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Our first 9 Giveaways of 2024 have arrived, and it's a restaurant bonanza! Five star dining, a Middle Eastern supper club for four, all the roast duck you can eat, and loads more. Our ATF Insider service is how we remain ad free, pay our writers, pay for our meals, and operate independently to give you the only advice you need about eating out in Dublin, so if you appreciate our content, we'd appreciate your support to keep it going... Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight on the 17th January will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th January. Here's what we've got lined up for you this month... 1) Lunch for two at The Shelbourne with drinks from their alcohol-free menu and a hamper from Lucky Saint Beer Our recent Instagram poll showed that a sizeable 36% of you are doing dry January, and apparently 2024 is going to be the year of the moderate drinker, so it's good timing for The Shelbourne to launch their new no and low-alcohol menu. As well as a partnership with alcohol-free beer Lucky Saint , they've got new cocktails, spirits and wines on the list, and it's now available year round. We've got lunch for two to give away in No. 27 Bar this month, with a selection of drinks from the new menu, as well as an alcohol-free, beer-filled hamper from Lucky Saint . ( T&Cs: Nontransferable and subject to availability) 2) A €100 voucher for Bullet Duck & Dumplings Dublin has never had enough places to gorge on Peking roast duck if you ask us, and with the recent closures of CN Duck in Ranelagh and Duck on Fade Street, it now has two less. So thank your lucky stars that Bullet Duck & Dumplings is still doing the business on Mary Street Little, with roast Silverhill duck cooked in a specially imported bullet oven, char siu pork and handmade dumplings on the menu. They're open seven days a week from 12:00 - 21:00, and we've got a €100 voucher to give away so one of you can do the dog on it. 3) A three-course vegan menu for two from The Purty Kitchen As well as dry January, Veganuary is also taking up a lot of headlines this month, so The Purty Kitchen in Dun Laoghaire have dived in with a fully vegan menu (€35 for three courses) on top of their regular à la carte, available until the 28th January. The menu will focus on local and seasonal ingredients, with dishes including Pear and Beet Salad, Chargrilled Cauliflower Steaks, and Frangipane with Raspberry Sorbet, and we've got a three-course menu for two with wine pairings to give away to one of our Insiders this month (value €120). Reservations are recommended via purtykitchen.com . 4) A €100 voucher for dinner at Root, Skerries We were so impressed by a recent lunch at newly opened Root in Skerries (beef cheek toasties with truffle mayo for the win), that we immediately started plotting a return for one of their dinners (and they're open on Valentine's Day). Local owner Alex Lee and chef Andrew Kelly (ex-Potager and Bastible) take food and flavour very seriously, and the menu screams that this is not your run of the mill suburban café. We've got a €100 voucher for dinner at Root to give away this month, and we might see you there because we just can't stop thinking about crumpets with cheese custard and nduja . 5) Dinner for four with wine at L Blanc Mezze It was ATF Insiders who first alerted us to L-Blanc Mezze 's weekend supper club at Cloud Café in the North Strand, telling us we needed to check it out asap. Started by longtime friends Arda and Anil, the menu draws inspiration from the Mediterranean and the Middle East, with mezze include baba gonoush, atom and tarator, and mains including Hunkar Begendi (slow-cooked beef) and Imam Bayildi (roast aubergine). A set menu including two mezzes, a main and a glass of wine is just €35, or €40 with dessert, or you can pick six mezzes to share with a bottle of wine for €75. We've got the full experience for four at L Blanc Mezze to give away this month, with a bottle of wine of your choice. 6) Two tickets to an 'Asian Kitchen Cocktails' showcase at Asia Market and a €50 voucher Asia Market , the go-to grocery store for all of your favourite far eastern ingredients, has announced their schedule of events and experiences to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and there's a packed programme from Saturday February 10th to Sunday February 25th. We've got two tickets to Master Mixologist and award-winning Spirits Writer, Oisin Davis' special ' Asian Kitchen Cocktails ' showcase at their Ballymount store on Saturday February 17th, showing you how to make world-class drinks at home using ingredients and spirits available from Asia Market , which you'll sample while enjoying some tasty snacks. The winner will also have a €50 voucher to spend in any of its stores (Drury Street, Dublin 2, Ballymount, Dublin 12, or their newly opened Mini Asia Market in Maynooth), or online where you can get nationwide delivery. 7) €100 to spend at El Fuego Tacos and Pastiamo Trucktorria at Eatyard Have you tried the tacos from El Fuego at Eatyard ? We did and we haven't stopped thinking about them. The crispy shells, the pitch perfect pork carnitas, the birria consommé on the side - these are undoubtedly some of the best in the city. And right next door you'll find the death row carbonara from Pastiamo Trucktorria - you can also level up by going for the one with black truffle. (They're taking a break from Eatyard until February for unit upgrades, but you can also find them at The Place Street Food on Grand Canal Street.) We really want all of you to try both of these, so one of you will be winning a €50 voucher for each, which should get you most of the menu. 8) A €100 voucher for Fayrouz Middle Eastern Fayrouz in Dublin 8 has got to be offering some of the best value food in the city, with the mezzas a brilliant way to eat your way through kibbeh, arayess, hummus and fatoosh for very little money. The free corkage on drinks just adds to the incredible value, and the €100 voucher we've got to give away this month will go a very long way. You can also order for takeaway (and you'll feel much better than after a chipper), and it's the ideal pre-gig eating spot before heading into Vicar Street. Check out Fayrouz here . 9) A monthly fermentation subscription from 4 Hands Food Studio Rose Greene and Margaux Dejardin started 4 Hands Food Studio in 2018 after a previous life working in Michelin-starred kitchens and on organic farms, followed by restaurant pop-ups and food collaborations in Ireland. These guys are fermentation fanatics, and an example of a genuinely sustainable business . Their new monthly subscription sees a changing selection of their naturally fermented products like sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha delivered to your door for €60, with optional add-ons like hummus, sourdough and granola. We've got a monthly subscription with add ons to give away this month worth over €100, to give your gut the New Year boost it's been waiting for. Email 4handsf@gmail.com to sign up. Everyone signed up to   ATF Insiders   for January (new and old) will be automatically entered into the prize draw - you don't need to do anything. If you're not signed up yet join here  before midnight on the 17th January to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

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

For all the grim news of closures that’s kicked off the year, it’s a crowded slate in our first new openings report of 2024, with a whole host of outfits arriving on the scene across the last few weeks. The north of the city fares better than usual with plenty of action in the suburbs too – a sign, as if we were in need of another, that central area rents are going beyond the reach of small and new businesses... Board, Clanbrassil Street Arriving right on time to ride the dry January wave, alcohol-free bar Board opened its doors last week with a half-price promo that saw plenty of curious crowds pour in to check out the new venture from BodyTonic, they of The Bernard Shaw and WigWam among others. Impressive shelving units in the downstairs pub and upstairs café area hold a host of board games to enjoy as you sip on the range of non-alcoholic draught beers, wine and cocktails they’ve pulled together, with a house rule that the loser buys the next round a clever marketing pitch to keep the bar busy. The brunch and evening pizza menus aren’t anything overly eye-catching, but should cater to most tastes. Honey Honey, Bath Avenue Portmarnock staple Honey Honey has been reliably thronged since its 2018 opening, but it’s a surprise to see them expanding to a second site on the other side the city. Their standout yellow branding has taken over the Bath Avenue space that was previously home to Farmer Brown’s, and we’ll bet the smell of pecan honey crunch cinnamon rolls has started turning heads as it wafts its way through D4 too. Menus are expected to change on the regular, but alongside the all-day cakes and pastries you can expect granola, porridge and breakfast brioches for breakfast with a choice of sandwiches and quesadillas for lunch. Panacea, Sandyford Converting its spacious conservatory area into a new art deco dining space, Sandyford House opened up Panacea at the end of November, a higher-end alternative to the gastropub fare previously offered. Pastries and sausage rolls dominate the breakfast menu while seafood abounds for lunch; at dinner, yellowfin tuna and foie gras front a fancier offering that also includes Andarl Farm pork chops and slow-cooked short rib. They’ve made a particular pitch of their “carefully sourced and curated” cellar wine list, and while the reds look the part, there’s just five bottles of white listed – not quite what we expected with this much fish on offer. Boom, Francis Street The inside track for Inchicore residents has always put Boom right up there as the best coffee around, so Liberties locals will be glad to see they’ve chosen Francis Street for their second outlet. Sat beside Turkish café Rumi , another recent opener here, it’s a significantly bigger site with the kind of stop-and-savour space the original’s limited room always struggled to provide - all the better to enjoy their selections of Tartine pastries and vegan and gluten-free cakes from Rua. With beans supplied from Bell Lane in Westmeath, Boom are pitching themselves as the best value specialty coffee in D8 – a bold claim. Tacos Lupillo, Inchicore Anyone passing through Inchicore in recent weeks can’t have failed to notice the head-turning queues snaking out from Cleary’s pub. Tacos Lupillo is the culprit, a Mexican restaurant crammed into the tiny kitchen space that occupies one corner of the building. Strong word of mouth from Mexican influencers in Dublin seems to have driven the rapid, rabid following that’s engulfed the place and sent crowds flocking to its street food selection, including tacos, gringas, quesadillas and more. You’ll have little hope of snagging one of the three tiny tables inside; luckily Cleary’s have smartly agreed to allow punters eat in the pub, too. El Fuego, Eatyard Eatyard at the Bernard Shaw has added a new vendor in the form of El Fuego , the taco truck that’s gone from strength to strength since starting out in Laois early last year, and adding gradually more markets and festivals to its roster. It’s a pared down offering here from the mobile kitchen with just tacos and sides rather than the burritos and bowls they offer elsewhere, but their beef birria with a consomm é  dip on the side was all we had eyes for either way. They’ll be there every week from Thursday to Sunday. Krewe, Portobello New Orleans-inspired Krewe on Capel Street has been reliably packed since reopening post-pandemic (their original ill-timed arrival at the end of 2019 never let them build up much steam), and for all the faults we found on a visit last year , their range and keen pricing has kept them thronged enough to make this second arrival inevitable. It’s set within the new Charlemont Square development in Portobello – you know, the one that pushed out the Bernard Shaw’s previous incarnation – and looks to have ample space to mop up all the interest it should attract on this side of town with its Creole-inspired cuisine. L-Blanc Mezes, North Strand Road With a growing list of closures only a week in, it’s looking like 2024 will be another challenging year for the industry. In such an environment, we’re expecting to see a lot more supper club popup entries like L-Blanc arrive on the scene. Opening Friday and Saturday nights in North Strand Road’s Cloud Café , this Turkish mezze restaurant is offering a focused menu with eight small plates and three mains – sounds like the perfect size to try everything in one go to us. Three prix fixe menus ranging from €35 to €70 look like especially good value in the current climate. Daata, Blackrock After cracking the Dublin market in 2021 with a third opening in Glasthule, Pakistani restaurant Daata has inched further into the capital with a fourth site in Blackrock. Taking over the sizeable premises that previously housed Flash Harry’s, they’ve given the space just the love and attention you’d expect from their other locations. The family-run business, which originally set up out of Wicklow as far back as 1999, offers plenty of variety across its wide brunch, lunch and dinner menus, with a great value kids’ menu and signature cocktail selections only adding to the appeal. Andhra Bhavan, Marlborough Street If the high praise of Vritti Bansal’s review wasn’t enough to turn our heads towards Andhra Bhavan , the chorus of Indian expat feedback on Google declaring it tastes just like home surely would be. This new arrival to an unassuming stretch of Marlborough Street has racked up an impressive reputation in just over a month of operation. Open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it’s got an extensive menu of South Indian dishes, many never or rarely seen across Dublin. The promising word of rasam, manchurian and top-tier dosa has us very keen to get in and try it for ourselves. Yew Tree, Terenure After dropping hints of things to come since as far back as September, Yew Tree has opened in Terenure, a new neighbourhood restaurant from the people who brought us Clanbrassil Street’s 57 The Headline, which shuttered after ten years when the building was sold. It’s more of a wine and small plates vibe than the previous premises’ beer and (high-end) pub grub, with duck pâté and black pudding croquettes among the standout selections of the evening menu. They’re also offering a range of toasted sandwiches as a weekday lunch option, with Sunday roasts a holdover from the Headline days. Honest2Goodness, Botanic Avenue After leaving the Glasnevin farmer’s market that bore its name for 14 years at the end of last year, Honest2Goodness wines have moved on to a new home nearby in Botanic Avenue (the market remains open for now and a new operating team are looking for a location to move to in the future - there's a new Instagram page here ) . They’re offering a small selection of snacks and wines by the glass in this small corner site, as well as a retail outlet for their extensive selection of imported wines – if you’ve ever attended any of their excellent tastings, you’ll know this is one to keep a close eye on. Coming soon... Vice, Phibsborough The good news for the Northside just keeps coming: Vice , home to some seriously good pizzas and wings over on Merrion Street since late 2022, is opening a second outlet in Phibsborough. They’ll throw open their doors on the 24th.

