest, it’s not exactly Soho around here. Madigan’s on O’Connell Street is decent for a pint. Apart from that their sister site The Vintage Teapot just across the road is a cute (if ethnically muddled – Chinese dumplings, Italian antipasti and Russian blinis) place for a glass of wine, or post-dinner tea or coffee – they have a particularly good Chinese tea selection. What’s the room like? Like a Chinese restaurant. Cosy with some nice artwork on the walls and minimal table settings. The main room is nicer than the narrower section leading to the kitchen, but this tends to be quieter so better if you want some privacy. What's good to eat? Sichuan cooking centres around Sichuan peppercorns, chillies and garlic, so expect lots of each. There are non-Sichuan dishes here too (black bean, sweet and sour, peking) but we’d steer clear and stick to the ‘chef’s recommendations’ on the menu if you want the real experience. The specials on the board are a great place to start. From there we had beef and pork dumplings, and steamed buns with pork mince. All were excellent, especially drowned in chilli oil. We tried the chicken and sweetcorn soup (more out of curiosity than anything else) which was definitely of the more ‘European Chinese’ variety - gloopy and tasteless. Thankfully things picked up with the French beans with dry chilli, which seem to be everyone’s favourite. You might balk at €11 for a plate of green beans but you won’t once you’ve tried them. They’re M&L’s version of class A drugs - highly addictive. From a previous visit we can highly recommend the deep-fried seabass Sichuan style (on the bone), but this time we tried Seabass in hot and spicy sauce (off the bone), which was like a really good sweet and sour with extra depth of flavour. The fish was perfectly cooked and the skin crunchy, but it wasn't as good as the Sichuan version. We meant to order deep fried chicken with chilli and crispy peanuts (again had it on a previous occasion and again loved it) but in a miscommunication ended up with Kung Pao chicken, which is also a Sichuan dish and was very good, but a bit pedestrian. If you do order the deep fried chicken be warned that the portion is huge, but you can always take the leftovers home (you'll find images of it on Instagram). The deep-fried aubergine with soy sauce was also enjoyable if not overly memorable, but didn’t look remotely deep fried. No crispy edges. We wanted to try the whelks which are an M&L favourite but they weren’t available. The soft-shell crab is also mentioned constantly in reviews but seems to be a table divider. Some love it, some don't. We didn't have enough space to take the chance. In synopsis, you need to know what to order in M&L, and make sure you communicate it clearly to the staff. What about the wine? €6 corkage. That’s all you need to know. We took a cursory glance at the wine list and are sure none of it will kill you, but it would seem a wasted opportunity not to bring something special when the corkage charge is this low. To put it into perspective, a wine that you pay €20 for will cost you €26 to drink at M&L. Standard restaurant margins would make it in or around €50. We took an organic, biodynamic white from a Portugese producer called Aphros (annoyingly not currently available in Ireland, sorry) which was zesty and full of flavour (lime, orange, white flowers), with lovely minerality. A perfect pre-dinner drink while we waited for food to arrive. The chilli sauce with the dumplings eviscerated our palates so we couldn’t taste it after that, but luckily it was almost finished. We also took a Greek red from producer Gaia's 2009 vintage; an obscure Greek grape variety called Agiorgitiko. It’s currently on sale in O’Briens for €18.45 down from €28.95 (for no reason other than most Irish people don’t buy Greek wine), and was a hauntingly beautiful bottle, full of perfume, flowers and blackberries. (It's worth noting that we went back for a second bottle which wasn’t as good, but that’s wine, it’s a living thing so can be unpredictable). Neither were a perfect match for Sichuan food but not much is. And the service? Basic but friendly. No-one will fall over you and you might need to wave a few times but staff are very accommodating. The verdict? There is great food at M&L but you could easily fall into the trap of the Western diner and end up with a pretty standard Chinese, which would be a great shame. Do your research, stick to the chef's specials and bring your own wine and you'll be fine. M & L Chinese 13/14 Cathedral Street, Dublin 2 mlchineserestaurant.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Is it a chipper? Is it a gelato shop? Is it a bakery? Sorrento's may seem like it's suffering from multiple personality disorder, but when owner Cristian Proca can do all three so well, who are we to judge. Gelato flavours change daily, and his focaccia Pugliese have the locals queueing up. Sorrento's Website @sorrento_take_away Address 10B Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Is it a chipper? Is it a gelato shop? Is it a bakery? Sorrento's may seem like it's suffering from multiple personality disorder, but when owner Cristian Proca can do all three so well, who are we to judge. Gelato flavours change daily, and his focaccia Pugliese have the locals queueing up. 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

Bar Pez The Fish Shop team bring seafood small plates and all the wine to the city centre Posted: 8 Aug 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Bar Pez? It's a new wine bar on Kevin Street Lower (just after Aungier Street when you're walking out of town) from the same owners as Fish Shop in Smithfield and Beach House in Tramore. They are very keen to stress that this is a bar , with seafood-focused wine and small plates, and while there's no doubt that the wine list is the star attraction here, we (and everyone else) clearly had high expectations for the food, based on Bar Pez's siblings. Where should we sit? The interiors are reminiscent of a ski lodge, with timber-lined walls, faux oil lamps, and mismatched artwork. There are four solid tables for four (which can't be adjusted for smaller or larger parties), and counter seating on high stools. This is not a venue that's going to work for groups, unless some of the party are happy to stand, or be split across different areas. (Bar Pez) Counter seats either face into the basic kitchen, or onto a wall of wine. There's also a perch in the centre of the restaurant that two or three could stand at if you just wanted a quick glass and a plate of something tasty on route to somewhere else. What's the food like? There's been a bar and/or a kitchen menu depending on the day over the last few weeks, the kitchen menu appearing more towards the weekend. The bar menu is basic, with almonds, anchovies, gildas and a couple of toasts, while the kitchen menu adds some mostly fish-based small plates. A gilda to start is compulsory, and it's the same olive/anchovy/pickled green pepper one as you'll find in Fish Shop, but 50c more expensive at €3.50 (Fish Shop's are €3 each - the rents must be higher around here). On the gilda index it's cheaper than Uno Mas (€4) but more expensive than Row Wines (€5 for two), and it's a strong, salty, pickled mouthful to accompany your first drink. Anchovies on toast (€4.50) consisted of three, half, salty, Cantabrian anchovies, generously doused in good olive oil, with a piece of toast for spooning on top of and mopping up with. Simple but satisfying, and a great accompaniment for the UBE by the glass (more on that below). Lobster toast (€9.50 from the bar menu) was easily the best thing we ate here, with lobster meat, mayo and what looked like espelette pepper flecked through it, and chives on top, the little additions enhancing the lobster's flavour and not masking it. Peas, broad beans and ricotta was a light, summery combo, with mint tossed through it and deep green olive oil pooled at the bottom, but a bit more seasoning would have made it even better. Courgette, crab and basil was another of our favourite dishes - akin to a courgette sandwich stuffed with a perfectly seasoned mound of crab meat, and sweet, pungent basil. We noted on a second visit that it had increased in price from €12 - €13, and the portion was less generous - margins not stacking up perhaps. As you would expect from the people who gave us Fish Shop, the fried fish and aioli was battered and cooked to five-star standards, but it needed better draining, and we found ourselves blotting it with serviettes to take some of the oil off. We'd buy their smooth, ultra-garlicky aioli in jars if they'd do us