Search Results

Traditional Nepalese food and an above average wine list that’s been served up by husband and wife team Shiva and Lina for an impressive 20 years. The downstairs wine cellar is ideal for private parties. Monty's of Kathmandu Website montys.ie Address 28 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Traditional Nepalese food and an above average wine list that’s been served up by husband and wife team Shiva and Lina for an impressive 20 years. The downstairs wine cellar is ideal for private parties. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

First rate coffee and quality food have had Two Pups secure a place on every "Dublin's best café" list since they opened in 2016. Daily specials, great cake, and they love to see dogs coming in with their owners. Two Pups Website @twopupscoffee Address 74 Francis Street, The Liberties, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story First rate coffee and quality food have had Two Pups secure a place on every "Dublin's best café" list since they opened in 2016. Daily specials, great cake, and they love to see dogs coming in with their owners. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

Suertudo Jalisco and Oaxaca small plates set Dublin's newest Mexican apart Posted: 7 Jan 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Suertudo? While Ranelagh stalwart Dillinger’s surprise closure back in November was leapt on by some with a point to belabour as yet more evidence of the sky falling in on the hospitality market, it’s actually more indicative of the industry’s invention than of a VAT-based doomsday staring it in the face. John Farrell’s flagship brand kicked off his now-sprawling empire ( 777 , Amy Austin and The Butcher Grill among others) back in 2009, so its shuttering might have seemed like the writing on the wall for one of Dublin’s most serially successful restaurateurs, but a quick pivot showed yet another trick tucked up his sleeve. A more cynical critique might see Suertudo as cashing in on a Mexican wave that’s swept across the city in the last 12-ish months, culminating in Parrilla popping up just around the corner. Given that Farrell got in on the ground floor with 777 back in 2012, and that wine bar Amy Austin 's small plates have been given the Mexico city treatment by Executive Chef Victor Lara, that's not the case here. Lara is also over the food at Suertudo, joined by Mexico City-trained Celina Altamirano, to make up a menu inspired by their respective homesteads of Jalisco and Oaxaca. Where should we sit? The left wall as you enter is flanked by four high and then six low two-tops, set to be cobbled together for any config of parties that may wander their way in - groups will be most at home here. A little nook inside the right window hosts a cosy high-top for five and a three-seater window ledge - if your idea of a dry January is hiding from the rain with a drink, this is the place to be. The wraparound bar’s dozen-ish places would make a fine pick for an evening perch, with spillover kitchen space meaning you’ll have plenty of action to watch as the place fills up. The only spot we’d avoid is a tiny table tucked right in the back corner, far too compact for comfort. What’s on the menu? We slipped in for Suertudo’s new(er) brunch-lunch offering available Thursdays to Sundays, which mixes and matches several of its evening plates with a few lighter bites catering to earlier-in-the-day appetites. Guacamole is a typical first port of call for any new Mexican arrival, and an early indication of how it stacks up to the ever-growing competition, but if you're only having one dip with chips, make it the camotito. This gorgeous plate of sweet potato purée has a smoothness and sweetness we couldn't get enough of, complicated in taste and texture by the smoky-spicy salsa macha, a flavour feast that plays like a Mexican chilli crisp. It comes in at top-tier value of €6 for the plate, better for your pocket as well as your palate than the €10 guac - avocados are pricier than sweet potatoes in fairness. That’s a match for the price point at Parrilla , and while the serving there seemed slightly more generous to us (and they add two house salsas to the mix), the quality here swings it even before the tortilla chips are taken into account. Unlike the local competition, Suertudo’s are made in-house from Altamirano’s own masa, a difference you can taste every step of the way. A delicate dusting of punchy spiced salt seals the deal. It's just as well the chips are top class, because we faced more in the form of chilaquiles - it really is a wise move to only get one of the sharing starters. The Mexican breakfast dish is a classic for good cause, intense savoury flavour coursing through every drop of the simmered salsa roja and chicken broth - expect to beg for a spoon to scoop up the last of it. The variously crispy and soggy textures of the chips play well off the piled-high shredded chicken, but this dish is all about that sauce. Its stark saltiness is tempered by crumbled queso fresco and drizzled sour cream, cut through by raw rings of onion. The citrus-spice smack of adobo rojo is the star of the pescado zarandeado, a thick fillet of seabream smothered in sauce and cooked to a just-blackening coat over the charcoal grill. Fresh fish and full flavours are always a winning combination and this is a textbook example, as well as a welcome lighter bite after all the heaving heaviness that came before. Plantain cream on the side does a solid tempering job, while the pickled pink onions have much more than just colour to bring to the feast. We're not known for our ability to pass up lamb birria tacos, with shoulder slow-cooked to a fall-apart texture, served alongside a consommé made of its juices. This Jalisco specialty is wanton to its core, the kind of plate best left ‘til last - you'll be in need of washing your hands, never mind in no state to manage any more food for a while. Beware the great gush of meat juice that’s liable to come spilling from these, lest the meaty goodness go wasted - at €19 per plate, you will not be wanting to miss a drop. Lamb lovers will, and should, devour these, but the consommé can’t compare to the one we tried at Tacos Lupillo (a dish in its own right rather than dip as here, to be fair). Once you’ve had some time to recover, the arroz con leche is a welcome ending to say adios on, though skipping it is a safer bet than anything else we tried. This Mexican take on rice pudding has the concentrated caramel tang of a dulce de leche foam that froths up over the dish if you don’t dig in quick enough. Regular ol’ popcorn propped on top struck us as a shame - a caramelised kind might have better fitted the vibe. What are the drinks like? Cocktails aside, the drinks listings are strangely nondescript with nothing more than the likes of “Rioja Crianza” or “Mexican beer” to clue you in to what’s in store. The tequila and mezcal options claim “brands you can’t find anywhere in Ireland and most of Europe”, though people who know more than us have cast a sceptical eye on that claim. Margaritas are another must-compare item, and Suertudo’s ticked the box just-so with nothing much to lift it above average - we expected more oomph. The smoke-scented Swashbuckler found better favour, with top marks for a mix where Frangelico really works - Tia Maria and mezcal were not what we’d have banked on as the best bedfellows. Te Quila Mockingbird makes hay with the syrup sweetness of grilled pineapple to balance out a bitter mix of Campari and lime - this is exactly the kind of sip-it-and-sigh-with-satisfaction sensation we felt missing in the marg. Lollapalooza comes out in a glass so tall and thin we were terrified of toppling it, but the spicy-sharp mix of tequila, grapefruit and jalapeño goes a long way to steeling those nerves. How was the service? The first week of the year is not a good time to gauge how any new venue is likely to act under pressure, but we were struck by the skill with which our server sailed through the menu, describing every dish with ease - there’s been proper investment in training here. We were impressed too by the speedy delivery of everything, though between a blustery January day and being the last lunch cover the kitchen had to worry about, they weren't under pressure. If there's been any teething issues in opening at the busiest time of the year, word has yet to reach our ears. And the damage? €139 for two rounds of cocktails and enough of a late lunch to see dinner skipped altogether. That’s a big step up in price from the more casual new entrants in Dublin’s Mexican market, but close to bang-on the mark for what we spent at Parrilla . We’d have to hand it to Suertudo for bringing better value. What’s the verdict on Suertudo? Suertudo is Spanish for “the lucky one”, and while Farrell might have chosen that name to pay tribute to the firstborn that started it all, everyone knows it takes a lot more than luck to keep pace with the changing trends and challenges in the restaurant scene. This remaking has what’s needed in spades - a new arrival that shows even crowded markets have space for invention. Ceding prime real estate and a well-established brand to a concept that’s not short on competition is less cashing-in on a trend, than the kind of bold move we badly need more of around town. Who knows what might happen if more places trust talented chefs to go where their skills are. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Mamó A blast of fresh air for Howth Posted: 15 Oct 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? There are certain types of people residing in Dublin who frequently make grand statements such as "there's nowhere to eat in *insert suburban town/village/street here*", while others look on in confusion thinking, "but there's 36 restaurants there?" (We may or may not be guilty of such statements.) What this actually means is "I'm aware there are 36 restaurants there but none are exciting enough to make me get off my bum and pay someone a substantial amount of money to cook my dinner", and one of the postcodes that's fallen into this bracket over the years is Howth. Yes there are plenty of restaurants, yes there's a decent (could be better) amount of fresh fish, but it always felt like a trick was being missed, and the culinary dynamism that's been taking over the city centre at full force hadn't quite reached here. So when we heard that ex- Etto front of house Jess D'Arcy and chef husband Killian Durkin (ex-Thornton's, Chapter One and Charlotte Quay ) had signed the lease on a harbour facing site earlier this year we felt a shiver of excitement. They describe Mamó (Irish for grandmother) as "a contemporary European dining experience in a relaxed and friendly setting", and a showcase for North County Dublin's abundant produce, as well as lesser known fish that they can buy directly from the boats. With Jess coming from Etto we had high hopes for the wine list, and a quick look online showed sherries, lesser known producers and no prosecco. So far, so ticking all of our boxes. They opened the doors at the end of September, and initial reports suggested our excitement was going to be justified. Where should we go for a drink first? The good news is there's no shortage of pubs in Howth. The bad news is if you're looking for something other than beer or gin you may struggle. The Bloody Stream is a cosy place to huddle up with a pint if it's cold outside, the Abbey Tavern up the hill on Abbey Street claims to date from the 16th century, and if you're after a more "modern" selection of drinks head for Wrights Findlater . They also have a roof terrace if it's warm enough to sit outside. Where should we sit? The dining room is cosy and quite compact - be careful what you say as it's likely your neighbours will hear you. There are tables and counter seating (perfect for eating alone ) as well as four tables outside - we don't need to tell you how in demand these are going to be come spring. For the moment heaters have been ordered. The two tables at the window with a view of the harbour are the ones to plump for if you have a choice, or the counter's lovely for one or two. What's good to eat? The menu is divided into snacks, starters, mains, sides and desserts, and as seems to be the case more and more lately we're finding ourselves more drawn to smaller plates than larger ones - probably because it allows us to try more food. The menu is changing regularly depending on what's available but if they're on as a snack when you visit do not miss the confit potato chips with taramasalata - Mamó's take on fish and chips. Salty, vinegary, creamy, fishy, and exactly the type of culinary excitement we've been looking for from a restaurant by the sea. Herby, garlicky razor clams with a macadamia nut crust were perfection on a plate (the flavour still hasn't left us), and chicken liver parfait with chicken skin crisps and crispy onions was gone in seconds. Both are must-orders if they're on. Good sourdough bread comes as standard and they plan on varying up the butters. At the moment it's a Vadouvan butter (similar to a masala spice blend) with flakes of sea salt on top. It was whipped to the point of fluffiness, and the bread comes in very handy for mopping up the last few smears of chicken liver parfait. From the starters we had a mackerel tartare with orange and pressed cucumber, which was like a Peruvian ceviche cleverly served with crisps. We are very much here for the zing and freshness of a well-made ceviche and the accompanying crunch of salted crisps, and think that variations of this will be one of their signature dishes (read: please don't ever take it off). Another starter of tarragon gnocchi in a porcini broth felt like an ideal plate for a cold day, and managed to feel light despite the rich, savoury flavours. Killian is apparently known for his homemade pastas so we look forward to more of those hitting the menu over the coming months. A main of wild black pollock with sobrasada, Lambay crab and coco de paimpol broth was well balanced with a tingle of heat and excellent fish, but wasn't as memorable as some of the smaller dishes. They also do an Etto-style Côte de bœuf from Higgins Butcher to share with bearnaise sauce and crispy potatoes, so that's on the agenda for a return trip soon. We did have the crispy potatoes as a side and they're up there with Etto in terms of their ability to turn a table of adults into a pack of scrambling animals desperately fighting over the last few crunchy bits. Another side of carrot salad with tahini and pomegranate didn't really do it for us, and felt like it was lacking seasoning. For dessert the Howth honey tart with sea salt ice cream is another we're hoping is a permanent fixture. Honey comes from up the hill where there's also an allotment they're on a waiting list for, and it's hard to think of a more thoughtful, of-the-moment ending to a meal here. Another of dark chocolate ganache with blueberries and Italian meringue was luscious, but the portion sizes didn't allow either to feel overwhelmingly sweet. We're still regretting not ordering the Old Groendal cheese with poached pear and Guinness bread, so that's high on the list for next time. What about the drinks? We're big fans of small production/on the natural side wines, but have been growing weary of seeing the same names on every new wine list in town, so it was refreshing to see a lot of lesser known producers here, and Jess is more than happy to talk people through them and make recommendations. Anywhere serving sherry by the glass gets bonus points from us, and offering something sparkling other than prosecco by the glass gains more again - here it's a great value sparkling Chardonnay from the Loire called 'Tuffeau' from Domaine Plou. There are 13 wines by the glass and we asked them to bring what they thought would work for each dish. They were on the money every time, particularly a dry furmint from Tokaji in Hungary with the mackerel tartare. And the service? This is very much a family operation with Jess' brother helping her front of house and the rest of the crew calm and tight knit. Jess is very much the hostess making sure everyone is well looked after, and while we were there she had to graciously turn away guest after guest without a booking - but not without making sure they had the restaurant's card with booking details, and telling them they would love to welcome them another time. It's not often that people leave a restaurant this happy when they haven't been able to get in. The verdict? Mamó is a breath of fresh air in sleepy Howth and it feels like it's been a long time coming. We're looking forward to seeing it settle in and just hope that the tourists don't find out about it too soon or we may struggle to get a table forever more (especially in summer, picture the scenes). At the same time, we're excited about visitors experiencing this new iteration of Irish food in such a tourist hotspot and going home to tell everyone about it, so basically you can't win. A drawn-out, lazy Sunday lunch here would be just the way to end the week, or a midweek evening stroll along the harbour followed by ceviche, 'fish and chips' and all the wine sitting up at the counter would be as good an antidote to hump day as we can imagine. Mamó Harbour House, Harbour Road, Howth, Co. Dublin mamorestaurant.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >> !