You won't find any dry January or Veganuary resolutions around here - we only tend to go in for behaviour improvements we have a hope of keeping long-term, so gut health, grocery refills, and buying better meat are high on the agenda for 2024. Here are the New Year's resolutions you might actually stick to this year... Give your gut a leg up 4 Hands Studio 's Rose and Margaux have been busy fermenting anything and everything in Westmeath for the past few years, and their new monthly subscription is a great way to boost your gut health in 2024. You'll get kombucha, sauerkraut, apple cider vinegar, fermented chilli jam and more for €60 a month, and there are optional add-ons like sourdough, hummus and granola. Email 4handsf@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number and they'll send you a payment link. Buy better meat We don't go in for Veganuary around here, but we do go in for eating a bit less meat, but spending more money on it. That's where a quality butcher like The Village Butcher in Ranelagh comes in, and with nationwide delivery you don't need to worry about lugging pork shoulders and lamb legs into the boot or onto the bus. Apart from all the usual kitchen staples you can experiment with Irish rose veal and buffalo, French wild boar, and Japanese Wagyu, and the team there are great for prep and cooking advice. Learn to make your favourite restaurant food at home Great 2024 news - M&L's dumpling making classes are back on Sunday 28th January. If you've had their handmade, chunky dumplings the likelihood is you've thought about them a lot since, and now you can learn their tricks to recreate them at home. For €50 you'll learn to cook and eat beef, pork, prawn and vegetable dumplings, and you can book a place by texting 0877542775. Get to know Irish, organic vegetables It's a case of use it or lose it when it comes to Irish veg (especially the organic kind), where growers seem to be giving up and leaving the market every week. Yes it can be more expensive to buy local (and definitely to buy organic), but we'll happily drop one lunch out or a few coffees to upgrade our veg shelf to the good stuff from Green Earth Organics . Apart from the age old "you are what you eat" mantra, we want these guys to be around next year, and the one after that, and unless more people realise the true price of homegrown produce, Dutch peppers and Moroccan raspberries might be our only option in the next few years. Refill, refill, refill It's all too easy to stick to the same shopping habits month after month, but if you make one change for 2024, find a grocery refill station and head there with your containers in hand, instead of adding to plastic mountains across the globe. There's Minimal Waste Grocery in Raheny, Noms in Phibsborough, The Souce in Rathmines, and The Good Neighbour in Dundrum, with the latter hoping to open more refill stations in 2024. Once you get into the swing of it it'll become second nature, promise. Eat at local and independent restaurants Not to be dramatic, but it feels like we're on the cusp of a tidal waves of closures, with each week bringing more shockers. It can't be said enough that if you want somewhere to survive, you need to support them, so the next time your Insta-hun friend wants to book The Ivy for a getogether, set them straight and divert that money towards the places where your booking really matters.

We're back with at least one veggie dish (for the month that's in it), a main course inspired by a cocktail, and a wintery cruffin, as some of the 5 things we want to eat most in Dublin this week... 1) Steamed Cod, Hang Dai Hang Dai are celebrating their kick ass cocktails with a collaboration where bar meets kitchen. Their steamed cod, chilli and ginger dish is inspired by their Chili Chili Yaw cocktail, and features a special blend of pepper, chili shrub, bay leaves, and coriander seeds. What a pairing. 2) Veggie Bap, Honey Honey Cafe This Toonsbridge halloumi, smashed avocado, fried egg veggie bap, served with homemade vegan ketchup, from the new Honey Honey Café in D4 is the perfect way to ease yourself into a meat-free January. You could drop the cheese and egg if you're doing Veganuary, but why torture yourself. 3) Pepperoni pizza, Minetta Deli The pizza-by-the-slice game has got its game face on in Dublin at the moment. With the recent arrival of Mani , we love to see more top notch pizza sold by the slice (perfect for people with commitment issues). Sisters Nicola and Deboragh Hughes of Minetta Delicatessen - an Italian/NYC inspired café/deli are slinging out this little pepperoni number with hot honey if you find yourself on the Sutton side of the city. 4) Blood orange super split, Mr Fox The retro super split dessert has been a fixture at Mr Fox since day one, but it's been given a January 2024 update with the addition of blood orange. We approve. 5) Apple crumble cruffin, Bread 41 There's still plenty of time to eat all the wintery desserts, and this spiced apple butter and custard cruffin from Bread 41, topped with a cinnamon glaze crumble has us in a low key chokehold. Clearly we didn't treat ourselves enough over Christmas so we may as well keep going...

ATF Insider's last 9 Giveaways of 2023 are here! We've got a food and culture filled hotel stay in Dublin, vouchers to try the city's hottest new openings, food and drink-filled Christmas hampers and more. Our ATF Insider service is how we remain ad free, pay our writers, pay for our meals, and operate independently to give you the only advice you need about eating out in Dublin. If you enjoy our content and haven't signed up, maybe this will be the month you cave... Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight on the 17th December will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th December. Here's what we've got lined up for you this month... 1) A stay in The Croke Park Hotel for their 15-minute Dublin experience, worth over €300 The Croke Park hotel (part of family-owned Irish luxury hotel group, The Doyle Collection) will be putting up one ATF Insider (and guest) overnight in a luxury guest room on Thursday 11th January, for their 15-minute Dublin: Peter Pan at The Gate experience, with breakfast the following morning, and a pre-theatre dinner in the Hawthorn restaurant. The Croke Park Hotel is the official accommodation partner of The Gate Theatre, and the new city escape packages are aimed at giving guests an insider’s track to the city, changing throughout the year to highlight the cultural richness of the local area, including the Gate Theatre. To find out more click here . 2) Saturday lunch for two at Tom Foster's residency at Mamó Howth's Mamó is one of our favourite places to spend a few hours in the capital, and from January 12th - February 4th, Australia's best young chef , Tom Foster, is taking over the kitchen and dining room. At 29 Tom’s career has spanned restaurants including The Ledbury in London and Cirrus Dining in Sydney, and most recently he was head chef at ELE By Federico And Karl. He and his team will be cooking a seven-course menu over four weekends, with a wine pairing also available, and we're sending one of you there for a long Saturday lunch to see what all the fuss is about. Tickets are available here . 3) A €200 voucher for Bootleg The guys behind Big Fan, Sprezzatura and Bow Lane have come together to create a new wine bar, Bootleg , in a former Starbucks on Drury Street, and with Big Fan chef Alex Zhang in charge of the Mediterranean-ish food, you know this is going to be good. Wines are natural leaning with a vintage "back catalogue" list for the serious drinkers, and there's an Apertivo cocktail list. Recyling is big on the agenda, with the bar and high tables made from sheet material removed from the walls, and from the New Year they'll be doing wine nights, live music and more. We've got a €200 voucher to give away for Bootleg this month, that can be spent on food, drinks or events (excludes their vintage wine selection). Book a table here . 4) Lunch for two with wine at  Cellar 22 A new wine destination has opened at St. Stephen’s Green, and we're most interested in the fact that they're making 80% of their charcuterie in house. Cellar 22  is a cosy, downstairs space with a wide-ranging wine list and an all-day dining menu featuring that charcuterie, breads, cheeses, tartare, crudo and more. Chris Maguire (ex-Frank's and Delahunt) is in charge of the kitchen, while sommelier Victor Nedelea (ex-Sole) is in charge of wine, and this month we're sending one of you for lunch in Cellar 22 to be spoilt by both. 5) A €150 voucher for Mani on Drury Street There's no danger of anything to do with Christmas over-shadowing the buzz about Mani opening at breakneck speed on Drury Street. Since opening for business last weekend there's been a constant queue down the street, and we've officially lost count of the amount of people we've seen saying their carbonara slice is the best pizza in the city. Ex- Pala Pizza owner/chef Rory Shannon has joined Mani creator Ciaran McGonagle in the kitchen, and if that ain't a dream team what is. We've got a €150 voucher for Mani to give away this month so one of you will be seriously splurging on slices, suppli and deep-fried lasagne. 6) A Premium Irish Hamper from Lotts & Co worth €125 Premium grocer Lotts & Co specialises in the best Irish and international food, craft beers and wine, and every visit there unearths something we absolutely must have in our fridge/press/drinks cabinet. As well as their in-store stock and monthly food and drink subscriptions , they also do a keen line in hampers, and this month we've got one of their premium Irish hampers worth €125 to give away, with products like Cloud Picker coffee, Crossogue preserves, and Skelligs chocolate. Check out their hampers and gifts here . 7) Bar f ood & cocktails for two worth €100 at Kinara Kitchen Ranelagh Ranelagh's Kinara Kitchen has recently done a revamp of its bar space, so customers can now enjoy their award-winning cocktails and Pakistani nibbles in an even more intimate setting. From date nights to friend meet-ups this festive season, they've also announced extended operating hours, with all three restaurants open from 12 pm-7 pm on Christmas Eve, and reopening on the 27th - k eep up to date by following @kinara_group on social. To celebrate its new cocktail space, Kinara Kitchen is giving one lucky ATF Insider a bar bites & cocktails experience for two worth €100. 8) A Roe & Co Distillery experience and hamper Roe & Co Whiskey  is made from hand-selected stocks of Irish malt and grain whiskys and aged in bourbon casks, with flavours of vanilla, toffee and spiced orchard fruits. The Dublin 8 Distillery and Visitor Experience opened in  June 2019 focused on cocktails, and they won 'Best Distillery Tour 2020' at the International Spirits Challenge. We're sending one of you off to Roe & Co on a blending or flavours experience, and you'll also be sent a bottle of Roe & Co Whiskey, glassware, a box of Tara Gartlan chocolates, a Christmas decoration and a tote bag. Check out their experiences here . 9) i-Stil Vodka and  Ballymaloe  Vodka  Cranberry  sauce Ballymaloe Foods have partnered with i-Stil 38 Premium Irish Vodka to use their pink berry vodka in a more grown up take on cranberry sauce.  i-Stil 38 is produced in West Cork and is the number one selling premium vodka in Ireland. Their ' pink berry' is made with distilled Irish grains and Irish berries, and they recommend enjoying the resulting vodka cranberry sauce with roast turkey, nut loaf, brie cheese or even mixed into a festive cocktail. We've got three bottles of i-Stil 38  vodka and three jars of the cranberry sauce winging its way to one ATF Insider this month, and we won't tell anyone if you pass the other two off as last minute Christmas presents. Everyone signed up to   ATF Insiders   for December (new and old) will be automatically entered into the prize draw - you don't need to do anything. If you're not signed up yet join here  before midnight on the 17th December to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