the courtesy of starting a retail line. Mackerel with peach and fennel (€19) had exactly-cooked, clearly fresh fish, but missed a trick with the flavours. While the peaches were beautifully ripe, mackerel is better suited to a more tart companion, like gooseberries or rhubarb, and without the acid to cut through the fish, it tasted more flabby, and wasn't lifted up like it could have been. Expect one dessert, and when we visited it was a beautifully moist yet burnished apricot and almond tart (€9.50). The tart had deliciously short pastry and excellent flavour, but the fridge-cold, single cream poured around it felt lazy. This tart deserved a blood-temperature crème anglaise - even a whipped cream with vanilla would have been an improvement. What about drinks? The by the glass list features plenty to keep you occupied over a few hours, including electric ATF favourite 'UBE Miraflores' from Cota 45, the flinty, volcanic 'Trenzado' from Suertes del Marqués, and a couple of grower Champagnes, as well as rosé, orange and red options. There's a 125ml and 175ml price, so be sure to tell them what size you want, or you could end up with an unexpected €17 glass of wine on the bill. There's no sherry, by the glass or bottle, which feels like the missing link. Maybe they'll add it in time. If you consider yourself a wine devotee, the very lengthy bottle list may stop you in your tracks, with sections on 'Oceans', 'Rivers' and 'Mountains' to pore over. There's little under €50 though, and the same punchy margins as most other places around town. There did look to be better value in the very high end of the list, with some bottles not a lot more than retail prices (e.g. Etienne Sauzet's Puligny Montrachet 2020 which is €102 retail but €150 to drink here, or Arnuad Ente's Bourgogne Blanc 2018, which we found in Hedonism Wines in London for £298 but it's €360 to drink here - a relative bargain if you've got the desire and the funds). There's also a Coravin list for those wanting to try spennier wines without committing to a full bottle. We tried the delicious Vincent Dancer Bourgogne Blanc (€20 for a 125ml), but on our first visit glasses went as high as €70. How was the service? Great at the start when it was quiet (around 5pm) and generally very pleasant, but derailed as they got busier. They don't take bookings (it's just a bar remember), but every few minutes the door opened and faces walked in hopefully, to be told there was nothing available. They weren't taking names or numbers, prospective diners were just told to wait outside, and looking out the window at the growing, unmanaged crowd was anxiety inducing. As the bar filled up our wine glasses remained empty, and we had to strain and crane to get anyone's attention for anything. We sat there at least 30 minutes longer than we'd planned, due to delays in calling the bill, and then the card machine. Surely the growing crowd outside would encourage the quicker turning of tables, but no one seemed in a hurry, and we ended up feeling guilty that we were unwillingly hanging onto a table that other people really wanted to be sitting at. By the time we were leaving most of them had given up, with only two remaining. We couldn't blame them. What was the damage? €106.50 with two glasses of wine and a soft drink. Needless to say if you delve deep into the wine list you could double that bill pretty easily. And the verdict? We love that the Fish Shop team have managed to bring their skills closer to the city centre, and the wine list at Bar Pez is one of the best, most extensive around - if you've got the deep pockets needed to pay for a lot of it. The food isn't quite as impressive as their Smithfield sibling (which we paid a visit to the same week and found it better than ever ), and the service needs tightening at busy times, but we'd be very surprised if they don't get there considering the team behind it. Bar Pez Unit 3, College Court, Kevin Street Lower, Dublin 8 barpez.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bun Cha Vibrant Vietnamese on Moore Street Posted: 9 Jul 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Bun Cha opened on Moore Street in early 2018 and immediately stood out from the few Vietnamese restaurants in the city thanks to their slick website and professional food photography. We weren't the only ones who noticed, as they had Lucinda O'Sullivan and Tom Doorley through the door in the first couple of months. She hated it, he loved it, but slowly they seemed to be building a fan base for their eponymous bun cha and banh mi. Opened by the same people who own the oriental supermarket next door, we're told it's one of only three Vietnamese restaurants in Ireland that are owned and cheffed by Vietnamese people, and that bringing a taste of home to Dublin was the main goal. So far so convinced. Where should we go for a drink first? We recently made the welcome discovery that Wines Direct have a wine shop and bar in Arnotts with €7 corkage on anything off the shelf, as well as plenty of wines by the glass. It closes when Arnotts closes (from 7-9pm depending on the night) so would only work if you're in early, but it's your best bet for wine around these parts. If you're after a pre or post beer head for The Big Romance on Parnell Street for one of the most interesting selections in town, and if you fancy a caipirinha or a mezcal mule make your way to Wigwam on Middle Abbey Street Where should we sit? There's a Vietnamese canteen vibe that means you probably won't sit here all night, but it's perfectly comfortable for a quick bite to eat. If you're on your own there are a few counter seats looking out onto Moore Street, otherwise grab one of the benches against the wall. What's good to eat? From what we ate the unmissable dishes were the bun cha (grilled pork with noodles) and the bun nem (fried spring rolls with noodles). The chargrilled pork in the bun cha has an obscenely smokey flavour that has to be tasted to be understood (we're talking big green egg flavour), and the pork spring rolls must be up there with the most blisteringly crisp (and delicious) in the city. The balance in the dipping sauce with bits of carrot, kohlrabi and chilli is perfect, and we loved the amount of fresh coriander and mint jammed onto the plates, which is something other Vietnamese restaurants here can bizarrely be lacking. We also loved the wonton soup with shrimp wontons, char siu pork, egg, broccoli and spring onions, and a lemongrass paste to stir into the rich, deeply flavoured broth, that could only have come from hours of cooking. It's a huge bowl of food for €11.50 so only order if hungry or you're prepared to take some home (in their lovely cardboard boxes). Our waiter told us one of his favourites was the dry mixed noodles with roasted pork xa xiu, and it was a disarmingly simple bowl of what looked and tasted like super noodles, with slices of pork, crunchy pak choi, shallots and peanuts. Once we got past the super noodle prejudice we really enjoyed the mix of textures and flavours from the sweet pork, slippery noodles and crispy shallots, and it's a dish we're now actively craving. Summer rolls with prawns weren't the most exciting thing we tried, and could have done with a more amped up flavour, and "fried golden dough" or "quay" were just sticks of somewhat bland savoury dough, but will fill a hunger gap until the mains arrive. In Vietnam these are usually eaten with congee or pho, so that might improve things. We didn't try the banh mi but have it on authority they're as good as many in Hoi An, and will definitely be going back for the pho once the weather turns cold again (which should be any day now). What about the drinks? We'd been told to try the sugar cane juice which is freshly squeezed in the kitchen downstairs, but they were out of it, so instead tried a lychee and mint juice, greener than anything naturally occurring in nature. We wouldn't recommend this unless you like the idea of drinking lychee toothpaste. They do have a short wine list and it's predictably unappealing, but we've seen worse so if desperate you could find something, and randomly they do cocktails, including sex on the beach. Proceed with caution. And the service? Both times we ate here our server was so sweet and welcoming, and very happy to tell us his favourite dishes, both here and back home in Vietnam. For him this is the best Vietnamese food in the city, and when it comes to the bun cha and bun nem we'd find it hard to disagree. The verdict? We've always struggled to understand the lack of Vietnamese food in Dublin when it's so prevalent in cities like London and Melbourne, and such a vibrant, fresh cuisine that most people seem to fall in love with on tasting. It's easy to say that the best Vietnamese cuisine is going to be found in Vietnam, but if you can't afford a plane ticket Bun Cha's doing a pretty good job of bringing it to us. Bun Cha 11 Moore Street, Dublin 1 www.buncha.