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Weel-heeled part of the southside stretching from Leeson Street just outside the city centre across to the Aviva stadium, and down through suburbs Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount. Money doesn't always mean amazing food, but there are a few places worth your money. Dublin 4 Our Take Weel-heeled part of the southside stretching from Leeson Street just outside the city centre across to the Aviva stadium, and down through suburbs Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount. Money doesn't always mean amazing food, but there are a few places worth your money. Where to Eat Angelina's Baan Thai Bujo Crudo Forest Avenue Forêt Junior's Mae Paulie's The Old Spot Yoi Ramen

Sprezzatura Handmade pasta with an Irish accent Posted: 14 Jan 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? The story of a new handmade pasta place coming to Dublin in October, where no plate would cost over €10, and practically all the produce was Irish, was our second most read story of 2019 , and we can't say we were surprised. There's actually quite a bit of fresh pasta to be found in Dublin (which we proved here ), but nothing in the fast, cheap, good (and exciting) category, so there was clearly a gap for a Padella-style operation here - and every Irish person who's ever set foot in London comes home talking about Padella so we were clearly primed and ready for it - see here for why. Sprezzatura say they're making Italian food with the best Irish ingredients - their suppliers list reads like a who's who of Irish food - and with their commitment to sustainability including no paper on site, compostable packaging and renewable energy, we're not sure it's possible to be any more tuned into the zeitgeist. The man with the plan was Thom Lawson, formerly of Lucky Tortoise , who split with his business partners at the end of last year to focus on new projects. He's known as someone who like a concept and is good at executing them - and we know he has a few other ideas up his sleeve so watch this space. He joined forces with the guys at Grantham's who had the space and Sprezzatura was born. They got off to a rocky start (not that you would have know by the amount of ' influencers ' and celebrities coming through the doors), and an initial visit left us disappointed, but after a change up in the kitchen and some new chef talent (one of whom was formerly at Forest Avenue), things were looking up. Reports seem to be getting better every week, particularly when it came to value for money, so we thought a few follow up visits were in order. Where should we go for a drink first? Around here your options are endless. For a pre-dinner cocktail head to the Sitting Room above Delahunt for a Cognac and orange or a pisco lemonade, and for wine the excellent First Draft is a 5 minute walk away. For a pint head to Devitt's down the street, or if you like your pubs a bit cosier try Bourke's next to Whelan's where getting a seat at the weekend feels like winning the Euromillions. Bonus: you can get through to Whelan's at the back if you fancy a quick dance before or after dinner - there will be many carbs to burn off. Where should we sit? The large communal table at the front seats up to 20 but is reserved for walk-ins (it's worth asking if you have a group though), and is a great place to sit if you're not concerned about private conversation or personal space. You can also have a drink here before moving into the main room, which has tables for two and four, as well as some booths which would fit six at a squeeze. What's good to eat? The beauty of Sprezzatura is that it's all such good value, with no plate costing over €10, so there's a strong justification to over order - and you can take any leftovers home in a planet-friendly cardboard box. The regularly changing menu is divided into plates and pastas, with the former consisting of small plates, cured meat and fish crudo. Castelvetrano olives to start are the real deal - bright green, grassy, juicy - and the potato focaccia from Bread 41 arrives in a pool of rapeseed oil. The bread is pillowy and chewy in all the right ways, but rapeseed oil is not not olive oil and never will be - we appreciate the ethos of using Irish though. The lamb shank croquette is a must, and at €3.50 it would be rude not to. The flavours are rich and deep, the meat thready and soft, and it's all wrapped up in a crunchy coating. You can taste the time that went into making them. We stupidly never asked what was in the accompanying mayonnaise dip, but it tasted mildly of mustard. A plate of Toonsbridge stracciatella was decent moppage material for the focaccia, but if your reference point for the Italian soft cheese is the original, generously topped with olive oil, this may seem a little anaemic in comparison, with a lack of the typical stretchy, stringy consistency. Another place of 'fish nduja brandade' (fish not specified) was punchier with salt and mild heat from the nduja, and a nice touch of fine, toasted breadcrumbs on top. You will definitely want bread for both this and the cheese. There's six or seven homemade pastas on at any one time, and they change regularly, but the tomato and basil, bolognese and cacio pepe with rotating pastas look to be permanent fixtures. We tried the cacio e pepe with pappardelle and spaghetti on separate occasions and thought the spaghetti won hands down. The sauce seemed to congeal to the larger sheets of pasta quicker, whereas with the spaghetti it was still possible to twist and swish the pasta around the plate towards the end. Again this is made with Irish cheese instead of Italian Pecorino so it's not by the book, but it's very good. Another highlight was the tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, which was a perfect plate of simple ingredients coming together beautifully. The pasta was al dente, the mushrooms buttery and the thyme and cheese brought it all together. We really enjoyed the gnocchi too, which came with chorizo, ricotta and pine nuts on the night we were there. It's light and fluffy as opposed to stodgy, and there was a really nice balance between the creamy cheese, spicy chorizo and crunchy pinenuts. The only dish we weren't crazy about was the ricotta and nduja tyres, which when we had it was head-blowingly spicy, and generally unbalanced, but that was on visit two so they may have tweaked the recipe by now. The only dessert option is a 'popcorn panna cotta', and while it's a very loose interpretation of a panna cotta (the lack of any gelatinous consistency made it more similar to a crème brûlée without the crispy top) it is very good, with a salty caramel layer above set cream, and fresh salty popcorn on top. Even the initially suspicious were using their spoons to scrape the last bits from the side of the cup. It's a simple, sweet, satisfying end, and at €3.50 you may as well try it. What about the drinks? Sticking with their sustainability ethos, all cocktails, wine and beer are on tap, and their beautiful tap installation has been the subject of many, many social media posts at this stage. The Aperol Spritz is very good for an opener with some olives, but we felt the espresso martini was a bit watery - saying that it is €6 so hard to complain. When it came to wine we particularly liked the lambrusco (dry, fizzy red) and the Les Tètes red from the Loire in France, which was juicy and vibrant and a perfect pairing for anything tomato based or with a hint of spice. Drinks, like the food, are very good value, with wines by the glass ranging from €6.50 to €9. They also have two beers, gin and tonic, vermouth and kefir. And the service? Over the course of three visits the young staff were friendly and helpful, and special mention to one smiling, charming staff member who served a large group of us on his first night and was the personification of hospitality, despite being petrified he would make a mistake or forget something. A case in point for hiring for personality and the ability to make your guests feel welcome above all else. The verdict? Over three visits to Sprezzatura it was better each time, which is a good sign that the only way is up. This certainly doesn't seem like a team that's sitting still, and every time we open Instagram they seem to be trying out to recipes and flavour combinations. It's not quite Padella London levels, but if they keep pushing they could get there yet. Sprezzatura 5/6 Camden Market, Dublin 8 sprezzatura.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Neighbourhood bar and restaurant from the Waterford-based siblings behind The Strand Inn Hotel. Irish seafood is a big part of the menu, but there's plenty more to please all tastes and budgets. The interior design team behind the refurbishment of what was previously The Bowery pub have earnt their money here, and the prints and paintings adorning every part of the walls makes it feel like you're dining in an art gallery. The Dunmore Website thedunmore.ie Address The Dunmore, Rathmines Road Lower, Rathmines, Dublin 6, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Neighbourhood bar and restaurant from the Waterford-based siblings behind The Strand Inn Hotel. Irish seafood is a big part of the menu, but there's plenty more to please all tastes and budgets. The interior design team behind the refurbishment of what was previously The Bowery pub have earnt their money here, and the prints and paintings adorning every part of the walls makes it feel like you're dining in an art gallery. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Good food options in South County Dublin take the scattergun approach, so it's important to know exactly where you're heading in advance. Plan ahead and you'll be rewarded with some of the city's finest Sichuan, Indian fine dining, and a foraged, fermented and cured Irish food experience to remember. Dundrum - Sandyford - Stillorgan - Foxrock - Stepaside Our Take Good food options in South County Dublin take the scattergun approach, so it's important to know exactly where you're heading in advance. Plan ahead and you'll be rewarded with some of the city's finest Sichuan, Indian fine dining, and a foraged, fermented and cured Irish food experience to remember. Where to Eat Ananda Brighton Road China Sichuan Eleven Grump's Kerb Mad Egg Dundrum Overends Kitchen Riba Street Woodruff