Just south of the city centre, bordered by the Grand Canal, head to Portobello for café culture, Michelin-recommended dinners, and homemade pasta. Portobello Our Take Just south of the city centre, bordered by the Grand Canal, head to Portobello for café culture, Michelin-recommended dinners, and homemade pasta. Where to Eat Alma Bibi's Brother Hubbard South Dash Burger Aungier Street Lena Little Bird Richmond Sprezzatura Camden Market

Modern Chinese Hakkahan lit up Stoneybatter like the flames in their kitchen when they opened with dishes like basil Silverhill duck, black pepper shortrib of beef, and six different types of housemade dumplings. The narrow, pink-fronted restaurant is eternally busy so make sure to book ahead, and we advise not skipping the salt and pepper fresh squid and the pork yuk sung - both best in class. Hakkahan Website hakkahan.ie Address 32 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Modern Chinese Hakkahan lit up Stoneybatter like the flames in their kitchen when they opened with dishes like basil Silverhill duck, black pepper shortrib of beef, and six different types of housemade dumplings. The narrow, pink-fronted restaurant is eternally busy so make sure to book ahead, and we advise not skipping the salt and pepper fresh squid and the pork yuk sung - both best in class. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

Mr Dinh Daytime-only dim sum on Capel Street Posted: 20 Aug 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Mr Dinh sits at the far end of Capel Street, close to Parnell Street, in a site that formerly housed Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi Hanoi. We've been unable to find out whether the owner and manager of Mr Dinh are the same as Hanoi Hanoi, but they're both from Vietnam. This is not a restaurant we would have made a beeline for, due to their 'Asian fusion' menu featuring Japanese, Hong Kong, Malayasian and Thai cuisine - in our experience muddled menus usually don't make for spell-binding eating experiences - but then the Dublin restaurant whisper network started talking about Mr Dinh's daytime-only dim sum. If you speak to anyone from Hong Kong (or anyone who's versed in their food) about where to get good dim sum in Dublin you're likely to hear three names - Good World , Ka Shing and Mr Dinh . We hear that the pendulum swings between all three of them as the favourite depending on the week, but that amongst a certain group of Asian ladies who dim sum, Mr Dinh was currently in the lead. Dim sum is a day time food in Hong Kong, with small plates of everything from dumplings to turnip cake often accompanied by Chinese tea, and Mr Dinh only serves dim sum until 5pm, so it's lunch or a very early dinner if you want to get in on the dim sum action here. Where is there to go for a drink around here? If you're planning on having one of those long, drawn out lunches which turns into a boozy afternoon - great plan. We'd head around the corner to Bonobo in Smithfield, particularly if the sun's out and you can wile away a few hours in their beer garden. Otherwise McNeill's on Capel Street is great for Guinness and trad music, or if you're having a dry day but still want to stay out, head for The Virgin Mary for non-alcoholic cocktails. Where should we sit? There's plenty of space over two rooms so you should have your pick. If you're in a group the round tables complete with lazy Susans are great for avoiding awkward arm-stretching, but if you're looking for privacy you can easily slink into one of the corners on either side. What's good to eat? There are 32 types of dim sum on the menu, featuring everything from prawn dumplings to chicken feet (not recommended, even for lols). Of everything we tried our favourites were the pan-fried pork dumplings (deeply-flavoured with a perfect chewy, meaty texture), pan-fried vegetable and meat buns (light, slightly blistered dough filled with more flavoursome pork and green vegetables), and baked BBQ pork puffs - although the latter were barely warm and very sweet - proceed with caution. Prawn dumplings Chaozhou style were better than prawn and Chinese chive dumplings, whose thin, slippery wrappers had gotten completely stuck on the steamer, causing them to fall apart, and soup dumplings disappointed due to a lack of soup. Steamed turnip cake with a type of Chinese sausage split the table - you definitely have to be on board with the gelatinous texture and slightly too oily exterior, but we were, and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf was very sticky, with a layer of something like a thick gravy with pork pieces and sweetcorn between two slabs of rice. Enjoyable at the time but not particularly memorable. Steamed BBQ pork buns were decent, but we've had better in the city (looking at you Lucky Tortoise ), and again that overly sweet BBQ filling could have done with easing off on the sugar, and BBQ pork cheung fun (rice rolls) had the sweet/savoury balance much more on point, although they could have done with a bit more filling. Pork siu mai were slightly bland and a bit too pink for our liking, and they weren't finished. What about the drinks? We've yet to encounter an Asian restaurant in the Capel Street/Parnell Street area with anything of interest to drink, and unfortunately Mr Dinh lives up to the stereotype. Wines come under the heading "avoid", and beers are basic. Under some grilling they said they would allow BYO at around €10 per bottle of wine, but wouldn't commit to a corkage charge. Definitely worth considering if you want something stronger than Chinese tea with your dim sum. And the service? Friendly but pretty perfunctory. The manager was very happy to answer a myriad of questions, and tell us about the exciting new Malaysian, Japanese and Thai menu changes to come on the main menu in a couple of weeks, but sometimes the staff bringing the food just dropped them on the table without telling us what they were. They always came back with a smile though when we called them to ask what type of dumplings we were about to eat. The verdict? Mr Dinh is dishing up decent dim sum and while it's unlikely to change your life it's very cheap, very filling and parts of it are very tasty. For €25 a head we had more food than we could eat - you could easily leave well fed for €15 - and if you're someone who likes small portions of multiple dishes and sharing food for the purposes of getting to try more, you'll have fun working your way through the menu here. Even if you get the odd dud you're unlikely to feel hard done by at prices like these. For us the dim sum debates rages on. We've already given Ka Shing the once over, so Good World's next on the list to complete the holy trilogy. Look out for that one some time in Autumn. Mr Dinh 101 - 102 Capel Street, Dublin 1 mrdinh.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Is it a chipper? Is it a gelato shop? Is it a bakery? Sorrento's may seem like it's suffering from multiple personality disorder, but when owner Cristian Proca can do all three so well, who are we to judge. Gelato flavours change daily, and his focaccia Pugliese have the locals queueing up. Sorrento's Website @sorrento_take_away Address 10B Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Is it a chipper? Is it a gelato shop? Is it a bakery? Sorrento's may seem like it's suffering from multiple personality disorder, but when owner Cristian Proca can do all three so well, who are we to judge. Gelato flavours change daily, and his focaccia Pugliese have the locals queueing up. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

High end Italian seafood and pasta with an extensive Champagne and wine list that's become a focal point for some of the city's big spenders. Gregarious owner Luca likes opening the top end bottles and teaching customers how to sabre Champagne. Rosa Madre Website rosamadre.ie Address 7 Crow St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story High end Italian seafood and pasta with an extensive Champagne and wine list that's become a focal point for some of the city's big spenders. Gregarious owner Luca likes opening the top end bottles and teaching customers how to sabre Champagne. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

Clontarf's wooden bridge would feel empty without café container Happy Out to grab an iced coffee and a toastie from. Queues can be lengthy but smiley staff keep things moving, and there are outdoor and indoor tables so it works for all weathers. Happy Out Website happyout.ie Address Bull Wall, Bull Island, Clontarf, Dublin 3 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Clontarf's wooden bridge would feel empty without café container Happy Out to grab an iced coffee and a toastie from. Queues can be lengthy but smiley staff keep things moving, and there are outdoor and indoor tables so it works for all weathers. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