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Handsome Burger The Galway-born burgers come to Dublin city centre and the airport, but are they still Ireland's best? Posted: 17 Sept 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope & Maggie Fagan What should we know about Handsome Burger? Galway born Handsome Burger hit national headlines after being named best burger in Ireland 2019 , in a nationwide competition organised by meat company Kepak for National Burger Day (what a world we live in). Started as a market stall by two friends in 2017, they opened their first permanent premises on Galway's Dominick Street in 2019, before flirting with the Dublin market at Eatyard . In a surprise move, a Handsome Burger franchise opened next in Dublin airport in summer 2023, with a second standalone site opening on Chatham Street at the start of summer 2024. Their website says they "have two locations in Ireland and (are in) the process of planning a global takeover!" , and there's an inquiry form website for potential franchisees to get in touch. These guys have no interest in keeping things small and manageable. Franchising poses a big problem for business owners who like to be in control of their product - you're effectively handing the reins to someone else and hoping for the best. We've had multiple messages from readers who've passed through the airport and were sorely disappointed with their Handsome Burger experience, and now that the first location in Dublin city centre site is alive and kicking, we thought we'd check both out for ourselves. Where should we sit? Seating in Chatham Street is relatively limited, with just three low and three high tables inside, and more outside which will become defunct as winter wears on. The good thing is people should eat fast and move on, but we wouldn't fancy huddling in the middle of the room trying to dive on the next available table. Outdoor tables are all for two, so not the best idea with a group either, and you'll be blocking the central path if you pull two together. In the airport, it's an open mezzanine situation - sit where you want at seating so hard and uncomfortable it ensures you won't linger. What's the menu like? Complicated. The first thing you should know is that the menu on their website is not what you're going to find on Chatham Street or in the airport. There are five burgers on there that don't appear in either site, nor do the chicken tenders. On Chatham Street there's a choice of three beef, two chicken and a vegan Beyond Burger, as well as regular fries and two with toppings. In the airport it's more limited, with two beef, one chicken and the vegan, and fries are mandatory, with no option to just order a burger - they're not here to cater for the low carb girlos. You'll find their signature "handsome burger" on both menus, with cheese as an optional add on. It also has sticky onions, pickles, rocket and house sauce, which we're guessing is a mix of mustard, mayo, ketchup and gherkins based on this article . It's a juicy burger (if lacking in char) and the sauce is good, but we've yet to be convinced on rocket as a burger filling. At the airport it was an order at the kiosk situation. There were no options for substitutes (not cool in burger world), and it all felt very robotic and lacking in love - that taste came through in the food. Their flagship burger should be top of its game, but the Handsome was a flop. The meat was void of juice and lacked flavour. The pickles that should have been the welcome jazzy crunch to cut through the richness of the meat were soggy. The cheese, although seen, could not be perceived, and there was a serious lack of sauce. Not to mention the bun was dried out. Sad times indeed. The B.O.B. comes with lardons, crispy onions, double cheese and house sauce, and is a step up on the flavour scale from the handsome burger. The crispy onions and lardons add welcome texture to all that juiciness, but once again the burger itself needed more char. Despite asking three times in three different places if Handsome Burger 's chicken is free-range, we are still no wiser - their website says nothing about their sourcing. Their social media account told us that they use " Manor Farm free range Irish Chicken 90% of the time - occasionally we have to get another when demand is higher than supply ." They didn't respond to a follow up question about what it's replaced with. The staff in the airport Handsome Burger told us the chicken is not free-range. A senior member of staff in the Chatham Row branch told us it is - after a long pause where he didn't seem sure. We almost went round back for a root through the bins. The roost chicken burger (which may or may not be free range) had a buttermilk-fried chicken breast coated in a spicy buffalo sauce, which managed to remove all crispiness from the coating. There are pickles, lettuce and not enough Caesar dressing, but it was all so soggy it was probably better off. There's a proper kick to this one, so only dive in if your spice tolerance is high, and your crispiness craving is low. Meanwhile at the airport... Our vegan counterpart was convinced they had made a mistake with the burgers, as the Beyond Meat patty was so close to the real deal. Similarly to the carnivorous Handsome Burger, the pickles were a let down, and the bun dry. Chips were lacklustre and lukewarm. Rosemary and sea salt fries in Chatham Street were just about warm and lacking in crunch, but not as bad as in the airport. We didn't finish either portion, and it takes a lot to leave chips behind. The fries on their feed back in 2020 were declared hand-cut and triple-cooked, and look considerably better than what we were served in both locations. The loaded fries with chorizo, mint raita, grilled onions, chillies and garlic aioli was an unusual if enjoyable combo - somewhere between Indian and Spanish, but a €9 portion that was 25% onions felt steep. What about drinks? You're unlikely to be inspired by their drinks menu, and they're unlikely to want you to hang around once your burger's done, so everyone's happy. There's basic soft drinks or water, a white or red wine (Pinot Grigio or Malbec when we were in), a single Galway beer by can, and a German beer on draught. With all the brilliant beer being brewed in Ireland right now, it could be so much better. How was the service? Not very enthused. We had a muted greeting, and our food took almost 20 minutes to arrive - people who came after us got their food before us so something must have gone awry. What was the damage? €48.50 for three burgers, two fries and no drinks. A handsome burger, fries and a draught beer will cost you €20. In the airport the handsome burger and fries is €14.95 (5c cheaper). And the verdict? Maybe we're spoiled by craggy, crusty smash burgers, but Handsome's fatty patties didn't do it for us. Maybe back in 2019 their burgers and chips tasted better than this, maybe the focus on franchising has taken the focus off quality control. If you're in the neighbourhood and the queue for Bambino is too long you could do a lot worse. If you're in the airport, we wouldn't bother. As far as taking the Dublin burger top spot, Dash have nothing to worry about just yet. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

"Food with purpose" is how As One describe themselves, and it's not a meaningless mission statement. The highest levels of care and energy are given to building relationships with the farmers, food makers and producers supplying their ingredients, and in how they serve them to ensure maximum nourishment for their customers. Gut health is big in here so expect all the ferments, whole foods and minimal messing with them. As One Website asone.ie Address Unit 3, 13 - 18 City Quay, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story "Food with purpose" is how As One describe themselves, and it's not a meaningless mission statement. The highest levels of care and energy are given to building relationships with the farmers, food makers and producers supplying their ingredients, and in how they serve them to ensure maximum nourishment for their customers. Gut health is big in here so expect all the ferments, whole foods and minimal messing with them. 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