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

Cantina Valentina The (pricey) Peruvian opening we've been praying for Posted: 25 Nov 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What do we need to know about Cantina Valentina? It's been a long four/five years since The Central Hotel on Exchequer Street closed its doors, and a long three since we found out the international group The Hoxton were taking over, bringing with it all the design-led, lifestyle-focused, ultra-modern touches familiar to anyone who's stayed in any of their boutique hotels before. As well as the resurrection of the famous Library Bar , the thing we were most excited about was that the group's Peruvian restaurant, Cantina Valentina , would be installed on the ground floor. We've been bleating on about Peruvian food being a massive gap in the dining scene here for longer than we can remember, and The Hoxton have a tendency to get things right, so this was a good news day. Cantina Valentina started out as a concept in The Hoxton's incubator space underneath their Holborn hotel in 2021, devised by the hotel group's food and beverage director Jules Pearson, along with chef Adam Rawson, who's travelled extensively in Peru and worked at London's Pachamama . He wanted to bring a mix of cosmopolitan and historical dishes, from coastal villages to isolated mountain towns, and the restaurant opened proper in Brussels in 2023. Based on its success the group picked Dublin as their second location (London has tonnes of fantastic Peruvian restaurants - lucky them), and it opened officially last week, after a week or so of soft launching with some chosen influencers. Where should we sit? The room is in two sections. There's the front room where you walk in featuring the bar, and the back room featuring the raw bar. There's lots of different table configurations and they'd easily sit eight without a problem if you're planning a group night out, even though it's not a huge restaurant. It's all very tactile and comfortable with most tables featuring a banquette, and you'll probably spend as much time as we did taking in the lighting, the cushions, the artwork, the ornamental touches dotted around the place. For anything up to four people you could sit at the raw bar and see your food being prepared - it's curved so you should still be able to talk to each other - and there's a few nice corners for intimate encounters. The lighting is also low, which some might see as cosy and romantic, while others will bemoan squinting to read their menu. What's the menu like? Modern Peruvian by way of London. For the most part this is less what the grannies are eating in Cusco, and more what the gastro tourists are eating in Lima. There ' s plenty drawn from the country's most famous dishes and ways of eating - ceviche being number one. There are six different types (including a veggie option), and it should be a large focus of your meal here. Other typical Peruvian dishes include grilled skewers, pollo a la brasa, quinoa-based salads, and carapulcra - a rich stew made from dried Andean potatoes. To potentially save you a Google, 'Aji' and 'Rocoto' are types of chillies. Ají Amarillo is sweeter, Ají Panca is smokier, and Rocoto is very spicy. Cancha, is toasted Andean corn. A bite while you wait? We wanted all four but with some measure of restraint we stuck to the chicharrones with aji lime salt (€9), and holy hell these are now the ones to beat citywide. Rendered and crisped to such perfection you may think you're hallucinating, these will wipe all memories of flabby, fatty pork belly from your mind, along with tooth-breaking cracking. The sweet amarillo mayo on the side is just added lux. After that you'll need some ceviche - the culinary equivalent of a lightning strike to the mouth. Scallop ceviche (€18) comes with jalapeño tiger's milk, green apple and cancha (toasted corn), with two corn tortillas to scoop it up onto, and it's been so long since we had ceviche this precisely perfect that it was almost an ' I've just got something in my eye ' moment. There's seabream and tuna versions too, and we're going back for all of them. We ordered the 'fried calamari ceviche' (€17) ready to tear it apart - how can anything fried be ceviche! Well if this is wrong, we don't want to be right. A mound of lightly-spiced, barely breaded, tender as a baby's cheek calamari rings come with a bowl of 'Tiger's milk a la chalaca' - a milky-looking ceviche marinade with lime juice, coriander, possibly some fish stock and kernels of crunchy corn. Throw a ring in the bowl, scoop it out with a spoon and throw your head back in glee as a new core food memory is created. Absolutely no notes, now or ever. From the 'Anticucho' (skewers) section, the lomo saltado (typical Peruvian, super savoury, stir-fried beef) comes with Hereford beef, shoestring fries and a piquillo pepper sauce. It's already in chunks so easily shareable, and the flavour from marinading, grilling and painting it with that sauce runs so deep, the fries adding a tiny bit of extra texture to the silky meat. From the bigger plates, we were floored by some of the pre-opening menu prices, with a duck and rice dish priced at €52, a Herford dry-aged rib-eye for €54 (no sides), and a whole Peruvian (presumably farmed) sea bream to share at €72. Who would ever pay this we thought! And they obviously thought twice, because when we got there the duck dish had been reduced to just the leg for €32, and a new 'pollo a la brasa' had been added, also for €32. However, there's been an insane decision to raise the price of the 450g rib-eye to €90!? Again, we wonder, typo? The same size rib-eye in Hawksmoor is €58 (no fries for that but still). In FX Buckley it's €69 with a side and sauce. If you pay €90 for a steak here you have more money than sense. We have more sense than money, so it was the 'signature' free-range pollo a la brasa, with lamb's lettuce and aji amarillo mayo (€32). Most people will want to add fries (€6), so this is not a cheap version of chicken and chips by any stretch, but it's a very good one. We rarely order chicken for obvious reasons, but we would if more tasted as juicy and smokily skinned as this one, that amarillo mayo and just dressed lamb's lettuce a double chef's kiss. Fries were excellent too - hot, crisp and perfectly salted. We were interested to try their version of carapulcra, a rich, dried Andean potato stew that usually comes with pork or beef (or llama), but is one of the vegetarian options here, with mushrooms and fresh truffle (the part that presumably justifies the €32 price point). In Peru potatoes are often sun or freeze-dried to make them last longer, rehydrating them when needed. This might not win 'most attractive dish of the night', but it's at the top of the table for flavour, those potatoes almost concentrated, the mushrooms bringing deep umami in every bite, and the (scant) truffle adding additional luxury. It's one of those dishes where you think a couple of forkfuls will be enough, but you can't stop going back for more. Their 'Peruvian-braised lamb' (€38, Slane Valley's best slow-cooked) gets the South American treatment with coriander sauce (barely discernable), black kale and frijoles. Lamb feels as much of a high end ingredient as truffle these days, and this one was so well cooked it was practically spoonable, but we found the flavours extremely rich and salty. A whole plate for one would have tipped us over the edge, but you probably know someone whose street it would be right up. A side of grilled broccoli and peanuts (there was chilli too) had one of the best treatments of a cruciferous veg we've had in a while, but the broccoli itself was overcooked and soggy. Hopefully a one time misdemeanour. There are four desserts, and they felt to us like more of an add on than a main event. We're regretting now not ordering Peru's famous 'suspiro de limena' with custard, meringue and passion fruit, thinking it might be bland and/or plain. Instead we went for the tres leches (€12, more Latin American than strictly Peru), named for the evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk in the mix. It's soft, sweet and mild, with the coconut on top and berries at the side adding texture and tartness. Pleasant? Yes. A must order? No. What's a dessert menu without a chocolate tart, and Cantina Valentina's (€12) come with cacao, toasted quinoa ice-cream and dulce le leche. They recommend cracking the wafer and mixing it all in, and we couldn't really ascertain where the tart was. It felt more like a splodge of chocolate, a splodge of dulce de lecha, and some toasty ice-cream with a slightly grainy texture. There was nothing not to like here, but equally we don't think it's an essential ending. The yuzu sorbet Pisco Colonel (€11) would be a lighter, boozier end to dinner. What should we drink? There are three signature drinks on the food menu - a classic Pisco Sour, a Spicy Margarita and an N/A Chicha Morada. The Pisco Sour is as good as in our rose-tinted memories of Peru, and the Chicha is a really refreshing alcohol-free choice, with purple corn steeped in fresh pineapple, apple, cloves and cinnamon, topped up with fresh lime juice and soda. There's a larger cocktail menu too with eight 'house' options, featuring more Pisco, Tequila, Gin and more. As with any hotel wine list, it's never going to light us on fire with excitement, and prices are very high. There's only three bottles on the whole list under €50, with most in the region of €50-€60. The most interesting thing here is that they've managed to source Peruvian wine, both a Chardonnay and a Syrah (€11.50 a glass or €55 a bottle). We tried a glass of the Chardonnay, and while it was crisp, clean and refreshing while chilled, as it warmed up it became clear what a simple wine it is. Good for a try, but we wouldn't go back for a bottle. How was the service? Very pleasant but more training is needed. We had to ask for water every time, the empty carafe pushed to the front of the table not enough to nudge the standstill staff into action. We had to request a glass of wine twice before it was delivered, and we were one of only a few tables there, so we hope they can tighten things up before they get busier. Staff were very friendly and asked us lots of times how our food and drinks were, but they need to do better at anticipating diners' needs before they have to raise a hand. What was the damage? We paid around €80 a head for a generous amount of food for three and one drink each. You could definitely order less than we did (we overdid it) but a few more cocktails and wine and your bill will be in the big leagues. This is definitely in the "pricier restaurants" category. If you're on a budget, go for a Pisco sour, some chicharrónes and a bowl of ceviche and you'll be out for under €40 before tip. Otherwise go large. What's the verdict on Cantina Valentina? After an all time wait, Dublin finally has Peruvian food of a standard we've only seen in London and Peru - we think that's worth getting excited about. Yes it's expensive, and sometimes it feels like we're living in an alternate universe, getting more and more detached about the prices of food and eating out. It's becoming harder and harder to discern what's good value, what's too much, what's worth spending the big bucks on, and there's so much noise, opinions and crying out from every side on what's fair and right (both diners and restaurants). In the end all we can judge on is whether or not we think the food, drinks and experience are worth your time and money. In Cantina Valentina , we've found dishes we've been attempting to manifest here for at least 10 years, so (budget allowing) our answer is a big fat yes. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Taco Libre Bar food, but make it delicious Posted: 8 Feb 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Taco Libre, a new Mexican at the bottom of Capel Street, seemed to have lots going against it. It's the latest opening from Galway Bay Brewery (their 15th in total), who also own The Black Sheep across the road, Against The Grain on Wexford Street, and recently opened The Beer Temple on Parliament Street. Why would a brewery care about food? Surely these places are just a way to sell more beer? However, in getting the story for this new openings piece , we discovered several things that made us sit up and take a closer look. 1) Their head chef Bruna is Mexican (always a good start), but also has Brazilian and Japanese heritage which she described entwining into the menu. 2) They're sourcing much of their ingredients from Picado on Richmond Street, so were clearly looking for the best. 3) They told us that everything, from the tortilla chips to the tortillas for tacos, were homemade. After the feature we threw a few options out to our ATF Insiders on where they wanted us to go for our next once over, and Taco Libre won by a considerable margin, so on a wet and murky February evening we tentatively set off for Dublin 1. Where should we sit? They've done a great job on the design in here - it's colourful, welcoming, and there are lots of seating options, from bar stools to booths, high tables to cosy little spots for two. There's a front and a back room, separated by a narrow corridor. The back is closer to the kitchen but further from the bar, so a bit better for privacy, while it fees like there's more action happening/more to look at out front. What's the food like? It's all small plates/sharing style, which suits us just fine, and if you're a table of 3 or 4 of you could easily get through the whole menu. It's split into bar bites, tacos, nachos, sides and sweet (currently just alcoholic milkshakes), and tacos are priced individually which is great because you can try more of them. There's no provenance information on the menu, but they told us that everything not sourced from Picado is sourced in Ireland, using local where possible, and beef, pork and chicken are Irish. It would be against the law not to start with their homemade tortilla chips, which come with guacamole and two salsas of your choice. There's salsa roja, hot sauce, crema, pico de gallo, and smoked roasted morija, and they all get a big fat tick from us, as do the tortillas. Homemade are just better - so fresh, so crunchy, so salty, so hard to stop jamming them into your mouth. Seen as 'moqueca' is emblazoned on the wall as you walk in, that was our next order. Bruna had said the prawn and cod cakes with dende oil (a fragrant, red Brazilian oil extracted from palm nuts) was inspired by her Brazilian heritage, and while we weren't expecting much from a regional spin on a fishcake, we were happy to be wrong. The delicately-flavoured breadcrumbed balls pack in a lot of flavour, with discernible pieces of fish and a crispy (but not oily shell), the chilli sauce on the side kicking it into an optional spicy space. We loved. Next up, their cousins in the same panko shell - elote croquettes. Again, expected little. Again, over-delivered. The menu said "toasted sweetcorn, cheese, jalapeño and coriander", and we could taste every ingredient. These have a bit of heat in them from the jalapeño, and the accompanying crema was the perfect dipping companion. 'Papas fritas' come with homemade chilli jam, crema and queso fresco (made in house and the real deal), and was a very tasty plate of potatoes, with sweetness and spice from the jam, saltiness from the cheese, creaminess from the crema, and the addition of micro coriander bringing another clever and complimentary layer of flavour. Then onto what we were really here for - the tacos. The tortillas are homemade (we presume from masa harina and that they're not nixtamalizing the corn themselves), and there's a choice of five. We tried four (side-stepping the chicken as it didn't say whether it was free range). Tortillas were nicely imperfect looking and the right thickness, and each of them had plenty of flavours going on. The tempura prawn comes with crema, white radish pickle and nori seaweed vinaigrette (another nod to the chef's Japanese hertiage). Is it Mexican, it is Japanese - when it tastes this good we really don't care. The beef taco comes with toasted sweet corn, sweet pickled red cabbage, avocado puree, diced onion, salsa roja and coriander, and was also enjoyable, if over-filled and a bit messy to eat. But our favourite was the pork, with marinated minty pineapple, crema and diced onions. Usually we'd be throwing the salsas onto tacos, but this needed nothing. It's a knockout, and the closest thing we've had to tacos al pastor for a long time. We also tried the 'tacos dourado' - a crispy pan-fried taco with mashed potato and onions, salsa roja, lettuce, tomato, queso fresco and crema. Another tasty small plate with great textures, but it needed the salsas to liven up the flavours - that is however exactly what they're there for. Currently dessert consists of two boozy milkshakes - a bourbon chocolate praline one, and a margarita one - "oh no" we hear you cry. We tried the margarita with lime whipped cream and salted lemon caramel sauce (more like lemon curd) and if we wanted 500 calories with our alcohol we'd definitely order again, but as you can imagine it's pretty heavy. A sip or two each would be plenty. What about the drinks? A brewery owned establishment could easily railroad the entire drinks menu into serving only their beers, but they're not that shortsighted here. Many other Irish breweries are named on the beer menu, with interesting choices from abroad too, making it a great spot for craft beer drinkers. It's mainly their own beers on tap, and we really liked both the Weights and Measures (a citra IPA) and the Bay Ale (a red ale). Wines are basic, and cocktails come from Irish Craft Cocktails around the corner. And the service? Very friendly and welcoming but casual. All of our food arrived at once so order in stages if that irritates you. No one checked in on whether we were enjoying it or needed anything else, but that's generally the vibe in most bars - we were probably lulled into feeling like we were in a fancier restaurant because the food was so good. You might also notice from the photos that several of the staff weren't masked, which felt sadly strange after the last two years. This will bother some of you, whereas others don't seem to care anymore now that we're edging closer to the old normal. And the damage? €70 for enough food to make three feel uncomfortably full, with two drinks. Can't argue with that kind of value for this quality of food. The verdict? We're struggling to stay focused on the fact that Taco Libre is a bar first and foremost, because so few bars have food this good, food that ends up becoming the main attraction over and above the drinks. When we were there an English couple had wandered in after watching the rugby, clearly not able to believe their luck in the level of soakage they'd stumbled upon, and ever since our visit we've been dreaming of a world where the bars you want to meet your mates in put the food on the same level as the decor/cocktails/toilets and we never have to round everyone up to go and get food somewhere decent. Taco Libre are the exception right now - a menu with a genuine Mexican feel, and a kitchen with a talent for flavour, in a bar that you could just as easily drop in for a pint. We'll be back, and next time we're bringing a gang and settling in. Book it before word gets out. Taco Libre 199 King Street North, Dublin 7 galwaybaybrewery.com/tacolibre New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bustling neighbourhood wine bar and shop with a short, daily changing menu for lunch and dinner. Salads, sandwiches and sharing boards are constants, with hot dishes like fish cakes and sausage rolls making regular appearances. One of the best wine selections in Dublin with enthused staff always ready to make recommendations. 64 Wine Website 64wine.ie Address 64 Glasthule Road, Glasthule, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Bustling neighbourhood wine bar and shop with a short, daily changing menu for lunch and dinner. Salads, sandwiches and sharing boards are constants, with hot dishes like fish cakes and sausage rolls making regular appearances. One of the best wine selections in Dublin with enthused staff always ready to make recommendations. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Low-lit, narrow-roomed Aperitivo, with its waistcoat-clad Italian waiters and limoncello spritz on repeat, is like something lifted from Venice and dropped onto Nassau Street. The tiny room is made for intimate meals, where feet and forks are sure to touch, and the menu full of small plates, snacks and pasta is meant to be shared. For our money the fritti are the best things on the menu, and the cocktail and wine list are worth a deep-dive. Aperitivo Website aperitivo.ie Address 47 Nassau Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Low-lit, narrow-roomed Aperitivo, with its waistcoat-clad Italian waiters and limoncello spritz on repeat, is like something lifted from Venice and dropped onto Nassau Street. The tiny room is made for intimate meals, where feet and forks are sure to touch, and the menu full of small plates, snacks and pasta is meant to be shared. For our money the fritti are the best things on the menu, and the cocktail and wine list are worth a deep-dive. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Restaurant Manager < Back Restaurant Manager Hunan Apply Now Location Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Employment Full-time Date Posted 23 September 2025 Website chinatang.ie The team behind China Tang in Monkstown will open new restaurant China Hunan in Ranealgh late November/early December, and are looking to hire a Restaurant Manager . We are part of a large restaurant group behind well-known brands including China Tang , Little Dumpling , Hakkahan , Bullet and Biang Biang Hand-Pulled Noodles , so the right candidate will be joining an experienced and supportive team with plenty of opportunities for growth. This will be a mid-to-high end restaurant, and we are looking for someone with solid restaurant management experience (Michelin or 5-star hotel background preferred). Chinese language is a plus. In return, we offer: A supportive and collaborative team environment Competitive salary (to be discussed at interview) Opportunities to grow within a dynamic and expanding restaurant group Exciting challenges and rewarding career progression Application: Interested candidates can send their CV to info@hunan.ie .