Gertrude Fried chicken for breakfast is always a good idea Posted: 8 Jan 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? When rumours started circling last year that 3fe's Colin Harmon was bringing a new all day dining restaurant to Pearse Street, it instantly became one of the most hotly anticipated openings of the year. A series of delays had us thinking it was never going to open (it was a tie between Gertrude and Uno Mas for who had us chewing our fingernails more), but finally it did in early December and seemed to be an instant hit. They've since backed away from the all-day dining concept, with separate breakfast, lunch and dinner options from this week, but that hasn't resulted in too many changes to the menu. It's located about half way between Trinity and Grand Canal Dock, and the kitchen is headed up by Holly Dalton, formerly head chef at 3fe's café on Grand Canal Street. She had a very good reputation at 3fe so we were eager to see what she'd do at Gertrude with a dinner service and more scope for experimentation with the menu. The wine list was put together by Peter Conway, a well known face on the wine scene who was formerly involved with Green Man Wines in Terenure, so we knew it was in good hands - we'd even heard rumours of sherry. Where should we go for a drink first? There are plenty of good boozers in the direction of Trinity, like The Ginger Man on Fenian Street and The Lincoln's Inn on Lincoln place but if it's wine you want just come straight here. If you're out for the night and want somewhere with cocktails and/or a view you could head to Charlotte Quay or the rooftop bar in The Marker Hotel . Where should we sit? The table in the window at the front is the one to bag (especially if you like taking photos of your food - guilty), as it's prime people watching real estate and you can see t he whole restaurant, but any of the tables against the window are nice to sit at. There are also tables in the centre of the restaurant which we imagine would be good for a group or if you have a buggy/general child paraphernalia, and there are are some high tables on the other side if being elevated is your thing. What's good to eat? We tried all three snacks on the current menu and our favourites were the Cooleeny croquettes with beetroot ketchup (hot cheese - what's not to like?) and the bacon and cabbage dumplings which we thought were genius and packed so much flavour. They were both generous portions for €6 too. Whole Hoggs salami spread with sauerkraut on Bread Nation toast was also good, but we thought it was a bit unbalanced in the direction of spice, to the point where our tastebuds took a bit of time to recover, and it generally wasn't as memorable as the other two. We'd heard loads about the pork tonkatsu sandwich with kewpie mayo and shredded white cabbage on Bread Nation batch bread, so were pleased to find it delivered and is something we will definitely be going back for. It was also huge, so go hungry. Our other favourite was the buttermilk chicken and pancakes with honey butter, fermented hot sauce and orchard syrup, which is one of the best things we've eaten in 2019 (dinner at Variety Jones last weekend is also up there). The chicken and pancakes were both perfect and we'd quite like to bribe Holly for that punchy hot sauce recipe. Also, honey butter. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better. We also tried the duck buns which had good bao and meat but which we thought were a bit too salty, and the game pie which was one of those uber comforting dishes perfect for a cold day, but felt it could have done with some kind of green salad to balance the heft, which wasn't an option as a side. For dessert we loved the apple fritters and custard (which tasted more like a crème anglaise - not a complaint), and while the fritters were denser than we were expecting they had a good amount of apple and a gorgeous cinnamon sugar coating which reminded us of times gone by, when doughnuts were simple things costing 40c from a stand on O'Connell Street. It's also worth noting that there are extensive options for kids, with a dedicated menu featuring five choices, or you can get a kids size portion of anything on the main menu for half price - more of this please. They also have highchairs and a baby change, so a very child friendly place to bring the nippers when you don't want to compromise on food quality. What about the drinks? Coffee is obviously excellent, and since we visited they've introduced free top ups on filter coffee and tea. It's obvious that the wine list has been lovingly put together, with loads of minimal intervention options, vermouth and sherries, and there was a lot we wanted to drink. If you're day time drinking try the red Puszta Libre from Claus Preissinger which is only 11.5% and as juicy as a punnet of cherries. And the service? The staff were all really wam and full of smiles, but on both occasions the food took a long time to come out, with 45 minute gaps between snacks and mains. We imagine these are teething issues in a new kitchen and that they are aware of it, but if you're nipping in at lunch and are pressed for time it might be worth letting them know. The verdict? Gertrude really kept us waiting, but she's finally here and we think this is a brilliant addition to the Grand Canal Dock area. They announced this week that they were dropping the all day dining concept in favour of separate breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, and while we will admit to being gutted when we heard this, as we felt it was something really missing from the Dublin dining scene, in reality not a lot has changed, and they say that people weren't ordering spatchcock chicken for breakfast and a full Irish for dinner anyway. The most important thing is that the buttermilk chicken and pancakes are still available for breakfast and lunch (and hopefully dinner - TBC). Gertrude 130 Pearse Street, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin gertrude.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Table 45 A sweet taste of South American food and hospitality near Grand Canal Dock Posted: 10 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 Table 45? What was formerly Bodytonic -run, board game-filled pub The Square Ball near Grand Canal Dock closed at the start of 2024, and die hard fans of Andy Noonan's Fowl Play chicken wept at not being able to get their Nashville Hot Chicken burgers and smoked wings in the area any more. Two more people who weren't crazy about the news were married couple Daniel Kavanagh and Daniel Rivera who lived upstairs and were looking down the barrel of losing their apartment. Rivera worked for Bodytonic and had been in the hospitality industry for years in his native Chile, the US and Ireland, while Kavanagh is an interior designer and all round handy man. The landlord agreed to give them the lease for the whole building, and suddenly they owned a bar. A classy South-American themed refurb, an inclusive (and dog-friendly) policy, and a commitment to building a home-like space for their community later, all alongside a menu of South American and Spanish tapas and drinks, and Table 45 was open. (The name comes from the nickname given to the dining table in their apartment, due to friends ordering food and drinks at the bar before joining them upstairs) Where should we sit? The main bar space is at the front with warm wooden floors, exposed stone walls, and brightly coloured furniture bringing a rustic-modern feel to the former pub. There's a mixture of low tables with comfy upholstered benches and seats, high tables, and counter seating along a wall, as well as a cute little table for three in the window. The back room feels more like a restaurant (image further up), with less natural lighting and more mood lighting, and there is the most adorable high table for two set back into an alcove which will get you major brownie points if you can secure it for your next date. What's on the menu? A pretty extensive selection of Chilean/South American inspired small plates, with bites, meat, fish and vegetarian sections. This is the kind of menu that's ideal if you're out with group with varying tastes, appetites and budgets - everyone will find something they want. Start with the sopaipillas (€8) - deep-fried, disc-shaped Chilean pastries (here with the addition of squash), served with three sauces for scooping and dipping. A traditional Chilean pebre salsa seemed to be missing the vinegar, garlic and parsley, solely consisting of diced tomato, onion and green pepper. An avocado purée was also bland, but dipping deep-fried dough into wholegrain mustard honey with a spicy Michelada on the side is peak bar pairing. Uruguayan chef Luisina Perdomo is their in-house “Empanadera”, making beef and cheese empanadas, as well as croquetas and churros. Beef empanadas (€13 for two) arrived with underbaked, doughy pastry - a shame as the richly flavoured interior dotted with hard boiled egg and olive was perfect (they should have looked like this ). Again that Pebre salsa didn't hit like a good chimichurri (or a good pebre) would have. Tacos come in fish, pork or veggie versions, and our pan-fried haddock ones (two for €10) came with flaky, unbattered fish, smoky sweetcorn and Madras aioli underneath for an unexpected flavour direction that really worked. Patatas bravas (€9) were a homerun, the potatoes crispy outside, fluffy inside, the bravas sauce with just the right amount of heat, and the aioli on the side just garlicky enough, without leaving you paranoid about who you're speaking to for the rest of the day. We're so used to patatas bravas here being so bad that it's almost a shock to find a version this good. Croquetas (€11 for three) come in Jamón and spinach versions, and we went for the latter on the owner's recommendation. Plump, crisp and oozing filling, the citrus aioli and beetroot sauce underneath was another unexpected addition, bringing more punchy flavour layers. Chickpeas with black pudding (garbanzos con prietas, €10) is overdone on tapas menus, yet rarely done well, with chickpeas that haven't turned to mush and soft, crumbly morcilla-like pudding, instead of tougher, more commercial versions. Table 45's is immaculate, with sultanas, paprika, cumin, parsley and garlic oil tying everything up in the tastiest of bows. The universally favourite dish was the Lomo Saltado (a Peruvian-inspired beef stir fry, €14) - braised diced beef marinated for two days in cumin, black pepper and soy sauce, served with fried onions and red peppers (perfectly al dente), served on "crispy" potatoes. The last part was moot as the meat's juices turned anything that was previously crisp underneath it into soggy mush (they would be much better served on the side), but the flavour here was unbeatable, showing how time is often a chef's best tool in the kitchen. Chilean dessert means churros (€9 for four with two sauces), and while ours looked the part outside, they were raw inside. They made them for us again, and the second time were slightly more cooked through, but a sliver of raw dough persisted where a fluffy interior should have been - oil too hot perhaps. Chocolate sauce was good dipping material, but the dulce de leche was a solidified blob straight from the fridge, churros bouncing off on attempt to dip. It needed a knife for spreading like butter, instead of being the luscious pool of caramel we were expecting to stir with a churros baton. Chilean Torta di Amor is similar to Spanish Miljohas or French Mille-feuille , with layers of pastry, cream, custard and fruit. Table 45 's "mini torta di amor" (€9) came on a bed of raspberry purée, with dulce de leche, custard, and a thickened cream with raspberries on top. We had all the love for this little love tart, which felt like a perfect summer dessert (despite the non-summery rain outside). What about drinks? We reccomend sticking to cocktails and beer, which is what we'd wager the owners are most interested in. All the South American favourites feature, including Pisco Sours, Caipirinhas, Mojitos and Margaritas. A Pisco Sour was excellent, and a Caipirinha very enjoyable, but don't expect sugar crystals to flow up the straw like the ones you had on the beach in Rio de Janeiro - this one's smooth as ice. If you're a fan of both beer and Bloody Mary's, you need to try their love child - the Michelada. A cocktail of beer, tomato juice, lemon, Worcester sauce and Tabasco, it's served in a chilled glass with a salty Tajin rim, and is just the thing if you're feeling delicate from the night before. or sleepy from the day that's just been. There's a full spritz menu too, and the T45 with Vermouth Rosso, Prosecco and Soda Water is an easy afternoon sipper. The wine list is all South American or Spanish, and only marginally above your average pub in terms of interest. Draught and bottled beer on the other hand is way more interesting than your average pub, with plenty of less commercial brands, and good N/A options too. How was the service? Very pleasant if not effusive. We ordered a few plates at a time which seems to be the way to go in here, and they arrived nicely paced, never overwhelming the table (a constant complaint in reviews lately). A flat spritz (last night's Prosecco) and undercooked churros were replaced without question and with plenty of apologies. What was the damage? €141 before tip for seven small plates, two desserts, four cocktails and two soft drinks - a good amount of feeding and watering for three hungry adults, or two adults and two kids. €50 a head would be plenty to budget for a good night out here, but a Michelada, a couple of tacos and a filling plate of sopapillas and you could get in and out for €25 before tip. What's the verdict on Table 45? Table 45 is a sweet little taste of South America that's clearly tugging on locals' heartstrings and becoming a happy place for many - frequent posts on their Instagram account announce they're fully booked for the night, so don't expect to walk in at peak times and find yourself a table. There's a very real and wholesome feel here, and with a bit more attention to detail in the kitchen it could easily develop from a "sweet place" to a "must eat in place", but their legion of regular customers don't seem to have any complaints with the current offering. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bell Pesto The charming Dublin 8 café serving regional Italian specialities Posted: 24 Feb 2026 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story with Bell Pesto? The casual, Italian café in Dublin 8 opened in 2020, and has a loyal legion of local fans, who regularly contact us saying " you have to try it ". Owners Simona Panti and Enzo d'Elia (a couple who split their time between being here and looking after their children) have been in Dublin for a few decades, and used to work together at Steps of Rome ( who remembers it? ). They opened their own business mid-pandemic, and have been ticking along nicely ever since. It's hard to know what category of restaurant to place it in, as they shut at 9pm, but do a monthly three-course set menu focused on a different region of Italy in addition to their regular one. So it's kind of a place for a night out, but one with an early start and finish. Otherwise their bread and butter is pasta, paninis, pizza slices and owner Enzo's "delights" like Parmigiana di Melanzane from 12pm until close. Where should we sit? The café style room doesn't feel set up for settling into for a few hours, but if that's the plan at least ask for the bench seating with cushions. The room is unfussy verging on stark, and some more soft furnishings/plant life/colour/more ambient lighting would go a long way to softening things up. We've marked the handful of counter seats in the window giving prime people watching out onto James' Street for our next solo dining article update. What's on the menu? Quite a lot. The standard offering of classic Italian pastas, paninis, hot dishes, salads and pizza slices are well priced, with pastas €13-€16, a panini and soup combo €14.50, and pizza slices prices €5.50 - €6.50. In addition, each month they have a special two/three course set menu from a different region of Italy, priced at €35.90/€40.90 (a jump from €28 for three courses just over four years ago, which says a lot about food inflation). As it's where they get to show a bit of flair, we stuck mainly to the specials, this month from the Northern Italian region of Trentino Alto Adige. Triangles of Tyrolean Grana cheese served with fresh rosemary and balsamic drizzle sounded too simple, we must be missing something, but it was indeed just a couple of slabs of Grana Padano cooked in the oven. Finished with the dreaded balsamic glaze (why not just good balsamic vinegar?) and dried rosemary (not fresh), we were underwhelmed. We did enjoy the halloumi like texture (although it tensed as it cooled), but it felt very basic for €15, especially off the back of a meal in Uno Mas the night before where the starters are the same price and in a different universe of skill and effort. Things got better with the Canderli alla tradizione, bread based dumplings with speck and herbs in a clear meat broth. These were silky, savoury and very satisfying, particularly on a cold evening, but again the €17 price tag had us puzzled - it's considerably more than any full plate of pasta on the regular menu, for a dish consisting of cheap components. Dipping a toe into the regular menu we decided to see where their carbonara sits on the Dublin pasta scale. Long-time readers will know we've got Bar Italia 's salty, creamy, full-throttle flavours on a pedestal, but occasionally we'll hear someone saw they thought it was too much. Bell Pesto's is a gentler version, rich without leaving you feeling like you need to say penance afterwards, with crispy guanciale throughout and on top. It's all too easy to scarf down, but we did find that the egg slightly scrambled leaving little flecks throughout. For €16.25 (compared to Bar Italia's €23) this is a solid, well-priced plate of the real deal. Back to Alto Adige and we were onto pumpkin gnocchi with Gorgonzola and toasted walnuts (€27). The purple colour of the sauce was slightly off-putting (we're guessing red wine had a hand in it) but the flavours were strong, and richly cheesy. The nuts gave good crunch and we appreciated the freshly grated Parmesan brought to the table, but the gnocchi were quite gluey in texture, which can happen when there's excess moisture in the dough, or if it's over-kneaded leading to too much gluten. A special dessert of almond and cocoa cookies were more bitter than sweet, working nicely against the apricot conserve inside, and they're a pleasing, not too sugary ending with an excellent decaf macchiato for the road (why are good ones so hard to find?) The other special dessert of apple and raisin bread cake with raspberry sorbet is a clever way of using yesterday's bread, absolutely packed with chunks of apple, and again managing to be not too sweet. Like a one bowl recipe your friend's granny would serve when you popped in for tea. What about drinks? We're definitely in commercial wine territory, and there was nothing here that got our pulses going. There's a decent range of styles though and prices are more friendly than most places these days, with bottles starting at €29 and topping out at €42 for white and €49 for red. Avoid the one-note house Percorino, but the I 'Muri' Bianco, a Malvasia blend from Puglia was full bodied and flavour forward at just 25c more a glass. For reds both the Primitivo and Negroamaro were nicely drinkable, if not wildly exciting. How was the service? So warm, proper Italian famiglia style, both on the phone and when we got there. Owner Simona is a proper Mama there to take care of you, and when she came to chat or deliver dishes it felt like she might wrap her arms around us at any moment. She was thrilled to chat about Italy and her hometown of Abruzzo, and how she and Enzo ended up here. It's easy to momentarily forget you're in the Liberties on a wet evening in Dublin. What did the bill come to? €122 before tip for three courses, two glasses of wine and a coffee each, and we took some leftover pasta home. Overall it's hard to argue with. What's the verdict on Bell Pesto? It's hard not to like this simple Italian café, with its charming staff and no fuss food. The cooking isn't in the leagues of some of the city's other Italian big hitters, but it's an honest place to get a low-pressure feed, with so much from the breads to the pastas to the pesto made by hand. This is generous, homestyle Italian food, served with warmth, and while the café vibes don't quite say big night out, we'll go back for lunch when we want honest cooking that tastes like holidays. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Just north of the river Liffey to the west of the city centre, Smithfield used to be home to inner-city farm yards and an open-air market, but is now home to fried egg sandwiches, Cardi-Bs, and one of Dublin's best places for seafood small plates and natural wine. Smithfield Our Take Just north of the river Liffey to the west of the city centre, Smithfield used to be home to inner-city farm yards and an open-air market, but is now home to fried egg sandwiches, Cardi-Bs, and one of Dublin's best places for seafood small plates and natural wine. Where to Eat Biang Biang Bonobo Fish Shop Mad Yolks Matsukawa No Messin @ Proper Order Nutbutter Smithfield Oxmantown Smithfield Sister 7 The Legal Eagle Urbanity

