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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 >>

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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 >>

The Seafood Bar The perfect little restaurant to gorge on the best of Irish seafood Posted: 25 Jul 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's should we know about The Seafood Bar? It's the second restaurant from the team behind neighbourhood favourite Wood Fire Café just off Dorset Street. Owner Joe Oualadi is half Italian, half Moroccan, and says he's "mad about seafood" and loves to cook it. He couldn't understand why an island surrounded by fish doesn't have more places to eat great seafood (Amen Joe), and with a loyal clientele already on Blessington Street, he decided to take the site left vacant by Veginity (and briefly vegan deli Pretend) and get to work. Despite Wood Fire Café 's many D7 fans, we've visited in the past and didn't leave with a need to return - maybe we caught them on a bad day - so we weren't expecting to be first in the queue for this one, but between strikingly good reviews on Google and the total lack of a website/social channels for information, we thought it needed a once over stat. Can I book? Nope, and this is the one real drawback. With only 10 indoor seats we get it, but it's not very conducive to travelling across town or booking a babysitter. If it's dry and/or sunny you might be able to pull up at a barrel outside with some olives and a glass of cold white wine while you wait, which wouldn't be the worst way to pass the time. Where should we sit? There are three low tables of two, which can be put together for a four or a six (but you'd be lucky to find all three free at the same time, especially once the good word travels about this place). There are also two high tables at the counter, seating two at each. This is where we'd pick if we had the choice, to see all that seafood being prepped and cooked in front of you. Outside has another four tables of two (which again could be made into a four, possibly a six with some pushing and pulling), and a couple of barrels you could stand at. It feels very Spanish, and if we ever get sunshine again we can see this having a cracking atmosphere on a summer evening, those waiting for a table standing around with some olives, almonds and a glass of Loxarel Cava. What should we order? The menu has a strong Spanish slant to it, but with other cuisines like Italian and even Hawaiian (poke) thrown in. There's a cold section to start featuring peel and eat gambas with cocktail sauce, oysters, tuna salad and more, but our hearts fractured a little to hear that Ensalada Rusa with Cantabrian anchovies wasn't available, and that they're taking it off the menu. The rest of the menu features 12 starters and six mains, and expect to agonise over what to order, because this is a hell of a menu, with Porupine langoustines, Irish native shrimps, and a whole lobster with fries for €34 among the dishes you might feel the need to try. Getting over our Ensalada Rusa disappointment, we started with crab on toast - three pieces of thick, chewy, very lightly toasted bread covered with a mildly curried, lemon-scented, sparklingly fresh white crab meat mixture, topped with finely sliced radish. Adding unadvertised curry in here is a (possibly risky) curveball, but we loved the fresh, mildy spiced flavours, the contrast between the sweet flaky crab and the chewy bread, and the generous hand in plating this up. You can't come to a Spanish seafood restaurant without ordering fried fish, so deep-fried calamari and Native Irish Shrimps with tartar sauce were up next. According to the Irish Times , only 200 tonnes of these prawns are landed each year, and all (until now) are shipped to top restaurants in Spain and Portugal where they're sold at very high prices. That might explain this dish's €18 price tag, and why you only get two of the shrimp, but we loved it all the same, and it's a novelty to try something so rarely seen here. The batter was perfectly light and crisp, the tartar clearly homemade, and while a couple of calamari rings were chewier than we would have liked, there was no debating the freshness yet again. If you order one thing in here, make it the clams with garlic and salsa verde (€14), which has dive-bombed onto our "best things we ate this year" list. A sizzling cast iron dish arrives with bubbling olive oil (the good stuff) filled with caramelised, chewy, sweet garlic slices, clams floating above dressed with a generous spoons of zesty salsa verde. If sharing, expect to lose the run of yourself trying to dig out each little piece of fish, dunking it in the garlicky oil and smearing some salsa on top for one of the most perfect mouthfuls you could imagine. We had to ask for bread to mop up the sauce, and you should do the same. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/79af6f_4bd025a6af6b48299535a4615a9082e7/720p/mp4/file.mp4 The paella (€26) was another knock me down dish, the saffron-scented rice with a perfect bite, seafood lavishly dispersed across it. Prawns, monkfish, mussels, and clams were not in short supply, and the roasted peppers and dollops of aioli pushing the perfection level even higher. It was missing the slightly crispy base, but from other reviews online we can see some people's did have this, and with or without it, it's as good a paella as we've tasted (here or in Spain). The portion is also huge - you could easily share one between two. Seafood linguine is yet another knockout, again with the generosity of seafood feeling almost shocking in comparison to other restaurants. Simplicity is often the hardest thing to get right, but this simple sauce of garlic, white wine and cherry tomatoes let the flavours of the gambas, clams, squid and mussels gleam, and it almost felt like more seafood than pasta. How often can you say that? At €26, you could not complain about value for your euro. Sides were a low point and we'd skip them next time and just focus on the fish. Hand-cut chips didn't look or taste like they were done in-house, and weren't crispy enough, while patatas bravas came with that delicious aioli and a roasted red pepper sauce, but the potatoes tasted more confited than deep-fried, and weren't remotely crispy. Desserts are a total mismatch with everything that's come before: 'Classic Tiramisu'; Crema Catalana; and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and caramel sauce - is there anyone in the country who wants a chocolate brownie after a seafood feast? Please raise your hand so we can see you. The only acceptable choice was the Crema Catalana, but our hearts broke once again to be told they didn't have it, but had a cheesecake with red berry sauce in its place. They told us all desserts were made in the Wood Fire Café, and it did taste homemade, but it was a dull, heavy ending to a dazzling meal. A silky-smooth, flan-like Basque cheesecake would have been a far better fit. What about drinks? Wines are a mixed bag, with some decent bottles on there like Zarate's Albariño, Domaine De La Pépière's Muscadet, and the brilliant co-op Les Vignerons d'Estezargues' Southern French red blend, 'Cuvee des Galets', for €32. It's a bit muddled though with no theme or thread running through it (e.g. Mediterranean), and they're in desperate need of some sherries/Vermouths/aperitivo offerings. By the glass options are very limited, but we tried the Jurtschitsch Grüner Veltliner which was a nice easy drinker served very chilled, and a perfect match for the seafood. There are also some beers on tap, and flavoured San Pellegrino as well as the usual soft drinks. How was the service? Lovely, friendly, and the food came out at a good pace. They didn't charge for the extra bread, or a juice they poured from their own staff stash - a nice touch. And the damage? €128 for a generous feast for three (who rolled out after lunch and could barely face dinner that night), with one glass of wine. We'd throw it at them every day of the week. What's the verdict? We love The Seafood Bar. We can't stop thinking about The Seafood Bar. We want to move into The Seafood Bar and have Joe feed us all day - crab on toast for breakfat, clams for lunch, that big dish of paella and a cold glass of wine for dinner. It's not an inexpensive place to eat, but there's a big difference between cheap and value for money, and we thought that what we got for our spend was remarkable. Sometimes places open with a serious generosity of spirit (and ingredients) and then reality (and bills) hit and everything gets pared back. We really hope that doesn't happen here, because right now it's the perfect little restaurant to gorge on the very best of Irish seafood. The Seafood Bar 1 Blessington Street, Dublin 7 seafoodbardublin.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Located right along the canal, Grove Road has an understated and easy-going vibe, great music, and is a serious contender for the best avocado toast in town, thanks to the addition of feta and the crispiest bacon known to man. They also serve brunch all day, seven days a week. Grove Road Website groveroadcafe.ie Address 1 Rathmines Road Lower, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Located right along the canal, Grove Road has an understated and easy-going vibe, great music, and is a serious contender for the best avocado toast in town, thanks to the addition of feta and the crispiest bacon known to man. They also serve brunch all day, seven days a week. 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