Fast casual, inexpensive pasta and small plates, with almost every ingredient sourced in Ireland. Irish twists on Italian classics with a big focus on sustainability - all drinks are on tap, all packaging is compostible and they’re fully paperless. Sprezzatura Camden Market Website sprezzatura.ie Address 5/6 Camden Market, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Fast casual, inexpensive pasta and small plates, with almost every ingredient sourced in Ireland. Irish twists on Italian classics with a big focus on sustainability - all drinks are on tap, all packaging is compostible and they’re fully paperless. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

When Grano announced they were opening an Italian-only wine bar next door to their adored Stoneybatter restaurant we were practically twirling with joy. A Fianco (meaning 'next to') opened in summer 2022 looking far more polished than anyone expected, and walking through the door on Manor Street is a transportive experience. The all-Italian wine list is a joy to explore, and the small plate menus range from caponata and Calabrian-style anchovies to Capocollo ham and 40-month aged red cow Parmigiano. People-watch at the window, jostle for a leather seat at the bar, or pitch up at one of the standing areas, but with just 16 seats prepare to wait for somewhere to balance your glass on. A Fianco Website afianco.ie Address Unit 6, Norseman Court, Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story When Grano announced they were opening an Italian-only wine bar next door to their adored Stoneybatter restaurant we were practically twirling with joy. A Fianco (meaning 'next to') opened in summer 2022 looking far more polished than anyone expected, and walking through the door on Manor Street is a transportive experience. The all-Italian wine list is a joy to explore, and the small plate menus range from caponata and Calabrian-style anchovies to Capocollo ham and 40-month aged red cow Parmigiano. People-watch at the window, jostle for a leather seat at the bar, or pitch up at one of the standing areas, but with just 16 seats prepare to wait for somewhere to balance your glass on. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

South Dublin suburb Rathmines has plenty to satisfy hungry visitors, from freshly made pasta and pizza to generously topped galettes. Rathmines Our Take South Dublin suburb Rathmines has plenty to satisfy hungry visitors, from freshly made pasta and pizza to generously topped galettes. Where to Eat Grove Road Kodiak Lottie's Mad Yolks Rathmines Reggie's Pizzeria Shaku Maku The Dunmore Umi Falafel Rathmines Uno Pizza Voici