D'Lepak Superior Malaysian street food hidden away in suburbia Posted: 14 Oct 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the background on D'Lepak? Wife and husband team Ira (front of house) and Sydian (chef) came to Dublin from Malaysia 23 years ago, with both working in hospitality across restaurants and cafés. A year ago the Palmerstown café in the middle of a housing estate that Sydian worked for (Easy as Pie) decided to close, and the couple decided to take the leap and bring the food they eat at home to Dublin 20 locals, but were they ready for it? Ira said that at first regular customers didn't know what to make of the new dishes, asking if they could still get their usual burger or chicken salad. They kept these items on the menu, supplementing with iconic Malay dishes like curry puffs, Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng, but she says that now most people have come around, and order the Malay dishes over the old Western ones. They would love to get to the point where these dishes are removed completely, and we think that would be the turning point for D'Lepak to gain a wider following, moving from a locally loved café to a Malaysian food destination. What's the seating situation? This is a café set up, so not somewhere you're likely to settle in for hours. Chairs are hard plastic or backless cushioned benches (most with cushions), but it's a sweet place to sit surrounded by Malaysian artwork and fans, and a large fake flower wall complete with "just lepak and chill!" in neon letters. Some Gen-Z driven Instagram/Tiktok thought went into this decor. There's a cute garden out back too if it's mild enough for outdoor dining, with more fake flower + neon sign photo opportunities just crying out for a place on your social feeds. They do take reservations so you can also request where to sit (benches by the window for us), but when we tried to use their online system it wasn't working so we had to call. What's on the menu? You have to cut through a fair amount of filler food to get to the supremo Malaysian stuff, but that's where we come in useful. Needless to say you are not here for the chicken burger, steak salad, or chips, but from the Asian sections there are some key winners and ones to avoid. Beef and lamb are Irish, but chicken may not be, so avoid as required. The only two small plates that are fully homemade are the curry puffs (or karipap) and the Malaysian chicken satay skewer (€10.90), and these should both be in your order. You want to talk about going the extra mile? D'Lepak's satay sauce is from a family recipe, made with fresh ingredients and zero shortcuts, including grinding peanuts fresh instead of using bought in peanut butter. The barbecued chicken skewers are smoky and tender, and while the plain chunks of cucumber, red onions and compressed rice cubes might seem dull at first glance, you would eat the top of your finger dipped into this sauce. Curry puffs (€6 for four) come filled with curried potato or sardines, in the crispiest deep-fried pastry shell, and they'll default to potato if you don't specify which on ordering. If you drove out here and just had a plate of these you would leave with no regrets, and probably order a second portion to go. €1.50 per puff feels like you're ripping them off. We've spent years trying to find a version of Nasi Lemak (the country's national dish) that's as good as the ones we fell in love with in Malaysia, and Normah's in London is the closest we've got without jumping back onto an Ethiad flight, until now. Order it with the lamb rendang (€15) - a spiced meat curry rich in coconut and fragrant with lemongrass, and pick and mix with the spicy sambal sauce, crunchy peanuts and anchovies, refreshing cucumber, soft egg and rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaf. It's unusual to serve the egg in this common breakfast dish fried instead of boiled, but we quite liked the yolk running all over the rice. The weekend sees specials hit their social media feeds, and ask about them if they don't offer them up on arrival - we had major heart eyes to find out they were running a special of roti with dahl, and the flaky, buttery flatbread had barely hit the table before it was ripped to shreds and inhaled by all present, but the dahl covered in a thick oil slick was very high on the spicy scale, and should probably come with a warning for fair-weather Irish palates. The roti is sadly bought in (it is a quality version), but the couple hope to extend their kitchen if business goes well so that they can start making their own (we also hope for this as there are few higher pleasures in life than good, homemade roti). A Malay dish we've never seen served in any other restaurant here is kuay teow ladna (€16), a dish of flat rice noodles in a silky egg soup, with prawns, chicken, squid and vegetables. The chicken stock-based, egg-enriched soup has a deep flavour profile, with meat and seafood quantities more generous than we expected, and a squeeze of lime over the top livening it all up. There's a bit of a "chicken soup for the soul" vibe going on here - the next time you're sick or feeling "tired" (read: hungover), we bet this would improve things. Mee Goreng, a fried noodle dish with chicken and/or seafood is commonly sold at food stalls around Malaysia, with egg noodles in a sticky, sweet sauce. D'Lepak's has chicken, prawns and plenty of fresh, crunchy veg, topped with a fried egg, fried onions and freshly fried prawn crackers. It's not a reason to drive here like some of the other dishes, but if you're craving noodles you'll be very happy. As is too often the case, we left feeling short-changed that we hadn't been able to try more. Next time (on the owner's advice) we're trying the Nasi Goreng Ikan Masin - Asian style fried rice with salted fish, chicken onion, choi sum and a fried egg on top - and the Maggi Goreng chicken chop - instant noodles fried in Malaysian sauces with vegetables, crispy breaded boneless chicken leg and a fried egg . The less said about this 'Gear Box' special - a Northern-style vermicelli soup with bone marrow - that we also missed out on the better. If you're hungry enough for dessert, skip the fridge with bought in sponge cakes and profiteroles, and look to the counter for Malaysian specials like 'Serimuka', a two-layered dessert with glutinous rice and green pandan custard, and 'Talam gula merah', with a palm sugar based and a coconut milk topping. The serimuka was our favourite, but we wouldn't class either as a must eat. We'd rather have another curry puff. How was the service? Totally charming, with owner Ira genuinely interested in everyone that walks through the door, wanting to know how they're finding the food, how they heard about the restaurant, and whether they've been to Malaysia before. Their two children help out at the weekend too when they're not in college, and it's the kind of place you'd feel yourself drawn to regularly if you lived locally, for the welcoming energy as much as the food. What was the damage? A bargainous €67 before tip, for two starters, four mains, and two Malaysian sweets, with plenty of leftovers to take home, or for four people to feel very full eating in. What's the verdict on D'Lepak? There's so much heart in this little café, and if they just ditched the burgers and bought in fried food and stuck to where the soul of the operation is, this could end up as much an out of the way food destination as Normah's in London, in its back street shopping mall in Queensway. For now they're too nervous to make the leap, but maybe once word spreads about the curry puffs and nasi lemak, they'll move things up a gear and focus fully on what they're best at. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Library Street Grab your friends for a night in the PDR Posted: 8 Mar 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? We're always keeping a close eye on Irish chefs abroad, hoping that one day they'll make a triumphant return home, blessing us with skills learned from kitchens around the world, and filling our hearts and stomachs with joy and dishes never to have graced a Dublin menu before. Kevin Burke, who was head chef at Michelin-starred The Ninth in London was firmly on the watchlist, so when we saw that he was back in Dublin mid-pandemic there was a frisson of excitement at ATF HQ. Very soon he popped up at Niall Davidson's Allta, who at the time were keeping us very well fed at home with Allta Box, and he soon became known (to us anyway) as the namelaka man , for causing a major obsession with the creamy ganache-like addition to their desserts. We figured he had sights on his own place, but weren't expecting it to happen quite so fast. At the end of Summer 2021, Allta announced that they wouldn't be returning to their South Frederick Street site, and instead were opening Allta Winter House on the top of Trinity Street carpark (read our review here ). And in the old Allta site? Kevin Burke was opening Library Street . Excitement was high, and we were delighted to be able to offer ATF Insiders first access to the soft launch in November. We were taken aback at the quality of food, wine and service on night one, but we were looking forward to a return visit once they settled into it. Where should we sit? The main dining room is modern and buzzy, with a high table down the centre and regular tables at the wall and window, but we were here for the private dining room (PDR), which can be booked for six to ten people. We feel like most Irish people don't understand the joy of the PDR because there aren't that many of them, but let us tell you, they are special places. It's like a restaurant within a restaurant, with your own waiters, your own music, your own menu, and total privacy for intimate / clandestine / potentially defamatory conversations with no fellow diners' ears to worry about. If you're going to pop your PDR cherry, this is the place to do it. The room is atmospheric and comfortable, with retro furniture, low lighting, your own personal sound system, and plenty of space for whatever else you dragged in with you - presents, props, outerwear. We were six, but the table extends to seat up to ten. It feel really special to be in your own cavernous space away from the throng upstairs, and if you don't have a special occasion coming up as an excuse, you can totally make one up. Returned your library books on time? PDR. Back into your fitness routine? PDR. Finally managed to clear out the freezer? Definitely deserves a trip to the PDR. What's the food like? The team will send a suggested menu in advance, which is basically a bit of everything, and you can make changes as needed. They're also happy to cater for vegetarians as part of the group. You pay per dish as opposed to a set price per person, which we really liked as it means there's no hidden surcharge for taking over the room. There is a minimum spend of €100 per head for food and wine, but that's not hard to get to. We started with all the snacks, and the legendary first mouthful that is choux pastry filled with horseradish cream, with a Cantabrian anchovy, pickled radish and lemon zest on top. This is the stuff of mouth explosions, the tiny bites you'll be thinking about for months afterwards. Then the most Instagrammed dish on the menu - crispy chicken wing with chanterelles and tarragon mayo. The wing has been deboned, with the meat turned into a chanterelle stuffed mousse, placed back inside the skin, breadcrumbed, fried and served with tarragon mayo. It's a lot of work, and it pays off. Next up, Dooncastle oysters from Galway, whose sweetness is cut through with Bourgoin verjus (a kind of lemon juice substitute made from early harvested grapes) and a sliver of chilli. Then some pickled candy and golden beetroot, which you'll pop like sweets. Perfectly chewy sourdough baguettes and Abernethy butter came with the small plates, the first of which was a pile of pear, radicchio, walnut and sheep's cheese, sitting on top of a sheep's yoghurt dressing, both from Velvet Cloud in Mayo. Make sure to mix it up with the spoons provided before diving into the sweet, salty, creamy, nutty, bitter goodness. Make sure the chargrilled Porcupine Bank langoustines are on your menu. These sweet, chunky prawns (similar to Dublin Bay) are caught off the west of Ireland, halved and barely grilled in the shell, before being topped with shellfish bisque and lemon, and you will want a spoon for the juices left behind (or to have shown restraint with the bread). Onto the bigger plates, and with two veggies and four carnivores we got to try a bit of everything. You might think you're risotto-ed out, but you haven't had the delica pumpkin version at Library Street, with sage, toasted pumpkin seeds and more sheep's cheese - parmesan who? It's so easy to overcook risotto, or have it sitting there a bit meh, like the forgotten sibling on the menu, but this had oomph from every angle, and we couldn't spoon it into us quick enough. On special that night was a whole wild brill, chargrilled and served with Killary Fjord mussels, a herb emulsion, and a textured topping including onions and puffed rice. It's always a treat to order a whole fish like this, but if there was only a small number of you it could quickly derail your plans to eat everything else on the menu. It generously fed four, but could have easily stretched to six - we struggled to finish the meat on the flipside. Our other main was a barely cooked roast saddle of lamb, with a kalamata crust and silky soft Jerusalem artichoke purée, and if you were only going to eat one piece of meat a week (even a month), this is it. It's so pink it's basically raw (think of it like sheep steak), and the flavour almost knocked us down. A perfect trifecta of ingredients, and a dish we want to taste again. Sides were also plentiful and generous, providing an even backbone for the superstars up front. Winter leaves came again in sheep's yoghurt dressing, and red cabbage was nicely sweetened with apricots, apple and orange. The other side you're going to try is the roast Carolus potatoes Lyonnaise, which came topped with truffle. They're chewy, fudgy, savoury little carb bombs, but if pushed would prefer our potatoes crispier rather than chewy. For dessert we started with a gossamer light sheep's yoghurt mousse with blood orange, before attacking a couple of Paris Brests with stout namelaka, yuzu and espresso cream. Dessert in Library Street is in no way a downgrade on the savoury courses that came before, and that Paris Brest in particular is one of the most original desserts we've had in Dublin. We sincerely hope it never, ever leaves the menu. What about the drinks? The wine list has been a work in progress since opening, but on the night we visited the manager told us she had finally gotten it to a place where she was really happy with it. Margins are high and there aren't any bargains to be found here, so it's probably best to just close your eyes and go for it (but if you are on a budget there are wines on tap which will add considerably less to the bottom line). We drank the cheapest sparkling wine, a Spanish blend made from the same grapes as cava (€68, we know, ouch), a white blend from Sokol Blosser in Oregon (€59), and a natural Cheverny from Clos du Tue-Boeuf (we didn't keep a record of the price but in the same region) which was our highlight. We enjoyed all of them, but there's barely anything under €40 a bottle so factor that into your budget. And the service? You might worry that in a PDR you'll be flailing around trying to get a server when you need them, but this didn't happen once. It was like they knew what we needed before we did. The whole thing was effortless and easy, and supremely relaxing. We spent about four hours there in the end and couldn't believe the time when we looked at our watches/fitbits/phones. We also thought they got the food quantities perfect. It would have been easy to chuck a few more plates onto the table (and bill), bring down six desserts rather than four, but it was on the mark, and we didn't leave feeling sick or like we'd done ourselves damage through food (which we often do when left to our own ordering devices). And the damage? Around €140 a head once 12.5% service charge was added on (their website states this goes directly to staff). Definitely on the pricier side for a meal out, but we felt it was money well spent and a really memorable evening. The verdict? Library Street is a brilliant addition to the Dublin dining scene, and instantly tables there became some of the most sought after in the city (just try to get a Saturday night table booking before summer). This food feels fresh, original, they're not copying anyone else on the scene, they're just doing their own thing, and doing it so well. We love the main room with its floral installations, open kitchen and long table running down the middle of the room, but the next time you're going out to eat with a likeminded group, try with all your might to get the PDR, and settle in for something special. Library Street 101 Setanta Place, Dublin 2 www.librarystreet.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Hang Dai Chinese Great value group dining with no decisions needed Posted: 21 Feb 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story with Hang Dai? We probably don't need to tell you much about Hang Dai Chinese . Open since 2016, it's been one of the city's most popular restaurants ever since, famous for their apple woodfired Skeaghanore duck (which hang in glass cases downstairs), their subway carriage seating, and their late night DJs bringing the party atmosphere. Originally opened by Will Dempsey and chef Karl Whelan, the latter has now moved on (he ran Saltwater before it closed and is the Executive head chef of Hyde ), but the food here has never seemed to falter, and it's still somewhere you need to book well in advance. While looking at restaurant menus recently we noticed they're doing a €40 and €60 group dining menu, which in the current climate of rising prices felt like really good value, so we thought it was worth checking out, Where should we sit? You've probably seen the subway carriage seating on the ground floor, which makes for a very cool dining experience for groups of up to four. There's also bar seating and more table seating on the other side of the restaurant, which can be put together to cater for groups. It can get loud and party-like down here as the night goes on and the DJs take their spot - don't come here for an intimdate date or with someone who doesn't like noise and low lighting. For a more chill experience, book yourself into the gold bar upstairs, either on high seating in the bar, or out on the covered, heated terrace. It's quite cosy out there, but it's nice to be in natural light with views down onto Camden Street. (Hang Dai) Tell us about the tasting menus? You know when you're out with a group and everyone's happy to share but no one wants to take charge - you could spend 30 minutes going back and forth making sure no one feels hard done by. That's where menus like this make life very easy. There's a €40 and a €60 version, the main differences being the latter includes additional snacks and the Apple Woodfired Skeaghanore Duck that they're famous for. We stuck to the €40 thinking it could be an excellent value pick for dinner in the city right now. There is a menu online but it does change every day (this could be made clearer), so you won't necessarily get all of what's on there, but you'll definitely get some. All in all you'll get four starters, five mains and rice to share, and everything here was between three people. Anyone who tried the cheeseburger spring rolls with Sichuan ketchup at Hawker mid-lockdown will be hopping with happiness to see them on the menu here. Yes they're still that good. Yes they still taste like a McDonalds cheeseburger. Crispy, tender squid came with a burnt chilli & lime dressing and was just too easy to keep popping into our mouths, while their famous pork dumplings with sweet soy and chilli were as tasty as ever, but were lukewarm by the time they reached us. The prawn toast with yuzu mayo hit its mark too with chunky pieces of prawn and a brightly acidic mayo to cut through the fatty crispy bread. It's a good way to start and to definitively ease any panic hunger that might have set in on ordering. Starters out of the way, we waited to see what we were getting for mains (if you don't like surprise just ask them), and we lucked out with Irish wagyu steak and a ponzu cured egg yolk. Take your chopsticks and mix the egg yolk into the sauce, then pick up a piece of that savoury, salty, flame-grilled, perfectly pink steak, and dip to your heart's content. The portion felt more than generous too. We'd been hearing good things recently about Hang Dai's Sichuan Kung Po chicken with chilli, peanuts and crispy chicken skin, and now we get it. It was a definitely a highlight and one of the first plates to be scraped clean. Tread easy on the chillies, they are hot, but it has a sticky sweetness that balances it all out in the most "why can't I stop eating this" way. We were less feeling the Ma Po tofu which came with a full block of silken tofu rather than being cut into cubes (which it was on a previous visit ). The flavour was rich and it had good spice, but it just wasn't as accomplished as last time, and was missing the wow factor. We thought similar about the market fish which was sea bass, with garlic, oyster sauce and greens. It was perfectly nice, but again not wow, and something we felt we could have easily knocked up at home. A side of dry-fried green beans with minced pork, chilli and salted radish were good, but not the best in town ( M&L and Nan Chinese are killing it with this dish right now). Regardless we ate them happily, alongside with a portion of plain white rice. We think a big mistep here is a lack of dessert. Some kind of Asian inspired ice-cream or similar would round the meal off nicely, but while that's not available you could head a couple of doors down to Frank's for some cheese or a sweet small plate. What about drinks? The cocktail menu has always been above average in here, and we liked the 'Easy Rider' with Blanco Tequila, orange, mango, vanilla, and anise and cardamom syrup (although it's got a kick, prepare to be woken up). On our server's reccomendation we also tried the 'Lipstick and Dynamite' with strawberry infused Stillgarden Gin, fig liquer, Chinese black vinegar and lime, which was lighter and fruitier, a good aperitif. The wine list has markedly improved since the last time we visited a few years ago, and while compact, there's plenty of good stuff to drink on there. We went for Birgit Eichinger's Austrian Grüner Veltliner which worked nicely with the variety of food, but we think the brut Cava from Pago de Tharsys would be good too if you feel like bubbles. How was the service? Warm, smiling and laid back while being on the ball for whatever we needed. Dishes came out at a good pace, and despite being somewhat marooned on the terrace out of waving reach of staff, it was never an issue as they popped their heads in frequently. And the damage? Around €75 a head in the end with a cocktail each, a good bottle of wine between three and tip. What's the verdict? For group dining on a middle of the road budget, this is a great option in the city right now. We added up the cost of the dishes separately and you're getting really good value for money, and the chance to try more dishes than if you went à la carte. We didn't love every single dish, but there were no fails, and this is an offering that will appeal to anyone who likes Asian food. And cocktails. And terraces. And not spending €150 on dinner every week. Hang Dai Chinese 20 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2 hangdaichinese.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Follow the sea north to Fairview and Clontarf, and suburbs Killester and Artane for some of the city's best Indian and Pakistani food, as well as brunch and toasted sandwiches by the sea. Clontarf - Fairview - Killester - Artane Our Take Follow the sea north to Fairview and Clontarf, and suburbs Killester and Artane for some of the city's best Indian and Pakistani food, as well as brunch and toasted sandwiches by the sea. Where to Eat Badam Boco Clontarf Chubbys Happy Out Kinara Kitchen Clontarf Surge Coffee Taza The Orange Goat Killester Two Pups Fairview