What should we know about Fusco's Cafe? Fusco's has been around for donkey's years - it celebrates its 60th anniversary next July - and it's one of the OG Dublin chippers, getting bonus points for the ability to sit in. They're are known for being one of the few that still serve ray, which is "very Dublin", but we did find a good few others including La Costa in Clontarf, Macari's in Glasnevin, C.Aprile in Stillorgan, Tony's Super Takeaway in Coolock, The Lido on Pearse street, and Roma in Clondalkin. What did you have? Their menu has all the usual suspects, from burgers to fish, fried chicken to kebabs, and an all day breakfast. We rang a day in advance to secure the ray (lighter in taste than cod, and more delicate) as we heard it sells out. It arrived (via table service if you don't mind) beautifully battered and steaming hot. The trick is to open it like a book (Norina, the owner Filippo's daughter advised) and work around the bones. We encountered a couple, but they're more like cartilage in texture, and we hear some people eat them. The flesh was light, fluffy and a nice change from the ubiquitous cod. We also ordered the smoked cod, a good litmus test for any chipper worth their salt (soz). It was beautifully smoked, super fresh, and falling apart on our forks. When you see a Warley burger on a chipper menu, you know you're in for a good time. Also known as "wurley" burgers, Norina told us that they were invented in Fusco's, and consider us starstruck. A regular who went by the name of Warley (who only passed away last year) used to come in and ask for a quarter pounder patty to be battered, and hey presto - the iconic Dublin delicacy was born. Our burger was nicely assembled, with the batter giving an interesting texture contrast, but we'd save this one for a hangover. Another good test of chippers is their battered sausage. Fusco's have used the same recipe since day one - a combination of beef and chicken, with a heavy hand on the spices. The flavour's almost closer to black pudding - it's not your traditional battered sausage. Their chips are fluffy, crispy, very well seasoned, and were gone in minutes. Excellent chipper chips to be had here. Norina recommended we try the curry roll and who are we to refuse. It's a curried rice log that they get from their neighbouring Chinese takeaway, and in classic chipper fashion they toss it in the fryer. It comes with a side of curry sauce and ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you, the deep fried 2 in 1. The flavours were all there, but the texture was a bit stodgy and homogeneous. It was a trip all the same. What is there to drink? They offer all the usual soft drinks, along with tea and coffee, and for those that way inclined you can go full retro with a pint of milk. Why should I go? Come for the history, the ray, and Filipio's iconic kick boxing portrait on the wall. The charming staff, fresh fish, and above average chips are three more reasons to pay a visit to this Dublin city institution . Long live Fusco's! Fusco's Café 27 Meath St, The Liberties, Dublin 8

An old school sherry, a once a year truffle brie, and a Greek classic are all calling our names this week... 1) Sherry Trifle, The Pig's Ear Does it get any more old school than a sherry trifle, the marmite of desserts? The Pig's Ear have made a bold move featuring the Christmassy classic on their menu, seen as they're synonymous with grannies and ladies named Vera, but we'd much rather eat one made by a professional - our Grannies never made them this pretty. 2) Shrimp Saganaki, Shouk We adore Shouk , and it's not every day they get a new menu item. Warm up with their newest dish - slow cooked shrimp in a Mediterranean tomato sauce with hints of anise and Bulgarian cheese, flamed in their woodfired oven and served with freshly baked bread made in house. 3) Pumpkin Risotto, Note We're still in our pumpkin era, and this pumpkin risotto with taleggio and sage looks like the perfect wintery plate to cosy up with at Note . Grab a seat at the bar, order a glass of La Palazzina's Nebbiolo, and forget about all the Christmas presents you still have to buy. 4) Dongé Truffle Brie, Sheridan's Sheridan's once a year Dongé truffle brie has landed, and what is Christmas if not fresh St. Jean black truffles from Burgundy sandwiched between layers of creamy young brie and double cream cheese. Ripened in the Cousances-les-Triconville cellars of the Dongé family, this should take pride of place on your Christmas cheese board. 5) Caramel Tart, Daddy's Cafe December is the month of indulgence, and this caramel tart from Daddy's is the sweet treat you don't need, but will want. It's layered with a thick dulce de leche and topped with a crumbly coconut sponge - in for a penny and all that.

What should we know about Just Chubby's? Just Chubby's taco truck was a long held dream of 147 Deli 's flavour master Barry Stephens, and was meant to open pre-covid. Almost two years later than billed, they finally opened their hatch outside Lotts & Co. in Clontarf in Summer 2022, and immediately queues and early sell outs became the status quo. While they initially parked their truck in front of the multi-coloured, specially commissioned mural, they're now inside the warehouse behind it, meaning cover and more seats. What did you have? There's tacos, sides and salsas which cost extra (more on that later). You're here for the tacos, and up until last spring they were €5 a piece, but they've risen sharply to €6.50. Assuming you'll want at least two, and maybe a salsa for each at an extra €2.95 a piece, you're looking at €20 before you've touched anything else. Comparing this with El Milagro 's food truck in Herbert Park, where you'll get two tacos for €12 with your choice of salsa on the side for each, we're in the rafters here (and we've had many complaints about El Milagro daring to charge €6 a taco). We tried all three, with the ale-braised pork marginally out in front. The sweet, tender meat comes with salsa verde and an onion/coriander mix on top for freshness, but we would have liked more salsa to drown it with. The chicken, with chipotle and honeyglazed red pickled cabbage, salsa verde and jalapeños needs a warning - we were almost crying trying to refill our water bottles. A particulary spicy batch of jalapeños maybe, but it was hard to taste anything during the brief period our taste buds were burnt off. The veggie had charred sweet potato, onions, white cheese, epazote (a Central American herb) and chipotle salsa, and we really liked this too, with its milder spice and sweet/savoury flavours. What it was all missing though was free-flowing salsas. At almost €3 each it will chunk up the bill considerably to add a few to your order, and it was anathema to us not to include a small pot on the side, or offer a selection as a considerably cheaper add on - salsa is around 50% of the fun of eating tacos. Corn ribs were put on the Dublin map by Big Fan back in 2020, and the ones here come deep-fried with chipotle butter, but when they arrived we realised we'd paid €8.95 for a single ear of corn. It was excellent corn, cooked but with crunch, doused in an earthy, smoky, sweet butter. but €9? That's a tough kernel to swallow. Big Fan's are €7.50 and it's a sit in restaurant. The best thing we ate was the hand-cut nachos. A portion with just jalapeño cheese and salsa roja is €8.95, and adding on the same pork or chicken will add another €3.95 (so €12.90). We added the pork and it was a huge portion, the best value dish we had, with the nachos no relation to anything in a bag, and all the accompaniments being fought over by clashing crisps trying to scoop up as much as possible in one bite. What is there to drink? Soft drinks, water and a couple of craft beers. You won't be settling in for the night. Why should I go? Just Chubby's has a legion of fans travelling for their tacos each weekend, and if you're in the Clontarf area there aren't many better places to eat, but we're a long way from peasant food here - these are sit in, restaurant prices. If that works for you then go forth and chow down, but if you're one of the many feeling particuarly price sensitive at the moment, you may find €3 salsas and €9 corn push you over the edge. Just Chubby's 46 Clontarf Rd, Clontarf, Dublin 3 justchubbys.com