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

Daruma Japanese drinks and small plates in Temple Bar Posted: 13 Dec 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? Daruma appeared quite suddenly in October in the old Fish Shack site on Parliament Street, with an Instagram post heralding their arrival one Sunday, and doors opening to customers two days later. After a bit of investigating we heard there was a connection to Big Fan and our ears perked up (turns out they have a backer in common), and the two owner/operators are former managers of Musashi , the Japanese sushi chain. The discussion of why Dublin has no high end, ultra exciting Japanese restaurants is an ever-ongoing one amongst food circles, and there was some hopeful whispering that this might be the one we've all been waiting for. We loved the Japanese pub with small plates vibe they were selling online, but unlike Big Fan (which has been one of the biggest restaurant successes from the past two years), it didn't seem to be built around a particular chef and their talent. We also couldn't find anyone Japanese who was associated with it - not a pre-requisite for opening a Japanese restaurant, but it tends to go in their favour when someone has a strong connection to a cuisine they're trying to showcase. Between this and the lack of a website containing a menu/opening hours/online booking (basic in 2022) The jury was out before we'd gotten in. Where should we sit? Most of the tables are at the front, with the best one at the window looking out onto Parliament Street. There's also bar seating which looked ideal for a solo pint and some small plates. What did you eat? We covered quite a lot of the menu over two visits, so let's lay out the good, from the not so good. There are four sections - raw, robatayaki, bites and sides. Daikon 'saibaizu' (which we presume is meant to be 'sanbaizu', a Japanese dressing with rice wine vinegar, sugar and soy) was refreshing and crunchy, an excellent palate cleanser, while charred edamame were pointless, the additional heat adding nothing except over-cooking. They were also criminally under-salted - we asked for more and fixed the problem ourselves. Garlic chilli cucumber was another lip-smacking refresher, smoky and spicy with plenty of sesame and crunch. Fresh oysters came with a lovely, zingy apple and mustard tosazu dressing (a fermented rice wine vinegar), but we wished we knew where they came from, and whether they were Irish. There's no provenance information on the menu. Tuna tataki with candy ginger and wasabi daikon had great flavour and some really interesting elements, but the tuna tasted soft and woolly. At €13.95 for six pieces we expected better fish Our favourite dish (and one we ordered both times) was the flamed salmon nigiri, with kewpie mayo and hazelnut furikake. The salmon is just cooked, and between the sweet, nutty dressing and the slight crunch of the hazelnuts, this is the kind of innovative sushi we want more of. We had a pain in our faces trying to find out what the daily sushi omasake roll was, and after almost having to hold our waitress's hand and lead her in the direction of the kitchen, she came back and told us it was eel. "Is there anything else?" we asked. "No, just eel". It didn't seem likely, but we were worn out so just let them bring it, and we still can't tell you what was in it. There was some fish roe and kewpie mayo on top and what we guessed powdered seaweed, but apart from that it's anyone's guess, and it was lacking flavour and texture. Crispy almond ebi with mango chilli sauce (€12.45 for three) were huge and we loved the combination of flavours, but there was a bit too much batter. The almonds did add an interesting element though. They do two types of ribs - beef short ribs with black garlic butter, and plum wine short ribs with creamy onion mochi. Both were incredibly tender, the beef sweet and pungent from the black garlic, the pork sweet and fruity from the plum wine and the onion. We would order both again tomorrow, but we'd really like to know where the meat came from. A third of their menu is given over the Robatayaki (like Japanese BBQ where food is cooked over charcoal), so we were surprised that this was the most disappointing part of the meal. It started with the waitress not knowing what was on the 'Daruma Selection', and seemingly not wanting to ask, and then when it arrived each was more lacklustre than the last. None of the headline stuff like scallops or ox tongue is on there - we got chicken thigh, minced chicken, pork belly, and two different mushrooms (which felt like a cop out) and none of it had much flavour other than a teriyaki type marinade. If charcoal ever went near this meat, we couldn't taste it. There's no dessert on the menu and when we asked if they had any our waitress didn't know, and didn't seem to want to find out. After pushing the issue she returned and told us they had mochi, but it was clear they were coming from a box in the freezer, so we passed. What about the drinks? They're serious about their sake in here, and have clearly taken time over the menu. They have seven sake cocktails, and had another two on special when we visited, and they're all low alcohol, so don't expect to feel the usual cocktail buzz. An 'Ichigo' with sake, strawberry, chilli, lime and sugar was pleasant but punchily sour, and serving it in a Champagne flute felt wrong. A lychee special with sake, lychee juice, lime juice, sugar and egg white was a world better, and so easy to knock back we almost had to place it out of reach. There's Asahi for beer and an average wine list, so we'd stick to the sake. We also tried a couple of straight sakes (a Kidosumi and a Gassan) and they were excellent - it's obvious they're not dealing with supermarket stuff or the big brands found in most Japanese restaurants in Ireland. How was the service? Friendly but lacking in actual service. We were almost turning blue waiting for answers to the questions we had about the menu, with the same waitress on both occasions saying she didn't know, and pleasantly looking back at us as if that was the end of that. We had to straight out ask someone to go down to the kitchen more times than we'd like to admit to find out what was on the robata selection, what was the sushi roll of the day, did they have any dessert - it was very tiring, and service training is badly needed. And the damage? €57 a head (to be exact) for dinner before tip, with three drinks each in that. €30 a head for lunch with no drinks. What's the verdict? Is Daruma the Japanese restaurant Dublin has been waiting for? No. Not yet anyway, but there's plenty of decent food and sake to kill a couple of hours. They're got more interesting options than a lot of Japanese restaurants in the city, many of whom stick to the same menu of gyoza, sushi and the wok/rice/noodle dishes we're all too familiar with, but it does somewhat kill us to imagine what it could be like with a culinary tour de force (like Big Fan's Alex Zhang) in the kitchen. For now enjoy it for what is it - a pocket-friendly, laid back Japanese bar, where you can order as little or as much as you like, and drink really good sake. Daruma 13 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 instagram.com/daruma_dublin New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Neighborhood restaurant guides for Dublin, Ireland. Find the best restaurants, pubs, cafes, and fine dining in every area of Dublin. Dublin Restaurant Guides & Reviews Neighbourhoods Where to Eat Dublin doesn't have the same easy-to-navigate neighborhoods as say, New York - but we've tried to split the city up into easily manageable chunks so wherever you're headed you can find the best places around for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert. From Argentinean in Portobello, to Calabrian in Stoneybatter, to a raw seafood bar in Terenure, restaurants and cafés here have the ATF seal of approval, so wherever you find yourself in the city you can search for the best eating experiences around. North City Centre Parnell Street Capel Street Pearse St - Merrion Square Grand Canal Dock Temple Bar Dame Street / Wicklow Street Grafton Street - Kildare Street Creative Quarter St Stephen's Green Aungier Street - Wexford Street - Camden Street Portobello Dublin 8 Smithfield Stoneybatter Dublin 4 Rathmines Ranelagh Harolds Cross - Terenure Blackrock - Monkstown - Mount Merrion Dún Laoghaire - Sandycove - Glasthule - Dalkey Dundrum - Sandyford - Stillorgan - Foxrock - Stepaside Drumcondra - Phibsboro - Glasnevin Clontarf - Fairview - Killester - Artane Howth Join ATF Insiders Make the Most of Every Meal. Join Us

Well-executed, carefully sourced Italian food from Ross Lewis (chef and owner of Michelin-starred Chapter One) and his friend, chef Luciano Tona, whose restaurant in Italy also held a Michelin star for a decade. Since stepping back from Chapter One Lewis himself has been cooking in the kitchen, and looks to be having fun with it. An interesting cocktail list makes for a perfect after work aperitivo. Osteria Lucio Website osterialucio.com Address The Malting Tower, Grand Canal Quay, Clanwilliam Terrace, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Well-executed, carefully sourced Italian food from Ross Lewis (chef and owner of Michelin-starred Chapter One) and his friend, chef Luciano Tona, whose restaurant in Italy also held a Michelin star for a decade. Since stepping back from Chapter One Lewis himself has been cooking in the kitchen, and looks to be having fun with it. An interesting cocktail list makes for a perfect after work aperitivo. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