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

Legit Coffee Co. Upping the Northside's brunch game Posted: 14 May 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Legit Coffee Co. started on Meath Street in the Liberties, Dublin 8 in 2015, after French man Daniel Vossion saw a gap in the market for a café serving interesting food and good coffee. They were accepted into the area with open arms, and even made it into the Lonely Planet's guide to Dublin , and last summer opened their second location in Phibsboro, where Daniel and his partner live. Between here, Two Boys Brew and Loretta's , Phibsboro is relatively spoilt for brunch these days, but there's something about the quiet confidence of Legit that we really liked the look of - the sleek food images on their Instagram page probably helped. They open as a café seven days a week, with breakfast, lunch and brunch every day, but it's the latter we were interested in, as we are clearly a city obsessed with it - every time we even mention the B word the website goes mad. Consider us fulfilling our civic duties. What’s the room like? There's a good amount of seating, at regular tables, at a high table and in the window. They also have highchairs if you're coming with a child in tow. The whole thing is very industrial chic with greenery dispersed throughout, and there's more natural light in the front, the back suffers from a lack of windows. We loved the window seats in the front for the people watching (and the view of Mountjoy Prison, you never know you'll see coming out), but the back is calm and private and there's good distance between tables if you're coming for a gossip. What's good to eat? One of the things we really liked about Legit Coffee Co is that the brunch menu isn't full of the same sad greatest hits seen on most menus, and everything has a twist. We thought the pulled pork benedict was genius, with two eggs on toasted brioche with caramelised apple and hollandaise. Pulled pork is usually a take it or leave it affair, and we thought it might be too salty, but it was expertly balanced and the brioche was better than any English muffin. We also really loved the rolled up French toast, stuffed with berries, apple and cream cheese, before being dipped in egg and milk and fried, then drizzled with maple syrup - something that's going to be attempted (for better or worse) at home very soon. The eggs and greens deserves a round of applause for making breakfast time cabbage taste good, and is a nifty way to get your five a day, with avocado, spinach, beetroot hummus and pomegranate. It was also just very tasty without feeling like too much food or that you were over doing it (not looking at you pulled pork benedict), which is good because you need to leave room for cake. A halloumi plate was another out of the ordinary option, with a homemade flatbread, soy portobello mushroom, garlic hummus and mixed salad. The menu said it also came with slaw and pickled onions, neither of which were on the plate when it arrived, but on asking, the pickled onions materialised. We were told the slaw had been replaced with salad, but we think slaw would have been better. It was a nice alternative to a full Irish, but the halloumi was quite chewy (an upgrade to Toonsbridge would be just the job) and it really needed the bite of the onions, so if we hadn't gotten them it would have felt a bit flat. It is also a lot of food so only order if hungry. Definitely save room for cake, all of which are homemade. The canelé, with either salted caramel, dulce de leche or chocolate are the best we've had here (maybe ever), and the 3 layer flan, on staff recommendation, had really interesting consistencies, and was smooth, creamy and delicious. Neither tasted too sweet. What about the drinks? The excellent house coffee is from Baobab Coffee Roasters in Kildare, with regularly changing guest roasts, and they do speciality teas from Wall & Keogh. Cold pressed juices are made fresh in house and worth the €3-€4 price tag. And the service? Everyone's so nice in here that at times we've thought they must all be the owner. You order and pay at the counter and they bring the food to you, but they're more than happy to take time to talk you through the menu or make recommendations. And they smile, a lot. There's just a very welcoming vibe to the place. The verdict? Legit has become one of our favourite places for brunch in Dublin, due to the unfailingly excellent coffee, inventive, delicious food, lovely staff and ample seating space. The next time you're near the North Circular Road make a beeline for it - or just make this your next brunch destination. It's worth any effort it might take to get there. Legit Coffee Co. 394 North Circular Road, Dublin 7 www.legitcoffeeco.com 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 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