Each year Christmas sandwich hysteria seems to reach new heights, and 2023 has seen the most creative sambos yet - and it's not even December. Do you want house-roasted turkey or smoked chicken? Wicklow brie or mozzarella? Gravy on the side or gravy mayo? Here's our running list of where to get one in Dublin right now, and keep an eye out for our verdicts on how some of them actually taste... City Centre 147 Deli, Parnell Street 147 Deli have been keeping us all waiting this year, only releasing their Christmas sandwich this week, and it's the same special that earned them top spot in last year's Christmas sandwich verdicts list . It's got glazed ham, steamed turkey, bacon fat sprouts, crispy bacon bits, hazelnut, sage and cranberry stuffing, Brie and cranberry mayo served on granary bread, and it's served with a chicken wing gravy. A beast is right. Mr French, Dublin 2 We do love a Christmas sandwich with a difference, so claps to Mr French for serving their 'Christmas Sleigher' on chunky focaccia. This one looks like a monster, with roast turkey, honey and mustard glazed ham, sage and onion stuffing, smoked cheddar, cranberry mayo, wild rocket, and turkey and stuffing flavoured crisps. It's available from Wednesday 6th December and it better live up to the high expectations we've got for it. Fairmental, Grand Canal Dock Fermentation specialists Fairmental have just added their 'Christmas Turketta' to the menu, and if you like your monster lunch to come with tangy ferments this one's for you. It's got rolled turkey breast, ndjua stuffing, cranberry labneh, relish and leaves, all served on fancy bap-style bread. Brother Hubbard, Dublin 1 The 'Chrimbo' is officially on the menu at Brother Hubbard on Capel Street and it's our first meatloaf sighting. Their homemade bread comes with turkey and sausage meatloaf, baked ham, their special stuffing sauce, brussel sprout and cranberry slaw, and a seasonal side salad. Honey Truffle, Pearse Street Honey Truffle 's festive sandwich never fails, with proper turkey and ham, sage, thyme and onion stuffing, and an orange, port and cranberry sauce. It comes toasted but you can request non-toasted if that's more up your street. Carved, Grand Canal Dock Grand Canal sandwich specialists Carved aren't holding back this year with ham, turkey, sausage stuffing, red cabbage, chestnuts, brie, cranberry sauce, garlic aioli and homemade gravy on top - wowza. The Commons @ MoLI, St. Stephen's Green The Commons @ MoLI have just launched their 'Santy Toastie', with roast turkey, baked ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and the lesser spotted lettuce and mayonnaise. Doughboys, Dublin 2 This year's effort from Dough Boys looks nicely messy, with house roast turkey, honey mustard glazed ham, braised spiced red cabbage, sage and onion stuffing, caramelised onion mayo, cranberry orange sauce, and a gravy dip. No danger of this one lacking moisture. Lisboa, Dublin 2 Lisboa 'ultimate Christmas sandwich' is a spin on the famous Portugese Francesihna, with some festive substitutions like ham and turkey in place of steak and chorizo. The Cake Café, Dublin 2 The Cake Café are calling this one "the Christmas sandwich of your dreams, and with smoked chicken, honey baked ham, stuffing and either their homemade cranberry sauce or spiced mango (eh yes) heaped onto their sandwich bread. It's served with a side of homemade gravy and we're sold several times over. Urbanity, Smithfield Urbanity 's annual 'Chrimbo Sambo Slam' is back with a Croque Monsieur and brisket bang. Over the next three weeks they'll have two Christmas sandwiches on the menu every week, running a poll on which one reigns supreme, with the 'Ultimate Chrimbo Sambo' crowned on December 16th. The winning sandwich will be available for the week before Christmas, and keep an eye on their socials for each week's options.⁣⁣⁣ North Dublin Two Pups, Fairview Two Pups in Fairview have shown up with the lesser spotted veggie Xmas toastie. It's got potato and Brie gratin, spiced apple chutney, and brussels sprout stuffing on Firehouse sourdough, and if you need meat you can add their home baked ham. Slice, Stoneybatter Slice 's Christmas toastie is up there in the pretty stakes, and just look at that bread. Theirs has honey baked ham, cranberry relish, melted brie, herb stuffing, chive mayo and house pickles which we applaud - there are nowhere near enough pickles on this list. Milo’s, Drumcondra Milo’s Christmas toastie has come on the scene with no description, but we spy turkey, ham, stuffing, spinach and cranberry sauce, along with a side of relish. While it looks like one of the drier options on this list, we have it on reader authority that the stuffing is anything but. Puck Lane, Whitehall God bless Puck Lane for finally giving Whitehall residents somewhere to eat, and now they have a Christmas sandwich to boot. Roast turkey and ham come with stuffing, Brie and spiced cranberry sauce, and there's an option of hot gravy or gravy mayo for dipping - be cheeky and ask for both. Perfect Day Café, Kilbarrack The Kilbarrack/Raheny area is positively spoilt for Christmas sandwiches, but the cranberry mayo in Perfect Day 's 'festive melt' has us positively interested, as well as their thickly sliced turkey and ham. Add some stuffing, brie and wrap it all up in sourdough and she's complete. Perky's Coffee House, Raheny Perky's toasted Christmas sambo has roast turkey, ham, stuffing, caramelised red onion marmalade, mayo and cranberry sauce on toasted sourdough, and it comes with a side of garlic mayo which is never a bad idea. Their vegan version is on a ciabatta with nut roast, caramelised onion, cranberry sauce and vegan mayo. Lab, Raheny Food truck Lab did an oozing Christmas sandwich special back in August, and it's back for December with the addition of ham as well as turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mozzarella (controversial but we love it) and caramelised onion, and while the August sambo looked considerably juicier, if you eat it immediately you should get the mozz at optimum melt. McNally Family Farm, North County Dublin McNally Farm 's veggie and vegan Christmas baps are back on the menu at the farm shop and café, and we promise you won't miss the meat. They come with roasted carrots, sprout slaw, herby stuffing, cranberry and port sauce, mayo (regular or vegan), and the veggie version is topped with Corleggy peppercorn cheese. Don't skip the mince pies for dessert. South Dublin Junior's, Beggar's Bush Junior's is something of a mecca for Dublin sandwich lovers, and their 'Christmas Cracker' is already drawing the crowds. Their chargrilled ciabtta comes with roast turkey, baked ham, crispy bacon, herb and onion stuffing, homemade mayo and cranberry relish. Daddy's, Rialto Daddy's are going different for the second year running using spiced beef instead of turkey and ham. There's also McNally's Brussel Sprout, Horseradish and Cranberry Slaw, and Nigel's Herb and Apple Stuffing. Happy Out x Together Academy, Dun Laoghaire Toastie Kings Happy Out have been kind enough to deliver a Christmas version, with turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayo, rocket and a gravy dip. We hear preceding it with a very cold plunge makes for optimum enjoyment. Greenville Deli, Rathmines, Inchicore & Monkstown While supplying many of Dublin's cafés with their sandwiches, Greenville Deli operate a different menu out of their own three locations, so their in-house Christmas sandwich is a bit different. You'll find roasted in-house turkey breast, homemade maple glazed ham, parsley, sage and onion stuffing, pickled red cabbage, Wicklow brie, mustard aioli (oooh) and cranberry sauce. It's served with a cranberry mayo dip and a small bag of crisps, in case you needed more convincing. The vegan one has roasted sweet potato and green lentils, vegan stuffing, mustard mayo and cranberry sauce. Foodgame, Beggar's Bush Two words. Bacon. Crumbs. That's what Foodgame are bringing to the table this year, along with sliced turkey, cranberry mayo, sage and walnut stuffing and brie on sourdough. They had us at bacon. Daddy's, Rialto Never one to row in with the masses, Daddy's have ditched the turkey and ham in place of spiced beef. Add in McNally's brussell sprout, horseradish and cranberry slaw, and a herb and apple stuffing, and it's everything a turkey and ham hater could wish for. Park Life, Harold's Cross Park Life in Harold's Cross are the only place on this list brave/clever enough to include crispy potatoes in their 'Crambo Sambo'. There's also turkey, ham, stuffing, unspecified cheese, and cranberry sauce. See you there for the potatoes. Barnhill Stores, Dalkey Barnhill Stores are flying the flag for Dalkey this year. Their Christmas sandwich comes with baked ham, roast turkey, herb stuffing, cranberry sauce and sage mayonnaise (what!?), and it's served with warm gravy. Joy to the world. West Dublin Ian's Kitchen, Kimmage Ian's Kitchen (from the same owners as Cluck Chicken in Tallaght) have made gravy and mulled-wine glazed ham their USP. Their ciabatta comes filled with buttermilk-brined roast turkey, that ham, nduja & chestnut stuffing, and cranberry mayonnaise, with a spiced turkey gravy for dipping (or pouring which is how they seem to be doing it). It's available Tuesday - Friday as part of their soup and sambo combo. Farmhouse Café, Walkinstown Farmhouse Café's open Christmas sandwich made its return last week, consisting of toasted sourdough topped with cranberry mayonnaise, roast turkey, herby bacon stuffing, Durrus cheese, cranberry sauce and dressed leaves. It's a whopping €15.95 so it better be good. Pickles, Kimmage The Pickles Christmas sandwich is pretty standard with turkey, ham, Brie, stuffing, red onion, spinach and cranberry sauce, and comes on their own low GI brown or another bread of your choice. Goat's Gruff, Strawberry Beds Drive through coffee shop Goat's Gruff 's 'Santa Baby' has returned for 2023, and the wood-fired sandwich once again has turkey, ham, Brie, cranberry sauce and stuffing on sourdough ciabatta, with garlic mayo for dipping. Baa Baa, Chapelizod Baa Baa don't tend to do things by halves, and it's no shock that their Christmas toastie is a little different. Organic sourdough comes stuffed with Derg cheddar AND Wicklow Brie, cranberry & pear jam, honey roast ham and sage butter. That'll be a *need* then. Various Locations Poulet Bonne Femme, Various Locations Another winner from last year's sandwich tasting, Poulet Bonne Femme 's 'Ho Ho sandwich' is back and it's about time. What made this for us was the soft white bread filled with their juicy free-range roast chicken, along with honey roast ham, house made stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayo and mustard. You won't regret this one. Find them in Suffolk Street, Ballsbridge, Monkstown, Blackrock and more. Greenville's Wholesale Sandwich, Various Locations Greenville supply over 30 cafés and delis across Dublin so expect their wholesale Christmas sandwich to pop up all over the place, including Grump's in Foxrock, Surge in Clontarf and Cob Coffee Company in Rathfarnham. It's got sliced FXB turkey breast, sliced FXB glazed ham, homemade parsley, sage and onion stuffing, mustard mayo and cranberry sauce. Póg, Various Locations Póg's Christmas sandwich is now available in all of their locations, and has turkey, ham, brie, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo on sourdough. Have you had a Christmas sandwich we need to know about? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