Contemporary café at the top of Parnell Street serving brunch and lunch, with pasta and pizza in the evenings. Specialty coffee and carefully chosen ingredients, including beef from the owner’s sister’s farm in Meath. One Society Website onesociety.ie Address 1 Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Contemporary café at the top of Parnell Street serving brunch and lunch, with pasta and pizza in the evenings. Specialty coffee and carefully chosen ingredients, including beef from the owner’s sister’s farm in Meath. 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

Borgo The new 'Osteria Locale' that has Dublin 7 heaving Posted: 2 Sept 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Borgo? The lights went out in Loretta's in Phibsborough almost two years ago, and since then we've lost count of the amount of DMs telling us every other restaurant operator in Dublin was taking over the site. We were beginning to give up hope that anything new would ever materialise, when we got word at the start of summer what was coming, and it was way better than the rumours. Sean Crescenzi and Jamie McCarthy have built a rocketship-style CV over the past few years, starting slowly with Crudo in Sandymount (formerly Dunne & Crescenzi , Sean's parents' business) then the short-lived (and unfortunately named) Happy Endings , before taking off like a missile with Achara , H era (plus bar Juno ) and now Borgo in quick succession. Usually we get nervous watching operators who are onto a good thing move too fast, wondering how they'll keep standards high when spreading themselves so thin, but we've yet to see cracks forming. The opposite actually, with Hera added to the Michelin guide just last week - getting the Michelin man to Dorset Street deserves an award in itself. Borgo pitches itself as an " Osteria Locale" drawing inspiration from across Italy (where the Crescenzis hail from and somewhere both of the owners love), a casual place open to all budgets and tastes, but with everything done to the highest standards. These guys are nailing fresh, contemporary casual in Dublin right now, giving people what they want before they knew they wanted it, and not falling down in any area like wine, service, toilets, how many others can we name... It's beginning to feel like everything they touch is destined for success, and after letting them settle in for a couple of weeks we headed over to the Dublin 7 borgo to see if this is another bull's eye. Where should we sit? The room has had just enough of an update to make it feel like Borgo and not the building's former inhabitants Loretta's (whose owners were in for dinner on the evening we visited - no one recognised them, which made us feel totes emosh). There are pops of colour from neon artwork, a new ambient lighting scheme, panelling that's been painted dark green, new dark walnut panels added above, and half "café curtains" across the front window to let all the light in while maintaining dining privacy. It's got bags of character, and feels like it's been sitting on this corner of Phibsborough for years. Our favourite seats are the curved leather banquettes - your own little corner PDR, ready for you to sink in and veg out for your allotted dining time. There's one at either end of the main window at the front, and others in the centre and against the other wall facing the North Circular Road. If you like seeing your food being made, the kitchen here is wide open, with a view directly in from the back of the room. Either way, make sure to stick a head in on your way to/from the toilet. We should preface all this though by saying that if you want a table at Borgo any time soon, you'll be taking whatever you can get - they are currently being swarmed and it'll take a while before things calm down enough for you to dictate your table. What's the food like? Far too tempting. They could have done half this amount of plates, but then you might not be as eager to go back so soon. Between spuntini (snacks), pizzette (sourdough flatbreads, not pizza), antipasti, pasta, and wood-fired proteins, we can't think of anyone who wouldn't be able to eat how they want here. Got kids? Their children's menu is €10 for a juice, a pasta or pizzette, and ice-cream with chocolate biscuits for dessert (Crudo does similar). Can any other restaurant operating at this standard compete with that? Is there any surprise that it was packed with families at 4pm? ATF's Ronan covered our ATF Insiders preview , and said the focaccia and onion whey butter (€5) needs to be tasted. As usual, he was right. This. Is. Focaccia. The best we can remember eating in Dublin, maybe ever? The crumb, the crust, the flavour, the salt flakes on top, the perfect slick of oil underneath, and that lighter than air onion whey butter... Perfection spread on perfection. We don't usually recommend filing up on bread when there are so many other appealing things to eat, but we make an exception for Borgo. They serve Connemara oysters (€4 each) two ways - one with a bergamot mignonette, and another that's getting all the headlines, topped with a Carbonara-style sauce and cooked in the woodfired oven. It's not one for oyster purists, who'll find the briny, earthy notes lost under the cheese - it's more of an easy introduction for someone who wants their first taste. For our money it'll be the citrussy bergamot mignonette every time. Padrón peppers with Tallegio custard (€6) has been a headline grabber for sheer creativity, and while we would happily, mindlessly eat these as part of any meal, the peppers weren't charred enough and the cheese sauce didn't have the right consistency for dipping - you'll need a utensil to scoop. It was all very pleasant, but not a must order for us. You know what is a must order? Repeat after me: " I will order the gambas ". Say that 10 times, turn around and touch the ground, then go to Borgo and order the gambas with garlic, chili, lemon and more of that focaccia (€18). The tender, luscious gambas, silky from soaking up that impeccable sauce with just the right amount of sweet garlic, spicy chilli and lemon to lift it all up to the heavens. You'll want every last crumb of that focaccia to wipe the plate clean, and don't forget to suck the heads. They've been at pains to convey that the pizzette (€10-€12) are 48 hour sourdough flatbreads, NOT pizza. They arrive puffed up and ready to be cut, torn or just shoved in your mouth, and Mark's oyster mushrooms with stracciatella and aged balsamic was the one to fight over. Another with lemon ricotta, guanciale and Cloonbrook reserve was good too, but we did find the toppings swamped by so much dough. The pasta section is somewhere Borgo excels. Our tortiglioni with milk-braised pork ragu, crumbs, herb oil and Cloonbrook reserve (€21) was on a par with similar ones we had in Bologna on our recent trip there . Don't be afraid of tomato-less ragu - you won't look back. Maybe the dish of the night though was their agnolotti stuffed with ricotta, topped with prosciutto, 24-month old Parmigiano Reggiano and hazelnuts, in a butter sauce (€22). If ever there was a testament to bringing together the best regional ingredients, and letting each of them sing for what they are, here she is. You could not pull this off with substandard produce, and they're not trying to. It's worth nothing that ATF's Ronan loved the amatriciana on his visit, and we both wished we'd ordered the seafood pasta when we saw it travel to other tables. The pasta section is where it's at. If you're more protein than carbs (we're both), you can eat meat or fish from the wood-fired oven. They wanted a good value steak so went for bavette, which comes with cavolo nero, carrot purée, and tarragon and balsamic jus (€28). If you add a side of potatoes you'll be at €35, so it's not a "cheap steak" but by God it's a good one. Whatever they've done to that meat in advance of cooking we need to know about - it melted like fillet, but with that added texture from the coarser grain, the steak browned outside, and served medium/rare inside (chef's recommendation). The accompaniments were pleasant, but could be more exciting. You know what was exciting? Those Ballymakenny Queens with herb cream and Cloonbrook Reserve (€7) - just don't go for a medical any time soon after consuming them. Gnarly, deep fried potatoes are arrestingly crisp, every side is a good side, with piping hot fluffy insides and all the extra flavours to take them from an A+ to an A++++++. BBQ Abercorn rainbow chard (€6) couldn't help but be dull in comparison - we didn't get any barbecue flavours, nor peach in the advertised dressing, but it's always good to get those Irish-grown greens in. No self-respecting