777 Tostados, tortillas & addictive margaritas Posted: 17 Oct 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? 777 is no new kid on the block. Part of John Farrell's restaurant group, which also includes Dillinger's, The Butcher Grill, the contemporary Mexican opened in 2012 without a trace of Tex-Mex, which prior to this was pretty much all Dublin had experience of. Goodbye burritos and refried beans, hello tostados, tacos and carnitas. Like everything else that John Farrell touches, the interior design is first rate (not that you'd know from the unassuming outside), and they opened to some very good reviews , but like everything the buzz eventually dies down. In the past few months however, we feel like we're constantly being told to go there, that the kitchen's turning out fantastic food and the margaritas are worth a trip alone. So we took it upon ourselves to see if the rumours were true. Where should we go for a drink first? If you don't want to come straight here for a margarita (you're crazy, or on a mission), you could go to Loose Canon on Drury Street for a glass of natural wine, the soon to be open (any day now) Bar Giuseppe on Castle Market for an aperitivo, or any of the great pubs in the surrounding streets for a pint - Grogan's , The Foggy Dew or The Stag's Head to name a few. Where should we sit? The bar is good for singles or couples, and there are booth-style tables for big groups, although even fitting four is cosy. There are also a couple of bigger tables at the front if you have a group, but they don't take reservations for under six people, so you might have to wing it (or get more friends). What's good to eat? Honestly there wasn't a dud dish, and this was the closest we've found to Mexico City cooking in Dublin. The kitchen has the flavours and textures down, and there was really no comparison with our last Mexican experience here. Standouts for us were yellowfin tuna tostados with crispy shallots, chipotle mayo and habanero, and Mezcal marinated soft shell crab tortillas with chipotle, pickled onion and avocado, both of which we wanted more of. Chorizo tortillas were equally good, if very rich, as were the portobello mushroom ones with chipotle pesto, crema and pumpkin seeds, and an oyster shot with tomato and hananero citrus broth would be a great intro to oysters for the uninitiated. We tried one larger dish of Lamb Tlayuda, which is a Oaxacan dish that's like a Mexican pizza, and it came with BBQ lamb, pickled mushroom, chimichurri, wild garlic and feta fondue on a chargrilled flatbread. The meat was exceptional - we would happily go veggie six days a week if we got to eat this on the seventh - and the flavours were stunning. We were struggling to fit more in at this point but we powered on and finished the lot because it was so good. We would only get to share in a group as it's so large and filling, and if you had it on your own you probably wouldn't be able to manage much else. We also tried sides of elotes and papas fritas, both of which were good, but the crispy potatoes with garlic and manchego knocked patatas bravas out of the park for us. We imagine leaving any in the bowl would be a feat of Olympic proportions. Desserts are limited to bread and butter pudding with dulce de leche and vanilla ice-cream, and a selection of sorbets and ice-cream. We tried the former (purely in the name of research), and it was the type that's soaked and blow-torched, meaning the inside was cold and was left uneaten, but the flavour was good and the dulce de leche a nice addition. What about the drinks? Go margaritas or go home. Mondays the house ones are two for €14 (usual price €12) so that's the night to go if you're feeling thirsty, but we've heard the Margarita Especial is even better than the house (unfortunately we only heard this after we'd been). Neither the beer or the wine list are particularly inspiring, but that's not really the point of the place. Cocktails are where it's at. There are also some lovely sounding mocktails, like the Pinky Tuscadero with cranberry juice, jalapeno & rosemary syrup, lime and rhubarb. And the service? Functional. They got the job done but we wouldn't say there was an abundance of hospitality. Some of them looked like they had better places to be and we were holding them up. Others were more helpful. The verdict? For our money, this is the best place to eat real Mexican food (like in Mexico) in the city right now. You can keep your burrito chains and mediocre tacos. These guys have it down. It is very loud, so only go if you're happy with a side of ear-bursting hiphop, and we've lost count of how many stories we've heard about people getting carried away with food and drinks and getting a shocker of a bill, but if you choose carefully and keep a tab you should be able to get out while holding onto next month's rent. On Sunday all dishes are €7.77, Mondays are two margaritas for €14 and on Tuesday tacos are two for €6, so these are the days to go if money's tight, but we can't see you being disappointed whatever day you go. 777 7 Castle House, South Great George's Street, Dublin 2 777.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Contemporary café at the top of Parnell Street serving brunch and lunch, with pasta and pizza in the evenings. Specialty coffee and carefully chosen ingredients, including beef from the owner’s sister’s farm in Meath. One Society Website onesociety.ie Address 1 Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Contemporary café at the top of Parnell Street serving brunch and lunch, with pasta and pizza in the evenings. Specialty coffee and carefully chosen ingredients, including beef from the owner’s sister’s farm in Meath. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Sister restaurant of the highly regarded Ka Shing on Wicklow Street, specialising in the same top quality dim sum. The location next to McDonalds might not be as glamourous as its city centre sibling (opposite Brown Thomas), but the cheung fun, dumplings and pork BBQ buns will make you forget you're eating on the outskirts of a shopping centre. There’s a Cantonese menu too playing all the greatest hits in an elegantly appointment room upstairs, and unusually for an Irish-Chinese restaurant, desserts are worth sticking around for. Kaizen Website kaizenrestaurant.ie Address Kaizen Chinese Restaurant 嘉盛樓, Blanchardstown Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Sister restaurant of the highly regarded Ka Shing on Wicklow Street, specialising in the same top quality dim sum. The location next to McDonalds might not be as glamourous as its city centre sibling (opposite Brown Thomas), but the cheung fun, dumplings and pork BBQ buns will make you forget you're eating on the outskirts of a shopping centre. There’s a Cantonese menu too playing all the greatest hits in an elegantly appointment room upstairs, and unusually for an Irish-Chinese restaurant, desserts are worth sticking around for. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Allta Bar Casual dining at Allta is an exciting development for the Docklands, with a masterpiece of a burger Posted: 15 Oct 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Allta Bar? The ever-evolving Allta only made it about four months in the OG Setanta Place space that’s now home to Library Street , before the pandemic forced a closure never to be undone. Well received Summer and Winter House popups throughout those strange years added a cocktail bar, Glovebox , to the stable, and while its artsy vibes and great drinks made it a hit, we sensed the dropping of the name for the stripped-back ' Allta Bar ' suggested a change in direction. Since Allta’s new permanent docklands home opened in January of this year, the smaller space to the left of the building has done solid business for a pre and post-dinner drinks – that’s as much thanks to the lack of any decent options nearby as the custom sound system and decks they installed. Something bigger though was always the plan, and the start of the month saw the launch of a new bar menu to turn this section from high-end waiting room to a destination of its own. Where should we sit? With exposed concrete and air vents aplenty softened with fur furnishings and a plethora of plant life, the more casual bar space manages to hit a balance between openness and intimacy. Mismatched swivel and bucket seats as well as benches are set at low tables, for a sit-back-and-sip comfort more fitting for a drinks-only affair. Those out to eat greedily (guilty your honour) might be best off asking for one of the three high-stool two-tops, or taking a space at the twelve-seater circular bar – the lower tables might make you feel you’ve been seated at a kids’ Christmas table, awkwardly leaning forward to cut through a knee-height steak from your lower perch. What’s on the menu? The staff will point your attention toward the oilskin dungaree-clad man in the mural – as if you could miss him – and tell you the tale of Paddy O’Sullivan, the Kerry oyster fisherman whose catch has been on Allta’s plates just as his furrowed brow has been on its walls, since those first days back in 2019. A lesser venue might make this backstory sound like a sales spiel, but true enthusiasm isn’t easily faked, and a passion for provenance is a theme of the meal. Close your eyes as these sizeable specimens slip-side from the shell and you could be head-deep in the waters of Cromane Bay, such is the fresh shock of salt water. As the meat’s sweetness takes over, house fermented hot sauce and mignonette bring a tart and tangy balance, and the wall décor makes more sense as the quality sinks in. Not much can match the gasp-courting quality of a top-tier oyster’s briny blast, but the bluefin tuna makes a good go of it. We’ve seen a few versions of these tartare rosti bites at the new Allta, with mussel and dexter beef last spring a standout, but this latest levelling-up leaves them in the dust. The chilli-citrus kick of yuzu koshō plays off the intense sea-saltiness of the fish and the rosti’s crisp richness, for a snack we slivered off in wafer-thin bites to make it last longer. Pity the poor arancini having to stack up after those two. There’s nothing wrong with Allta’s take on the Sicilian street food, almost obligatory on bar menus these days, but the scale of invention that went before isn’t anywhere in sight here. Tender, fatty flakes of beef shin generously stirred through the bright yellow risotto make for a tasty mouthful and a pretty sight, but sensitive souls that we are we found the saffron notes too domineering. You won’t find Allta’s beef supplier plastered on the wall but Woodtown, proud owners of Ireland’s oldest purebred Jersey herd, have just as prominent a place. Chef and owner Niall Davidson spent time as a butcher and has put a lot of thought into how we can be more sustainable and less wasteful with beef – fatted ex-dairy cattle are the result. At the restaurant side of the house, you’ll find a choice of steak cuts charged by the 100g; here, it’s an even €18 for the cut of the day – if there’s any you’re unkeen on, be sure to ask. Ours was short rib, superbly charred from the alternating grill-and-rest technique Davidson has settled on for his custom beef, with the medium rare interior’s locked-in juices teeming forth from tenderised meat. The thick puddle of horseradish bearnaise is a smart accompaniment, if on occasion a little too sweet for our palates. We know you're dying to know about the Allta Bar cheeseburger