Walk through the door of this Lebanese restaurant in The Liberties and it feels like you could have walked in off a Beirut side street. Stone arches, a mosaic ceiling, and Arabic lighting set the Middle Eastern scene, while the three mixed ‘mezzas’ are the perfect way to get a taste of their hummus, arayes, falafel and more. Prices are in the bargain category and they offer free corkage (yes free), so meals out of this quality don’t get much cheaper. Don’t miss the fattoush salad with crispy bread and pomegranate molasses. Fayrouz Website fayrouzrestaurant.com Address 117 Cork Street, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Walk through the door of this Lebanese restaurant in The Liberties and it feels like you could have walked in off a Beirut side street. Stone arches, a mosaic ceiling, and Arabic lighting set the Middle Eastern scene, while the three mixed ‘mezzas’ are the perfect way to get a taste of their hummus, arayes, falafel and more. Prices are in the bargain category and they offer free corkage (yes free), so meals out of this quality don’t get much cheaper. Don’t miss the fattoush salad with crispy bread and pomegranate molasses. 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

Head north from Smithfield and you'll hit every food and drink lover's favourite suburb, Stoneybatter. It's been called 'Dublin's coolest neighbourhood' by Timeout Magazine, and from Calabrian pasta to craft beer, southern Indian dosas to homemade dumplings, it's frankly a bit rude how much good stuff locals have on their doorstep. Stoneybatter Our Take Head north from Smithfield and you'll hit every food and drink lover's favourite suburb, Stoneybatter. It's been called 'Dublin's coolest neighbourhood' by Timeout Magazine, and from Calabrian pasta to craft beer, southern Indian dosas to homemade dumplings, it's frankly a bit rude how much good stuff locals have on their doorstep. Where to Eat A Fianco Grano Hakkahan Korean Table L Mulligan Grocer Slice Social Fabric Sorrento's Vada

Milo's Dublin 9 gets the buzzy brunch spot it's been waiting for Posted: 16 May 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Milo's? Milo's is the second café from Taurean Coughlan and Kevin Roche, who own Two Boys Brew down the road in Phibsborough. The premises on Drumcondra Road Upper (opposite the Skylon Hotel) was a dancewear shop called Dimensions for decades, and this is a much needed upgrade. Any inhabitants of the hood will tell you that the area was in desperate need of a somewhere to stop for excellent coffee, cake and brunch, so the arrival of Milo's has been a bit of a big deal. Where should we sit? Milo's is more petite than its big bro down the road with around 18 seats inside and another 8-12 outside. They also do everything for takeaway if you want to grab and go (when we visited there was a line of people waiting for their orders to be bagged up and brought out). The lovely Griffith Park is a 12 minute walk towards town, and the Botanic Gardens a 20 minute walk or a five minute drive if you feel like a picnic. What should we have? Milo's has all the beautiful brunch sensibility of Two Boys Brew , with so much made in house that it's hard not to raise an impressed eyebrow. Pastries, breads, jams, nut butter, compotes, granola, chutneys - seeing this amount of effort put into a menu definitely helps to alleviate any price pain you might be feeling when eating out. Breakfast and brunch range from more simple options like granola, overnight oats and banana bread, to French toast, avo toast, and breakfast baps, with toasties served after 11am. There's also a cabinet full of cakes and pastries by the till that you'll need much willpower to swerve (we don't possess said willpower). We went twice so managed to try most of it (and more cakes than we'd care to admit). First things first, we need to talk about the banana bread. Thought you OD-ed during lockdown? This will rekindle your love. They make it in house, toast a fluffy inside/chewy outside banana-filled slice, then serve it with homemade hazelnut butter (the absolute best) and honey. For €6 we think this is one of the best (and best value) breakfasts you could eat in Dublin right now. Overnight oats (€8) came with plum compote, hazelnut butter and dark chocolate almond crumb (we'd expect the combinations to change regularly). and if you're someone who likes to dress dessert up as breakfast, this is for you. It was slightly heavy on mint throughout the oats (not listed on the menu), so if you happen to have an aversion you might want to avoid, or ask if it's in that day's batch. The fan-club worthy TBB granola is also on the menu, with raspberry compote so bright and sharp you'd almost think they grew them here, thick Greek yoghurt, and cinnamon oatmeal crumble for extra oomph. The Milo's brekkie bap comes with free-range scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, caramelised onion, streaky bacon, Milo's spicy tomato jam and rocket on brioche. Sandwiches like this can sometimes be sickly and OTT but we though this was pretty much perfect, the soft bun melding beautifully with the soft, folded eggs and cheese. some bite from the bacon, sweetness at the top and bottom from the jam and caramelised onion, and freshness from the rocket. We also tried the avo toast with confit cherry tomato, free-range fried egg, feta, sesame