Italian has a dessert section without a solid tiramisu, and Borgo's is a monster slice for €9. It's falling over with creaminess, coffee and chocolate, but some of the sponge was too dry and needed better soaking. A very minor infraction. Get one for the table. The bigger hit here is the polenta cake with brown butter peaches, mascarpone and basil (€9). It's another very generous slice (a whole one might kill you) but everything about the textures, flavours and scents of this scream "summer! Don't go!" What about drinks? If you're partial to a negroni order the 'Negroni Sporco' once you're sitting. It's like a Negroni Sbagliato but with Lambrusco instead of Prosecco, and a fat olive perched on top. There's also the 'Borgo spritz' and the 'Pesca spritz', and it was a tough choice. When it came to the wine list we couldn't see past LAMBRUSCO BY THE GLASS. Have the sparkling red wine with the antipasti, have it with the pizzette, and let yourself see the light. The wine list is mainly Italian, with some random bottles in there from France and Spain (presumably for those who can't see past Rioja and Sauvignon Blanc), and it's very much a regional deep dive, so if you're confused just tell them what you usually like, what you want to spend, and let them help find you a bottle. We tried both the house Nero d'Avola and Grillo (both €7.50 a glass or €33 a bottle) and thought they both punched above their weight for those prices. How was the service? They couldn't have been nicer. We walked into a room that was the definition of "buzzing", every seat taken, animated conversations all around, well-behaved children everywhere, friends and families delighting in their new regular, and somehow they managed to effortlessly take care of everyone with kindness and grace. They also let us put in an initial order, then add more on - it's that kinda place. We weren't aware of a time limit on our table, but almost as soon as we got up after two hours, a family of four swept into our seats. If they were under pressure to move us on, they never let on or made us feel rushed. What should we budget? As you know we are greedy little so and sos and ordered waaaay too much - to the point of stomach pains. You don't need to make yourself sore from over eating, you can just go back another time like a normal person, so we reckon €50 a head will see you very well fed, but it's very easy to spend more if you let your eyes do the ordering. What's the verdict on Borgo? More Osteria Locales for Dublin please. More of this seemingly simple cooking with layers of flavour and the best ingredients available to the kitchen. It all seems so simple, yet is so often overlooked in favour of Insta-pretty plating and maximising GPs, hoping customers won't taste the difference. We've said it before that these guys seem to have the formula for what people want right now, and what they're willing to pay for it, and it looks like they've pressed yet another diamond with Borgo. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Reggie's Pizzeria Perfect pizza at a neighbourhood joint you'll want to come back to again and again Posted: 18 Feb 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Reggie’s Pizzeria? We’ve been a long time waiting to see what Reggie White would do next. The Ballymaloe-schooled and LA-seasoned Dubliner’s fingerprints are all over the city’s pizza scene – very literally in some cases. Since kicking off a new era with the opening of Pi all the way back in 2018 (he’s no longer involved), he's put in a stint at the oven of Little Forest , and run a consultancy that advised Bambino among others. Now, he’s installed himself in the Rathmines space where Sprezzatura held sway until late last year, striving to carve out a family-friendly neighbourhood niche that people can swing by time and again. Where should we sit? Chalk the refitted high-ceilinged space in this beautiful building down as one of the city’s most welcoming rooms. On walking through the corner door of the dual-frontage façade you’ll have your eye guided past the spacious layout of tables straight to the three-tier electric pizza oven at the back. We’re big fans of this setup, courtesy of the same team who brought us the interiors of A Fianco and Note among others, and have again achieved a just-right balance of buzzy and roomy, with a still-too-rare focus on acoustics - for all the fast service to come, this feels like a place to linger. We’d expected our V-Day weekend visit to be thronged with doe-eyed duos but, true to intent, the place was packed with a plethora of groups, from younger families (it’s a while since we saw so many buggies comfortably accommodated) to Galentine gatherings – it makes for a great mixed energy. Two-tops along the window-lit right wall make for a great perch to take it all in, while the two booths at the back are more fit for intimate evenings for four. Out on the floor, a host of three to five-seaters will put you in the heart of the action. A big group can expect to get the grand eight-seater inside to the left – it’s easy to imagine a multi-generational family outing having a helluva time here. But the seats we’re determined to snag on our next visit are at the counter, with an eagle-eyed view of the oven and the hands that feed it. The entirety of the adjoining space that was briefly Flaneur, and before that Spatched, has been knocked through and given over to the pizza process, with piled-high bags of flour in the window another great example of how to sell the story of a food business to passers-by, and lure in more of a crowd. What’s on the menu? A lot more than pizza. We’ll get to the main event, but the most important thing to take away here – apart from extra pizza in a box – is that the starters have been given every bit as much thought as the dough and toppings. Olives (€4.95) are the earliest evidence of a provenance-first philosophy at play - these are the good ‘uns, a briny blast of an amuse bouche with the gentlest citrus kick. We’re predicting Instagram action aplenty for the gold-crusted goodness of the mozzarella sticks (€7.50) and arancini (€8.50) – unlike too many other outlets where these oft-filler foods show up, it isn’t all show. There’s a spectacular see-how-far-it-stretches stringiness to the mozzarella, just itching to burst out from its crisp coating. The sharpness of a light parmesan dusting takes the edge off a rich mouthful, though the spicy marinara’s aim to do the same would work better with just a little more heat. Parmesan custard is a combination of words we’re always happy to hear, all the more so when it’s as lush and velvety as here. As a base for these oozing cacio e pepe-filled risotto balls it’s almost daringly OTT, the kind of out-the-gate indulgence that might see you off before you’ve even started. As a sharing plate though it’s perfect pacing, the deceptively airy texture an umami-rich accent to the faultlessly seasoned arancini. Go all in. White has lamented the lack of a free-range chicken wing supplier at scale, and if there’s a starter we’d skip it’s probably these (€11.50), much as the sizeable portions may tempt. The house honey and nduja is a sticky, spicy-sweet sauce of the finger-licking variety (classic is also available), but we didn’t find enough flavour of the brined meat to make it worth the stomach space another pizza might have taken up instead – practical to the core we are. Outside of the inimitable polpette alla nduja at Grano and A Fianco that keep us coming back time and again, we don’t ever expect to get excited about meatballs, but between Hera and here, they may be having a mini-moment in Dublin. Good cheese is the common thread - Reggie’s in-house ricotta keeps the pork and beef balls (€9.50) gloriously juicy throughout, ideal for soft spreading across the sourdough focaccia and lapping up every last trace of lightly-spiced tomato. Alright, let’s have it - what about the pizza? Tastes are too subjective across the Neapolitan, New York, Detroit and Roman styles (now blissfully available across Dublin) for us to definitively declare any the best, but we can comfortably say Reggie’s sits at the top table. Few pizza chefs in the city have spent as much time and effort on their recipes as White, and a 48-hour proofed sourdough base made with a mix of Wildfarmed flours from the UK is the result. If your lockdown-era experiments with home pizza have you wondering why anyone would ever pay for one out, here’s where to come for some clarity. This is divine dough, complex and full-flavoured, with structure and strength that holds up through every last, leopard-spotted bite. We’ve so far made our way through