It's the most wonderful/stressful/financially depleting (delete as applicable) time of the year. Our best advice for you is get those Christmas presents done early, lists are your friend, don't overspend, and rather than buying things that will eventually end up in landfill, say it with food and drink. Here's what we'd like to be waking up to this year... A West of Dingle Sea Salt Gift Pack, €26 We are low key obsessed with West of Dingle ’s salts. The whiskey smoked adds a deep layer of umami to everything, the smokehouse rub makes every dish taste like it's come off a charcoal grill, and the lemon and rosemary have taken our oven roasted vegetables from satisfactory to showstopping. Gift the four-pack to your favourite foodie. Five Farms Irish Cream, €34.95 Warning: After you taste Five Farms Irish cream , it will be impossible to go back to bog-standard Baileys. This is farm to table booze, made from single batches of Irish cream sourced from five family-owned farms in Cork, and premium Irish whiskey. There is no going back. Bon Chocolatiers Chocolates, €30 We're similarly obsessed with Bon Chocolatiers , which - we're saying it - are the best Irish chocolates we've tried. Pricey, yes, but just one with your evening coffee or tea feels like a treat worthy of a special occasion. The Festive Treats collection features Christmas spiced s’mores and Cointreau and blood orange, and a twelve piece, four flavour box costs €30. Asia Market Hampers, from €28 Asia Market do a great range of hampers, from sushi-making ones to Korean noodle ones to Asian beer ones, and they're available for nationwide delivery. Check them out here . Burren Smokehouse Christmas Hampers, from €54 Clare-based Burren Smokehouse have eight hampers to choose from all based around their award-winning smoked salmon. There's a breakfast one, a cheese one, a whiskey one, and an ultra luxe one if you really want to spend the g's. Tara Gartlan Chocolates, €26 Tara Gartlan Chocolates are like mini works of art, and as well as chocolate collections containing flavours like kalamansi, Timur pepper and spiced apple caramel, you can also buy chocolate inspired Christmas cards . Fallon and Byrne’s Christmas Hampers, from €45 Fallon and Byrne's Christmas Hampers range from €45 to as much as €1000 for The Showstopper ! There's options for everyone, including vegans and gluten-free eaters, and expect an abundance of cheese, wine and Irish produce Drinks Wall and Keogh's X-Mas Gift Box, €24.99 Combining two Christmas themed teas and a heart shaped infuser, Wall and Keogh's X-Mas Gift Box would be a perfect secret Santa or stocking stuffer for the tea-lover in your life. Mulled Wine & Hot Whiskey Syrup from Dublin Cocktail Lab, €24 Once you've tried Dublin Cocktail Lab 's hot whiskey syrup and mulled wine mix, you'll wonder how you ever did Christmas without them. They're available in a gift pack for a €3 saving, and if buying for some lucky alcohol-lover in your life, be sure to add on one of each for yourself. Off the Cuffe's Irish bitters, from €16 Angostura have had the bitters market covered for as long as we've been alive, but Irish brand Off the Cuffe are giving them a run for their money in the quality stakes. Get them in flavours like marmalade, chocolate and coffee for €16 a bottle, or if you really love someone there's the ' Everything ' bundle featuring their entire selection of drinks for €110 (€150 value). Upside Coffee, from €12 What's Christmas without some festive coffee, and Upside Coffee’s Christmas blend is €12, with free shipping for orders over 1kg. There's a Christmas gift trio too featuring two espressos as well as the festive coffee. Craft Cocktail’s Christmas Collection, from €12.50 Every year we look forward to the release of Irish Craft Cocktails’ Christmas collection , and this year there's a 'Gingerbread Punch', a 'Festive Old-Fashioned', and a 'Mistletoe Margarita', for €12.50 for a double serve or €35 for a bigger bottle that serves seven. Their factory ‘Cuckoo Lane’ off Capel street will also be transformed into a Merry grotto where you can try the cocktails, buy the cocktails, and pick your own selection box, which includes six small cocktails and garnishes for a special in-store only price of €62.50. Experiences Tickets for Big Grill Festival 2024, price TBC Europe’s biggest BBQ and food festival Big Grill is making its way back to Ballsbridge next August for another weekend of food, experiences, chef talks, music, and more, with a line up that's bound to be as impressive as always. Tickets are due to go live this month and will be available here . A Cookery Class at the Dublin Cookery School, from €95 Kick start a new skill for someone this year with one of Dublin Cookery School 's courses in modern vegetarian food, handmade pasta or 'the joy of baking'. They're not cheap, but they're hard to beat for the best instructors and a generous amount of food to eat or take home. Check out their course calendar here . Subscriptions ATF Insiders, €55 If you know someone who lives to eat, wants access to exclusive events, and loves a bit of Insider info, an ATF Insider subscription is €55 a year, and includes entry into nine giveaways a month, event invitations, exclusive content and direct access to our team to ask all and any of their pressing questions about eating out. We do gift bundles too . Lotts & Co's Seasonal Subscription, from €60 We love the idea of a Lotts & Co. seasonal subscription dropping onto our doorstep each month, with the chance to try new products you might not have picked up off the shelf, that could soon become household favourites. It's €60 a month or €175 for three month's prepaid, and we're big fans of gifts that keep giving long after the 25th. Greenman Wines, price TBC Greenman Wines ' Wine Club Subscription is reopening in December 2023, and is THE most perfect gift for anyone wanting to learn more about wine (or just treat yourself to a happy dance once a month when the box arrives). Keep an eye on their website for their release. Smoked Salmon from Burren Smokehouse, from €136.45 As well as their hampers, Burren Smokehouse also do a smoked salmon subscription - how boujee. Starting at €136.45 (very specific) you can send someone enough salmon for 1-2 people for three months, with three different varieties in the box. Olive oil tasting club from Sarah and Olive, €125 Sarah and Olive ’s award-winning olive oils are a world away from what's on your supermarket shelves, and their tasting club is the ideal way to geek out on the very best. For €125 they'll send a premium bottle every quarter, with tasting notes, food pairing suggestions and a recipe to try, and if you're not invited over to try the results then that's just rude. Cheese Club, Little Cheese Shop, from €42.50 We've been firm fans of Mark Murphy's Dingle-based Little Cheese Shop for years, and their Irish-only cheese club is still the best way to discover the very best of what's being produced on our little island. You can sign up for 1-12 months, and the excitement of the post-person bringing that month's delivery never gets old. Books Flavour! Mark Moriarty Mark Moriarty's new cookbook Flavour is on a roll of awards, recently adding An Post's 'Cookbook of the Year' to his list of accolades. While he's known for Michelin-star cooking, he aims to show readers how to do basics, focusing on everyday food packed with flavour. The New Ballymaloe Bread Book Ballymaloe Cookery School is world renowned at this stage, with their students taught by bread making experts including Darina herself. Now she's laid down her secrets in The New Ballymaloe Bread Book, and whether you know someone who's never baked, or just wants to up their game, this one covers it all. Buy it here . The Blasta Books Collections Blasta Books are now gearing up for series three of their lovely collections of cookbooks (to be released in 2024), each highlighting Irish authors and chefs. Each specialises in a different type of food, from Bahay's 'Masarap', to Lily Ramirez-Foran's 'Tacos', and cost €15 each or you can buy a bundle of four for €50. Buy one of the first two bundles to have wrapped under the tree, or pre-order the next collection for recipe joy delivered throughout 2024. Bake, Graham Herterick Of all the cookbooks we've had in recent years, none has us coming back as often as Graham Herterick (also known as The Cupcake Bloke)'s Bake. From basics like brown soda bread and Victoria sponge, to 'modern twists' like the PB&J sandwich and the tahini and black sesame cupcakes, there's no such thing as a recipe fail. It's worth buying for the chocolate chip cookie and brownie recipes alone. Spice Box, Sunil Ghai Anyone who's eaten in Pickle on Camden Street has likely thought about it on repeat for week's after, so when we heard Sunil Ghai was releasing his own book focused on easy, everyday Indian food, we immediately made space on our bookshelves for Spice Box . True to description these are uncomplicated recipes, with ingredients any avid homecook will have to hand, and yes the goat keema is in there. All we need now is the goat.

The fanciest brunch in the city, an injectable cruffin, and a crab sambo in the form of a homage are among the 5 things that have caught our eye this week. Feast your eyes on these... 1) Hazelnut & chocolate cruffin, Drop Coffee It's a double hazelnut and chocolate cruffin with an injectable shot of Baileys - what is there not to love? Pop on down to Drop Coffee in Drumcondra and get the festive season started. 2) Sautéed gambas, Juno Juno aren't messing around in the kitchen, and this week their sautéed fresh Irish prawns are served with garlic, ginger & jalapeño butter, sesame & sourdough. Like come on, jalapeño butter!? Dzvine. 3) Banoffee French toast, Happy Out, Donnybrook The sheer concept of banoffee French toast had our ears perking up, and that was before serving it with a cinnamon mascarpone and topping it with a dulce de leche sauce. These lads at Happy Out know what's up. Brb, hightailing it to Donnybrook. 4) Irish lobster brunch, Gigi's Eggs Florentine? Who's she. Gigi ' s in Ranelagh are taking the humble brunch up several notches with this Irish lobster eggs Benedict. Who says brunch can't be fancy AF? 5) Crab Toastie, Chimac We love this tribute Chimac have made to Table Wine , the chilled out small plates/wine bar/restaurant that closed in November 2022. Their signature dish was a legendary crab sandwich that Chimac have paid homage to with their latest toastie -with-a-twist, and they've spoiled us by dropping the recipe. The combo of fresh crab, gruyere, cheddar and Sriracha caramel sounds unmissable in the taste stakes.