that's been touted so much in their promo photos. It's a masterpiece, as good a use as any for this prime meat. House pickles, Mount Leinster cheddar, a fermented potato bun from No Messin’ , and the infamous shiitake miso butter we all licked the jar clean of in those lockdown box days - every element of this is one we would eat in isolation, but brought together it’s the stuff of burger loving dreams, a concert of quality ingredients that bolster rather than bury the beef. The scant serving of chips are hand-cut and triple-fried to moreishness, ill-served by having so few more on either plate - another spud is hardly likely to torpedo the price point. That this is going for €18 is a shock - given the endless gastropubs around the area shilling a basic-as burger for that or more, this feels like the deal of the year. We couldn’t quite say the same for the €28 dessert (not a typo). Six grams of caviar and a strip of gold leaf are primarily to blame for that price point, a luxury temptation that feels out of sorts with the rest of the meal. The minimal waste philosophy is in play again, with potato peels saved from compost and oven-caramelised for an intensely earthy, subtly sweet ice cream. We’ll confess a cynicism that spud scraps and sturgeon egg would make for a sensible pairing, but the silky-soft scoop played so well off the salt-spiked richness of the roe that we ate our words along with our caviar. Tiramichoux is as nice to eat as it is to say, and a good deal less guilt-inducing on your wallet than the ice cream. Have cameras at the ready for the stream of caramel that cascades down the filling of mascarpone cream as you cut through the crisp pastry. The contrastingly light and heavy textures are a wonder to munch through, with the smooth coffee oil ice cream and crunchy cacao nibs adding extra flavour bursts. We might have expected petit fours over at the restaurant, but not so much the bar. A blackcurrant pastille was a densely delicious shock of intense fruit flavour, while a pretty orange caramel bonbon brought a just-right richness to round things off. A pitch-perfect contrast of crisp caramelised exterior and chewy custard centre are the hallmarks of any great canelé; here, as elsewhere, Allta shows its no amateur. What are the drinks like? This new lease of life for the bar brings with it a new cocktail menu, most at a €16 price point that puts it solidly toward the top of the market – we noted that’s a €2.50 hike on the previous list we sipped our way through when the space bore the Glovebox name. The quality has risen along with the price though, and if you’re willing to part with that amount it won't be spent in vain. The Scottish-Irish hybrid 'Rathlin' pairs poitín and Islay single malt with sherry and kelp for a smoke and salt-saturated answer to an old fashioned – what a way to whet the appetite. 'Skellig Michael' sits among the lighter choices, gin spiked with the complexity of Stillgarden’s Glas 55 herbal liqueur and the crisp bite of apple juice. As a fresh foil to cut through richer dishes it works very well. We cannot urge you enough to have an 'Aran' with dessert. Allta’s miso butter shot to fame long ago, but here it’s found an altogether higher purpose washed with Teelings for a butterscotch-scented beauty we want to drink again and again. For those not partaking, the 'Conor’s' gets a kick from Fire & 5th's N/A spirit, played off the zip of a grapefruit and a tarragon sherbet-spiked tonic for a grownup teetotal choice. The solid BTG wine list counts producers we've enjoyed elsewhere in the city like La Sapata, Bulli, Meinklang and Hacienda la Parrilla among the 12-strong choice. There's plenty to enjoy there, and all the more by the bottle, with prices broadly on-par with competitors like Note How was the service? As in the restaurant, the Allta staff are trained to a tee on every inch of the menu, and bristling to be asked for more detail. They will go long and deep on any dish if you care to hear more, without the stuffiness that sometimes brings. Service here is a testament to the reality that you can keep it informal without ever being anything less than deadly serious about great food. The plates here could be wheeled out by mute robots and would still sing, but the staff’s copious pride and passion speaks volumes about the kind of food culture that's been sought out and cultivated, and it’s infectious. And the damage? We had a much fuller feast than we’d expect most to enjoy at Allta Bar – caviar and all – so don’t take our €115 food bill (cocktails came to another €60) as any kind of indication. It is fair to say we went all-in; more normal sorts could exit well fed for €30 a head before drinks. There’s not many places around town you can eat so well for so little. One sore note that we didn’t notice until afterwards was a €6 charge for those petit fours we never asked for. We’d pay it again, but it doesn’t feel right not to know it in advance. What’s the verdict on Allta Bar? For all we’ve loved Allta in its many guises, it’s fair to say it’s never quite been a casual night out – to all but the most devout food fans, this has always been special occasion stuff. This new Allta Bar feels like a conscious effort to elbow into another end of the market, with some dishes – mains especially – clocking in at prices of sensational value for the quality you get. To have ethical, sustainable, seasonal and minimal-waste food this accessible is an exciting development for the city, and we hope it gets as busy as it deserves to be. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Glovers Alley Fine dining returns to the Fitzwilliam Hotel Posted: 2 Apr 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or following the wrong people on twitter) you’ve probably heard about Glovers Alley , the new fine dining restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Thornton’s in the Fitzwilliam Hotel . Headed up by Dubliner Andy McFadden, once the youngest Michelin starred chef in London, we don’t think a Dublin restaurant has ever gone as big on pre-opening PR, and they took a bit of flack over some pretty absurd language on their website (thankfully mostly gone) and the promises of delivering something Dublin has never seen before. Regardless of the slightly bumpy start, we think the city is in need of more high-end dining options and were glad to see one of the ' Murphia ' return home, so we went to check it out for ourselves. Where’s good for a drink beforehand? You’re right off Stephen’s Green so the options are endless. Presuming you’ll be in your Sunday best, the Horseshoe Bar in The Shelbourne is always good for pre-dinner/lunch bubbles, or La Ruelle wine bar is off Dawson Street. For cocktails, beer and rugby-player spotting, Lemon and Duke is close by too. What’s the room like? Not as pink as it looks in pictures. Very plush and clearly no expense spared when it came to decor. There are three main rows of seating, with a mix of banquettes and free-standing tables, and there’s a separate private dining area which was busy hosting a scarf launch/lunch on the day we were there. It feels modern but very comfortable, and we loved the lack of white tablecloths. Staff tend to hover in front of the bar which is slightly disconcerting, as you feel like you’re always being observed, but we’re not sure what the solution is to this. It’s the layout of the room, and there’s nowhere else for them to go. The upside is you won’t have to wave your hand around trying to get someone’s attention. What's good to eat? We would recommend the tasting menu, which felt fairly priced at €60 for lunch, considering there were three snacks, a lot of incredible bread, six courses, a pre-dessert and petit fours. There were twelve elements in total, and while we wouldn’t be spending €60 on lunch every week, it felt like good value. The first snack was disappointing – a parmesan gougère, which didn’t taste of much – but the following two were very good. Foie gras sandwiched between two crisp pieces of tuile, and more crispiness in the form of chicken skin topped with taramasalata and seaweed. Not a combination we would have put together but it all worked. The bread selection must be one of the best in town and we gluttonously tried it all. We’re still dreaming about the parmesan and black olive bun, which was like a savoury version of a cinnabon in the best possible way. Butter is from Abernethy and we had to restrain ourselves from eating it by the spoon. The tasting menu changes daily, but high points for us were curried cauliflower with crispy ham hock, and rabbit with carrots, grapes and tarragon. Rabbit came in the form of an incredibly tender, skilfully cooked loin (no mean feat for such a lean meat), a pastilla (deep-fried pastry) and a teeny tiny, totally delicious rabbit rack, which we didn’t even know was a thing. There were also a couple of brightly coloured splodges of sauce on the plate which didn’t really add anything and we felt unnecessarily complicated things. We were less keen on the brill with beetroot, cucumber and anchovy, the brill being the weakest part of the dish. The chewy, sweet beetroot, which had been dehydrated then rehydrated was the high point and we think they should start selling it in bags to go. A pre-dessert of cardamom panacotta with mandarin granita and Thai basil didn’t taste much of cardamom but was delicious nonetheless and nicely refreshing after the array of flavours that came before it. The main act of grapefruit, white chocolate and lime mascarpone was really beautiful, delicate but full of flavour, nicely balanced between freshness and sweetness. The dark chocolate, sesame caramel petit fours are another item we think they should sell on the side. Crazy good. What about the drinks? As you would imagine, the wine list is extensive and excellently curated. Margins are a bit on the high side but no more than we would expect in a restaurant pitched at this level. There’s a nice selection by the glass and the sommelier recommended some good pairings, including a pitch-perfect German Riesling from Emrich Schönleber , a dry Pedro-Ximenez called Dos Claveles from Spanish producer Toro Albalá , and a really cracking Mencia from Raul Perez, also Spanish. And the service? Very professional but a little stiff at times – lots of ‘Ma’am’ and ‘Sir’ – which is great if that’s what you’re in the mood for. We were very thankful for head waiter Bill, formerly manager at Bastible , who was a breath of fresh air in a slightly nervous feeling room, cracking jokes throughout lunch and generally being an excellent addition to the experience. The verdict? Glovers Alley put themselves in the firing line by talking a big game pre-opening (although we have it on authority that Andy McFadden had very little to do with this) and some critics have been only too happy to take a shot. It’s not perfect yet, a couple of dishes didn’t wow, and it would be nice to see them relax into things a bit more, but there is some very skilful cooking happening here, in an ultra-luxurious room, and we would think zero chance of a bad service experience with a 5-star floor team led by GM Ed Jolliffe (ex- Chapter One ). They're not planning on sitting still any time soon and we would predict that it’s only going to get better over the coming months as things settle down and they find their comfort zone. Glovers Alley 127/128 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 gloversalley.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

