CN Duck Roast meats in Ranelagh straight out of Southeast Asia Posted: 28 Jun 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? CN Duck opened quietly enough on Ranelagh's thoroughfare in February, and apart from one (copied and pasted from their website) article on Lovin' Dublin, and a review in the Sunday Independent, they haven't had a whole pile of coverage, but on a recent visit to Ranelagh in search of somewhere to eat, their online reviews stuck out like a bullet oven in a Dublin suburb. It's a lazy, false stereotype that because people of a similar ethnicity as the restaurant are eating there it must be the best around - people of every colour, race and background eat bad food, and what if it's just the best of a bad lot? - but what stuck out most from all the praise was the steady stream of Asian diners gushing about the quality of the roast meats, and how it was the taste of home they'd been sorely missing. One read: " The best roast duck you could expect to have - it is as best as a 5-star hotel in Hong Kong. This is amazingly delicious. Absolutely worth for the value. Will be visiting again! Salute to the Chef!!! Thank you CN Duck! It effectively heals my homesick. " How could we not after that. Cities like Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai are famous for their juicy, crispy-skinned roast meats, cooked in special bullet ovens shaped like torpedos, and hung up in windows and street stalls across town. These ovens circulate heat evenly around the meat, rendering the fat and crisping the skin, and while these aren't the first ones in Dublin, we've never found a source of Chinese roast meats that we thought could compete with the ones we've eaten in South East Asia. Multiple attempts at contacting the restaurant to get more information about who's behind it went unanswered, but one online report claimed they're connected to the Zakura Japanese restaurants. If we ever find out we'll let you know. Where should I sit? This is fast casual dining, with two long tables for sharing with fellow diners, a table for four, two high tables for two, and one outside table that can seat four. The roadside seating isn't the most comfortable and you'll probably be wary of your belongings, but it is nice sitting in the sun (on the rare occasions it shows up). None of the seating has been designed with lounging in mind, so just pull up wherever's free. What's the food like? You're here for the roast meats and we'll hear no more about it, but there is quite a large menu in case you have a heathen in your midst who wants to break ranks (or you just want to get a selection of different dishes - far more reasonable). There are also enough vegetarian dishes to bring any meat-free friends too. We asked which starters were made on site, and were told the spring rolls and the Shao Mai dumpings, so got one of each. There was no doubt the duck spring rolls were made fresh, with uneven wrappers giving up extra crispy bits, and a filling full of fresh, crunchy vegetables, and rich chunks of meat. With a side of sweet chilli sauce for dipping, these are spring rolls the way they should be, yet so rarely are. The Shao Mai (also called Siu Mai) dumplings were stuffed with a pork and mushroom filling so juicy you will want to eat these in one mouthful, the thin pastry pleats holding it all together, and a whole prawn on top. They come with a soy based dipping sauce and are utterly delicious, but heavy. Perfect for sharing, but a whole portion as a starter and you might be done for. For the star attraction, there are a few ways of doing it. The four roast meats on offer are roast duck; crispy pork belly; BBQ char siu pork; and Cantonese soy chicken. You can either order portions of the meat by itself, plumping out your meal with rice and other sides, or you can order it as part of a rice bowl. You can also order combos to try two at once, and because we had to try it all, we got a meat-only combo of roast duck and crispy pork belly, and a rice bowl combo of BBQ char siu pork and Cantonese soy chicken. And oh my this meat. If you've ever eaten your way around those bustling Asian cities this will take you right back there. Too often you find duck in this style with too much fat under the skin, making for unpleasantly chewy mouthfuls, but this was flawlessly rendered down with a slightly sticky marinade, showing what those ovens are capable of in the right hands. You can pay an extra €1 to have it deboned, and if you don't do that just be careful as little shards of bone can sneak into your mouth when you least expect it. The crispy pork belly is cooked in a way that will make you never want to cook it at home again (or eat it anywhere else). By its nature it has more fat than the duck and in more places, but the cracking belongs in the all-star leagues, and the sliver of fat underneath would give fat on meat a good name. There were pieces towards one end that were all fat and crackling, but some people like that too, and there was a lot of meat to get your chops around. The BBQ char siu pork and Cantonese soy chicken were the combo for our rice bowl, and once again, the soy chicken is the best we've had anywhere here. Often slippery, with rubbery skin and no flavour, this skin is made for eating, with the chicken melting underneath it. Again it's on the bone so bear that in mind when jamming it into your mouth. Thin slices of char siu pork had a vivid barbecue flavour, and the portions of meat felt very generous. The rice bowls come with half a jammy, soy-cured egg (as good as the best ramen bars serve, anywhere). stir-fried greens, steamed pak choi and edamame beans, and for €15 for the meat combo this is a hell of a bowl of food. On the table are duck sauce (very hard to find good versions outside of Asian and this is a good version) and chilli oil that tasted like it was based on fermented shrimp paste. Great condiment game. The only downside to these delicious meats is a lack of provenance information. The website says they use "locally sourced meat" but that doesn't mean much, and we would have loved more information on where they're getting it. Outside of the roast meat bonanza there's ramen, noodles, fried rice and stir fries, and while we tend to look at these as filler items, it's hard to imagine the standards dropping from the rest. There's also a good value daytime menu served from 12:00 - 17:00, with a selection of dishes for €9.95 - hard to argue with. We're pretty desperate to go back and try more, and have spent the week quietly cursing Ranelagh residents for having such easy access to it. What about drinks? Soft drinks or beer only - Tiger, Asahi or Tsing Tao, but they also do BYOB at the bargain price of €1 per beer or €6 per bottle of wine. This would be a great place to break out some special bottles, and the food's not spicy enough to overpower anything. How was the service? Very pleasant and to the point. You order at the till and they'll bring your food to you. As you'd expect everything comes when it's ready, so if you want to spread it out we'd advise asking if they can do this when you order. And the damage? €44.95 for a generous amount of food for two with leftovers to take away. For food of this quality we think the value for money is in the city's top tier right now. The verdict? For our money these are the best Chinese roast meats in Dublin right now, and an itch is finally being scratched to complete satisfaction. We hoped CN Duck would be decent, we didn't know it was going to be this good, but maybe we'll take more notice of those gushing Google reviews more often. Hopefully they've got their eyes on other sites so more people can experience the joy, but maybe it's best kept as one solo special spot for soy chicken and char siu. Either way, we're coming up with all sorts of excuses to get back to Ranelagh. CN Duck 12 Ranelagh, Dublin 6 www.cnduck.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Virtuous eating to cleanse away the weekend’s excesses from vegetable-obsessed brothers Jack and Theo Kirwan. Eating well while caring for the environment seem to be their life's purpose, and they're even growing some of their own produce on the Sprout farm in Kildare, meaning it gets to customers' plates faster and fresher. Salads are so colourful and vibrant they're almost bursting from the plate, and change with the seasons. Sprout & Co Camden Street Website sproutfoodco.com Address Sprout & Co Camden St, Camden Street Lower, Saint Kevin's, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Virtuous eating to cleanse away the weekend’s excesses from vegetable-obsessed brothers Jack and Theo Kirwan. Eating well while caring for the environment seem to be their life's purpose, and they're even growing some of their own produce on the Sprout farm in Kildare, meaning it gets to customers' plates faster and fresher. Salads are so colourful and vibrant they're almost bursting from the plate, and change with the seasons. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Rei Momo Brazilian bar food and killer Caipirinhas having all the fun with flavour Posted: 28 Oct 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the scoop on Rei Momo? The new(ish) Brazilian bar on Drury Street used to be Bootleg , whose short-lived attempt at bringing vintage wines, disco nights and Spanish-style small plates to the city centre never really caught fire. A collaboration from the people behind Big Fan, Sprezzatura and Bow Lane, they cut their losses and put their thinking caps on about a new concept in the same space. What they came up with was Rei Momo (which translates to King Momo, the King of Carnival), a Brazilian bar serving all the iconic snacks, grilled meats, and an almighty list of caipirinhas. The food seems to centre on their Brazilian chef Bruno, who regularly features on their social feeds, and they're pitching it as a fun place to go with friends, or just stop for drinks and snacks on the eternally buzzing Drury Street. In a city where once again it's become impossible to get a table anywhere good without extreme levels of planning, more places like this encouraging spontaneity, walk ins and no minimum order can only be a good thing. Where should we sit? First things first, this is a bar, not a restaurant, and a lot of the chairs are high ones at high top tables. If you're coming with a gang you can request the large table in the centre which sits up to 12, or the ones on the side could seat six. There's bar seating at the counter too if you feel like dropping in solo for a drink and a snack, and don't want to take up a whole table. If you have a friend or family member who likes their feet on the ground and proper back support, ask for the booth seating on the right hand side of the room, and if you're into city centre people watching, ask to sit inside the window. We'd least like to be sat at the low tables for two in the middle of the room, which feel a bit lost at sea and are too small for the amount of food we'd end up ordering. What are we drinking? When in a Brazilian bar, it's mandatory to start with a caipirinha, and this must be the best selection in the city. There are six flavours, from classic to coco verde, and three frozen ones, with mango, açaí and a whole young coconut. You can also get batidas (a creamy cocktail with condensed milk), spritzes, Brazilian beers, and a "tiny beer" for €2.50 (we've been waiting for tiny cocktails to hit Dublin, but beer beat them to it). There's a decent wine list and a really excellent N/A selection too, featuring soda, juice, Brazilian lemonade, N/A beer and wine, as well as beer and coffee. No one will be left wanting. We had to dive right in with a frozen mango caipirinha (like a fruity, freezing cold slap to the face), and a coco verde caipirinha, and both just made us want to try more from this list. They're both high on alcohol and sugar though, so we're not sure we could do more than a couple. What about food? Again, it's important to remember that this is bar food, and not a three course meal. A lot of it is fried and meaty, so perfect for soaking up cocktails, but it might feel like overload if you're picturing a three-course meal situation. Start with the bougiest version o f Pão de Queijo we've ever seen, the cheesy, chewy, dough balls coming with the lovely addition of whipped Parmesan butter (€7 for three). Then move onto coxinhas, Brazil's famous teardrop-shaped, deep-fried croquettes, on the menu here in four better the average flavours. We had to try the Irish crab and Gruyère with chilli jam and lemon mayo, and while you can't go far wrong with Irish crab anything, we couldn't taste any Gruyère (maybe a stronger cheese, higher quality version or more of it was needed). The fact that they arrived lukewarm didn't help. The smoked short-rib version with requeijão (a Brazilian ricotta-like cheese) and guava ketchup was much better (€14 for three) - a mound of meat collapsing into a pool of more lemony mayo, with a tangy dot of guava on top (we would have liked more). Salt cod is another ingredient synonymous with Brazil, as are bolinhos de bacalhau - salt cod fritters (€12 for three). We thought these could have gone lighter on the potato, and heavier on the fish, but they came alive with the little pops of sweet and spicy peppers, and a squeeze of lemon over the top. Pastels, a deep-fried pastry pocket, are again more upmarket than you might have seen on the streets of São Paulo, and we went for the one stuffed with oxtail and Durrus cheese (€13). It's a sizeable snack and could be enough to fill a gap on its own at lunch time, but we did find a chunk of the pastry at one end was empty, which is always a bummer. The vinagrete on the side provided the perfect lift to all that meat and cheese. One of the must orders here is the wood-fired garlic butter chicken hearts (€12), even if they came without the advertised caipirinha yoghurt. It didn't matter, because a squeeze of lemon is all they needed, and if you're squeamish about offal, just trust us and pop your cherry with these. Also from the grill you can get Peri Peri chicken, pork ribs and moqueca prawns, but it had to be pichana with thyme and chimichurri after Entrecote-gate a few streets over. Despite being more cooked than we would have liked, it had great flavour, and we love dipping it in the accompanying farofa which brings welcome texture to the soft meat. There was nowhere near enough chimichurri, but staff brought more when we asked. If you're stuck on which sides to order, our favourite was the white rice with coconut milk and crispy garlic, with the deep-fried "punched" potatoes with garlic mayo coming in second. Charcoal sweetcorn with fondue lacked any bite and we found the cheese slightly random (don't worry, it was still eaten). Desserts didn’t overly appeal, with more deep-frying in the form of a pastel de dulce de leite, gelato, or the condensed milk based brigadeiros, but they tick the box for something sweet in a bar setting. How was the service? Despite the bar not being busy when we went for lunch, there was a long lag between ordering and any food arriving, to the point where we started to panic that it was all going to come at once. We asked that a few plates be brought out at a time, but almost