Yumgrub The Two Minute Review: Posted: 5 Sept 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Yumgrub? Previously located in Ballybrack’s Village Yard before its sudden closurescuppered things, plant-based fast food “filth” purveyors Yumgrub have now setup shop in Grand Canal Dock’s The Place , alongside fellow food trucks Pastiamo , Tacoman , Dosa Dosa and The Drunken Cookie . The all-vegan menu is packed with Beyond Meat burgers, chick*n rolls, tofu baconand loaded fries, and we’d heard just enough positive word to want to get downto check it out for ourselves. What should we have? We might have expected to walk away from Yumgrub raving about one burger oranother, but actually it’s the nachos we can’t shut up about: slathered in a rich and creamy vegan queso, these well-loaded tortilla chips happily hold their own with the standard competition. Where meat alternatives have come along in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, plant-based cheeses are often lagging far behind. Yumgrub’s concoction gets it spot-on with a sharp, tangy tastiness that’s nigh-on impossibleto distinguish from the real thing. Well-seasoned guac and a piquant pico de gallo have just the right acidic kick to balance out the gooey, cheesy goodness. Had we known in advance just how moreish that queso was going to be we’d have gone for a helping of cheeze-loaded fries too – we make these mistakes so you don’t have to. Instead we went for the little-bit-of-everything Grub Box to give us a few little tasters. It’s a substantial serving of food anchored in the perfectly crispy skin-on fries, but we found the overly thin chick*n strips a little disappointingly bland in isolation – it’s easy to imagine one of the sauce-laden chick*n burgers being a more well-rounded vehicle for the breaded Seitan, with other ingredients giving it a chance to work in concert. We’d been really curious to try the “Mac ‘n’ Cheeni”, suspect though the pun may be, and while the textural contrast of crispy breadcrumbs, oozing cheeze and al dente pasta makes for a mighty mouthful, the filling was just a touch too under-seasoned to really resonate beyond that initial bite. We rounded things out with a Cowboi burger, and there’s no doubting the BeyondMeat patty looks the part, slathered with melted cheeze and topped with a messymound of caramelised onion and BBQ sauce – that’s no complaint. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/79af6f_1a38892b4bf349629d9584c4e4eee808/720p/mp4/file.mp4 Texture and flavour is on-point too, with crisped edges and a juicy interior making this a spot-on replica: vegan converts craving the nostalgia value of a dirty burger will be well-served here. The only slight drawback is the tofu “bacon”, too subtly flavoured and softly textured to stand out from the crowd in this busy stack. Why should I go? Dublin’s still a bit short-changed when it comes to decent vegan fast food – especially since the late lamented Vegan Sandwich Co. shut up shop – so those craving just that will be happy to discover Yumgrub. The slot at The Place also makes it a perfect compromise pick for mixed groups of vegans and carnivores unwilling to go without, though they might well be tempted to try it once they see how good it all looks. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Margadh RHA This might be the best value tasting menu in town Posted: 14 Jun 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? If you're a regular ATF reader you'll know that we're big fans of Mamó , couple Jess D'Arcy and Killian Durkin's seaside sanctuary in Howth, so we expect everything they touch to be executed to the same standards across food, wine, service and setting. After Mamó came their food and wine shop (and now wine bar) Margadh a few doors down, then Barrow Market and Elm Epicurean , both in Dublin 4. The final addition to the family (for now anyway) was Margadh number two in the RHA Gallery just off St Stephen's Green, in the space formerly home to Coppa . They first opened last October as a wine bar with simple sharing plates (ATF Insiders got a preview and loved it), but a few months later they decided to change tack, introducing a brilliant value tasting menu and more hot dishes á la Mamó. The RHA's location is just out of the thoroughfare of town, so you'd have to know where you were going to end up here - passing trade is practically nil. While this might not be great for a new opening trying to drum up customers, it does make for quite a peaceful dining and drinking experience - you're in the centre of town, but it feels more like a quiet lane in suburbia. Where should I sit? There are low tables along the floor to ceiling windows with beautiful views out at the restored Georgian houses on Ely Place. The tables themselves are slabs of wood build around internal pillars - lovely to sit at, but immovable so not ideal for larger groups. There are some small spaces for two (or one, it would be very easy to hide away here for a solo meal) and a couple of high tables, as well as some seats outside that are patiently waiting for plates of burrata and carafes of rosé. What's the food like? The new tasting menu is €38 which feels like remarkable value for Dublin right now, or you can order as you go from the small plates menu . The whole table has to take it so bear that in mind, but that's pretty standard. The only choice you have to make is between olives or almonds to start. We chose olives and they were the usual Mamó good stuff - stone in, firm, a mix of types and sizes in good olive oil. And speaking of olive oil... The one they serve at Margadh, with slices of sourdough for dipping, is a bombastic version aged in Lustau sherry casks, and we are obsessed. We've never made the trip to a restaurant before solely on the basis of their olive oil, but it would be justified in this case. There was much fruitless googling that night about where to buy it, leading to a dead end. If Margadh ever start selling this in their shop we'll fight off anyone in the queue. First for the hot dishes was their 'market cheese' and onion croquettes with tarragon aioli. On the day we visited the market cheeses were Hegarty's Cheddar, Gruyère and another that we struggled to remember post biting into it. Mamó always does a good croquette, and Margadh does too, the perfectly crisped panko breadcrumbs wrapped around a filling tasting like an expensive bag of cheese and onion crisps, with the tarragon aioli adding a herbal, bitter-sweetness. Tarragon is to these guys what cheap parsley is to Italian chains, and we love that they're championing the under-used herb, illuminating all the ways to make the most of it. Next came a toasted finger of sourdough with lemon 'aioli' (more like a lemon mayo, we couldn't discern garlic) and a single, perfect Cantabrian anchovy. More please sir. After that came baby gem lettuce cups filled with Asian slaw, Skeaghanore duck breast and leg, and crispy ginger on top. This a messy one so best eaten over a plate, with both the duck and the slaw dripping with juices. At times the crispy ginger was a bit too over-powering, so make sure it's spread around, but the rest of the flavours and textures were in sync. A burrata salad came with firm, crisp asparagus, fresh peas, toasted hazelnuts and freshly grated truffle. How they can get fresh truffle on a €38 tasting menu is the culinary equivalent of the riddle of the sphinx, and this was a note-perfect dish for a mild June evening. Lastly for hot dishes came a fennel sausage ragu with homemade tagliolini (made in their central prep kitchen in Dublin 1) and Pecorino cheese. There were pickled green peppers in there, big chunks of meat and a slick of basil oil on the side, and as pasta dishes go it's everything you could want. Eat with a glass of Chianti for optimum enjoyment. We raised eyebrows at a chocolate crème brûlée for dessert - why mess with a classic? - but it turns out a bowl of chocolate custard (dark and white in there) with a glass-like sugar top waiting to be shattered, and warm madeleines on the side, is a home run, and a subtly sweet and chic ending to a great value meal. We say end. There's optional cheese, but is cheese every really optional? On the menu that night was Ballylisk Triple Rose from Armagh, Templegall from Cork, and Bleu d'Auvergne from France, and we ordered the lot. We hadn't seen that they were €4 each (so €12 for a cheese plate) which felt like a bit of a jump from the rest, but the plum chutney and toasted bread drizzled with olive oil were lovely additions, and if you share one you're talking about €44 for the tasting menu instead of €38. They could probably do with adding a supplement for replacing dessert, for those who favour savoury over sweet. What about drinks? The list here is tight and beautifully put together, with pretty good prices too. Any time we see a Grower Champagne for under €20 a glass we jump on it, and the Clair Obscur zero dosage on the specials board that night (€18) was an ideal opener with those early dishes, as was the salty Xisto Ilimitado Branco from Portugal (€10). The Monteraponi Chianti (€13) was a no brainer with the fennel sausage ragu, and a glass of the Italian sweet wine Recioto (€15) went down nicely with the chocolate crème brûlée and the cheese. There was loads more by the glass we wanted to drink, and you'll be in safe hands whatever you pick. How was the service? Extremely welcoming, calm and intuitive, bringing us things we wanted/needed before we even had to ask, and full of helpful information and recommendations. It's a very relaxing environment, with no loud noises coming from the kitchen, and a chill out (at times venturing into jazz) soundtrack. It's somewhere that would be perfect for first dates, catch ups when you actually want to hear each other, and a post-work bite when you need to unwind after a tough day. And the damage? €147 for two tasting menus, the €12 cheese supplement, and four glasses of wine - one a Grower Champagne. If you didn't go for cheese and drank house wine you could do it for just over €50 a head before tip - a bargain by current Dublin dining out standards. The verdict? Margadh at the RHA might be the best value tasting menu in Dublin right now. It's not quite Mamó in the city centre, but it has the essence of it, showing the flair for flavour seen across the group, in a casual wine bar environment with zero pomp. You get the feeling if you just showed up here without a booking they'd move mountains to fit you in, and with that steal of a menu changing frequently it's somewhere you could go back to again and again. There isn't a whole pile of value to be had in Dublin at the moment when it comes to special nights out and restaurant tasting menus, which makes Margadh stick out all the more, and if anyone's going to weather the upcoming storm, we reckon places like this will be in pole position. Margadh RHA RHA Gallery, 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2 www.margadh-rha.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Kaldero Different concept, same old Press Up Posted: 10 Dec 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's should we know about Kaldero? Press Up's new melting pot of cuisines was cooked up in record time after the group announced they were closing Wagamama on South King Street with immediate effect at the end of September. The press release for Kaldero flew in a week before opening, and the only thing that interested anyone was that Bahay 's Richie Castillo was attached to it, along with two other UK-based consultant chefs who'd worked on the menus for now shuttered Press Up restaurant Rice Chinese , and their Indian concept Doolally . Neither made major waves on the eating scene here, and neither chef actually cooked your dinner - the non-descript Press Up kitchen team does that. When the press release landed we mistakenly thought Castillo was the chef, with input from the other two occasionally flying over, and thought what a brilliant pairing for both. Small time chef with big kitchen talent gets backed by a group known for bland food in a beautiful setting. Book us in. But when we got there and saw no sign of him in the kitchen, we quickly found out that all three chefs were only drafted in to create the menu, and wouldn't be manning the stoves. Suddenly it all felt very Press Up, and any excitement was gone in a poof. Where should we sit? The narrow, high ceilinged room still harks of its Wagamama heyday, although the kitchen has moved from the back to the left hand side. It's dimmer and moodier with sleek booths replacing wooden benches, but anyone who spent their youth making a veggie katsu curry and a beer last for two hours will find the basement room very familiar. The tables for two on the right side of the room are far too petite - if it's not full you'd be advised to ask can you trade up for more space, especially if you plan on sharing dishes. The sleek, red leather booths in the middle are where it's at, with the high