seed and hazelnut crumb, Two Boys Brew hot sauce (one of the best), and lime on toasted Firehouse sourdough (€13.50). This is not a dish lacking in flavour and every bite brings a taste of something new, although we found the thick bread slightly hard to cut and eat and would have liked a second egg on the other half of the toast (you can add one for €1.50). If you're more sweet than savoury, you'll probably find it difficult not to order the French toast, currently with rhubarb jam, vanilla mousse, roasted almond ginger crumb and maple syrup (€13.50 or add bacon for €17.00). With homemade brioche, and homemade everything else, this is an ordering choice we endorse, and the puffed up fluffy toast, tart jam and crunchy nuts somehow managed to once again make it feel balanced and not too much. There's plenty of homemade cakes and pastries, and while choosing was torturous, we went for a cinnamon knot and a chocolate and hazelnut babka. They were both great, but we'd caution that the babka is very dense so fitting this in on your own after another dish may be tough going. On another visit we took home a chocolate covered marble cake and a chocolate chip cookie, and both were top rate. What about drinks? Coffee is always on the money in Two Boys Brew and it was the same at Milo's. They use Root & Branch which is roasted in Belfast, and if you're a decaf drinker (by choice or force) theirs is one of the best around. Teas, ice coffee and hot chocolate are also available, as well as soft drinks including San Pellegrino and ginger beer. How was the service? Lovely, welcoming, lots of smiles, and the food and coffee came out fast on both occasions. We also love that they've put a no smoking sign up for the outdoor tables (why don't more places do this!?), because who wants second hand smoke blown in their face while trying to enjoy brunch in the sun. What's the verdict? Dublin 9 has been a café desert for as long as we've been around, so the arrival of Milo's is big news for the parish. Everyone wants to live within walking distance of somewhere like this, with consistently great coffee, thoughtful food, and a kitchen putting in more effort than most of us could contemplate on a daily basis. Locals around here are very lucky, and from the constant stream of customers coming to eat in and takeaway, they know it. Milo's 124 Drumcondra Road Upper, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 twoboysbrew.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Kaldero opened with a stumble, thanks to its "consultant chefs who don't actually cook there" schtick, but found its way once it installed the couple behind Filipino pop up Bahay to steer it in the right direction. The menu is a deliciously fun study of Filipino food, with plenty of dishes and ingredients that you won't encounter elsewhere, and the large room with an expansive area down the back makes it great for groups. Don't miss the Filipino cocktails. Kaldero Website kaldero.ie Address Kaldero, King Street South, Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Kaldero opened with a stumble, thanks to its "consultant chefs who don't actually cook there" schtick, but found its way once it installed the couple behind Filipino pop up Bahay to steer it in the right direction. The menu is a deliciously fun study of Filipino food, with plenty of dishes and ingredients that you won't encounter elsewhere, and the large room with an expansive area down the back makes it great for groups. Don't miss the Filipino cocktails. 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

Nomo Ramen Dublin's new ramen shop opens to all the buzz Posted: 17 May 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? The hype train certainly came in with this Nomo Ramen didn't it (which we take partial responsibility for). Our fair city's general lacking in ramen-ness has been a point of concern for many of you over the years, so talk of a new ramen shop, which owner Kevin Hughes had been painstakingly planning for years, had food circles alight with talk of a 7-hour chicken broth, 24-hour marinated eggs and noodles imported from David Chang's favourite supplier in the US - Sun Noodles . They cleverly planned a soft launch for their first weekend with reduced menu prices and tickets which unsurprisingly sold out, and the feedback was as good as the team there could have hoped for, with many proclamations across social media (and in newspapers ) that it was the best ramen in the city. While they started with just two ramens - one topped with pork and one vegan - they recently added a spicy version of each, with rayu on top, so we thought it was a good time to pay the bear a visit in person. Where should I sit? This is fast food (in the best way) so you won't be settling in, and the hard back seating reflects that. There are low tables, window seats perfect for one, and counter seats looking in at the chefs in the kitchen. We loved that most of the window seats are sectioned off one by one, meaning