five of the nine options (we''ll be back to finish the lot off), and we’ve yet to encounter a bum note. The classics are always the best place to start, a real test of true skill, and Reggie’s has got it in spades. The margherita (€14.95) drips EVOO and gloriously gooey fior di latte, complementing the sharpness and sweetness of top-tier tomato. That’s to the fore too in the pepperoni (€16.50), balancing out the heat of Ventrecina salami and pickled chillies, both of which are textbook specimens. Sausage, stracciatella, and chilli (€17.00) isn’t a mile wide of the pepperoni’s palate, but a good example of how a little variation goes a long way. The succulence of the Andarl Farm pork gives a softer, sweeter bite than the crisped-edged salami, and so stands up stronger to the added intensity of Calabrian chilli – those who like their heat should go straight for this. We’d have welcomed a little more kick in the leek and Cashel blue (€16.00) - the whey-braised greens have a superb, honey-supplemented sweetness that could have used a little added sprinkle of those chilli flakes - the hot honey dip works well here. Hen of the woods and chicken fat (€18.50) is the most eye-catching among the pizza options – it's no shock given the premium for good fungi that it’s the most expensive too. The fat-brushed crust makes for an inspired elevation of umami shrooms, though we wondered if another cheese might have worked better - for all its nuttiness, Fontina felt a little lost alongside these other ingredients. Confit garlic rides to the rescue with an assertive punch you’ll keep tasting all night. Desserts, like starters, give a clear sense that nothing is here for the sake of it. The old-fashioned ice cream sundae (€7.00) is a creamy, crunchy glass of delight, with pecan and chocolate crumb playing off melt-in-the-mouth scoops from Boulabán Farm. White’s set his sights on making his own in time, but if it stays just like this you won't hear complaints. Milk chocolate custard (€8.00) – we make it more of a mousse – is better again, with a heavier heaping of that chocolate crumb joining forces with flaky sea salt for a textural treat atop super-soft chocolate. A good stir is recommended for those not used to olive oil with their dessert, but an unexpectedly loaded spoonful did tell us they’re using the best stuff. What are the drinks like? The wine menu has good variety and better prices, with six of eight BTG coming in on or under the €9 mark, on an organic and biodynamic-heavy list – keenly competitive with Kodiak across the way and The Dunmore down the road. Entry-level bottles rank among the mid-€30s with blowout options in the main around the €60 mark. The light-bodied acidity of the Anselmo Mendes Alvarinho came in handy for all the starters’ and pizzas’ cheese, while Sainte Croixe rosé stood up well to the meatballs. How was the service? Couldn’t have been better. Tables were turning over quick with the weekend that was in it, and despite a hard finish on our booking time we never felt rushed. Staff have clearly all eaten their way through the menu and are happy to tweak their tips to your tastes. For all the speed they sling pizzas out with, the entire vibe feels very relaxed. And the damage? Budget €40 a head for a very filling dinner and drink, or stick to just a pizza each and shared sundae with change from a twenty. Whatever the mood, Reggie’s represents about as good value for pizza as it gets in this city given the calibre of the ingredients and the care in their cooking. What’s the verdict on Reggie’s Pizzeria? Even in just the two months since our ATF Insiders got the first bites at Reggie’s December soft launch (great perk right – sign up here ) we can see a clear upward trajectory for White and co, and that’s from no low base. This is casual, come-time-and-again dining at its best. Simple food, superb flavour, served free of fuss. As it keeps finding its feet and flavours, we expect this neighbourhood joint to have no trouble bedding in as the community hub it’s aiming to be, somewhere to make all ages, wallets and tastes very happy that they left the house for pizza. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

South Dublin on the sea has plenty of options to keep you happy after a swim or stroll through the character-filled villages of Blackrock and Monkstown. From market stalls to Michelin stars, fresh pasta to French fine dining. Blackrock - Monkstown - Mount Merrion Our Take South Dublin on the sea has plenty of options to keep you happy after a swim or stroll through the character-filled villages of Blackrock and Monkstown. From market stalls to Michelin stars, fresh pasta to French fine dining. Where to Eat 3 Leaves Big Mike's Bresson Camerino Bakery Fable and Stey Fellini's Hatch Coffee Blackrock Liath Little Forest Lobstar Ruchii September That's Amore Volpe Nera

Steam Authentic northeastern chinese food in the back of a newsagents Posted: 29 Aug 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? A couple of months ago, Chinese-American journalist Mei Chin (currently living in Dublin), wrote an article for the Dublin Inquirer about a discovery she had made while walking down Westmoreland Street. Her family comes from the Dongbei province in Northeast China, and at the back of an unassuming newsagents called Temple Express, wedged between a casino and a bookies, she found the food that her family cooks – Chinese burgers, jianbing (crepes), braised eggs, brine noodles. Colour us interested. Chinese food that gets the thumbs up from Chinese people is a rarity in Dublin, so this sounded like it was worth making a beeline for. For weeks we were having conversations about ‘the Chinese in the back of the newsagents’ but on our second visit we found out that it’s called ‘Steam’, and there’s another one in Moore Street Mall . Where should we go for a drink first? This is food that comes fast and it’s not really a place to linger (tables sit above the newsagents and beside a travel company desk), so a drink afterwards might be a better shout. Or this would be a great pre-cinema spot when you need to be in and out with minimal fuss. You’re practically in Temple Bar so if you’re in the mood for telling tales to tourists you could head for any of the overpriced pubs. For good pints in a cosy space it's hard to beat The Palace . For cocktails the Vintage Cocktail Club is few minutes walk away, and for wine you’re less than a ten minute walk to La Cave off Grafton Street or Piglet on Cow’s Lane. Where should we sit? After you order you can go upstairs to find a seat and they'll bring your food up to you. There are a few small tables and two counters – one facing the wall, the other facing out onto Westmoreland Street – they’re the seats we’d be trying to wangle. Too far away from the window and you may be subjected to the sounds of tourists booking sightseeing trips, which no one wants as an accompaniment to their noodles. They do take away too. What's good to eat? We followed Mei’s recommendations and everything was very good. The standouts for us were the Chinese pork burger – a crispy bun filled with shredded pork (lu rou) that’s been stewing for days, pickles and chilli sauce – and the Brine Noodles, the base of which is the ‘lu’ gravy made from stewing meat, along with braised pork, noodles, peanuts and green beans. The soup had a depth and breath of flavour unlike any other noodle soup we've had here, but eat it on a warm day and be prepared for a case of the soup sweats. We wanted to order ‘liang pi’, cold noodles made from mung-bean starch fettucine tossed in vinegar, but they had run out (apparently they’re struggling to source enough of these particular noodles in Dublin), so instead offered us cold noodles with chicken, which we enjoyed, but they paled in comparison to some of the other dishes. Jiang Bian, a kind of Chinese crepe filled with scrambled eggs, scallions, lettuce, hoisin sauce and bits of pastry cracking, was delicious, apart from the completely random hot dogs pieces in our classic version (ethnically accurate quirk we’re presuming), but those few unwelcome additions aside, this is something we would like to eat on a regular basis. Rice with stewed pork (meltingly tender and fatty like spare rib meat) with a side of pickled green beans and cucumber was simple, perfect comfort food. Mei also mentions the braised pork rib with rice in her piece which we’re eyeing up for our next visit. What about the drinks? Newsagent softs only, and it’s not the type of place you’d rock up to with a bottle of wine or a few cans of beer asking about the BYO policy. It’s not somewhere to loiter either, as there'll