immediately four arrived together. To add insult to injury, three weren't hot enough and had obviously been cooling in the kitchen as we sat outside riddled with anxiety about having to eat too much food at once. Our advice? Order as you go. It's a bar so they won't mind you ordering two-three plates at a time rather than the full order at once. Saying that, we did find the staff hard to wave down when we needed anything, and at times some seemed more interested in their phones, but the online reviews for service are fantastic, so we think we were unlucky and maybe someone more senior was off. What's the verdict on Rei Momo? In a city where bar food offerings are more often than not dire, Rei Momo joins the ranks of places like Caribou and Sister 7 where dinner is not just a mid-drinks afterthought. Added to that, Brazilian food is having a real moment in Dublin right now, finally rising above the comfort food spots that expats flood into each day for a taste of home, and Rei Momo is having more fun with flavour that most of the rest. We might not come here for a three course meal, but for casual sharing plates between friends, alongside a drinks list we'd like to deep dive into, it's worth a space on your "to eat in list". New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bootleg Disco nights, vintage wine and Spanish/Asian small plates shake up Drury Street Posted: 20 Feb 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Bootleg? “Drink, dance, dine” is the motto-slash-mantra (if not the likely running order) of this new Drury Street arrival, a joint venture from the four people who’ve between them brought us Big Fan , Sprezzatura , and Bow Lane . That they’re bringing us Bootleg in a space that was previously a Starbucks is reason enough for us to darken their door – in a city where tenancies all too rarely change hands in that direction, this feels like a turning of the tide we need to support. If the thumping music and an all-day offering that looks set to lean heavily into brunch probably make Bow Lane the best proxy among its owners’ prior ventures for what to expect at Bootleg, the upmarket drinks selection and a more focused plancha menu signpost a more mature iteration is the general vibe. Where should we sit? That’ll depend on which combination of drinking, dancing and dining you want to indulge in. The large rectangular bar, fitted out with upcycled panels from the previous tenant in a nice hat-tip to prising back a piece of the city, has plenty of plastic seating for a quick drink and a snack; the right side of the room is studded with booths inviting you in for a slow evening of wine and small plates; the left has high tables temptingly close to the DJ booth. We have to assume the three unoccupied low tables also sharing this space on the midweek night we visited are cleared off to make way for a dancefloor, but it’s hard to imagine a full house with this layout wouldn’t seem a little cramped. What’s on the menu? Big Fan ’s Alex Zhang is among the four owners here and has taken on an executive chef role, with his colleague Wei Cai parachuted in to head up the kitchen. The loosely Spanish-style menu makes room for a whole variety of Mediterranean and Asian influences across its sections of small plates and sides, and there's a whole menu dedicated to gildas (even though the name gilda can only be applied to the classic version - the rest is poetic licence). We started with a generous wedge of thick-crusted sourdough, its flavourful near-black crust making up for a disappointingly dense crumb; a little more time to develop the dough might add an airiness to better balance the accompanying chicken skin butter’s salty richness. That the spread’s been whipped to a creamy consistency helped even things out, though more would be welcome – we found ourselves scanning the table for something to coat our final chunks of unbuttered bread in. Lucky then that we’d gone all-in with the flatbread snack plate too. Not least for the strand of rosemary perched atop, this crisp disc has a little of the touch of a focaccia about it, perfect for mopping up the trio of dips it’s served alongside. The best is muhummarah, the Middle Eastern red pepper and walnut paste that’s rarely done this well in Dublin – our leftover bread gratefully lapped the last of it up. Garlic scape chimichurri had an enjoyably intense flavour, while the tapenade ticked the box solidly if unspectacularly. Menus online had not been updated, and at least half the expected plates from the plancha section were not on when we got there - we’ll put it down to early days trying-and-testing. An addition that caught our eye was swordfish skewers, and this is one that ought to stay put - three neat cubes of grilled meat planted on a mojito yogurt and drizzled with harissa oil. The fish is superb with a charred surface yielding to soft flesh inside, smartly complemented but never upstaged by the contrast of cool yogurt and sharp harissa. A slightly too-thin yogurt is all that's holding this plate back from perfection. A duo of land and sea sliders with Wagyu beef smash and crispy prawn makes for a nice sharing pair, with standard but solid brioche buns largely letting the main events speak for themselves. The beef, oozing melted cheese and meat juice, makes for a satisfying mouthful, with the assertion of piquant pickles buried beneath the patties, while the prawn’s sweetness works well with the light tang of shiso leaf. These are nice bites, but we can't say the execution felt like it justified €17 for two tiny burgers. Wagyu doesn't tend to come cheap though. On the on-site but not online menu was a solitary concession to vegan diners, and was effectively a mushroom spice bag - albeit with no ordinary mushrooms. Garryhinch is one of three suppliers name-checked on the menu, and their lion’s mane has gone into this inventive offering – we’re sorry to say they deserve better. Not even these prime specimens, well-seasoned and served up in a light crispy batter, are enough to overcome the one-note spice of sliced chilies and bizarre blandness of an oat milk and sourdough purée. The picanha plate also sadly went down as a dud. This beef cut is having a bit of a moment about the city, thanks not least to a growing Brazilian influence, and for good reason – when given the right treatment it’s one of our favourite steaks. Here it was underdone, with none of the charring that brings out its best. Together with a just-done egg that quickly cooled, this added up to a dish that was unpleasant to eat. Kimchi rosti off the sides menu brought things back on track - these crispy, croquette shaped slabs of grated potato are a deceptively light feat of deep-frying, somehow held together despite the pockets of air throughout. In a menu not without its missteps, they’re a reminder of what the kitchen is capable of. What are the drinks like? A bit confusing. While the twelve negroni variations (you can add a gilda for €2 in a nice touch) and ten spritzes join in with the bassy soundtrack as a statement of intent, the €120 to €460 vintage wine menu had us wondering who’s looking to drink like that in a place like this - maybe there's a gap for Chambolle-Musigny and Italo-Disco nights that we didn't know about. There's plenty of regularly priced wine too, all from WineLab , and Whiplash is all that’s on tap, while we salute the very fair pricing of their solid non-alcoholic options – more of this, please. We kicked off with a classic Aperol spritz and white negroni – both passed muster without tempting us any deeper into their variations. Once the food arrived, we plumbed the slim BTG list and went with a chilled red in the form of Succès’ La Cuca de Llum. Earthy, dry and decidedly light-bodied, it played well off the majority of plates. How was the service? After getting in a round of drinks to survey the menu over, we had to put a little work in to get our order taken – the informal drink-dance-dine vibe means you need to make it known you’re here to eat. Staff are attentive and quick off the mark once you do flag them down though, and the quick pace of service left nothing to be desired. And the damage? Our full spread with two rounds of drinks came in at €125, with two of us satisfied but far from stuffed. The sliders are the clearest sense of where individual items can come in a little overpriced, but we’re all too aware of the cost pressures bearing down on city centre restaurants – nothing here is out of whack with what you’ll get anywhere else nearby. What’s the verdict on Bootleg? We left Bootleg not totally sure what kind of place it’s trying to be, and we could tell the mixed crowd of middle-aged couples in for a bite, and younger groups who tried it for a drink before heading off elsewhere felt much the same. Those excited to share in swordfish might find it a bit too lively; those who get peckish while in for a dance may find the food too fancy. Maybe it finds its groove in the wee hours. There are some ruthless calls to be made here to tighten up the concept, and a way to go yet on fine-tuning the menu, but both show ambition and a promise of more to come, and we'd expect no less from the team behind it. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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

Mr Dinh Website @mrdinhrestaurant Address 101-102 Capel Street, Rotunda, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Craft Neighbourhood dining that's a steal in Harold's Cross Posted: 5 Aug 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Craft opened in February 2016, and was immediately touted as the neighbourhood restaurant Harold's Cross had badly needed. Head chef/owner Philip Yeung had previously been head chef at Town Bar & Grill (remember the boom?) and Bang on Merrion Row, and a string of glowing reviews for his first solo opening followed, with Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times calling the Dublin 6 suburb "a better place to be thanks to the arrival of Craft." The following year they got the news that they'd been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2018, given to restaurants that Michelin deem good quality and good value - for Ireland it must be €40 or under for three courses - and held onto it for 2019 but lost it for 2020. It was a year of shock deletions, with Etto, Bastible, Forest & Marcy, The Pig's Ear and Delahunt all losing their Bib too, so we didn't pay too much heed and presumed it might be more to do with menu pricing than food quality for most places. Luckily it hasn't seemed to make any dent in their customer base, who mostly seem to be locals, delighted to have something like this on their doorstep, when so many other suburbs don't. Where should we sit? There’s a front and a back room, but we’d probably opt to sit in the front as it feels a bit brighter and airier. We did however spot a couple with a young baby in the back and thought it was perfectly suited to a bit more privacy. There are only five tables in the front post-Covid, all adequately spaced, and the two in the window are ideal if you’re an avid people watcher. What's the food like? We came for the neighbourhood menu (only served on Thursdays), as we figure a lot of people are probably looking for maximum bang for their buck right now, between job losses, pay cuts and many businesses in unknown territory after the past few months. It’s a very good deal at €27 for two courses and €32 for three, but there only a choice of mains so you wouldn't want to be a fussy eater or have too many dietary requirements – they do cater for veggies though and one main will always be meat-free. We started with seedy, treacle brown bread and Glenilen Farm butter, dense and crunchy enough to fill the hungry gap until the food proper started to arrive. The starter was a plate of heirloom tomatoes, burrata, charred peach and smoked almond pesto - ideal summer eating (for a grey, rainy evening in July). There were little dried tomatoes in amongst the mix, which added bursts of flavour in every other forkful, but we thought the whole thing needed more seasoning, which they brought on request. Our main was a meaty piece of expertly cooked Kilkeel hake with a prawn tortellini (whose filling was more mousse-like than fluffy fresh prawn), an intense pea purée, fresh peas, chard and a foaming shellfish sauce. Again it felt perfectly suited to the time of year, and like the kitchen is giving serious consideration to what we might want to eat on any given week. It was also light enough to ensure we were looking forward to (rather than holding our stomachs at the thought of) a chocolate dessert. With the fish came a side of crunchy, fluffy potatoes (they've thought of everything), but just two each, so again not enough to steer you into uncomfortable tummy territory. For a set menu that already felt like good value, the main really pushed it into the "this is a bit of a steal" category. Dessert was "chocolate mousse and raspberry", with various elements of each - an airy mousse, a crispy chocolate cracker, a raspberry sorbet, fresh raspberries, raspberry sauce and what looked and tasted like puffed rice. It was a nice mix of richness and freshness, and the chocolate tasted dark enough so as not to veer into sugar overload territory. What about the drinks? The wine list is very short with few options by the glass – maybe Covid-related – and we thought it was in need of an injection of interest. Perhaps they’re trying to cater for the locals with tried and tested options. We did think the prosecco was unusually good – to the point where we questioned if it might have been something more upmarket like a Crémant, and a Kir Royal was a perfect aperitif. And the service? Staff were all masked and very welcoming and friendly. The food came out at nice intervals, and the open kitchen appeared entirely calm. The verdict? The neighbourhood menu at Craft offers serious bang for your buck, with a three course meal for two and a bottle of wine easily coming in at under €100. We have a feeling it’s not the kitchen’s best work, but it’s more than solid cooking, and even more reason to go back for the Friday and Saturday tasting menu at €52 for four courses (including snacks). If value for money is your top priority right now when it comes to eating out, the neighbourhood menu is a great dive into Craft at a not so great price. We started with seedy, treacle brown bread and Glenilen Farm butter, dense and crunchy enough to fill the hungry gap until the food proper started to arrive. Craft 208 Harold’s Cross Road, Harold's Cross, Dublin 6W. craftrestaurant.