From bougie bars to a Ballsbridge steakhouse, a beloved Italian restaurant's new daytime deli to a curious Korean sandwich could-be franchise, here’s everything that’s new in Dublin city and surrounds, with a lot more yet to come... Dosa Dosa, Adamstown Long one of our go-to recommendations for the best Indian street food about town, Dosa Dosa have been happily attracting queues at their various mobile locations since setting up shop back at the start of 2020. Now, two years on from being among the launch partners at the Grand Canal Street market, they’ve added a second fixed spot in Adamstown right outside The Crossings shopping centre. As you’d expect, these guys are slinging by far some of the finest dosas in town, along with top-tier parotta, curry, and kathi rolls. It’s open evenings from Thursday through Sunday. Masa, Camden Street Pandemic “art diner” Dig In never quite managed to live up to the name of its predecessor Green 19, and after going on the market early this year the building has now become the second home of Masa , the Drury Street taqueria from the people who brought us Bunsen. It’s not at all hard to imagine this faring particularly well along this stretch of street, with plenty of keenly-priced tortilla chips, tacos and quesadillas to offer as little or as much soakage as the passing pub trade might wish for. It’s open every day for lunch and dinner. Amuri by Day, Chatham Street We’re living for the ongoing good news saga that is Amuri : after taking the chance to open their own premises in 2022 in the pandemic-abandoned upstairs tasting room of wine merchants The Corkscrew, Sicilian brothers Andrea and Luca Licciardello have now taken on the ground floor too, following The Corkscrew’s move to a bigger premises right round the corner – win win. Amuri by Day is now open from 08:00 every day but Monday, for deli-style servings of panini, arancini, cannoli and charcuterie, and judging by the happily waving staff and wide-eyed first customers we spotted as we strolled past over the weekend, there’s just as much to savour here as there is upstairs. Goat’s Gruff, Adamstown It’s a great week to be living in Adamstown: as if getting their own Dosa Dosa wasn’t good news enough for the southwest suburb, Strawberry Hall pizza and sandwich stalwart Goats Gruff have gone and set up shop there too – right beside, in fact. Their wood-fired oven is still a work in progress so you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer for the full suite of pizzas, but for now there’s plenty in the sourdough toasties (yes, including their Christmas classic), baked goods and Imbibe coffee to choose from, with early opening hours every day. Pen & Player, Harcourt Street The latest arrival to Dublin’s ever-more crowded craft cocktail space, Pen & Player in The Green hotel just off Harcourt Street is going in heavy on the literary vibes with a space it’s called “The Library” and some drink descriptions that look like they’ve been through a copywriter with grand aspirations. Whether it’s a “complex post show indulgence with the heroine in her emerald attire” or “a loosening of collars and bowing out with a warm handshake”, we’re none the wiser what any of these things actually taste like but they do look the part. A short, small plates food menu seems to know what it’s doing, and cocktails start at €15. Hey, copywriters are expensive. Oxhorn, Ballsbridge Quick on the offing after Mespil Road’s longstanding Keshk Café closed its doors for the final time back in September, steakhouse Oxhorn has taken on the premises promising to fill what it says is a gap in the market, and spare locals the trouble of trekking into town for a cut of beef. While we have to raise an eyebrow at that – it’s a short stroll over the canal, lads, you’re not crossing the Amazon – they’ve got most of that nearby city centre competition beat in a straight shoot-out over price. A soup and special lunch deal at €19.90 should go down well with the midweek crowd, while their Sunday roast pricing ranks well against the swelling city competition, at €19 for chicken and €22 for beef. Bad Egg, Clanbrassil Street No not Mad E gg , but confusingly close in name if not in offering: this curious new arrival to Clanbrassil Street has all the look of an international franchise and arrives here from Pakistan, with expansion allegedly due in Canada and Australia soon too. We’ll add a pinch of salt, so, to Bad Egg ’s Korean egg drop sandwich specialty, though it does get the nod for going free-range. These loaded beasts of scrambled egg and various fillings on milk bread look like an almighty feed, and the all-day menu is also stacked with fries, tacos, and burgers to boot. Coming soon... Cellar 22, Stephen’s Green Soft-launching this week is a new wine bar for the city in the form of Cellar 22 . This Stephen’s Green basement bar has kept schtum so far on just what food and drinks it plans to offer, but we’re expecting all to be revealed following a soft launch later this week. Mani, Drury Street After the hard slog of years of food truck and popup stints, Roman pizza and Tuscan panini vendors Mani are getting a long-sought space of their own on Drury street. Prep is well and truly underway with a menu and opening date due soon, and Rory Shannon (the man behind Pala Pizza and Trattoria) will be in the kitchen. We're excited. The Dunmore, Rathmines As if Rathmines residents didn’t have enough to choose from, the owners of Waterford’s Strand Inn Hotel have arrived in Dublin 6 with a new spot named after their hometown. The Dunmore 's early menu hints don’t do anything massive to set the world alight, but we’ll hold judgement until the full thing drops – it’s due any day now. Love Tempo, Thomas Street Thomas Street’s iconic Clock pub shut up shop back in February of this year, and we’ve been wondering what might step in to take over the sizeable premises. Love Tempo is the answer, a new joint venture from the people behind Parnell Street bar The Big Romance and queer club night Mother. It’s coming in December. Popup Meyhane, Dame Street It’s not at all long after mainstay chipper Beshoff Bros bailed out of Dame Street and their spot is already bearing signs of a popup to come. The spritzed-up fitout gave little immediately away when we popped our nose in the other day, but looks like this is to be a meyhane – a kind of traditional Turkish tavern that leans in to the latter part of food and drink combos. No trace on social yet, but we’ll be keeping a close eye.

There's lots of socialising to be done in December but it's hard to avoid the over priced set menus that somehow always feel like a swizz. The good news is there are plenty of restaurants to dine in that don't succumb to the greed, and places to go to when you want to avoid the madness, so here's where we'll be eating out in December. Christmas menus, be gone! For the splash out with your best friend dinner: D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 D'Olier Street offer one of the best tasting menus in the city and there's no sign of a Christmas menu on their site, thanks be to god *blesses one's self*. The snacks are fire, the seeded pretzel with smoked Gubeen a delight, and their desserts never fail. Go here with your bestie for a proper treat. For a final hurrah: Loretta's, Phibsborough November saw many a closure and we are devo that Loretta's have made it onto that ever expanding list. We've never had a bad dish here, and their wine list is not only popping, but their cocktails are surprisingly excellent too. Their last service is on the 23rd of December, so if you can get in for a final send off and wish the lads well. For when it's freezing out and you need comfort in the form of food: Piglet, Cow's Lane Come out of the cold and head to Cow's Lane to chow down on some continental comfort food - Piglet 's hearty menu will set you straight. Their confit duck gizzards taste fa r better than they sound, and there's no way you can leave without trying their bacon & scallop dish which is available as a nibble, starter and main so literally no excuse. Their wine list is always on point, and you're guaranteed to be looked after by the lovely French staff. Oo la la. For when you're out with your pals and need a crowd pleaser: Fallon & Byrne's Wine Cellar, Dublin 2 With lots of sharing options, a separate plant based menu, and a corkage charge of €1 on any wines off the shelf from Sunday - Tuesday (or €10 from Wednesday - Saturday), Fallon & Byrne is a great shout when you're getting a group of mates together to celebrate the festive season. Grab a cheese board and drink all the wine. It's mother flipping Christmas after all. For when everywhere decent in the city centre core is booked out: The Legal Eagle, Four Courts Ever so slightly outside of the main drag of town is your best bet when all the good restaurants dead centre are booked out, and the Legal Eagle is a steadfast choice. Their à la carte menu is still on for the month of December, with only groups needing to opt for their Christmas set menu. Their fermented beetroot, dill & cashew dip is not to be missed, and we loved their braised ox cheek with bone marrow. Their Sunday roast is also a delight. Read our once over here . For when you're Christmas shopping in town and need something quick but delicious: Tang, Dawson Street & Abbey Street Tang is the perfect spot for a healthy, quick and delicious bite, with two of their locations either side of the city near Grafton Street & Henry Street. How very convenient indeed. They're open from 08:00 - 15:30 Monday to Friday, with a slightly later closing time of 16:00 on Saturdays. For breakfast, they're rolling out classics like shakshuka, pancakes, and mushrooms on toast, whereas lunch leans more into a Middle Eastern vibe. We're talking flatbreads, hummus, tzatziki, Moroccan lamb, salad plates.... you get the gist. Our kinda Thang. For when you need to carb load, because yano, it's winter: Bar Italia, Dublin 1 It's no secret that we are big Bar Italia backers (read our once over here ), and this is the place to load up on cosy carbs in these wintery months. Fluffy La Levain sourdough bread is served with every starter (get in!) and you can't go wrong with fresh pasta or their 72-hour fermented pinsas (aka Roman fluffy pizza) for mains. Heck, get both. Bonus - not a Christmas menu in sight, and at time of writing quite a few tables are free for the month, even on those coveted December weekends. Get booking. For that long luxurious lunch, for the month that's in it: Note, Dublin 2 Note is one of those places where you can sit at the bar and graze while catching up with a pal for hours, making your way slowly through their snacks, starters, mains, desserts, and more importantly, their wine list. What more could you want people? Get your lazy luxe lunch on here, and afterwards nip into The Gingerman for a cosy Christmas pint.