be plenty of people waiting to take your seats. And the service? Lovely, smiley and very helpful when it came to navigating the menu. The verdict? We’re increasingly hearing people talk about Dublin’s dining scene getting “boring”, “samey” and taken over by soulless restaurant groups or international chains, but paying a visit to a find like this will do a lot to convince the disillusioned of how much great food is right under our noses waiting to be discovered. Steam is quick, cheap and no frills, but it’s the real deal, and that always tastes good. Steam Temple Express, 4 Westmoreland Street, Dublin asainstreerfoodsteam/ New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Low-lit, narrow-roomed Aperitivo, with its waistcoat-clad Italian waiters and limoncello spritz on repeat, is like something lifted from Venice and dropped onto Nassau Street. The tiny room is made for intimate meals, where feet and forks are sure to touch, and the menu full of small plates, snacks and pasta is meant to be shared. For our money the fritti are the best things on the menu, and the cocktail and wine list are worth a deep-dive. Aperitivo Website aperitivo.ie Address 47 Nassau Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Low-lit, narrow-roomed Aperitivo, with its waistcoat-clad Italian waiters and limoncello spritz on repeat, is like something lifted from Venice and dropped onto Nassau Street. The tiny room is made for intimate meals, where feet and forks are sure to touch, and the menu full of small plates, snacks and pasta is meant to be shared. For our money the fritti are the best things on the menu, and the cocktail and wine list are worth a deep-dive. 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

Osteria Lucio Solid Italian cooking centred around quality ingredients Posted: 3 Oct 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Most people in the city know Ross Lewis as the chef-patron of Michelin-starred Chapter One , but not many seem to know that he has another restaurant - a modern Italian in Grand Canal Dock that he opened in 2015 with friend Luciano Tona, also a Michelin-starred chef, from Italy. The restaurant's blurb says that Osteria Lucio is in the style of cooking that Ross would do for family and friends (and we certainly wouldn't say no to dinner round his), and they had some very positive reviews under their belt early doors, but since then seem to just be quietly getting on with what they're doing. For those of us not working or living in Grand Canal Dock, it can seem like a different world. It looks different, people dress different, it's very windy. There aren't a whole load of reasons to head that way (tickets for a show at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre or getting a job in Facebook seem to be the most common ones), but people kept telling us how good the food in Ross' 'other' restaurant was, so we braved the elements to check it out for ourselves. Where should we go for a drink first? There's not a whole pile on the doorstep, and the bar here is really lovely, with interesting wines and a nice aperitivi list, so we'd probably come straight here for a negroni or an aperol spritz. Otherwise you could have a plum and gingerbread daiquiri overlooking the water at Charlotte Quay , or take a short walk down to Beggar's Bush and have a pint in The Old Spot or The Bath Pub . Where should we sit? There are three distinct seating areas - the bar, high tables in the front opposite the bar, and the main room which is cosy and cavelike, and definitely the place to sit if you're looking to engage in intimate conversation. The front area with the bar is a bit buzzier, and great for small groups or lively catch ups, and the bar counter would be great for solo-dining or twosomes who like to chat to the bar staff. What's good to eat? We tried dishes from the pre-theatre (two courses for €25, three for €30) and á la carte menus and everything was very good. Nothing was over complicated, and it's clear they're using quality ingredients and not messing with them too much. Bruschetta on menus here usually has us yawning, but this one, with courgette pesto, tomatoes and olives on perfectly charred bread, was as good an example as we've had in ages. The same focus on quality produce was obvious in another starter of breasola with rocket, datterini tomatoes, pesto and parmesan, which was the perfect precursor to the carby mains. Gnocchi for mains (from the pre-theatre) was of the boiled, not fried variety, and practically melted in our mouths. It sat in a rich ragu of Irish lamb, with dollops of soft goat's cheese and fried parsley on top. The portion was huge, so much so that we took some home. Pizzas (also on the pre-theatre) are thin and crispy, and our Quattro Formaggi with smoked scarmorza, mozzarella, tallegio and gorgonzola was a cheese fiend's dream, our only complaint being that the blue tended to overpower everything else (as it does). Again this was a very generous portion, so come here hungry or prepare to take some home. From the á la carte menu, we loved the Irish beef striploin with shaved cabbage, tomatoes, parmesan and herbs, and if you don't want to roll out in a carb coma this is an excellent choice. The meat was cooked and seasoned perfectly, a combination which is surprisingly hard to find, and this is the dish we've re-imagining eating most since our meal there. The only thing we didn't try was the handmade pasta, but we plan to rectify that very soon, and would be very confident the quality of ingredients would shine through like it did with everything else. For dessert we had to go tiramisu (when in Rome), and it arrived with properly soaked sponge, creamy mascarpone with an espresso crumb and three chunky shards of milk, white and dark chocolate sticking out of it. Hard to think of a better ending to a really enjoyable meal. What about the drinks? As we mentioned earlier, they have a traditionally Italian aperitivi list, with the old reliables like aperol spritz, negronis and bellinis, and some other really interesting sounding cocktails, like 'The Grounds Garden', with vermouth bianco, dingle gin, saint germain, teapot bitters and prosecco. We'd quite like to slowly make our way through the whole list. The wine list is all Italian and has clearly been put together with thought and care. There are no nasty brands, and enough recognisable small producers to provide immediate assurance about the general calibre on offer. We tried a Sicilian blend of Cataratto and Grillo which tasted like honeyed melon and was a really good match for both starters, as well as a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, which was all red fruits and spice, and perfect with both the lamb gnocchi and the steak. Another red, a blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese, from renowned organic/biodynamic wine producer Fattoria San Lorenzo, was one of those natural wines that makes you feel like you're doing your body a favour (trust us on this), and was full of cherries and funk. Everything was so reliably good that we'd be happy to close our eyes and see where our finger lands next time And the service? Totally charming. Our Italian waiter was full of smiles and advice, letting us try wines before committing to a bottle and just providing one of those perfect service experiences where they're there when you want them and not when you don't. Everyone else who came near our table was equally lovely, and they came across as an experienced, confident operation. The verdict? This is a really solid, modern Italian where the fuss is left at the door, and the focus is on the ingredients. They're not shouting about what they're doing, and obviously don't need to. The place was packed on a Monday night, and a waitress told us it was actually quite chilled in comparison to other weeks. Dublin needs more restaurants like this with less jazz hands, and more quiet confidence that what they're offering is worth the trip to get there. Osteria Lucio The Malting Tower, Clanwilliam Terrace, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2 osterialucio.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Family owned and run café and restaurant, brightening up a monotone business park in Dublin 15. Despite the Asian-fusion tagline, their Filipino heritage appears across the menu, with dishes like kare-kare, tapsilog, and halo-halo for dessert. There are concessions for less adventurous local eaters too. Orani Website instagram.com/orani.food Address Orani Food Café Restaurant, Stemple Exchange, Ballycoolin Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Family owned and run café and restaurant, brightening up a monotone business park in Dublin 15. Despite the Asian-fusion tagline, their Filipino heritage appears across the menu, with dishes like kare-kare, tapsilog, and halo-halo for dessert. There are concessions for less adventurous local eaters too. 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 Gaz Smith's only restaurant after closing his original Michael's, and the next door wine bar Little Mike's, to focus on this bigger Blackrock site. The freshest of fish caught off the coast each day, with daily specials that keep diners coming back again and again. Worth a detour. Big Mike's Website michaels.ie/big-mikes/ Address 57 Deerpark Road, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Chef Gaz Smith's only restaurant after closing his original Michael's, and the next door wine bar Little Mike's, to focus on this bigger Blackrock site. The freshest of fish caught off the coast each day, with daily specials that keep diners coming back again and again. Worth a detour. 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