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Sofra Top-tier Turkish grill has some of the best value in town Posted: 29 Apr 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Sofra? It was when casting our eyes over assorted iftar spreads around Dublin on social that we first felt the need to pay Sofra a visit - those fast-breaking platters of soup, mezzes, mixed grilled meats and baklava looked like exactly the kind of quality volume-for-value deal we’re forever in search of. The Turkish team that runs the place previously operated casual café Sweet O’Clock out of the same space, but made the switch right in time for Ramadan back in February of this year. Sofra is a Turkish term for a dining table, and the aim here is to foster a sense of community anchored in great food. The family-friendly space and sharing-style menu choices attest that every bit as much as those post-fast feast gatherings that caught our eager eyes in the first place. Equally head-turning is the mangal to the rear – this charcoal grill is the beating heart of Turkish barbecue, and the smoke-choked skewers of meat we gawped at as we arrived told us we were onto something good. Where’s good for a drink nearby? If you’re out for the night and fancy a pre or post-dinner drink (there’s no booze to be had here), you have your choice of pubs nearby. Capel Street’s Slattery’s is a perennially-popular Victorian-era relic that will keep plenty happy, but for our money you can't beat a seat by McNeill’s roaring fire a few doors down – just steer clear of the weekend tourist crowds. If you’re feeling like cocktails you could make for the newly-opened Sackville Lounge , sister to Bar 1661 (also a fine choice just 7 minutes’ walk away). The black-panelled room just off O’Connell Street is out to play its part in bringing glamour back to the city’s much-maligned main thoroughfare. Where should we sit? That all depends on the kind of meal you’re in for. Solo diners or a couple in a hurry will be glad to snag the window ledge, with a view out over the action on newly pedestrianised Liffey Street, but that's not the space for comfort to lean back and linger. Three four tops along the right wall were popular perches for younger families on both of our visits, while the pokey but perfectly-positioned table to the rear offers the only good vantage over the grill – if you’re in alone, and want to witness the magic, this the spot for you. If they’re all taken, fret not. What’s not evident from outside is the bigger room upstairs, a bright and open space whose thirty-or-so covers and the speed of service here make it likely there’ll almost always be a spot going. Up here it’s a little more cosy than the narrower space below - if you’re making a meal of it, head on up. What’s on the menu? A lot! It took us two visits to tick off enough of the menu to really give a clear sense of things, and we could have easily come back a few more times without repeating ourselves – if you’re keen to dig in we recommend rustling up a crowd. Start with çorba – if the tables of Turks who filtered in across our two times here for just a bowl of this red lentil soup are anything to go by, it’s got the taste of home nailed. Creamy-thick from slow stewing and spiked by a slick of chilli oil, it’s a nutty-noted broth with deep and dormant flavours brought out by a tableside squeeze of lemon. As appetite-whetters go, it’s essential. Though you might be in some trouble here if your appetite needs whetting to begin with. Turks are well known for their homely hospitality and huge spreads, and Sofra pairs both in the generous plates of mezzes that arrive out to accompany your order. Those of a nervous disposition should steer clear of the upstairs table just at the head of the stairs – seeing the wait staff ascend the narrow steps with piled-high trays is enough to induce vertigo. It's as tight a squeeze up the stairs as it is onto the table, with the crowded clutter of branded dishes a key part of the charm. Adana kebab is where you should start where mangal’s concerned - red pepper-spiced minced lamb kneaded with onion and garlic and gently squeezed into shape on the shish. The grill’s high heat gives a quick-seared crust that seals in the juices – the succulent spillover as you slice through coats the lavash flatbread and bulgur below with smoky-sweet flavour that needs to be tasted to be understood. We loved this one piled high with pickled peppers and acili ezme, a Turkish salsa that doesn’t skimp on spice, but more sensitive palates might be better to swap the Adana for paprika-scented Urfa instead, and pile on tzatziki or hummus. After the soup, the most common order we spied in Sofra was the Beyti kebab – small wonder once you see it. That same lamb mince reappears here but packed with cheese in lavash, and grilled wrapped before slicing to serve beneath a mild tomato sauce, and beside a mound of yogurt. You will want to be very hungry to have any hope of finishing this alone. Inspired by an upscale Istanbul restaurant dish whose namesake owner is still serving at the age of 96, Beyti has evolved its way to much more modest form than the lamb fillet original over the years (see Reyna over the river for another take). Nothing fancy here, just full flavour – and full stomach to follow. The menu mentions ciğer, or lamb liver, as a must for adventurous eaters - to us that just reads like a dare. You needn’t be an offal aficionado to indulge in this one though – the grill’s a great leveller and the crusty char these cubes bear contrasts nicely with the soft, mild meat encased inside. It’s served atop a round of bazlama, a yogurt-enriched fluffy flatbread we found a little too excessive against the tender taste of the liver – pile it up in lavash with sumac-sprinkled shepherd’s salad instead, and savour a truly delicious, nutritious kebab. The liver can be ordered in a durum wrap too from a section of the menu that looks built for the home delivery and takeaway crowds. We sampled the chicken shish to get a sense and while the marinated and grilled breast ticked all the boxes on juicy flavour, none of the rest of the fillings are reason enough to bother if you’re eating in. Stick with a grill plate (it’s the same meat in either) and mess around with the mezzes for all manner of build-your-own, mix-and-match delight. Whatever else you do, be sure to leave room for içli köfte. Variations on these meatball marvels are found all through the former Ottoman empire as kofta or kibbeh - the bulger-crusted latter, popular in Syria and Lebanon especially, is the closest thing to this. The crisped coating seals in the minced lamb, left to fry to perfection in its own juices. Skip the cutlery and bite right into these - all the better to savour every last drop that comes gushing out. No Turkish meal is over without tea, and it’d be rude not to try out dessert with it too – right? Baklava is the business here, the honey-syrup soaked layers of filo pastry and pistachio deceptively light after all those grilled meats. But it’s the künefe you’ll be thinking of long after you leave, with crisp shredded shards of filo dough layered with sweet cheese and cooked until crisp over the grill, before being soaked in syrup and served gloriously gooey. What are the drinks like? You’d be forgiven for missing şalgam and ayran alongside Coke and Sprite in the cold drinks section – don’t make that mistake. The latter, slightly thinned and salted yogurt, is sold by the carton in many places around town but not many make their own too. The branded metal cup it’s served in is a lovely little touch, all the better to appreciate the cool, refreshing quality – ideal to go up against anything spicy. The fermented purple carrots that make şalgam are an acquired taste we’re all-in on, especially in the spicy variation they also offer here - we loved it with the liver. How was the service? Friendly if frantic. At busier times they seemed a little run off their feet, and you might be in need of catching an eye to get your order if you turn the initial, early ask down – likely given the decisions to be made. The quick grill means mains come fast and furious, though the advised wait time of up to twenty minutes for kunefe when it's busy worked out at over thirty for us with a flood of orders backing things up. The wait is worth it, having to ask for updates a little less so. These kind of issues are common at the early stages - ironing them out will go a long way. When it’s quieter, the owner can be seen working the room and adding to the overall sense of heartfelt hospitality that makes Sofra special. And the damage? Our two visits averaged out just over €50 each, with all those mezzes, mains, drinks and add-ons, filling two each time to levels that would have doctors worried. For the quality of food here, and the feast you’ll make of it, that’s superb value. What’s the verdict on Sofra? Hot on the heels of the city’s best döner in Chiya across the river, and the phenomenal flatbread value of Sultan’s Grill right round the corner, Sofra slides in to secure a remarkable recent hat-trick of top Turkish food in Dublin that takes the city’s fare far beyond the after-hours offerings that mostly made it up before. There’s a constant craving about town for value like this – in this relaxed room, with these ridiculously generous portions, there’s a winning formula. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bless Up Home-inspired Afro-Caribbean food to feast on and to share in Posted: 31 Oct 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What's the story with Bless Up? With a history more steeped in emigration than immigration, Dublin has often sadly lagged behind many even comparably-sized UK cities when it comes to the diversity of food on offer. This has started to change and change quickly in recent years, but we’re still playing catch-up in many terms. That’s a big part of why Bless Up caught our eye as it opened in Tallaght back in September: this isn’t the first restaurant in Dublin to offer Sub-Saharan African food, but the scale of its fit-out suggests plenty of confidence that it could be the best. The flashy décor speaks to the ambition to make this a community space as much as a restaurant, and there’s an impressive speaker setup in place to allow Bless Up to host all kind of music night events. The Nigerian-Irish and Nigerian-British owners have plenty of front-of-house experience from the likes of Carluccio’s and Fifty50 but this is their first time manning a kitchen. Where should we sit? Expect to walk in and be wowed – the space here has been transformed with low lighting and red curtains pairing with the smart seating and marble-effect tables for a premium late-night lounge vibe. To the rear there’s an area closed off by a sliding glass door that can be booked as a private room. The tables lining the walls have cosier seating than the wooden chairs of the handful of two-tops out on the floor; we’d recommend sticking to the wall that runs perpendicular to the bar to avoid the minor annoyance of an Instagram-friendly flashing welcome video projected on the wall. What's on the menu? We knew going in that half the mains were going to need our attention so for starters we stuck only to suya, a spiced and grilled meat dish made in this case with a mix of beef, chicken and goat. You’ll more often find this marinated in the characteristic dry-rub – a deep-flavoured powder of roast peanuts and spices including paprika and cayenne – and barbecued on a skewer but here it’s doner-thin slices layered up in a bowl. The meat is tender and juicy, teeming with flavour from the rich rub; the three kinds of meat make for a mouthful-to-mouthful variety that keeps it from ever seeming one-note. This is a great starting salvo apart from the tragic side salad – it’s there to add colour, but it’s really just taking up space. For all its pitching itself as an Afro-Caribbean restaurant, there’s no doubt Bless Up skews solidly to the former part of that hybrid. Jerk chicken on the mains list is the major exception: this Jamaican dish is a classic of Caribbean cooking, spicy-sweet from a lengthy marinade in an allspice and hot pepper-dominated mix and smoky from the grill. Those duelling flavours play well off the thigh’s fatty richness but we would have liked a little more heat – especially given they asked if we wanted it really spicy (of course). “Rice and peas” (actually kidney beans, as per tradition) on the side are simmered in coconut milk and the same spicing for a complimentary, more mellow flavour – these work really well together. Back to Nigeria for the efo riro, a seasoned and sauteed spinach with full flavours from a fried onion and tomato base. If we’re honest we had lowest expectations for this plate but the depth of flavour had us eating our words along with our greens. Our server suggested a side of goat meat to go with it and who were we to argue – this was a definite highlight of Bless Up’s simple satisfactions, gorgeous grilled slices of succulent meat with a sprinkle of spice. Goat remains a real rarity in Dublin restaurants and it’s a great shame – the quality take on it offered here is one of the major reasons to haul yourself out to Tallaght. Both efo riro and jerk chicken come served with a generous side of fried plantain – here they cook the starchy banana varietal to a caramelised crisp that’s positively addictive. It's good news for the greedy that two of the mains are also available in smaller side form, and that’s how we opted to enjoy the jollof and chakalaka – both come with plantains and grilled meat when ordered as a full-fledged main. The jollof – a staple West African rice dish seasoned with spice and simmered in tomato sauce – is delicious, a warming feed of flavour we can see working especially well on those coming colder nights. Chakalaka, a spiced-up riff on baked beans from the south of the continent, has more of that stewed vegetable complexity and gets great texture from the corn and peas flecked through the bowl. We would have happily eaten both of these as mains. We can’t tell you how much our eyes lit up when our server said the dessert of the day was a plantain split – we weren’t through with this delicious fruit yet. Three scoops of caramel-drizzled vanilla ice cream straddle the two wedges of banana, and if it isn’t quite as crisp-charred as its savoury dish cousins, it at least has all the same sweet softness. Puff puff is the menu option we most often saw praised by diners across early reviews on Google and TikTok and it’s hard to argue: these icing sugar-dusted deep-fried dough balls are airy, indulgent, and absolutely addictive dipped in the caramel on the side. Both desserts have a kind of confident simplicity that makes for a nice finish to a meal characterised by layered, complex flavours – a pared-back wind-down to send you out into the street well and truly stuffed. What about drinks? The wine list is relatively slim and with little of any real interest – we expected to see a bit more South African options but it gets no more attention than the other typical regions with three to four bottles and one or two by-the-glass each. Prices are fine, but there’s nothing here that’s good enough to count as a bargain. How was the service? Lovely! Everyone we spoke to seemed genuinely delighted people were trying the place out and keen to know how we’d come across it. Staff are attentive and all over the menu, quick with suggestions to help you try out as much as you can. Everything was ready in super-quick order too, though there was no speed the other side in trying to hustle us out of the place – you will feel very welcome here. What was the damage? What we ordered came to much more than enough for two – though we still ate every bite – at a very reasonable €88. Portion sizes are plentiful, so if you’re watching your spend you could happily fill up on just a main with plenty of change from a twenty. Families will be keen to know they’re very kid-friendly with high chairs on standby and a special kids menu offering goujons, jollof or fried rice for €6.95. And the verdict? At a time when slimming margins and uncertain outlooks are (understandably) pushing more and more new openings to go for the same style of small plates, it’s a thrill to see something as unique as Bless Up land in Dublin. There’s a clear confidence to both the space and the cooking here that seems to suggest those behind it know they’ve got something special on their hands. This is great hospitality, home-inspired food to feast on and to share in. With the broad range of cuisines that fall under the Afro-Caribbean remit we can only hope they continue to add to the menu – already since we’ve visited they’ve added gizdodo, the Yoruba delicacy of gizzards and plantains, and honestly we’re checking the timetables to Tallaght as we write. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Chob Thai A tale of two meals at Clontarf's newest Thai Posted: 18 Mar 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Chob Thai? Chob Thai opened in Clontarf last September where Picasso Italian used to be on Vernon Road, but we heard nothing about it until they started to invite some influencers in for dinner a few months ago. Suddenly it started appearing on our social media feeds, and man oh man did it look good . The Thai owner told us he had lived here as a child before returning home to Thailand, and always thought it was somewhere he wanted to come back to. His Dad later moved back, and he followed, with a dream of bringing real Thai food to Dublin, which he said was almost impossible to find here. He found chefs through friends and family who agreed to move too, found the site in Clontarf and they were off. We love the sentiment, and we love anyone who's trying to replicate a country's cuisine as genuinely as possible, without making allowances for locals, so a table was booked lickety-split. Where should we sit? The compact downstairs has a more Thai vibe, with the pre-existing exposed brick working nicely against Southeast Asian art, woven wall-hangings and a gold Thai headdress sitting in the window. Window seats are always where it's at for us, with these ones giving a view of the Clontarf coastline and plenty of people-watching opportunities. There's a larger room upstairs which feels unfinished in comparison, and lacks the same ornamental detail and warmth. What did you eat? Well this is where it gets complicated because we had two very different meals here, from three very different menus. Strap yourself in for what hopefully won't be too confusing a ride. On our first visit we were given the regular à la carte menu full of dish after dish we couldn't wait to get our forks into, as well as a much more subdued lunch menu (two courses for €28.50), with only two mains that seemed to have anything to do with Thai cooking. Sweet and sour crispy chicken does not a Thai meal make. As the Tom Khaa soup and Pad Thai were on there, we took the savings of €7.50, and stuck to à la carte for the rest. Soups (€11.50 - €12.50) come with a choice of prawns, fish, chicken or vegetables (oddly the vegetable option is the same price as fish or chicken which is sure to displease veggies), and we picked fish after being told it was fresh not frozen (tick). As soups go, this is a knockout, with creamy coconut, lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, mushrooms and coriander, the tender, flaky fish peaking out of the broth in generous quantities - vivid flavours that will stay with you after you leave. Duck spring rolls are also on the €28.50 two-course lunch menu (€12.50 on the à la carte) and they're as good as we've had anywhere - obviously homemade and hand-wrapped, the crunchy shells packed with chunks of duck from an animal clearly cooked in house, along with vermicelli noodles and crunchy vegetables. This was very nearly an "oops we ordered another portion" moment. Pad Thai (€24.50) comes with prawn and chicken as standard, and was more flawless Thai cooking - a riotous patchwork of rice noodles, beansprouts, just cooked veg and egg, with finely chopped peanut, chilli powder and lime juice to adjust to your palate's preferences. If you've never tried the famous Thai dish before, this is the place to have your first taste. The fresh not frozen seafood policy also extends to the crab fried rice (€24.50), which was positively packed with the stuff, chunks coming up in every fork. Perfectly fluffy rice had onion, spring onion and egg through it, with lime on the side to be liberally squeezed over, and the simplicity of the rest let the crab shine through. The traffic light curries most people will know come with a choice of seafood, beef, lamb, prawn, chicken or vegetables, and a lamb massaman (€24.50) was creamy and mildly spiced with onion, potato, carrot, and some cherry tomatoes on top - we scooped the bowl clean. Rice is extra at €3.50 for jasmine or €5.50 for egg-fried. Desserts listed just a mango cheesecake (which at €12 must be one of the most expensive desserts in Dublin), as well as sorbet or ice-cream (also ambitiously priced at €10), but we'd seen the classic Thai dessert of mango and sticky rice on their social media channels, and when we asked they said they could do it. We've not sure whether they've stopped doing it altogether, or are waiting for new menus to be printed, but this was a sub-standard version, with under-ripe mango and rice lacking flavour. The ones at Full Moon Thai and Nightmarket are far better (and cheaper), using much more delicious mangos. Sounds amazing. What went wrong? Well we went back didn't we. Back to try more food to tell you about, and had a very different experience. We did think they were going to struggle to get people in at lunchtime with those à la carte prices, so on first glance the introduction of a new scaled back, less expensive lunch menu (€5-6 less for mains) seemed like a clever move, but the dishes we'd planned to order, like the jumbo King prawn silver noodle pot, and the deep-fried seabass with three flavour sauce were nowhere to be seen. Instead it was a basic two-pager of Thailand's greatest hits, with the addition of some new salads. We forged ahead with the Thai-style chicken skewers with satay sauce (€8.50), and it wasn't a great start. Two thin, chewy skewers, and a lacklustre peanut sauce had us wondering if we were in the same restaurant. A duck salad (on the two course, €28.50 menu), that we almost ordered the last time, was 90% salad vegetables, with severely over-cooked, dried out and chewy duck, in a one note spicy sauce. Thai-style prawn cakes (€8.50) with red curry paste, lime leaves, green beans and Thai basil had the bouncy, juicy texture you'd expect, with the sweet chilli dip doing its job, but not leaving much in the way of taste memories. By the time we got to the larb moo (Thai-style salad with minced pork, €13.50) we'd had enough of plate-filling, undressed vegetables - there's only so much raw lettuce, thickly sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes anyone can eat. To eat insult to injury there was an unappealing sour taste to the dish (not Thai-flavour related) and we sent it back. Onto mains and the three flame (the spiciest score) chicken with chilli and basil leaves (confusingly two flames on the new scaled back lunch menu) was mild enough for the spice-averse to eat (barring an occasional rogue dried chilli). If this is as spicy as the kitchen gets, they're undoubtedly toning things down for an Irish audience. We ended with the worst of the lot. Buoyed by the fresh fish and crab meat on our previous visit, we went for the Penang curry with seafood. Big mistake. BIG. Calamari as rubbery as car tyres, mussels that tasted like they'd been cooked for the third time, prawns so tough they'd give prawns a bad name, and a single, sad scallop that had to be sawed through. The mild, coconutty sauce had lovely flavour - shame about the seafood travesty within it. We're not blind to the fact that these are tough times for restaurants, but the way to make customers want to come through your doors is to offer something novel, exciting, different, that they can't cook at home or find in a multitude of other places. After our first meal we were sure there would be queues down the street once word got out, Thai food enthusiasts travelling from across the capital to get a taste of what's coming out of this kitchen. To see the dilution taken to increase customer numbers at lunchtime is like seeing a car speeding down a one way road and screaming "stooopppp!" What about drinks? You won't be coming here for the wine, which looks like a selection you might find in your local supermarket. There are eight by the glass, but we couldn't bring ourselves to dive in. Cocktails appear to have had more work put into them, with loads of Thai twists on classic drinks, but there's a lot of sugar syrup throughout. We tried a lychee sake mojito which was a decent mojito, but we couldn't discern any lychee other than the one sitting on top of the crushed ice. How was the service? Pleasant but wanting, with the same muted server both times having to check and recheck what we'd ordered. Our mains were very slow in coming the first time, which was surprising as there were only a few tables filled, but things came more promptly the second time. What was the damage? The two course lunch from Friday - Sunday is €28.50, but if you want to go in the evening for the good stuff on the à la carte you'd want to budget at least €50 a head for three courses without drinks - that could jump above €60pp if you order prime seafood or beef. There is a three-course option for €45, but most of the stuff we'd want to eat isn't on there. What's the verdict on Chob Thai? Based off our first visit Chob Thai has everything needed to join the very top rung of Dublin's Thai restaurants, along with Full Moon , Nightmarket , Baan Thai and Achara , and we would have loved to be shouting that from the rooftops this week, but buyer beware when it comes to lunch. Sticking to your guns and waiting for your following to find you can be anxiety-inducing and expensive, but diluting down your product for a short-term hike in customers isn't the way to build a bustling business. Hopefully they see the light before too much damage is done, because when it's good here, it's exceptional. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

The Big Mamma Group brought their high energy, all Italian Gloria Osteria to Dublin at the end of 2025, and it's safe to say the city had never seen an opening like it. The room is a sight to behold, and the menu spans antipasti, pasta, fish and meat mains, and desserts you'll want to save a whole lot of room for. The vibes in here are glamour and fun, so bring plenty of both and you'll have a great time. Gloria Osteria Website gloria-osteria.com/dublin Address 41 Westmoreland St, Dublin, D02 VY45, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story The Big Mamma Group brought their high energy, all Italian Gloria Osteria to Dublin at the end of 2025, and it's safe to say the city had never seen an opening like it. The room is a sight to behold, and the menu spans antipasti, pasta, fish and meat mains, and desserts you'll want to save a whole lot of room for. The vibes in here are glamour and fun, so bring plenty of both and you'll have a great time. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Amuri Why aren't more people shouting about Amuri? We'll start... Posted: 3 May 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? Brothers Andrea and Luca Licciardello are from Sicily but have lived and worked in Dublin for over a decade, in various bars and restaurants around town. Opening their own Sicilian restaurant together was always a dream, and it was Covid that handed them the opportunity. They had started a side hustle, importing Sicilian wines into Ireland made by Luca and a friend in Sicily (called GioVinotto ) , and through this got to know the owners of wine shops including The Corkscrew on Chatham Street. Their upstairs tasting room had lain idle during the pandemic, and they were wondering what to do with it, until a conversation with the brothers sparked the idea that maybe they could take it over. The sleekly designed room with its juniper green walls, wood panelling and hanging lights just needed some brightly coloured art-work, cheerful Sicilian cloths, and kitsch Italian ornamets added to the glass cases, and it felt like it was Amuri ' s all along (which was a good thing because the brothers say they had to spend all of their savings along with loans from family and friends just to get the doors open). When it came to the menu, neither of the brothers is a trained chef but say they "know their food" and knew what they wanted to serve, so they employed a chef consultant from Sicily to help with the opening menu, then hired a head chef (originally from Brazil) and sent him to Sicily for two months. One final call to Granny to get her approval on the dishes and recipes and they opened in May 2022. Amuri have had some good reviews (including in the Irish Times and the Sunday Times ) but has never really exploded as one of the city's most wanted bookings. Despite this their online reviews from customers are off the charts, so we thought it was time we paid them a visit. Where should we sit? If you've never seen The Corkscrew's tasting room you'd probably think "wow, these guys must have some serious backers behind them to knock out a room like this", but most of it was here already. Despite this it just fits, feeling fresh and modern, but still homely and warm. The main dining room is where the buzz is, with two window tables offering views out onto Chatham Street (although currently you're looking at a building site that will be the European Commission's headquarters at some point). As well as regular tables there are two high tables for two, and additional tables in another smaller section that you'll walk through on entering, and is marginally quieter if you'd like less animated chatter all around. What did you eat? This is a perfectly sized menu in our book, with five starters, four pastas and a risotto, and three meat and fish options. There are daily specials too so make sure you ask. Currently the lunch menu is the same as the dinner one, but they are introducing an express, less expensive option soon, which we think will make a huge difference to their lunch trade. We ended up here twice in the space of three days, as we couldn't stop thinking about our first visit, so managed to get through quite a bit of the menu. They start (as all good restaurants do) by bring you bread and their own imported olive oil - it's the good stuff. We got foccacia at lunch and sourdough at dinner, and it wasn't obvious if either were homemade, but they filled the hunger gap nicely until the starters. Then, the caponata. Oh the caponata. Close your eyes and you're sitting on the edge of Scopello's natural park, the sun beating down on your face, each forkful more sweet, sour and sunkissed than the last. Aubergine, shallots, peppers, pine nuts, Modica chocolate and some