Is this your lucky month?? November's ATF Insider giveaways have been revealed, and what better way to get in the festive spirit than by winning a present from us to you. We've got hotel stays, fancy lunches, swanky dinners, afternoon tea, and will be making nine of you very happy in three days time. ATF Insider s is the only way we're funded and lets us visit cafés and restaurants independently, pay our writers, and give you #ad and #invite free content, as well as offering members loads of other benefits - so if you get value from what we do, you might consider supporting us in return. Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight on the 17th November will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th November. Here's what you could be winning this month... 1) An overnight stay in the Radisson Blu Royal, Dublin, with lunch at The Old Town Café Dublin 8 has a brand new coffee spot, serving Cloud Picker coffee, gourmet sandwiches and salads, and homemade goodies like cinnamon rolls, protein balls and smoothies. The Old Town Café is a three-minute walk from Aungier Street and part of the Radisson Blu Royal Ho tel, Dublin ’s development of Le Pole Square. We've got lunch for two at The Old Town Café to give away this month, and you can head upstairs afterwards for an overnight stay with breakfast in Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin . If you need dinner recommendations you know where we are. (T&Cs apply) 2) Lunch for two at One Pico Michelin-listed One Pico has been open for an incredible 26 years, with head chef Zhan Sergejev taking over the kitchen (and food photography ) in 2022. We love nothing more than a long lunch there before ambling out onto Grafton Street in the late afternoon, so their new ‘set lunch menu’ with two courses for €39 or three courses for €49 is a great reason to take a half day from work and do the same. We've got lunch for two to give away this month with breads, canapés, coffee and petit fours, which can be used up until November 21st, or until the end of February 2024. We recommend saving it for a dark January day when you need cheering up. 3) Dinner for two at Yves @ Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh Brother Hubbard have just launched an evening pop up called “ Yves ” in their Ranelagh location, and initial word on the street is excellent (our Insiders are everywhere). The food leans towards French and Spanish cuisine using great Irish products, like panisse, Toulouse sausages, and confit mackerel, all created by their two French chefs. There's small plates, big plates and sharing plates alongside a feast-style sharing menu (with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options), and a small but perfect wine list with Vermouth and Sherry-based cocktails. They also offer BYO from Redmond's of Ranelagh. The vibe is fun, relaxed and reasonable, and they open Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays from 17.30 - book here or walk in, or if you're signed up to ATF Insiders you might be going for dinner on us. 4) Sunday Lunch for two with wine at The Morrison Room, Carton House Fairmont, Kildare The only think we like better than a Sunday drive is a Sunday drive that ends with a Sunday roast. So we've earmarked this new one from chef Adam Nevin at The Morrison Room , in Carton House , Maynooth - one of Ireland’s most spectacular dining rooms and just 30 minutes drive from Dublin. Lunch is €55 for two courses or €65 for three, with dishes like mackerel with red pepper and bouillabaisse, and yoghurt pannacotta with preserved raspberries, book-ending the roast options of Feighcullen Farm chicken, rump cap of Higgins' beef, or mushroom pithivier, and we've got a three-course Sunday lunch for two to give away this month. 5) Dinner for two at The Coburg's Arzuaga Wine Supper Club The Coburg , Conrad Dublin ’s contemporary award-winning restaurant, is holding the fifth installment of its Supper Club series with Spanish winery Arzuaga, on Thursday 23rd November. The one-off menu has been designed by Executive Head Chef, Marek Sulhas, alongside the Arzuaga catalogue, to celebrate both the wines and the best of Irish produce, and we've got a table for two to give away for what sounds like a very swanky evening. For more information or to book visit OpenTable. 6) Food and drinks for two at new cocktail bar Pen & Player Dublin has a new premium cocktail bar on Harcourt Street, and we're sending one of you to check it out. Pen & Player has a very impressive sounding cocktail list, each with its own story to tell, and there's a bar food menu with dishes like garlic and rosemary foccacia, duck leg rillettes and cod tacos. Pen & Player are going to treat one of our Insiders plus a guest to food and drinks to the value of €120, and you've got until the end of January to get in there - that's one way to kick the mid-Winter blues. 7) Afternoon Tea for two with bubbles at Bewley's, Grafton Street Bewley's on Grafton Street have just launched Afternoon Tea, and what timing with multiple city centre shopping trips likely to be on the horizon over the next few weeks. It's filled with sweet and savoury treats all made in Bewley's in-house bakery (which has been producing breads and cakes for almost a century) and includes sandwiches, fresh scones and patisserie. They're all accompanied Bewley's master-blended loose-leaf tea and a glass of bubbly, surrounded by stained glass works of art in the Harry Clarke room, with the Christmas Lights twinkling outside on Grafton Street. As good excuse as we've heard to take a break from the shops. 8) €100 voucher for Orani New Blanchardstown opening Orani Café & Restaurant was badly needed in Dublin 15, and the locals are letting them know all about it. The Filipino-owned restaurant is serving modern European cuisine with Asian fusion like tonkotsu ramen and chicken karaage, but the Filipino influence has been popping up in specials and desserts, like pork adobo, breakfasts like longsilog and tapsilog, and ube croissants. We've got a €100 voucher for Orani to give away this month so one of you can head over and try the whole gamut. 9) A year's 'Saltscription' for Dingle Sea Salt for you and a friend Dingle Sea Salt, the off-grid, solar-evaporated, sustainable salt producer, is giving us two of their new ' Saltscriptions ' to give away (with a value of €110) - one for the lucky winner, and the other for a friend or family member that you can pass off as a Christmas present (or keep for yourself - we don't judge). The award-winning, artisan producer won gold at Blas na hÉireann for their 100% natural, mineral-rich sea salt, produced by the sun’s rays and the West Kerry breeze, resulting in higher levels of magnesium and calcium, and lower sodium. Their new Saltscription will mean a delivery of fresh salt four times a year, and is priced at €55. (Get any Christmas orders in by Saturday December 23rd 2023 to ensure you get an E-voucher in time for gift giving) Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders for November (new and old) will be automatically entered into the prize draw - you don't need to do anything. If you're not signed up yet join here before midnight on the 17th November to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.

From bread to bao to Basque cheesecake, this week's things we most want to eat roundup features dishes from some of the city's newest openings, as well as from some solid staples continuing to kick things up a notch... 1) Potato Focaccia, Kicky's Chef Eric Matthews' new opening Kicky's on George's Street is generating quite the hype machine on the Dublin scene, and here's exhibit #1. Just look at this 72 hour potato focaccia that comes with carbonara butter topped with Peter Hannan ’s guanciale. If that ain't a mic drop... 2) Oxtail Bao Bun, Mae Mae 's snacks are always pitch perfect and a highlight of any meal there (seriously, they should open up a wine and snack bar), but this one makes us want to make a reso stat. An oxtail-filled bao bun with smoked Irish cheese, onion and a jus gras glaze. We think the words are, "I can't" and "even". 3) Pork Belly Bánh Mì, Maggi's Bánh Mì Bar Maggi's is back! The pop up brain child from Happy's Bar & Street Food has reopened this week on Aston Quay, and boy were we happy to hear it. The home of the chicken fillet roll has welcomed the Bánh Mì with open arms, and we reckon these are among the best in the city. Plus everything's made from scratch - we love to see it. 4) Burned Basque Cheesecake, Mi Casa Freshly opened Mi Casa in Smithfield is situated in the former home of the formal Fish Shop, and their burned Basque cheesecake with salted caramel and mascarpone cream looks like it could seal many a deal when it comes to reservation making. 5) Dark Chocolate Crémeux and Seville Orange Choux, Elliot's Elliot's is just the shiniest little star in Phibsborough and their latest drop on Instagram has us repeatedly eye-balling their feed. The Dark chocolate crémeux and Seville orange choux is seriously winking at us (as well as the rest in that post ).

It’s started to get bleedin freezin’ out there, and the need to stay warm while eating good food is intensifying (plus we can turn the rads off for a few hours - bank account bonus). We’ve rounded up a list of the cosiest, snuggest spots to warm up and chow down in, and make sure to ask to sit near the fireplace... Locks, Portobello Off the icy canal in Portobello, take solace in Locks , where you'll be greeted with an open fire, lots of cosy corners, and plush seating to warm up and dine like a royalty. With a menu that screams fancy comfort food, Locks will definitely defrost your loins. Baan Thai, Ballsbridge If you can’t face the trek into town, head just outside the city to Baan Thai in Ballsbridge. Upstairs the lighting is warm and subdued, and the wood panelled walls give the dining room a cushy old-time feeling, as if you’ve been transported back to the past. It's also some of the best Thai food in Dublin, with friendly and genuine service. All round good vibes. The Old Spot, Dublin 4 Let the drop in temperature be your excuse to check out what chef Mark Ahessy (formerly of Hang Dai and 777 ) is doing at The Old Spot . Cosy up next to their fireplace and soak in all the warm fuzzy feels of a gastropub with top notch food and service. Winter dishes include a c hicken liver and foie gras parfait served with a bitter orange chutney, and gnocchi with pumpkin, St Tola goat cheese, pine nuts, and crispy sage. Bonobo, Smithfield Yes, they have one of the best beer gardens in the city, but have you ever sat in the front room on one of their massive couches and drank their spiced old fashioned, before transitioning to a glass of heady red with some of the best pizza in the city? We can’t think of anything more comforting than a few hours in Bonobo when it’s absolutely baltic out. Mr Fox, Dublin 1 Mr. Frost have you in a chokehold? Head to Mr. Fox 's underground cavern. Their inviting dining room has lots of corners and crannies to cosy up in for some of the best food in the city. Tasting menus are a winter thing. Get on board. Delahunt, Camden St One of the silver linings to come out of the pandemic was that seating in some restaurants has became a little more intimate. Delahunt 's individual mahogany snugs are a great example of this, and their main one at the window in front seats eight. With menus that cater to all dietary needs, and a cracking wine list, it's a super spot to shelter from the elements. Finish upstairs in their Sitting Room bar for the ultimate cosy cocktail experience. Osteria Lucio, Grand Canal Dock Nothing says comfort like homemade pasta and red wine. The Italians know what they’re doing, and so does Ross Lewis. In his intimate restaurant Osteria Lucio at Grand Canal Dock, sit under the padded arched ceiling for an even cosier and snug dining experience, or near the open kitchen for some residual oven heat. The Bath, Dublin 4 Nothing beats a roaring open fire at a pub. The Bath takes it one further, with that plus decent food. With lots of couch seating along the walls, grab a seat next to the fireplace and enjoy one of their sourdough pizzas. No matter where you’re sitting, the pizza oven is less than 60 seconds away, and they're notoriously warm. The Lucky Duck, Dublin 2 Yes, we know it's Press Up, but the Lucky Duck needs a mention on this list. Upstairs, their deep teal panelled walled dining rooms are softly lit, where you can enjoy warming Indian small plates. Nab the snug with the fireplace and heat up your cold bones.