tables at the front feeling a bit removed from everything and a bit too close to the stairwell. What did you eat? A mash up of Chinese, Indian and Filipino dishes (there's one Malaysian too) which feels a bit food court-esque, a bit please-all, and like there hasn't been enough attention given to any one cuisine - so far, so normal for this group. It's not in sections either which might make things confusing for anyone who wants to know the origins of what they're eating. There are 15 small plates and six large, with sides like egg-fried rice and masala fries at the bottom. It's a menu for sharing, and with three of the large plates priced from €33 - €39.50, you’ll probably want to. We started with dynamite lumpia (Filipino), long green chillies stuffed with pork mince and smoked scamorza with a sweet and sour honey dip. They were pleasant enough, but dull enough, with no sign of the scamorza, and no danger of us coming back to order them again. Next from the Filipino hymn sheet came tofu kare kare, in a bland, under-seasoned peanut sauce, with tofu whose batter had lost its crispiness. The added aubergine was the best thing about it, and the dish went back to the kitchen unfinished. Onto China and the sticky pork "gula melaka", which our server gushed was an amazing choice. The only thing amazing about it was the brix levels in the sauce - this should be in the dessert section. There's caramelised ginger, crispy leek and gogi berries in there too, but when your mouth's coated in this much sugar it's hard to detect any nuance. Onto India then and Amritsari fish in chaat masala spiced butter with mint chutney. The fish tasted far from fresh, with tough curled up bits where flaky chunks could have been, and the mealy batter gave the whole thing a texture verging on unpleasant. The best of the lot was the burrata chaat, possibly because it was more assembly than cooking, with chickpea salad, tamarind chutney, sev and yoghurt sitting under a good ball of creamy burrata. There are so many more authentically Indian versions of this dish they could be serving, but why let that get in the way of fashionable balls of cheese. After that underwhelming stream of mediocre dishes, there was a chance to save things with our single large plate - a sizzling seafood clay pot. They'll be channelling Thai-inspired Kiln in London surely, some of the most photographed, lusted after clay pots in Europe? Sadly it seems they haven't been. The sauce was sizzling, while also sickeningly gloopy, thickened beyond belief with what looked like corn flour, and for the princely sum of €34 we got three prawns (rubbery and presumably from the freezer), two scallops (one brutally overcooked), and a single piece of seabass (maybe the rest dissolved). The barely cooked courgette, pepper and onion slices were pedestrian at best, lazy at worst. Is there a camera somewhere filming our reactions? No? You're actually charging people this? For this? Oh okay, yeah cool. We were desperate to get out of there by this stage but dessert was the noose holding us to the table. We only planned to try one (how much torture is too much torture) but after telling our server we were surprised (to put it politely) at the lack of seafood in our main for the top shelf price, she insisted on bringing us a panna cotta with caramelised cornflakes, chocolate shards (like a Cadbury's flake) and calamansi pickled kumquat. I t was the best thing we ate all night. Creamy with proper wobble, sweet tangy citrus, chocolate - finally something with flavour, and flavours working together. The 70% chocolate with coconut, kiwi, and chilli and lime syrup on the other hand was another "who would want to eat this?" moment. It's like an extremely thick ganache, ruining the delicate slices of golden kiwi on top, and had no sign of any chilli or lime honey until our server told us it was all around the side and we had to scrap it in to our tastes. Alrighty then. It's hard to imagine anyone finishing anything this rich, and we'd wager it's a dish that produces a lot of waste. What about drinks? As in the other Press Up venues, the cocktails are where it's at, with a menu devised by The Vintage Cocktail Club's Gareth Lambe, and staff who can execute. A pandan ginger fizz and a chrysanthemum tequila spritz wouldn't have been out of place in some of the city's better cocktail bars, but at a price tag of €14 you might not want to stay on them all night. The short wine list doesn't have much to excite, but a glass of Carl Koch Riesling was very pleasant and worked well across many dishes. There's no beer on the menu, but they do have some basic brands if you ask. How was the service? When you order five small plates and one large for sharing, and you're sitting at a very small table, you don't expect everything to land at once, but after four dishes were sat down at once with our server going back for the fifth, we had to call a halt to proceedings. Two, maybe three plates at a time, for the love of God - inevitably some of it hit our lips cold. Our server was lovely and very helpful with all any requests, but her effusiveness about every dish we ordered felt a bit scripted once we started eating and realised that none of our choices were in fact that good. What was the damage? €148.60 before tip for a meal for two with three drinks. We'd have preferred a yaki soba, some gyoza and a plum wine for a fraction of the price. What's the verdict on Kaldero? With all the talk of a UK-based investor talking over Press Up's hospitality division in September, we thought the group might finally have turned a corner and realised the potential it had to be the Ennismore or the Caprice Holdings of Ireland, finding killer concepts across the world and executing them to perfection in high end rooms alongside first rate drinks. If they'd backed Richie Castillo alone to open Bahay in one of their premises, we'd have an opening worth talking about. Kaldero is not that. Surely there are chefs in this group with talent, with harboured loves for handmade pasta; Singaporean street food; Sri Lankan hoppers, anything but these copy and paste flavour voids on a plate. And if not, can't they go and find some? And have them actually cook the food, rather than committing to a week then sailing off to their next gig? When we were leaving we met a group of young Filipinos in the lobby upstairs. They had come excited after hearing about a new Filipino restaurant in Dublin. Did they like it? Much shaking of heads. "Food's not very authentic. Lacking flavour." We told them to follow Bahay for updates on where they might appear next. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Fia The neighbourhood café that should be rolled out across the city Posted: 26 Nov 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Fia opened in early 2016, and is probably best known as the place where chef Keith Coleman and partner Aisling McHugh (the duo behind Roots - read our once over here ) first made their mark. It was set up by business men and friends Alan Wall and Derek Foley (who are also behind similar new wave Dublin cafés ( Laine My Love , Little Frieda's , Fable & Stey ), and who originally hired Coleman as a consultant, but he liked what they were trying to do so came on board full time. His partner McHugh came on as front of house and pretty soon Fia was booming. Their approach of starting with the ingredients they wanted to use, like McNally Farm vegetables, Gubbeen cheeses and meats and North Wicklow eggs, and devising the dishes from there, felt fresh and unusual for a café, and soon getting a table for brunch at the weekend was a task and a half - it still is. When should we go? Weekends in here (featuring an all day brunch menu) get nuts, so maybe not the place to head if you have a hungry child (or adult) in tow, as queuing will most likely be involved. We visited on a weekday lunchtime and it was a totally different story, so calm and relaxed, and while it filled up it never felt anything more than mellow. What's the room like? Tables are for two or four, with the best, most comfortable seats running down the middle of the room. There's also a counter facing out onto the street - prime solo dining or working lunch real estate, and there are plugs on the left side. What's good to eat? At the weekend it's brunch all day, but during the week there's breakfast, brunch and lunch sections, although the options for each are pleasingly minimal. We tried all three dishes from the brunch section, which also feature at the weekend, but simple breakfast and lunch options like porridge, toasties and soup are also available midweek. Softly scrambled North Wicklow eggs came topped with McNally Farm kale, lemon and garlic yoghurt and furikake (a Japanese seasoning made from things like dried fish, sesame seeds and seaweed), all on top of toasted Bread 41 sourdough. A lesson in simple ingredients and clever kitchen combining, with the flavour of each ingredient crystal clear - although the furikake does make things quite salty. Regardless this is about as good as eggs and greens get. Harissa eggs consisted of two crispy fried eggs, harissa crème fraîche, paprika butter, feta and pickled onions, topped with chives and coriander and served with toasted sourdough. It's like a sexed up, flavour exploding version of the best Turkish eggs you've ever had, and if you go here for only one reason let it be the harissa eggs. Just one caveat - non-toasted sourdough would be far better for mopping up all that creamy harissa swirled with paprika butter, so we recommend asking for it freshly cut, and piling on the gorgeously smooth and salty room temperature butter. We also tried the chocolate buckwheat, hazelnut and honey granola, which comes with Glenilen yoghurt, 'seasonal fruit', Highbank Orchard syrup and mint, and can be easily squeezed in as a dessert (to share if you must). The granola was crispy, nutty and nicely sweetened, and we loved the combination of everything together, but we would ping them on the 'seasonal fruit', as the blueberries and large blackberries clearly weren't. Preserved apples or plums would have been a better shout for this time of year. We grabbed a homemade sea salt brownie to go, which was predictably gooey, chewy and perfectly salty - if like us you think salt can almost universally improve any dessert. What about the drinks? The coffee at Fia has been Roasted Brown since day one and that's unlikely to change any time soon, but they do change the blend, and when we visited they were using a lovely Ethiopian. They also make changing flavours of kombucha but the current batch wasn't ready - they assure us they have it on every weekend. And the service? Lovely and laid back. They were on top of everything but very relaxed, in the way that makes you feed relaxed by osmosis. The verdict? The café format that focuses on seasonal ingredients first may not feel as fresh and unusual as it once did, but we're not bored of it and don't think we ever could be. There are still far too many sad cafés out there serving bland soup and barely passable paninis, and Fia makes brunch and lunch an event, a meal to plan for and get excited about. If every neighbourhood village had a Fia, somewhere that starts with the farmers and producers, letting everything else follow on from there, the city would be a far nicer place in which to exist. Fia 155b Rathgar Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6 fia.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

With restaurants in Greystones and Bray already, the third branch of this Pakistani and Indian restaurant opened in Glasthule in 2021 and immediately gained a following. Their reputation preceded them, and their newest foray is delivering so far. The restaurant sets the mood before you’ve even had a chance to look at a menu, with rich and colourful furnishings in a large and comfortable room. The food itself is traditional, but very well done, and unusually for an Indian restaurant they have a well- developed cocktail menu, so this is a great spot to come with a group of friends. Daata Website daata.ie Address 73 Glasthule Road, Sandycove, Glasthule, Co. Dublin Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story With restaurants in Greystones and Bray already, the third branch of this Pakistani and Indian restaurant opened in Glasthule in 2021 and immediately gained a following. Their reputation preceded them, and their newest foray is delivering so far. The restaurant sets the mood before you’ve even had a chance to look at a menu, with rich and colourful furnishings in a large and comfortable room. The food itself is traditional, but very well done, and unusually for an Indian restaurant they have a well- developed cocktail menu, so this is a great spot to come with a group of friends. Where It's At Nearby Locales 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 Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra Little Geno's Mama Shee Nutbutter Smithfield