grated ricotta salata (a hard, pressed ricotta) - this dish is pretty much single-handedly responsible for us going back twice in three days, so desperate we were to taste it again. Arancino (an oval version of arancini) is the street food that no self-respecting Sicilian restaurant would leave off their menu, and the one here comes with saffron-scented rice, stuffed with ham and mozzarella, with a ring of burrata fondue for mopping. Crisp, creamy and well-seasoned, you couldn't ask for more from the tear-drop shaped, deep-fried snack. The last starter we tried was the (clearly handmade) tortellini with lamb, broccoli, spinach and shimeji mushrooms. If it sounded insipid by description, it was anything but on the plate. The chewy pasta was toppling over with lamb flavour (we wondered if it was cooked in the stock), with the vegetables and sauce the right combination of salt and acid, with some kind of vinegar, to cut through the pasta and meat, and more of that stellar olive oil. Critics complain a lot about food being under or over seasoned - in here they seem to have it down to a fine art. Of the four pastas, the 'Pasta alle sarde' with sardines, anchovies, fennel, saffron, onions, pickled raisins and breadcrumbs send us flying back to a little Sicilian guesthouse we once stayed in, where the owners' husband fished each morning, and she cooked what he caught. We thought that was the best iteration of this dish we would ever taste, but this one's even better. If you don't order it you'll smell it being carried to other tables and just have regret. Don't have regret. The risotto when we visited was with sun-dried tomatoes, topped with burrata cream and what we think was basil oil, and it's in these simple dishes that the quality of their sunshine-filled, mainly imported ingredients really shouts out. The other pasta we had to order for sheer uniqueness was the 'Caserecce crema di pistachio', with pistachio sauce and guanciale. We half thought this might be some kind of gimick for the 'gram, but oh were we wrong. Despite the cream in the name, there's no cream in here. Instead it's made with cheese (usually Robiola and Parmesan), water, olive oil and nuts, with some expertly rendered, crispy, chewy pieces of guanciale scattered throughout, that every so often pop in your mouth. Joy. Fish options when we visited were halibut (the catch of the day) and sea bream (which was actually sea bass that day), and despite the latter not offering much in the interest stakes, we were drawn in by the fennel, courgette and 'Amuri dressing' (capers, olives and shallots) accompaniments. We had blinked at the prices of €33 and €34 for fish but this was actually a whole fish, stuffed with fish mousse, and would probably be too much for some people. It also came with those €6 roast potatoes with rosemary (more below), which you'll need to order anyway, so take that off. The flavours were deftly Meditteranean with the fish perfectly cooked and still juicy, but we lost interest half way through and it needed more of that salty Amuri dressing. Saying that we all know people who love nothing more than a big hunk of fish for dinner - this is for them. And now the other reason we went running back two days after first visiting. The potatoes. We probably don't even need to talk about these, the pictures surely tell the story, but in case you're in any doubt - fluffy insides, outsides so crispy you'll study them asking "how?", rosemary scented and a generous hand with the salt. This is potato perfection. On our second visit they weren't quite as burnished, so there's a little bit of inconsistency here, but they were still in the top tier of potato sides, Ask for the really, really well done ones if you can. The other side we tried was the tomato, red onion and ricotta salata salad, and these tomatoes clearly didn't grow up on our shores. We asked where they were buying them from, expecting them to name some Italian food importer. Turns out they're walking down to Fallon & Byrne every day because they need such small quantities and "they have the best". That's committment to the cause. The red onion is more sweet than astringent, that olive oil is in good use again, and the ricotta salata is the creamy, salty, icing on the cake. There are three desserts on the menu, the moka pot tiramisu you've probably seen online, cannoli, and the third one might be a chocolate or lemon mousse. Yes the moka pot is a bit of a gimmick, but it's actually the perfect serving size for one, and this is an excellent, nicely boozy tiramisu. A cold lemon mousse came wrapped in white chocolate with confit lemon and meringue, and was a fresher ending if your palate needs wakening up again - although the complimentary limoncello with the bill will do that too. What about the drinks? The drinks list only has wine and after-dinner drinks on there, but they do cocktail specials so be sure to ask if you're told not about them. We loved their take on a Sicilian negroni with Zibbibo white wine instead of Vermouth, and a non-alcoholic option was concocted on request with lemon juice, strawberry purée, egg white and more. As NA options go this was a good one. The wine list is really lacking in by the glass options, with only three whites and three reds by the glass (and two of each are their own imports). We tried their Giovinotto Zibibbo and Frappato and didn't find either overly interesting. There are some Sicilian crackers by the bottle though, like Tenuta delle Terre Nere's Etna Bianco, and COS's Vittoria Rosso, so that's the way to go for us. How was the service? Everyone working here was Italian, which really adds to the "I'm on holiday" feeling. The two brothers work the room, welcoming regulars and chatting with new faces, and there's a jovial atmosphere that just seems to spread from table to table. It's all so very Sicilian, and hard not to get swept up in. What was the damage? A three-course meal for two with four drinks came to €155, which felt like really good value, both for what we ate, and among the current state of pricing in the city. What's the verdict? Why aren't more people shouting about Amuri? Maybe it's because they've managed to continuously improve since opening, and it's more of a slow burn than an initial flash in the PR pan. Either way we felt like we'd been let in on a city centre secret last week, that regulars would be very happy to keep to themselves. So to them, we say sorry. And some more good news. Later this year The Corkscrew will move to a new location beside The Westbury, and Amuri will take over downstairs too, turning it into a more casual place for Sicilian street food. We'll be first in the queue. Amuri 4 Chatham Street, Dublin 2 www.amuri.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Opening at the end of 2022, D'Olier street is a collaboration between Mr Fox's Anthony Smith, and formerly US-based couple Jane Frye and James Moore. Moore was previously head chef at two-Michelin-starred Atera in New York, before Smith convinced them to open their first solo restaurant together in Dublin, and New York's loss is our gain. The ten-course tasting menu featuring spellbinding breads and desserts from pastry chef Mina Pizarro, and this iconic room in D'Olier Chambers has never looked so good. D'Olier Street Website dolierstreetrestaurant.com Address D'Olier Chambers, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Opening at the end of 2022, D'Olier street is a collaboration between Mr Fox's Anthony Smith, and formerly US-based couple Jane Frye and James Moore. Moore was previously head chef at two-Michelin-starred Atera in New York, before Smith convinced them to open their first solo restaurant together in Dublin, and New York's loss is our gain. The ten-course tasting menu featuring spellbinding breads and desserts from pastry chef Mina Pizarro, and this iconic room in D'Olier Chambers has never looked so good. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Daddy's Brunch in a pub has never been this good Posted: 10 Mar 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Last December, the team behind Lucky's on Meath Street opened a new multi-purpose venue in a neighbourhood that really needed it - Rialto. The Circular is the pub part, serving craft beer and pizza from Coke Lane with a "beer yard" out the back (yet to be seen), and at the front is Daddy's - the bright, vintage style pink-toned café. Daddy's serves breakfast, lunch and 'early dinner' during the week, with brunch on weekends, and very quickly locals (and those from farther afield) were singing the praises of their Turkish Eggs, savoury tarts and the nostalgia inducing 'mashed eggs in a cup'. The suppliers list is impressive, with O'Neill's bacon, Annascaul black and white pudding, organic free-range eggs and Tartine bread and pastries, and there's a cabinet in front where you can buy many of the same ingredients to take home. If you're planning on rocking up to do a bit of work, be aware that they only allow laptops in the café part at the front, and on a separate visit, another member of the ATF team felt staff were a bit snippy when she asked if she could move into the main room with hers. Sounds like it's a bit of a sore spot. What else is around? If you're in this neck of the woods you've got to pay a visit to The Bakery by The Cupcake Bloke , to stock up on almond and honey, lemon and raspberry and oreo cupcakes, their award-winning Earl Grey, cranberry and orange tea brack, and if you're lucky a giant mikado or a jambon. You're also a 10 minute walk from Kilmainham Gaol if it's somewhere you've been meaning to tick off your bucket list (guilty), and a 20 minute walk to Teelings Distillery if you're in the mood for some whiskey tasting. Where should we sit? Although Daddy's is technically only the front part with high stools, high tables and counters, there are three seating areas in the venue, so plenty of room whatever the size or needs of your group. The front has the best light but you need to be okay with a bit of leg dangling. Then in the main pub there's "the good room", an annexed section with red booths and blue wall panelling, then into the main pub with round booths, counter seating and regular tables for two or four. If you don't want to be in the café at the front, the "good room" is definitely where it's at, feeling cosy yet bright at the same time thanks to the high windows. Because the main pub is so big, and they only fill a few tables for brunch, it's somewhat lacking in atmosphere in comparison to the other areas, but if you want peace, space, or just to have a private conversation it'll do the job. What's good to eat? This is one of those brunch menus that you immediately know is a cut above most, due to twists on some classics and the produce being used. The counter is filled with Tartine pastries, scones, bakes and tarts, and if you can avoid ordering one while waiting for your food you have more self-control than us. We opted for a pain au chocolat which was exactly how it should be, with the coveted two rows of chocolate and crispy strips on the outside for extra crunch. Clearly we couldn't come here without trying the Turkish eggs (why don't we see more Turkish eggs on menus here!?) and they were very good with a generous amount of sourdough, but we'd argue that the bowl they were served in wasn't ideal. The spiced oil had risen to the top with the garlic and herb yoghurt sitting at the bottom, and it took a lot of digging to get down and get a decent amount of it on the bread. We prefer Turkish eggs in a wider, more shallow bowl where both oil and yoghurt are easy to scoop up. Saying that the flavours were excellent and the eggs perfectly poached. Next time we'd probably just gently empty the bowl out onto the plate. Next up the impossibly perfect 'organic mashed eggs in a cup" with Annascaul black and white pudding, kale and toast. It's hard to imagine mashed eggs tasting this delicious (we're guessing lots of butter), but our parents certainly never made 'em like this. Both the black and white pudding have to be some of the best in the country, soft and spreadable, and the kale was beautifully seasoned with crispy edges. A really perfect breakfast plate, barring the single wrapped butter pats which in this day and age are pretty unforgiveable. We also couldn't resist the double baked croissant pudding with vanilla custard, O'Neill's smoked, streaky bacon and honey, and if sweet breakfasts are your thing, this is a triumph. Like the best bread and butter pudding, which could only be made better by chucking a load of salty, streaky bacon on top, from one of our favourite bacon producers. We wanted to try pretty much everything on the menu (a rare occurrence), but sadly stomach space is limited. On the list for next time are the boxty with kale, poached eggs and garlic herb yoghurt, and the fried egg sandwich with bacon and brown sauce, with a slice of seasonal fruit tart for afters. What about the drinks? Coffee is by Two-Fifty Square and is excellent - special shout out for the decaf which is among the best we've tasted. Tea is from Clement & Pekoe and they also do freshly squeezed orange juice and Bloody Marys if you're feeling delicate (or just like booze with brunch). And the service? Everyone was bright, warm and welcoming, and the food arrived in good time. The verdict? We loved Daddy's and think Rialto is very lucky to have it. There's no doubt it's going to be packed with weekend brunch crowds, and the word's probably not fully out yet so now is as good a time as any to get in there and try it for yourself. You can't go wrong with the menu, the vibe is ideal for some weekend chill time, and despite Dublin's brilliant brunch scene, Daddy's feels unique and different to the rest. Now if only they'd take over a big pub on the Northside and do the same. Daddy's 538 South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8 www.instagram.com/daddysdub New Openings & Discoveries More >>