What should we know about Kasi? Popping up suddenly at the end of August in a relatively small space in Temple Bar’s Crow Street, Kasi caught our eye with its colourful décor and relatively cheap prices for so central a location. The authentic Indian street food it promised is an ever more crowded space of late, so in we went to see if this new arrival could stand out from the crowd. What should we have? We have never yet said no to puri, the crisp fried bread shells that make the best flavour bomb start to any casual Indian meal. Of the two on Kasi’s chaat menu we went for dahi puri, stuffed with spiced potato and chickpea mash, onion, sev, and mint and tamarind chutneys. These six little bites are lovely, a great contrast of crunchy dough and soft, spiced, intensely-flavourful filling, though the fridge-cold yogurt could definitely have used a little more time to come up to room temperature – we’ll blame popping in right at opening time for that one. Not sated on chaat yet we turned to the hot options and took on the samosa, with two of the large pea and potato-filled triangular pastries swimming in a similar mix of chutneys and yogurt and doused with generous amounts of crispy sev and sharp onion. What makes chaat such great comfort food is the dynamic contrast of flavours, so many individual elements harmonising into an ultra satisfying mouthful, each new spoonful a slightly different balance that constitutes a riff all of its own. They nail it here. Kathi rolls come in chicken or paneer tikka, served with a side of mint chutney for dunking. The paratha wrap is thin and flaky, tasty in its own right and a perfect vehicle for the chilli mayo mess of marinated chunks of meat or cheese and veg within. This would make a substantial lunch on its own and, given the rocketing price of even a sandwich around Temple Bar these days, a pretty good value one too at €11.50. There’s increasingly stiff competition on Dublin’s dosa front, and while there’s plenty to recommend ( Dosa Dosa and Indian Tiffins among them) we’ve never had any in Ireland as good as those from the recently-shuttered (RIP) Iyer’s in Cork, so we came in here hopeful of a new favourite. An immediate advantage is the sheer size of the thing – we had as hard a time fitting this in one frame as Kasi apparently did getting it onto the tray. The gorgeously brown underside was cooked to the point of crackling almost on sight, though a slightly soggy-soft interior suggested just a little more time mightn’t have gone astray. This masala version came stuffed with yet more spiced potato and sides of coconut chutney and lentil broth – flavour-wise, it's a hit. Are there drinks? Softs only we're afraid. Why should I go? There are not many spots left in this part of Dublin that can fill you up without leaving your pockets empty - all this, enough to feed two well, came to just €40. Between its wide and well-considered menu and a casual vibe that lends itself as much to quick bites as lingering lunches, Kasi has the goods to make the most of its prime city centre location and satisfy a whole range of needs. Kasi 3-4 Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 kasikitchen.com

What should we know about Little Richards? On a never ending quest to find the best pizza in Dublin, we made the trek to Skerries to check out the foodie-circle-hyped Little Richards , which is tacked on to the side of Keane’s Bus Bar . Their chef from Bologna flew in the wood fired pizza oven all the way from Italy, and their pizzas are cooked at 400c using birch wood - we were hoping for great things from this Neapolitan pizza joint. What did you have? We had some Italian Bruschetta to start, topped with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, pesto and rocket. It was more of a straight up flatbread, which is always a tad disappointing when the starters are just smaller, less topped versions of pizza, but not to worry, we didn’t come here for the starters. Their pizza menu is very varied with a lot of interesting combos. We started with their signature - the Little Richard - topped with mozzarella, parmesan, sausage, provolone, spinach, fresh chillies and garlic oil. The cheese to sauce and toppings ratio was perfect, and everything was very flavourful from strong garlic oil to a welcome chilli kick. Unfortunately the dough lacked the fluffy, chewy texture that's a must when it comes to Neapolitan pizza. The Puck Fair flavours were also a delight with rich goats cheese dotted across the pie, a zing of red onion, sweetness from the honey, and a really nice texture contrast with the crunchy walnut topping. The Vegan was packed with veggies, a real knife and fork job, and included vegan mozzarella, peppers, wild mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, olives, garlic oil, and a hefty amount of rocket. Viva la '90s. At €13.50 this felt like very good value. Generally we welcome white based pizzas, but the Mushrooms missed the mark for us. Topped with mushroom paste, mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan, wild mushrooms, parma and truffle oil, this was far too savoury and rich with nothing to cut through the musty flavour. A few bites in and we were mushroomed out. The dips on the other hand were elite. They really did taste homemade and we couldn’t decide if the black truffle garlic or the pesto was better. Staff were charming and friendly, but only at the end did we hear that they have specials on every evening. Apparently the chef likes to experiment (last week with sardines) and we were raging we didn’t find out earlier. What about dessert? We can’t resist cannoli, and were grateful they sold them by the piece, post pizza feast. These were crunchy on the outside with a light fluffy ricotta filling on the inside, and were a sweet little ending to graduate our palettes back to normality from all the garlic oil. What is there to drink? The pub next door provides the drinks, and they have a small selection of cocktails, somewhat bog standard pub wine, and a solid beer offering. Why should I go? Little Richards doesn’t quite have the best pizza in Dublin, but definitely the best pizza in Skerries. We do commend them on their wide repertoire of toppings and combinations, just make sure to ask about the specials. Little Richards 98 Strand Street, Townparks, Skerries, Co. Dublin l ittlerichardspizza.ie

From French to Filipino, Argentinian to Georgian, Brazilian to Nigerian, it’s a properly international slate in our latest rundown of Dublin’s recent arrivals. Here are nine new openings, and more to look forward to soon... Bless Up, Tallaght Despite a growing number of market and festival vendors in the last number of years, proper sit-down African food remains tragically scarce in Dublin city. That’s why we were really excited to see Bless Up arrive in Tallaght, with a wide Afro-Caribbean food menu and a seriously impressive fit-out. The food skews primarily Nigerian with a major focus on grilled and spiced meat (hello goat), plantains, and various styles of rice. The huge space and committed interior design suggest a lot of ambition for what this place could be - find out what we thought of Bless Up in this week's Once Over . Mi Casa, Smithfield It took longer than expected for a new tenant to take over what was previously Vegan Sandwich Co (and the more formal incarnation of Fish Shop before that) on Smithfield’s Queen Street, but Mediterranean restaurant Mi Casa soft launched last week to a slew of happy faces. The bodega-style new venture from the people behind nearby PHX Bistro hits some expectedly familiar beats in its all-day menu of nibbles, small plates and sides, but there’s more of interest in their croquetas and cerdo. The walk-in only window bar should make this a good pick for last-minute impulse eating. Yves @ Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh Brother Hubbard ’s Ranelagh location is wading into the evening market with Yves (geddit?), a French-inspired casual dining menu with a seasonal selection of sharing and solo plates that places a welcome focus on provenance, with a range of great name-checked suppliers like Sheridan’s, Ring Farm, Garryhinch Mushrooms, and The Village Butcher. They’ve matched Row Wines market-leading gilda price at 2 for €5, and the feasting menu’s €37.50 per person price tag looks like solid value to us – especially with the sheer range of choice it offers. Yves will open Wednesdays to Fridays from 17:30 with a small number of walk-in tables held nightly. 3 Brothers, Drimnagh You’ll never guess who opened this one. Trading on their own sibling relationship to open a family-oriented restaurant with a focus on “pizza, wings and things”, the owners of 3 Brothers have done a serious job on the space above Drimnagh’s Gate Bar, with a sizeable selection of leather-covered seats and booths lining the brick and wood-finished walls. The menu isn’t about to set the world alight, but they’ve had the good sense to get in a proper wood-fired oven and a pizza chef from Sicily. We’ll take whatever new openings we can get in D12. Bahay @ Warehouse Food Market, Harold’s Cross We were thrilled to team up with Bahay for an ATF Insiders -exclusive tasting menu over the summer at Warehouse Food Market in Harold’s Cross – if you’re kicking yourself that you missed it, boy have we got good news for you. Richie Castillo and Alex O’Neill will be taking up a two-month residency on Friday and Saturday nights at the same location, bringing the best in family recipe Filipino food all through November and December. No word yet on the exact menu they’ll be offering, but we’re keeping everything crossed for more longanisa corndawgs and palapa cured halibut. Bookings are open here for the first two weeks. Georgian Delight, Moore Street The basement level of the Moore Street Mall is one of the great, underrated treasures of Dublin’s food scene, with a host of otherwise unseen cuisines from the Balkans to Bolivia cropping up among its many small counters. The latest to join the fray is Georgian Delight , and given just how often we’ve been back to Ella’s Heaven on Talbot Street, any more Georgian food in the city is very good news in our book. The menu here offers the same flagship khinkali dumplings and cheese-laden khachapuri, but also carries an array of meat and bean soups and stews alongside a wider range of flatbreads. Peperina, Richmond Street “Irish kitchen with an Argentinian twist”, Peperina has expanded into the city centre from its Ranelagh base with a new Portobello site, where the ill-fated Wildflower failed to blossom. With 12 years under their belt on the southside they’re trying something a little different here, and the menu ventures further into South American cuisine than the more conservative Ranelagh options. We’re most keen to get our teeth into the empanadas – handmade by the owners’ 72 year-old mother – and the chargrilled parrilla section. A weekday lunch menu at €16.50 for two courses and a drink could see this play well with the office crowd. Gaucho’s Dog @ Eatyard, Drumcondra The rise of Brazilian food in Dublin continues unabated with Gaucho’s Dog setting up shop in Eatyard at the Bernard Shaw. The loaded hot dog and burger vendors have been doing solid business in Smithfield since opening their doors there last year, and this new location would seem a much better fit for a second site than the Tara Street shop they shuttered earlier in the year. Uruguayan panini and an impressive choice of veggie options are menu standouts, while their frankly startling chicken burger looks like it might leave you short of breath. It’s open Thursdays to Sundays. Mad Yolks, Rathmines A year and a half on from opening their first permanent site in Smithfield, and many years before that honing their craft at various festivals and pop-ups, the free-range egg sandwich experts Mad Yolks are expanding southward to a second location in Rathmines. We’re expecting their wide selection of hangover-busting brunch burgers, hash browns and nachos con carnage to go down very well in the southside suburbs – just as well for them, with how crowded the morning market is starting to get. They’re open Wednesday to Sunday to start but are planning an all-week offering before too long. Coming soon... Mughal e Azam, Jervis Street There’s not a sliver of info to be had so far about this Indian that’s cropped up around the corner from Jervis Shopping Centre, but we’ll be keeping a close eye in the weeks to come to see whether it’s anything worth shouting about. 2210 Patisserie, Powerscourt Townhouse Centre Those who’ve eyed up Una Leonard’s cakes and confectionary with envy from afar can sleep easy: the Mullingar-based 2210 Patisserie and café is about to expand into Dublin with a site in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. Great news for the sweet-toothed in the capital. Yew Tree, Terenure Settling into Circa’s former space in Terenure is Yew Tree , a new casual neighbourhood restaurant from the team behind Clanbrassil Street’s 57 The Headline , which shuttered earlier this year after ten years of service when the building was sold. Doors are expected to open in mid-November.