The third addition to Tang’s growing empire of feel good cafés, Tang say their aim is to make people happy with food, and if their pancakes, granola bowls and salad boxes exploding with colour don’t give you a lift, you might be dead inside. There’s a beautiful tree-shaded courtyard out front which is prime outdoor dining real estate, and plenty of inside seating too if the weather gods aren’t with you. Tang Cumberland Place Website tang.ie Address 2 Cumberland Street South, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story The third addition to Tang’s growing empire of feel good cafés, Tang say their aim is to make people happy with food, and if their pancakes, granola bowls and salad boxes exploding with colour don’t give you a lift, you might be dead inside. There’s a beautiful tree-shaded courtyard out front which is prime outdoor dining real estate, and plenty of inside seating too if the weather gods aren’t with you. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Middle-Eastern leaning Brother Hubbard opened in Ranelagh in 2022 and the southside suburb suddenly had a new must-visit for all day brunch, all week long. Breads, pastries, pickles, ferments & preserves are made in house, and they have an impressive list of suppliers for the rest. Brother Hubbard Ranelagh Website brotherhubbard.ie Address 27 Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Middle-Eastern leaning Brother Hubbard opened in Ranelagh in 2022 and the southside suburb suddenly had a new must-visit for all day brunch, all week long. Breads, pastries, pickles, ferments & preserves are made in house, and they have an impressive list of suppliers for the rest. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Ethically sourced food, elevated to new levels of deliciousness by their clever staff have had Dubliners converging en masse to Dublin 8 since The Fumbally opened in 2012. High ceilings, mish mashed furniture and a “let’s all be friends” vibe make it feel like you’re in someone’s living room, in the best possible way. The Fumbally Website thefumbally.ie Address Fumbally Lane, The Liberties, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Ethically sourced food, elevated to new levels of deliciousness by their clever staff have had Dubliners converging en masse to Dublin 8 since The Fumbally opened in 2012. High ceilings, mish mashed furniture and a “let’s all be friends” vibe make it feel like you’re in someone’s living room, in the best possible way. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