You might be scratching your head when you get to Parnell Street, wondering where this elusive bakery is. Look under the Wok Station signage to the left and you'll see the tiny "blink and you'll miss it" location. These "Asian choux buns" are a benchmark in French patisserie, with Asian flavours like black sesame, Thai milk tea and matcha. There's loads of other Asian-style desserts in plastic containers, as well as all kinds of fruit teas, with everything to take away. Choux Bakery Website instagram.com/choux.bakery.dublin Address Choux Bakery, Parnell Street, Rotunda, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story You might be scratching your head when you get to Parnell Street, wondering where this elusive bakery is. Look under the Wok Station signage to the left and you'll see the tiny "blink and you'll miss it" location. These "Asian choux buns" are a benchmark in French patisserie, with Asian flavours like black sesame, Thai milk tea and matcha. There's loads of other Asian-style desserts in plastic containers, as well as all kinds of fruit teas, with everything to take away. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Etto Sherry, stracciatella and a feast of meat Posted: 26 Jan 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Unarguably one of the most talked about restaurants in Dublin since opening in 2013, Etto was a ray of light in a recession ravaged city and led the way for the other young, dynamic openings that followed. Run by partners Liz and Simon, the menu is part-Italian, part-Irish with a stellar wine list which includes sherry and three wines on tap. There are only 38 seats, so reservations (especially at the weekend) are essential. With the couple due to open their second restaurant ‘Uno Mas’ later this year, we thought it was time to revisit one of the game-changers on the Dublin restaurant scene. Where’s good for a drink beforehand? There’s a strong argument for going straight to Etto and getting stuck into their sherry or prosecco on tap, but if you’d rather a change of scene we’d suggest La Cave on South Anne Street for the best value glass of fizz in the city (€8.95 for proper Crémant de Bourgogne), or for cocktails try Peruke and Periwig . If it’s a pint you’re after you won’t do much better than O’Donoghues which is just a few doors down. There’s a very good chance you’ll stumble on a trad session. What’s the room like? Cosy, bistro like space with white walls, dark wood and candles. Always a nice hum of conversation but never so loud that you can’t hear your dining companions. Has that intimate feeling that’s perfect for dates or a catch up with friends. What's good to eat? In a word? Everything. We’re not sure if there’s ever been a dud dish served in Etto. Go hungry because you’ll want to start with the snacks. Smoked almonds and fino should run away and get married. The bright green olives and hake and morcilla croquettes were perfect, flavour packed pre-appetisers. For starters, the sea bream crudo with blood orange and rosemary oil is a stalwart of the menu for good reason. Light, fresh and bursting with flavour, it feels like you’re doing your body a favour by eating it. Smoky eel wrapped in salt-baked kohlrabi, up against tart granny smith and horseradish managed to convince a lifelong eel-avoider what she’s been missing out on. The one we’re still dreaming about is the stracciatella, celeriac, truffle honey, hazelnut and lovage. Gooey cheese above a pesto-like lovage sauce, with crunchy hazelnuts, smooth peelings of celeriac and umami sweetness from the truffle honey. For mains, the Côte de Bœuf has to be experienced at least once. It's a total feast of delicious, perfectly cooked meat and would easily feed three. Crispy garlic potatoes and the richest béarnaise sauce will finish you off. Vegetables are no less impressive - the roast onion squash risotto with chanterelles and tallegio lasted approximately 20 seconds while spoons clattered together scraping the plate clean. A side of hispi cabbage with buckwheat and mustard sauce was one of the most delicious incarnations of cabbage that we’ve tasted. It’s official – chargrilling anything makes it approximately 10 times tastier. Desserts don't let the side down either, and their signature red wine prunes with vanilla mascarpone is another dish that needs to be tried at least once. We also attacked the warm chocolate mousse with walnut ice cream and Campari like jackals. What about the wine? The wine list is great and although it was a slow build, they’re finally getting recognition for it and having customers order their more unusual bottles. These guys love sherry and they’ve converted many of their customers into loving it too. The combination of Equipo Navazos Fino and smoked almonds is a great start to a night out. There are three wines on tap from innovative wine importer Wine Lab (whose motto is #nocrapontap ), a prosecco, a friulano (Italian white) and a refosco (Italian red). All really solid wines and great value at €6.50 for still and €7 for sparkling. The main wine list is Italian/European heavy and has so many great names on there that choosing is the difficult part, but the lovely staff are always ready to make recommendations. We had a rich, flavour-filled verdicchio from Italian producer Fattoria San Lorenzo (€44) which did a great job of standing up to the many flavours in our starters, and a juicy, slightly savoury Zweigelt from Austrian producer Claus Preisinger (€45), which we were worried might be a bit light for the Côte de Bœuf, but in reality was a perfect match for the juiciness of the medium-rare beef. We finished with a Madeira from legends Barbeito (€10.95) and a Spanish sweet wine from Bodega Bentomiz (€9.95), which were perfect examples of why sweet wine shouldn’t be a sickly, cloying end to a meal. And the service? Unfailingly excellent. Hospitality is a hard industry to recruit for so finding consistently great staff like these is not something to brush over. Staff are attentive but unobtrusive, happy to recommend without being pushy, knowing when to come over and when to leave you alone. And they come across as really nice people who like what they're a part of. The verdict? There’s a reason why Etto is so loved, particularly by those in the food and wine trade. These guys are doing everything right. The food is uncompromisingly great, the wine list is dying for exploration, and the staff go over and above to make customers feel taken care of. If you haven’t been yet we strongly recommend rectifying that at the first available opportunity. We are counting the days until 'Uno Mas' is abierto. Etto 18 Merrion Row, Dublin 2 etto.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Caryna Camerino's eponymous bakery moved from Merrion Square to Blackrock in 2025, and now sits on the former site of Fable + Stey. It's a local haven for enjoying a coffee and a cake from the display piled high, and soup, salads and sandwiches are also available. Personalised cakes and treat boxes are also available by advance order. Camerino Bakery Website camerino.ie Address Camerino Bakery (Blackrock), Newtown Park, Stillorgan Park, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Caryna Camerino's eponymous bakery moved from Merrion Square to Blackrock in 2025, and now sits on the former site of Fable + Stey. It's a local haven for enjoying a coffee and a cake from the display piled high, and soup, salads and sandwiches are also available. Personalised cakes and treat boxes are also available by advance order. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Orwell Road The Coppinger Row guys go south Posted: 24 Jul 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? At the end of 2021, the Bereen brothers who owned Coppinger Row (and still own Charlotte Quay), announced that the city centre restaurant where Queen Bey herself once ate, would shut its doors for good at Christmas, after thirteen years of trading. Rather than blaming bad business or anything pandemic related, a press release explained that the building was due to be redeveloped by the landlord, and the now familiar cries of "no more hotels" started to ring out. Memories were shared, the final Flo and Basys were ordered, and the doors shut, but soon rumours started to swirl about a follow up on the southside. They publically announced the details of Orwell Road in March, just five days before opening to Rathgar locals and anyone wanting to make the journey, and we were pleased to see Daniel Hannigan, formerly head chef in ATF fav Mister S , was leading the kitchen. They opened to plenty of positive reviews, but the prices were so punchy we reasoned we'd leave it for a special occasion. You guys had other ideas, and when we let our ATF Insiders choose the location of our next review, Orwell Road was the easy front-runner, so we set off for Rathgar for a weekend lunch. Where should I sit? It's a small room and we imagine it gets quite cramped when all of the tables are full. The booths at the window and along one side are by far the most spacious, and the bar seats look appealing too, with a view directly into the kitchen. What's the food like? The menu is à la carte, which will please you if you're tired of set and tasting menus, or the demand to order three courses each including a main course (always the most boring part, is it any wonder we just want all the small plates), but prices are high, and they feel like a shock in somewhere pitching themselves as a "casual neighbourhood restaurant". Some of the opening prices have risen even further in the four months since opening. Two croquettes have gone from €6.50 to €8. Côte de boeuf has gone from €70 to €75. A side of Ballymakenny spuds have gone from €5 - €6. Obviously inflation is high and food costs are rising, but consumers have never been more concerned about what's in their pockets. Meat and fish mains were €30, €34 and €35, and comparing this to other neighbourhood restaurants, in Locks, Spitalfields and Circa mains all stay below €30. In Volpe Nera the most expensive ones just hit €30. With all that in mind this level of pricing feels ambitious. A snack of mackerel tart (€5 for two bites) with chilli ponzu was a snappy start, with fish aged by Karl Whelan in Saltwater Grocery down the road, and plenty of citrus tang from the ponzu and heat from the chilli. The only problem was a very soggy bottom - perhaps they went OTT on the dressing or it sat for too long before serving. We were slightly disappointed to see that the Andarl pork croquettes we'd seen online had been demoted to "ham and cheddar", but they were very good, with spicy wholegrain mustard giving them an edge, and a cloud of more cheese on top. They worked out at €4 each though, which felt excessive. Onto starters and their signature seems to be the "chicken and scallops", served in two parts. On a top plate comes a deboned chicken wing stuffed with its own flesh - pleasant and richly flavoured, but added crunch like the version at Library Street would improve it. Lift that and underneath scallops swim in a chicken butter sauce, with slabs of the crispiest chicken skin imaginable scattered on top. We thought that the scallops would have been a stronger dish on their own without the distraction of the wing - perfertly cooked, plump and juicy, in a sauce so rich (and a little over-salted) you'll want to tread very lightly with your spoon. The chicken skin is a masterclass in how to do it. No weedy shards around here, this is some seriously crunchy business. We'd seen the new dish of kombu-cured cod with wakame and ginger on their social media feeds, and it's a visual delight, but we felt the flavours were too tame. While the wakame and ginger were pleasant and delicate, it was missing a punch of flavour that the meaty, ultra-fresh fish needed to cut through it. The Cais na Tire tortellini in a burnt onion broth is a beautiful dish. The pasta is on the thicker side, and a thinner one would let the flavour of that beautiful sheeps' cheese filling shine through a bit more, but the broth is deep with a smoky, allium-rich flavour, and cheese and onion are bedfellows for good reason. On to mains and this is where the prices really started to sting. A €34 plate of turbot with girolles, taramasalata and chicken butter sauce (the same as earlier), came with a piece of fish no bigger than a small child's hand, seven mushrooms, a few leaves of savoy cabbage, and taramasalata so salty it was unpleasant. You will most likely need a side (€6), meaning this is a €40 dish with potatoes. We know inflation is high but this was a hard one to swallow. The fish was cooked perfectly, snow white and flaking away, but for that kind of outlay we expect a lot more. The other dish, BBQ monktail with chorizo-stuffed razor clams and seafood bisque felt a lot more substantial for a euro more (€35), with the charred, meaty fish coming away in thick chunks and the baby courgette still al dente, but the razor clams tasted of chorizo and sodden bread, any fish flavour lost to the other ingredients. Monktail isn't something you see often, so it was nice to see it here and cooked so well. As a side we ordered the obligatory spuds - these ones from Ballymakenny in Louth, with a black garlic mayo that was more sweet than pungent. They were good, appearing to be fried multiple times, but some were crunchy while others were soft and/or chewy. The crunchy ones were excellent. Dessert is something that Hannigan has always excelled at (at one point during the pandemic he opened a dessert truck), so we presume at some (if not all) of the creations here are his. We tried his vacherin in Mister S, and it's gone up a notch again, this one with hibiscus on the outside, and strawberry sorbet and vanilla on the inside. Breaking it open with a spoon is very satisfying, as is eating it. Smooth sorbet, jammy strawberries and crunchy, scented meringue make for a delicately delicious dessert that's bang on season. A salted caramel tart was also excellently executed, but again there was too much salt in parts. A cherry sorbet was bright and deeply flavoured, with macerated cherries underneath, and together they made for a lovely combination. We hadn't ordered the third dessert, elderflower ice-cream with raspberry granita, but they brought it free of charge, saying we had to try it, and it was another perfectly pulled together plate - it's hard to imagine two more fitting desserts for an Irish summer than this and the strawberry vacherin. The flavours were pure yet punchy, the colour and taste of all the elements completely vivid. What about drinks? The wine list has plenty of interest, as well some less interesting crowd pleasers, and a large proportion is available by the glass, which is so nice (and relatively unusual) to see. We tried a Spanish blend from Cellar de Ruore, and the Sicilian Palmentino Rosso from Vino di Anna - the red won in the flavour stakes. The cocktails list reads well too, and the 'Bamboo' with dry vermouth, Lillet Blanc, Fino sherry, banana and black cardamom cordial, and bitters was pleasant to sip while waiting for snacks, but on the sweeter side. How was the service? Our server could not have been more full of warmth, smiles and helpful information, and apart from one grave suggestion of serving the Vino di Anna over ice because they didn't have one chilled, didn't put a foot wrong. Dishes came out at a perfect pace, but we were the only ones there so can't speak for a busier period. And the damage? A few euro short of €200 before tip for two adults and a child, which is into the realm of two-Michelin-starred Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, where you could have lunch for two with a nice bottle of wine for the same price. The verdict? There's a lot to like about Orwell Road, but much that could be improved too. As noted in the Woodruff once over a few months ago, the lack of a good value lunch menu is a major turn off for customers, and just bad business (Woodruff have since introduced one ), and may explain why we were the only ones there for Saturday lunch. Dinner appears to be hopping and that night they were fully booked, but those weighty prices are easier to stomach in the evening. A good value lunch menu, an early evening menu, and more generosity in the plates of food would go a long way towards ensuring the longevity that Coppinger Row had. Orwell Road 48 Orwell Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 6 orwellroad.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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