Kaizen Go all in on dim sum in Ka Shing's Dublin 15 sibling Posted: 5 Aug 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story with Kaizen? The Chinese restaurant specialising in dim sum opened on the outskirts of Blanchardstown shopping centre last October. While we don't make a habit of going to shopping centres for our dinner, we'd make an exception here for two reasons. 1) It has the same owners as city centre dim sum den Ka Shing on Wicklow Street, serving their now famous food since 2013. 2) Dublin 15 is one of the worst suburbs in the capital for exciting places to eat, and if we had a euro for every reader complaint we get about how "there's no where to eat here!", we could retire from food writing. Where should we sit? We were taken aback by how beautifully appointed the upstairs room is (there is a lift and wheelchair accessible toilet for anyone who needs it). There's a very grand feeling to the marble effect floor, black chairs and gold accents, including on the dividers separating the tan leather booths. There's every type of table configuration you could want in here, but for groups of four we'd ask for a booth at the window. For larger groups, or if you have a buggy or other extraneous materials, you'll be more comfortable on the circular tables in the centre surrounded by plenty of space. Of course there's a large table with a Lazy Susan for easy sharing of dishes, and we saw a separate room in the back where it looked like a child's birthday party was taking place - beats the food at Funky Monkey's any day. What's the menu like? There are two menus in here - the dim sum one, and the Cantonese one. Our advice is to go all in on dim sum, and forget the rest. Two of our favourites were the char siu cheung fun (€7.50) - slippery lengths of rice noodle filled with smoky, sweet pork and greens; and the deep-fried taro croquette (€7.50) - a crispy croquette filled with the yam-like root vegetable, encased in the most delicate wisps that dissolve as soon as they hit your mouth. Stunning pastry skills. Xiao long bao (soup dumplings, €8.50) had deeply flavoured pork inside a chewy dumpling case, but in some the soup had already seeped out, while pork and prawn siu mai (€7) were a decent example of one of dim sum's most popular dumplings, with chunky pieces of prawn. Make sure to order the cucumber with black vinegar (€6) - crunchy, refreshing lengths of green veg in the tangiest dressing with little punches of garlic and chilli. Salt and pepper squid "whiskers" were the oily antidote to its freshness, but with tender tentacles and salty veg tossed through. We've never met a BBQ pork bun we didn't like (€7), and that didn't change here, the soft, fluffy buns encasing sweet, smoky chunks of char siu pork. Use the chilli oil on the table to amp up the heat. The swan puff pastries might look more like dessert, but there's a savoury and a sweet version. The savoury (€9.80) comes deep-fried, filled with custard surrounded by the crispest pastry layers and an edible neck and head, and they are so delicate, and so delicious, you may need all of your willpower not to order a second round. Beef balls with tangerine peel (€7.50) were a curveball order that paid off. Despite their semi-raw looking appearance, the juicy spheres had deep layers of savoury flavour, and the tangerine, vinegary dipping sauce was the lift it all needed. Pork ribs with garlic (€7) on the other hand would not be on our reorder list, with too much bone and fat and nowhere near enough meat. What about the Cantonese food? We got the feeling this isn't why they get out of bed in the morning, and it's more a case of giving the people what they want, than giving them what they need and they just don't know it yet. There's plenty here to satisfy diners, but it's not the reason we'd be making a special trip to Dublin 15. Firstly lots on the online menu wasn't available in the restaurant (we really wanted that meat floss), so prepare for possible disappointment. We love the semi-healthy feeling we get from prawn yuk sung (€12), with the finely chopped stir fry served in lettuce leaves that you roll up and scoop into your mouth. The one here is excellent, with all the expected flavours of oyster, soy and rice wine and sesame coating those chunks of prawn, pork and veg. A hot and sour soup passed the litmus test, but won't be winning any awards any time soon for outstanding flavour or generosity of ingredients, especially for €9.50. Barbecue spare ribs were too sweet for our palates, with not enough complexity in the flavours to make up for the sugary slant. The meat was as tender as you would hope for, but it didn't feel particularly generous for €10. We were hoping the Cantonese roast meats with rice (three for €30) might be another reason to hightail it to Blanch, but we didn't find anything travel worthy there either. The roast duck, honey roast pork char siu, and Macau-style roast pork belly were all drier and less juicy than we were expecting, and they felt more like a tick box exercise than something that's someone's staying awake nights trying to figure out how to improve. Beijng-style lamb (€25) is one dish we would order again, with rich umami flavour and plenty of veg, although research suggests this should be more of a slow-braised style, than Irish takeaway-style, complete with plenty of cornflour to increase the gloop factor. Tasty? Yes. Authentically Chinese? The jury's out. Last for the Cantonese mains was Beef Ho Fun (€25), a smoky, charred, oily mound of flat rice noodles with tender beef, onions and beansprouts. The beautifully charred flavours make it hard to stop going back for more, but the high fat content makes this one to share, or your stomach will tell you all about it. Desserts are worth saving space for, and were considerably more interesting in the restaurant than online's "deep-fried banana" and "sticky toffee pudding". Staff tried to turn us off ordering the "trendy little white jelly bunnies" (€7.50), and they are just a watery/milky jelly with little flavour, but kids will love the fun factor. The pandan and pumpkin sponge cake (€8.50 is where the big flavours are at, with an airily light swiss-style sponge and layers of pumpkin caramel in between. Served barely warm, it's all too easy to eat. What about drinks? The wine list is predictably commercial and uninteresting, but we had a (just about) drinkable glass of Albariño . We couldn't bring ourselves to try the cocktails, which include "Pornstar on the beach", and the long lost "Long Island Iced Tea". 2005 called - they want their cocktails back. How was the service? Quiet and uneffusive, but efficient. They're also happy to let you order at your leisure, a few plates at a time, which means you can make your meal as short or as drawn out as you like. How much should we budget per person? With dim sum coming in on average at €7 - €8 per plate, a spend of €25 per person will supply a feast of dumplings, buns and cheung fun, which sounds almost ludicrous in today's market. When we went back to try the Cantonese menu our bill was double, for far less impressive food. What's the verdict on Kaizen? You'll forget about the shopping centre surroundings as soon as you climb the stairs into Ka Shing's grandly-appointed sister restaurant, and it's not often the toilets are a highlight of a dining visit, but it's another thing to look forward to (we won't ruin the surprises). Our advice is to go all in on the dim sum, and take advntage of what has to be one of the best value dining experiences in Dublin. New Openings & Discoveries More >>