There's more to Dublin's tourist-thronged mecca than sad stews and over-priced pints. Look around corners and you'll find fresh seafood, bangkok-level Thai food, and one of the city's best wine bars. Temple Bar Our Take There's more to Dublin's tourist-thronged mecca than sad stews and over-priced pints. Look around corners and you'll find fresh seafood, bangkok-level Thai food, and one of the city's best wine bars. Where to Eat Achara Daruma Eatokyo Temple Bar FX Buckley Crow Street Full Moon Lucky Tortoise Temple Bar Monty's of Kathmandu Pho Ta Piglet Rosa Madre Sano Temple Bar Saucy Cow Sweet Churro The Seafood Cafe Toca Tapioca

Neighbourhood café in the heart of Dublin 8, with all food made on site using seasonal, mostly organic ingredients, and a yoga studio on site. Their menu is all vegetarian with plenty of vegan options, so you can enjoy a plant-filled feast after you’ve worked through your sun salutations. Little Bird Website little-bird.ie Address 82 South Circular Road, Portobello, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Neighbourhood café in the heart of Dublin 8, with all food made on site using seasonal, mostly organic ingredients, and a yoga studio on site. Their menu is all vegetarian with plenty of vegan options, so you can enjoy a plant-filled feast after you’ve worked through your sun salutations. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

The South-West suburbs of Dublin were never a stronghold for food in the past but that has started to change. With some great bakeries and breakfast options in D12 and a growing number of great ethnic restaurants in D24, the area is a wise choice for good value. West Dublin Our Take The South-West suburbs of Dublin were never a stronghold for food in the past but that has started to change. With some great bakeries and breakfast options in D12 and a growing number of great ethnic restaurants in D24, the area is a wise choice for good value. Where to Eat D'Lepak Kaizen Mama Shee Orani

Spanish sister restaurant to much-loved Etto, which opened at the end of 2018 to a glut of gushing reviews. Some of the best counter-dining in the city and all the Spanish favourites like padron peppers, tortilla and morcilla with quail eggs. Extensive list of wines and sherries. Uno Mas Website unomas.ie Address 6 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Spanish sister restaurant to much-loved Etto, which opened at the end of 2018 to a glut of gushing reviews. Some of the best counter-dining in the city and all the Spanish favourites like padron peppers, tortilla and morcilla with quail eggs. Extensive list of wines and sherries. Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery

Glovers Alley Website gloversalley.ie Address 127/128 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Where It's At Nearby Locales Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield Shaku Maku Mad Yolks Rathmines Una Choux Bakery Parnell Street Bakery