Banco The Two Minute Review Posted: 14 Jul 2026 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What’s the story with Banco? The queues speak for themselves – not since 2008 have we seen such a run on a Banco around here. The new Italian bakery from Roberto Mungo is the third tricolour he’s planted on Stoneybatter’s main street, and one rallied to by locals and blow-ins alike with the same fervour as his still-packed Grano and neighbouring wine bar A Fianco . What should we get? Planning, for one – arrive at the wrong time and you’ll spend half your day in a hangry line, nose aloft to the taunting aromas escaping the forno before the focaccia drops at 11:00 sharp. Take our cue and show up fifteen minutes beforehand to pre-order the goods and enjoy a coffee and pastry while you wait for yours to be the first number called. Did somebody say pastry? Per favore, pasticerria . It’ll be no shock to any Grano fans that the counter here is stacked with stuff you’ll be dreaming back on all day. None go better with the coffee than the cupola tiramisu (€4.90), flaky layers of espresso-loaded dough and thickly tasty mascarpone. It’s an inspired adaptation of the original, also available in jars on the counter (€7.50) if you need a popularity boost back home, and it's just as good as any time we’ve indulged across the road. The dough here is more bread than butter-forward, which is small wonder for a man who grows and mills his own senatore cappelli flour back at the Calabrian plot he was raised on. Its lower gluten content suits the caky cornetto alla crema (€3.90), Italy’s answer to the croissant and a more extravagant start to the day. Nut notes in the flour work wonders with the pistachio cream-slicked girella, and the hazelnut-stuffed noccila roll (both €4.60); the former’s citric kick from candied orange peel just about stole the show. Only a crostatina alla marmellata (€4.30) left us a little let down, with too-thick pastry robbing the shell of the kind of crisp snap to do the tart raspberry jam justice. How are the sandwiches? That's where the wheat really shines, bringing the thin crispness and dense chew typical of Roman-style focaccia. Crust-to-filling ratio is paramount - they’re built out rather than up, all the better to contain piles of premium ingredients. The purest is prosciutto (€10.50), accompanied by rocket, tomato and mozzarella - summer in a slab. Better again is the veggie (€10.50), with slicks of sharp Sicilian pesto lifting the grilled aubergine and tomato to heights of homely glory. The ventrecina (€11.50) we were less sold on, the smoked scamorza not enough to keep the salame and n’duja’s sustained spice from feeling a bit one-note. A website-listed vitello tonnato, always an essential at A Fianco, cannot land on the counter soon enough. What’s the verdict? As we smugly sailed passed the mounting crowd with takeaway bag in hand, we passed by Grano and A Fianco, with teams prepping for the busy Sunday afternoon and evening ahead. Back in Banco, Roberto was on-hand but hands-off, chef’s whites swapped out for a red tee, sipping espresso and seemingly satisfied at the pace of things without him at the helm. He looked like a man ready to grant himself an afternoon off. He’s earned it. Banco 17 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 instagram.com/banco_dublin New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Dublin isn't drowning in good Vietnamese food but Pho Kim should be on your hit list. Don't miss the 'Bun Tom Thit Nuong', with marinated pork and prawns, rice vermicelli noodles, peanuts, carrots, coriander, crispy onions, cucumber and a tangy sauce to pour over everything before diving in. Pho Kim Website phokim.ie Address 162 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Dublin isn't drowning in good Vietnamese food but Pho Kim should be on your hit list. Don't miss the 'Bun Tom Thit Nuong', with marinated pork and prawns, rice vermicelli noodles, peanuts, carrots, coriander, crispy onions, cucumber and a tangy sauce to pour over everything before diving in. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

Game-changing barbecue from the guys behind Featherblade. The best Irish produce like Andarl Farm pork, Ridgeway Wagyu beef and North Dublin hispi cabbage, cooked over open-fire and popping with flavour. Great prices, wines and cocktails, and one of the best additions to the Dublin dining scene in years. Mister S Website misters.ie Address 32 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Game-changing barbecue from the guys behind Featherblade. The best Irish produce like Andarl Farm pork, Ridgeway Wagyu beef and North Dublin hispi cabbage, cooked over open-fire and popping with flavour. Great prices, wines and cocktails, and one of the best additions to the Dublin dining scene in years. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

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 >>

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

Octopussy's Ultra fresh fish with a sea view Posted: 12 Jun 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? For such a picturesque coastal village, Howth has always suffered from a surplus of mediocre eateries, and we feel for tourists in particular trying to navigate the deluge of similar looking restaurants along the west pier, searching for the one that's going to live up to their Irish seafood dreams. King Sitric is the place to go for a blow out, and Aqua and Deep , also in the fine dining category, seem to have a loyal (if instagram deficient) following, but when you want something a bit more casual it can be a struggle to find something that doesn't disappoint. Octopussy's has always been talked about by those in the trade as the one to head for, and we've been impressed in the past, so we thought a sunny day in June was a good time to give it another once over. Where’s good for a drink beforehand? The Bloody Stream around the corner is great for a pint and has a sizeable outdoor terrace at the front if it's warm enough to sit outside. We quite like Wrights Findlater too, especially in Winter when the fire's on and it feels like a cosy respite from the harsh Howth winds. If you're up for a ten minute walk, we'd recommend walking up to The Abbey Tavern , one of Ireland's oldest pubs, which dates in some form to the 16th century. What’s the room like? Cosy. There are high tables and a couple of snugs inside, as well as counter dining at the window, but on a sunny day, the in demand seats are at the five outside tables. Whether outside or inside you should probably prepare for a wait, but food comes fast, so even though we were initially told it would be 40 minutes to get seated, it ended up taking only 10. Wherever you are you're likely to be sharing a table with strangers, so it's not the place to go for privacy and intimate conversation, but good if you like making new friends. Mercifully there is no smoking allowed at the tables outside, so you can enjoy your seafood in the sunshine without a side of cigarettes. What's good to eat? The shellfish platter is the must-order item, and great value at €19 for one, or €30 for two. The mussels in a cream and white wine sauce are genuinely some of the best we've had in Dublin, and the crab claws and Dublin Bay prawns taste like they were caught that morning. Gambas were fried with what tasted like paprika, and it's worth sucking the shells as that's where half the flavour is. On the platter for one you get three each of the Dublin Bay Prawns and crab claws, four gambas, a bowl of mussels and brown bread, so that alone would be enough to sate a non-greedy eater. If you're into oysters, the Carlingford served with lemon and tobasco are reliably good, as is the dressed crab, which comes on brown bread, and is a perfect example of something so simple being so delicious. If you feel like something deep-fried, calamari and scampi are both excellent, coming in light, crisp batters, rather than the ones that have the batter to fish ratio way off. We haven't had the lobster but we'd put money on that being great too. Sides don't overly excite, but the focus here is on fish and we've found in the past that they end up being superflous (with the exception of chips, obvs). We also tried a special of prawn and chorizo salad, with chilli pecorino cheese which just didn't work. The chorizo overwhelmed everything else and the cheese was rubbery. If that's all we'd had we would have run for the hills of Howth, but luckily it was just a blip in an otherwise excellent meal. What about the drinks? A serviceable if unexciting wine list with a large selection by the glass, and no other alcohol is served, so prepare any beer/spirits drinkers in advance. We've had a few dud glasses in here, but you'll be safe with Italian Verdicchio for white, and we spotted an open bottle of Viña Illusion's brilliant Rioja Joven as we were leaving, which we hadn't spotted on the menu. Glassware is awful, but you'll just have to get over it. And the service? Something that again has been mixed in the past, but on this occasional couldn't be faulted. Both of our servers were completely welcoming and helpful, making recommendations and having the chats. To be as rushed off their feet as they were and still come off that relaxed and friendly is no mean feat, so credit where it's due. The verdict? The best place in Howth for ultra fresh seafood in a casual setting, and if you can bag an outside table on a sunny day you'll be beaming (and possibly sunburnt) for days. We might not choose it for a special occasion when we want all the good wine, but after a walk on Howth Head or when we just want to be reminded about why Irish seafood is so fantastic, there are few places we'd rather be. Octopussy's Seafood Tapas Bar 7-8 West Pier, Howth, Co. Dublin octopussy.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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

Comet The most exciting, original restaurant opening in Dublin this year Posted: 8 Jul 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the 411 on Comet? The prodigal chef returns home from Denmark with a grá to settle at home and dreams of achieving big things on home turf. Wexford-born Kevin O’Donnell came up through the ranks of Dublin dining, working at Bastible and Klaw, before decamping to Copenhagen and achieving very big things. Gaining a job at two Michelin-starred Kadeau , he worked his way up to head chef at Kadeau 's summer beachside outpost Bornholm (which has one Michelin star), before being appointed head of research, development and "special stuff" across both restaurants, which doesn’t happen without a lot of talent and an equal amount of graft. O’Donnell’s now wife Laura Chabal also worked at Kadeau as Communications Manager, but the couple, like most in hospitality, dreamt about what they could create on their own, and Ireland was calling. They moved home in 2024 and started testing the water with their Comet supper club , which had a few run outs at the Fumbally Stables, as well as doing some private catering while they figured out a plan. That plan was hatched with old employers Bastible , who came on board to back Comet the restaurant. Remember La Ruelle , the wine bar behind what's now Pablo Picante on Dawson Street? The wine list (or room) was never our vibe, so we can't say we were heartbroken to see them go. The site though on Joshua Lane (named after Joshua Dawson who sold the land it sits on to Dublin corporation for £3,500 in 1715) has the most central of locations, and despite a lack of passing trade, we were surprised to see it sat empty since last year – until Comet swooped in to turn on the lights back on. What table should we be asking for? If you're a table of six (or maybe less depending on how busy they are) you'll want the oval table in the window - the only one with decent natural light and the perfect shape for group conversations. Thankfully acoustics in here are better than the lighting - be aware that if you bring that older person in your life who wears reading glasses they will complain about needing a torch to see the menu. Otherwise the room is roughly split in two by a room divider on the left and the bar counter on the right, with natural light diminishing the further back you go, but a mirror cleverly installed on the back wall to combat this. We generally like to be at the front and have a better view of the whole room, but if you're meeting someone to conduct an illicit affair, ask for a corner in the back, or just behind that divider. What's the menu like? A genuinely original (for Dublin), European bistro-style, love letter to local sourcing, pickling, smoking, fermenting and doing very clever things to get the maximum possible flavour from very lovely ingredients - no BS included. Start with the "Comet" aperitif while deciding what to order - the white vermouth on ice with a guindilla chilli pepper and a dash of the brine mixed through is an electric opener, and the perfect signature serve. There’s a “4-course carte blanche” option for €78, but it’s a bit confusing as to exactly what you’ll get. They told us two snacks, two starters, a fish course each (red mullet instead of the pollock on the menu), a main to share, and two desserts, but it’s all a surprise, and with no details of what’s on there it’s impossible to know whether it’s better or worse value than ordering à la carte , which is what we ended up doing. Don't pass on olives and pickles (€8) thinking you've had them a million times - not like this you haven't. Warm olives arrive so smooth and glistening in olive oil (the really good stuff) you can almost see your reflection in them. A unique assortment of pickled gooseberries, artichoke, asparagus, and onion sit beside them, and between the rich olives and tangy pickles it's a mini flavour riot. Anchovy and meyer lemon toast came next, covered in a sorrel leaf which we struggled to see the point of (other than the fun of lifting it up to see what's underneath). This one needs a chilli warning - that heat wasn't mentioned on the menu - and while those mink brown anchovies are in our all time top food lists, we didn't love this enough to think about it much afterwards (especially for the €9 price tag). Onto starters/small plates, and a smoked pork cheek and black kale skewer (€22) arrived concertina-style in the most perfect rectangle. The pork, from Fiorbhia Farm in Laois is cured in shio koji ( here's an explainer ), hot smoked, then glazed with pork fat, collatura (an Italian fish sauce made from anchovies) and fermented habanero. The tangy, earthy kale up against the ultra-thin smoky pork, dragged through the toasted yeast emulsion on the side makes for a dish where the above average price tag is easily justified. " Peas, broad beans and pistachio " wouldn't have been on our order sheet if owner Chabal hadn't told us it was her favourite, and gosh were we glad we listened. Peas and beans from Abercorn Farm and Castleruddery in Wicklow tasted like they'd been plucked from the ground moments earlier, podded by nuns who yodelled as they worked. Tossed through with pistashio and fermented plum, and sitting on a puddle of crème crue (another name for crème fraîche), this is the kind of dish you