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

Agave Taquitos, pambazos and homemade nachos come to Dublin 2 Posted: 18 Aug 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Dublin has never been the city to find legit Mexican food (something that causes us much dismay), and while there are some success stories (namely 777 , El Grito , and more recently pop up food truck La Cocina Cuevas ), what's on the market here would make most Mexicans shudder. The majority of it consists of questionable burritos and sizzling enchilada plates, and is more more Tex-Mex than Oaxaca - fajitas, chile con carne and even our beloved cheese-covered nachos all fall into this category (read more about the differences in this Thrillist article , or listen to this episode of Eater's Digest). So, any time a new Mexican restaurant opens we live in hope that this will be the one with the homemade corn tacos (wheat anything = not very Mexican), the mole (totally different to guacamole) and the infamous tacos al pastor (pork marinated in spices and cooked on a spit grill, served with pineapple, onion, coriander and salsas on the aforementioned homemade tacos). The latest addition to this hopeful hit list is newly opened Agave on Lord Edward Street. Do you remember Café Azteca ? Not many people do - they never quite made the mark on the Dublin dining scene that they were hoping for - but that's where Agave is now. It's run by Mexican couple Costel and Aldo, who was a chef in Azteca and is from Mexico city. Costel is a chef too, but for now he's running front of house. They say they wanted to bring new dishes and fresh ideas to the city, and images of more unusual dishes on their Instagram feed had us pulling on the comfy pants and setting off for Lord Edward Street. Where should we sit? It’s a small space with only six tables (they’ll possibly have more if Covid ever fecks off), and there’s a nice one for six people in the window if you’re planning on seeing friends at some stage this year. Otherwise tables are for two or four and the space is definitely more eat and leave than graze and linger. What's the food like? The menu is definitely trying to stay a little on the safe side, and it’s probably a bit too large as they try not to scare people by keeping dishes they’ll recognize (can we just make burritos die already), as well as introducing more authentic ones like chilaquiles (tortilla chips soaked in salsa), sopes (corn tortillas with various toppings) and pambazo (bread dipped in a red pepper sauce and stuffed with potato, chorizo, sour cream and lettuce). Okay so maybe loaded nachos aren’t the most Mexican of Mexican foods, but Agave’s are homemade ( 777 actually buy theirs from them), so we feel this gives them a major pass. They come with cheese, sour cream, excellent pico de gallo, jalapeños and either chile con carne or guacamole – we asked for half and half. It might not be what you’ll get in a Mexican Mami’s casa, but it was extremely tasty, and a huge portion – we shared one between four. The crunchy chicken taquitos - rolled and fried blue corn tortillas stuffed with chicken and queso fresco, and topped with pico de gallo, sour cream and lettuce - were another highlight. Crunchy, creamy, zingy - what's not to like. The aforementioned pambazo (traditional Mexican sandwich) had great flavour from the chorizo and potato but was a bit soggy. It tasted like it had been dipped in the red pepper sauce but not fried to crisp it up, which undoubtedly would have made all the difference. Also don't do as we did and forget about the salsa until the last bite. There's mild, spicy and very spicy - approach the last one with caution. There are six different types of tacos on the menu, with pork (including those legendary al pastor), chorizo, chicken, chili con carne (no comment) and prawns. We really liked the tacos de camaron (prawns) which came with pickled cabbage and chilli mayo, but the batter on the prawns could have been a bit more delicate and a bit less oily. Despite this they had a great balance of flavours, particularly when those salsas were added into the mix. The only truly devastating, soul-crushing disappointment of the meal was the tacos al pastor, which just weren’t. Granted it would be difficult to get a verticle rotating spit into such a small space, but catering style chunks of tasteless pork are not even in the same universe as the real deal. This is so far from what it should be it just shouldn't be on the menu. It also said we would get five tacos but we only got three - not sure if this was a typo or a kitchen error, but under the circumstances it was probably for the best. (For an in-depth look at what tacos al pastor should be, please watch the first episode of Netflix's Taco Chronicles and join us in this obsession) Also, not to get anyone (i.e. us) too excited, but we happened to walk past 777 later that day and saw what appeared to be an 'el pastor tacos' hatch - we'll even forgive them the wrong spelling. Watch this space for incoming news. There are no desserts on the menu but when we were there they had vanilla or chocolate 'conchas' (sweet bread in the shape of a seashell) and crème caramel (more commonly called flan in Mexico), both homemade. It turns out the conchas are not really a dessert (it literally is a slightly sweet bread roll), and more something to have with coffee in the morning. The crème caramel however was creamy, sweet and doused in caramel, and the cream and berries on the side were a nice touch. We initially thought it was a small portion but it turned out to be perfect. A must-order for anyone with a sweet tooth. What about the drinks? Fans of cult Mexican soft drink jarritos will be giddy when they see the number of flavours on the shelf here – from cola to guava, mango to mandarin – although not many seemed to be in the fridge, so you’ll probably need ice. They also have non-alcoholic pina coladas and ‘nojitos’, the latter of which, with cucumber, mint and lime, was very refreshing on a muggy Dublin day. As far as alcohol you’re limited to house prosecco, white or red wine, or tinto de verano (lemonade and red wine). And the service? Friendly, if a bit subdued, and the mortal sin of wearing mask over mouth but not nose was in full force. Kitchen staff weren't wearing masks, but there was sanitzer, tables were decently spaced and the door was open. The verdict? Agave is a good addition to Dublin’s Mexican food scene, and while it’s not quite the one we’ve been waiting for, it's a world better than most and definitely has the potential to go further. We’d like to go back and try a few more of the lesser seen dishes, like the chilaquiles and the sopes, and it’s very good value – we paid €20 a head for a lot of food. We would love to see them ditch a few of the more common dishes and focus more on what they eat at home in Mexico, because that's what's really lacking over here. And kill the burritos. Agave 19 - 22 Lord Edward Street, Dublin 2 instagram.com/agavedublin New Openings & Discoveries More >>

The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Dublin Dublin Guides Featured Guides All Dublin Guides Join ATF Insiders Make the Most of Every Meal. Join Us

Big Fan Big flavours, sake cocktails and hiphop tunes on Aungier Street Posted: 7 Jul 2021 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Big Fan was another one of 2020's mid-pandemic openings - not the way they envisioned their first year in business but plans were already in motion when the world as we knew it ended last March, so they made the best out of a bad situation. They started with take-away, then a brief spell of indoor dining in December, then some seriously delicious at home meal kits (one of the overall standout ones for us) and now they're back with outdoor dining. The owners have a background in burger restaurants and art galleries, but their head chef Tom is from Hong Kong and has been cooking Chinese food for over 30 years, and Big Fan was a chance for him to really unleash what he could do. They say they want to bring something different and genuine to the Dublin restaurant scene, the best Chinese food in town (set to a back drop of Hiphop tunes), and after what we sampled at home we were keen to try the full Big Fan experience. Where should we sit? They've done a really good job of maximising their space for outdoor dining, including taking out the window at the front and seating people technically inside the restaurant - some of you who are still unvaccinated and/or anxious about being around strangers might not be comfortable with this. If that's the case they have tables outside on the path too, which are well sheltered from the elements - on the night we were there it lashed but we didn't feel a drop. Just make sure you specify any preferences on booking. What's the food like? There's quite a large menu, with bao, jiaozi (dumplings), small plates, big plates, sides and sauces. Our eyes were popping at all the inventive dishes, each sounding more appealing than the last, and we were pretty pleased that so many were in the €6.50 - €10 bracket so we could justify ordering too much food. First up were crispy wontons filled with Toonsbridge scarmorza and squash, and a plum sauce for dipping. Often this kind of 'Asian fusion' is a complete car crash, but not at Big Fan. This kitchen has a a bit of magic when it comes to flavour and texture, and if they're not careful they might give Asian fusion a good name again. Next up were duck wings (which must have been legs unless there are mutant ducks walking around St. Stephen's Green that we don't know about), deep-fried and tossed in Big Fan seasoning. We'd initially asked for a sauce to come with them thinking they might be dry, but we were very wrong. These bad boys are so good you won't want to dilute the flavour with anything. The juiciness, the spice mix, the crispy bits - we haven't seen or eaten anything like this in the city before, and that goes for a lot of the menu here. We'd surprised ourselves by falling hard for the cheeseburger spring rolls at Hawker, so when we saw that Big Fan had put cheeseburger jiaozi on the menu it was only going to end one way - in our mouths. Once again a restaurant has managed to take a processed, corporate (albeit delicious) piece of fast food and morph it into something we feel much better about eating, complete with burger sauce and gherkins. It might sound easy but it's so hard to get right, and again here they've nailed it. A few more of these inventions and we'll be able to write a piece on "where to eat a cheeseburger when you don't want to eat a cheeseburger". Cheeseburger salad? Cheeseburger sushi? The options are endless. Last for the ones we loved was the 'Legend of the Ox' - a juicy beef shin ball wrapped in kataifi pastry on a bed of sweet soy mushrooms. The meat was juicy, the pastry crispy, and the soy mushrooms were the umami bed it was all wrapped up in. Another really excellent, different plate of food. We'd ordered the 'Black Dragon' bao - who could resist the promise of Irish lobster tail and Wagyu beef on a squid ink bun - but it wasn't what we were expecting, and we initially thought they'd brought the wrong dish. The bao came as a flat rectangle which had been deep-fried (leaving it greasy), as was the lobster tail, and everything combined just felt too rich and unbalanced. Big talk, unfortunately didn't deliver for us. Prawn toast was perfectly good but no better than most other good Chinese restaurants, and after the plates that had come before we were expecting something more exciting. The pineapple salsa was a bit underwhelming, and serving it on the plate with the toast caused them to get soggy bottoms - not a good look, or texture. The most disappointing was the Taiwanese fried chicken with Big Fan chilli sauce. The outside wasn't crunchy, the chicken tasted wooly (no mention of provenance or free-range, which was strange considering the other Irish producers name-checked), and the sauce was all heat and not much else. Our mouths were burning uncomfortably for about 5 minutes afterwards, at which point we realised we'd never been brought any water - that was a speedy run to the desk. There were so many more dishes we wanted to try (the pork kou rou, cucumber jelly fish salad, what will their chicken balls and rice be like!?), but we were defeated, except for the obligatory part of the stomach that saves itself for dessert. There are two non vegan options - deep-fried mantou (dough) with coconut condensed milk, and a coconut and mango parfait. We went for the latter, thinking that anything else deep-fried might push us over the edge, and the parfait was perfect. Light, cooling, creamy and fruity, it was like a delicious digestif in dessert form. What about the drinks? It's a simple list but well thought out. There's a small selection of wine on tap (we liked the Lo Pateret orange, also in Sprezzatura up the road), a sake, a few cocktails (some with sake, Sichuan pepper and pandan leaf) and a nice selection of beers. This isn't somewhere you're going to be drinking vintage champagne or top shelf cognac and it's all the better for it. There's also kefir and kombucha for the non-drinkers/drivers. What about the service? Staff were lovely and very welcoming, but service was quite loose. We had to get out of our seats several times to ask for water, napkins, drinks, and they're weren't at full capacity. They've clearly hired (successfully) for personality, but the ship could be run a bit tighter (which to be fair is a far easier fix than if you had unlovely, unwelcoming staff). And the damage? €104.08 for eight plates of food and four drinks, which felt like very good value. We would have been full with less. The verdict? When Big Fan hits its mark it's startlingly good. For a good portion of the meal we sat there shaking our heads at the creativity, flavour and sheer originality of what we were eating. There are bags of potential here, despite every dish not being a home run (yet). We'd like to go back and put another eight dishes through their paces, and the taste memories of the knockout ones ensures it's on the return list. There's nowhere in the city quite like Big Fan, it really does feel different and innovative, and you get the sense they're not going to be sitting back and phoning it in any time soon. We'd hedge our bets that there's a lot more to come from these guys. Big Fan 16 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 bigfan.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>