want to never come off the menu, but you know it has to – that’s what makes seasonal eating so special. When you get to mains DO NOT look past the quail on toast - currently a top contender for the best thing we've eaten in 2025 (or ever?). French quails are deboned, given a sweet Asian glaze (confit garlic, cider vinegar, soy), stuffed with leeks, melded to homemade sourdough, and sat in a pool of Vin Jaune sauce – this is gamebird witchcraft and we were suitably spellbound. You might start off with a knife and fork, but a few bites in and you'll be making a show of yourself gnawing every last sliver of meat from the remaining bones - a finger bowl would be handy. If we don't see this on the Michelin Inspector's dishes of the month some time soon we'll be questioning whether they know what they’re talking about. The fish dish was pollock cooked in beef fat (ooooof for us, controversial for pescatarians) served with girolles and toasted hazelnuts, in a buttery sauce made with the mushroom cooking liquid and fermented white asparagus juice. Anything sitting side by side with that quail is going to pale in comparison, but the mouthfuls where you got a bit of everything were pretty special. As fish dishes go, this isn't light, and those (crazy people) who don’t like too much butter may want to pick something a bit less rich. Pommes boulangère usually looks like more like a gratin than a potato rose, but we prefer this version. Cooked in chicken stock and so soft that a knife glides from top to bottom of the waxy potato stripes, it tasted like the best Christmas potatoes, without veering into carbocide territory. Yet another impressive kitchen turn. In too many bistro set ups like this, desserts are an obvious afterthought. Something spoonable, something freezable, always simple and negating the need for a pastry chef. So Comet's three options plus an out of the box cheese course is more cause for applause. We usually skip the cheese course - we eat enough of it at home for a fraction of the price, why bother with the premium restaurant surcharge - but Comet is where habits will be broken. Are we going to cook the softest warm oat pancake as a base, make a marmalade-from Cedrat, an ancient citrus fruit imported from France, and generously shave nutty, caramel, crystal-flecked Coolea (an Irish gouda-style cheese) over the top? No we are not. We're good, but we're not that good. This is that good. A fig and brown sugar tartlet had the kind of ultra-short, crumbly, cocoa-filled pastry that only the most skilled Granny can produce. Filled with slices of ripe fig and topped with a silky, coffee crème diplomat (there’s cold-infused coffee oil in the crème), it's the kind of thing you could imagine Cedric Grolet serving you after a Parisian pilgrimage, while you tell yourself it’s a perfectly acceptable breakfast alongside a Café au Lait – fruit and coffee = breakfast. What about drinks? This is a wine venue - there's a few aperitifs and some NA options but no beer or spirits as we type. There's a short, sharp by the glass list, with a single sparkling and rosé, three each of white and red, and a couple of dessert options. It's considerably cheaper to drink the same wines by the bottle, with small glasses (125ml) at a premium price, so you will pay more for variety. There are no bad choices on this list - everything's been carefully chosen to take up a treasured slot, and the minimal intervention lean in much of the bottles is the perfect fit for the thoughtfully prepared food. If you tend to stick to the more common grapes and are unsure which of the by the glass options you might like, ask for a taste. And if you're in the wine drinking big leagues (and/or the salary big leagues) ask for the cellar wine list ( also online ). This is the kind of starry-eyed selection we’re more used to seeing in London or Paris, and this alone will draw a very specific type of diner (the type we’d really like to be friends with). How was the service? With two owners on the floor, and with us getting clocked immediately, it was never going to be anything but lovely. Dishes arrived with perfect timing, and we weren’t rushed off the table afterwards (this will depend on whether there’s a booking after you though). If Chabal is on the floor try to grab her for food and wine recommendations. There’s nothing quite like getting your hands on the person whose passion project you’re watching unfold. What's the financial committment? Comet has placed itself in the upper tier of Dublin pricing, in line with Library Street, Kicky’s, Uno Mas, and with the extreme amount of work to extract maximum flavour in the kitchen, it couldn’t be any other way. There’s no doubt the Michelin inspectors will be sitting down to dinner soon, and it’s hard to imagine a chef who’s coming from a multi-starred stable not wanting to get one on his own terms. While the prices might mean this is special occasion territory for most people, they won't care too much if it’s worth it. We paid €125 per person for a snack, starter, main, dessert/cheese, and four drinks each (including an aperitif and coffee), before tip, and we’d pay it again, and again. What's the verdict on Comet? It’s always hard to make big statements after just one meal, but here we go anyway. Comet , is the most exciting, original opening in Dublin this year (and we might include 2024 in that too). Maybe someone will say restaurants like this are 10 a penny in Copenhagen, maybe nothing is really original any more, but looking at the existing landscape of Dublin dining , Comet has landed with something entirely different. This is such confident cooking, sourcing only the best and fusing it with bold flavours developed through time-intensive methods. This is a team on a mission, with no evidence of fumbling or second-guessing themselves (maybe they’re hiding it well). There’s no hint of bean-counting or cost-cutting either, but you’ll pay for this kind of investment in flavour, and we suggest you do before word spreads and those 30 or so seats become perpetually booked up. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Casual lunch and dinner spot in the Docklands, with extensive vegan and vegetarian options. Bright colours and flavours on the menu, which includes poke, rice bowls and tacos. Worth a visit for the stunning interiors alone. Nutbutter Website nutbutter.ie Address 2&3 Gallery Quay, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Casual lunch and dinner spot in the Docklands, with extensive vegan and vegetarian options. Bright colours and flavours on the menu, which includes poke, rice bowls and tacos. Worth a visit for the stunning interiors alone. Where It's At Nearby Locales Goat's Gruff Banco Bah 33 Mark Moriarty Studio Gaffe at Leonard's Corner Sano Pasta Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet

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Woodruff Ambitious appetites In Stepaside Posted: 22 Feb 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Woodruff opened in Stepaside, at the foot of the Dublin mountains, in late 2019. It's the first restaurant from Colm Maguire (owner/manager) and Simon Williams (owner/chef), and it was clear that ambitions were high from day one. In his previous position as head chef in The Gables, Foxrock, write ups of Williams' cooking praised his attention to detail when it came to the ingredients he was buying and foraging, and it felt like this was going to be the theme of Woodruff too, but turn that dial up to the max and you'll get the idea. A mission statement on their website sums up what they do: "cook with the seasons | sustainably source direct from farms | ferment | forage | cure | minimise waste". It's very easy to throw these words around, it's much more difficult to live them, but they are. You think of a food product - the chef's made an inhouse version. You think you know what can be foraged in Ireland? Labelled jars around the restaurant contain edible plants, fungi and herbs you've never heard of. You think you know Irish food? Sit back and get a lesson on the best meat, seafood, cheeses and vegetables that we as a country produce. The over and above efforts here are bound to have played a factor in their very quick addition to the Michelin Guide for 2021, who praised their menus "packed with local produce – including plenty of foraged ingredients", and their "delicious food" and "super-friendly service". Its location and Dublin's abysmal public transport options mean that it's probably difficult for a lot of you to get to, but we wanted to see if it was worth the special effort. Where should we sit? We love this room. It feels modern and slightly industrial, but at the same time warm and comforting with all the wood and velvet. It's sleek and somewhere we'd be very happy to sit back and relax for a few hours. During covid they got permission for outside seating too, so hopefully that makes a comeback when the weather gets warmer. We do love a window seat so that's always first choice, but sit close to the back and you'll be able to look into the open kitchen watching the chefs at work. What's the food like? There's just one á la carte menu for lunch and dinner, so be aware, lunch will set you back dinner prices. This is not a casual, quick stop kind of place, it's an occasion. While we think they're missing a trick not doing a set lunch menu at a more wallet friendly price, we were selfishly happy to experience the evening menu without attempting a trek home from Stepaside late at night. When a menu says homemade breads (plural) with cultured house butter, you must order it. Woodruff's sourdough will make home bakers want to weep into their starter - what child must we sell to get a crust as chewy as this!? - while the brown is on the sweet side so best just eaten with mounds of butter, and what butter. So much of the homemade stuff is weak - under-salted and lacking in flavour - this one is worth every churn. They also kindly brought us a sample of their in-house charcuterie as we'd gone back and forth about ordering it. We'd had it takeaway during lockdown and thought was some of the best in the country, and fully stand by those comments. We love a good snack, and Woodruff's plate of house-cured (obvs) Goatsbridge trout with horseradish creme fraiche, chicory and Guinness crumb was a very good snack. A beautiful slice of fish, bags of flavour all tangled up together, and a clever crumb crunch to top it off. We've never met a 63 degree egg yolk we didn't like, so the mushroom tart fine was happening. The thin, crisp dish of pastry came topped with black truffle, hazelnut and tarragon mayo, and was an elegant, beautiful to look at dish, but slightly dry. It just needed an extra slick of mayo or oil, but the flavours were all there. Our other starter was also picked because of a single listed ingredient - scarlet elf cups, a bright red mushoom that grows on decaying wood, with a firm, chewy texture, again foraged by the kitchen. They came on the side of just-seared tuna , young wild garlic (which grows next to the mushrooms), house soy (that's right, soy sauce made in the restaurant), chilli and sesame. This was more fiery than we expected with a good kick from the chilli, but the flavours were toppling over each other, in a good way. As we were sitting next to a large jar of preserved Alexander Stem, we couldn't resist the John Dory with ink fregola, Alexander stem, romanesco and a Vietnamese coriander and lime sauce, and what a plate of food (it's also enormous, and could easily be shared with some smaller plates). The fish came on the bone meaning you've got to be careful about picking out the bones, but it was perfectly cooked, and once again, so many flavours spinning around one plate. Ink fregola is officially our new favourite grain, it's chewy texture perfect for helping to scoop up that zippy, fragrant sauce, while the romanesco and Alexender stem added two more interesting elements, mainly in texture for the former, and flavour for the later.. We always think the vegetarian option is a good test of a kitchen's skills, and Woodruff's gets an A from us. You might think gnocchi is overdone, but when it's St. Tola goat's cheese gnocchi, with crown prince pumpkin, red kale, organic pear, preserved walnuts and wild capers - it's so very not. It was half carby comfort food, half peppy salad, all wiped clean from the plate. At the start we thought it was going to be a case of Chanel - take one thing off - but everything had a reason for being on there. We also tried the house fries with roast garlic and saffron aioli, which were good and clearly homemade, but could have been a little crispier. For dessert there was a white chocolate mousse with blood orange, meadowsweet meringue, pistachio and chocolate crumb, of which the star was the perfectly ripe blood oranges, sweet red juice spilling out over the plate each time they were cut into. The mousse was definitely the canvas for everything else going on, but it was a pleasant dessert that felt like a light way to end a big meal. We also had the Basque cheesecake with gooseberry sauce and Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream, which was definitely not a light way to end a heavy meal, but in for a penny. We find slabs of Basque cheesecake on their own a bit boring, but the tart gooseberry cut through the creaminess like a knife, and the Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream was a genius addition - who knew the sweet, flatulence-inducing vegetable could be used in so many ways. What about the drinks? There's as much care and attention in the wine list as there is in the food menu, and the only problem here is picking what to drink - we wanted everything. We would have liked to see a few more wines by the glass because we knew just it was ripe for discoveries, with manager Colm eager to recommend bottles and talk you through winemakers, vineyards and grapes. These are not wines picked for maximum margin or crowd-pleasing, they're picked because it's what they want to drink, and when we're in someone's restaurant, eating the food they want us to eat, that's what we love to see. And the service? Faultless, but on the midweek lunchtime we visited it was very quiet so we can only judge on that. It's hard to imagine standards slipping though. And the damage? €70 a head for bread, a snack, three courses and a glass and a half of wine each - hefty by lunch standards. We'd love to see them introduce a dynamic, good value offering during the week, a simplified set menu with little or no choice that we think would pack them in. The verdict? Woodruff is the type of restaurant Dublin (and Ireland) needs more of. In a world of "crowd-pleasing" menus aimed at maximum return and little purpose, Woodruff sits in the top tier of restaurants, doing what they love, and hoping the rest of us will do. The ambition and effort happening here is rare and remarkable, and we have no doubt that if they were in the city centre there would be a lot more talk about them because a lot more people would be paying them a visit. In the meantime we just hope Stepaside knows how lucky it is. Woodruff The Village, Unit 7, Enniskerry Road, Dublin 18 woodruff.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>