no awkward leg touching with your neighbour, and the perfect excuse for a bit of solo dining, people-watching and ramen eating in peace. What's the food like? There are four sides and four ramens for the moment (but really a spicy and non-spicy version of the same two ramens). It looks like they will be expanding the menu over time, and it would be nice to have more variety with the ramen in particular. We tried all of the sides except for the gyoza (they're not homemade so we didn't waste the calories / money) and our favourite was the hirata bun. It's a bao bun filled with 24-hour marinated pork, homemade pickles and hoisin sauce, and it's a beautiful meld of soft, smoky pork with tangy, crunchy pickle, spring onions and a little smear of homemade hoisin far more subtle than the one in your fridge door. An all round excellent start. to a meal here. Next up the Izakaya chicken wings marinated in Nomo's "specially blended sauce", which is a bit sweet and quite a bit salty, so keep a drink on hand. The crispiness has been nailed, and our only major complaint is that they're not from free-range birds - hopefully they can find a source for this in the future. Lastly we tried the mushroom karaage with hoisin mayo dipping sauce. We've lost count of the amount of message we've had from readers telling us how much they loved these juicy, meaty mushrooms in their pefectly light and crispy batter, but we felt they could have done with a bit of seasoning. The tangy dipping sauce definitely helped, and you'll crunch through them nicely while waiting for your ramen. For the ramen there's just two options - a meat and a vegan. The OG Nomo Ramen (€14.99) is made with a 7-hour simmered creamy chicken broth (tori paitan) hiding those wavy ramen noodles (the shape is supposed to catch more broth), and topped with slow-cooked and blow-torched chashu pork, shredded leek and half a 24-hour marinated egg. The broth is so creamy you'll be scratching your head wondering what's in there, the pork melts to the touch, and the egg is just perfect (although it would have been nice to have the second half - you can add it for another €2). The wavy noodles have more bite and chew than what you might be used to, which is what they were going for, and it's a very satisfying bowl of flavours and textures. It's a more simple offering than most ramens around town, but they're going for quality over quantity. The San Diego ramen (€13.50) is the vegan version, and comes with marinated tofu, roasted tomato (incredible) and caramelised onion, whose layers pull out one by one, acting like a little boat to scoop up the broth. It's similarly creamy from the use of oat milk, and while we loved the veg, we can't see why you'd order this if you weren't vegan - that pork and egg are too important. You could however order it and add on pork or eggs as extras, but we'd rather add the tomato and onion to the regular OG version. Saying that, add on another half egg, a tomato and the onion and you're looking at €21 for a bowl of ramen - inflation eh? The new two 'Karai' ramens just involve adding some homemade rayu on top (an extra €1.50) so we asked for a portion on the side, and were very glad we did. While the broths were rich and creamy on their own, the addition of the chilli oil kicked them into another flavour space, and if you love spice it's a must-order. If not you'll be fine without it. We can definitely see the argument for small but perfectly formed, but another couple of ramen options would definitely be welcome here, and would give diners more reasons to return. What about drinks? Very basic - Kirin or Whiplash beer, a couple of soft drinks and water. Seems like a missed opportunity to increase the spend per head, particularly for non-beer drinkers, but maybe they just want you in and out. How was the service? So lovely, jovial, welcoming. How any new opening is finding such great staff in times like this is hard to fathom. And the damage? With three sides between two, a bowl of ramen each, water and a tip it came to €30 each for lunch, which felt punchy enough considering we had no drinks or dessert, but that's probably because the whole set up feels so casual. Add on some ramen extras and a couple of beers and you'll be closer to €50. This kind of pricing pushes it somewhat out of the casual lunch stop space, but it's worth noting that the ramen is less expensive than both The Ramen Bar and Soup (both starting at €16, although you get more toppings), so by current city standards it's not out of step, and the work involved in the kitchen processes here are clear to see. The verdict? There's lots to love about Nomo, and ramen obsessives will no doubt love the simplicity of the concept and quality of what's in the bowl. We'd love to see the chicken and meat move to free-range, a few more ramen options on the menu, and a couple more drinks options, but they don't look like they'll be sitting still any time soon. Nomo Ramen 4 Charlotte Way, Dublin 2 www.nomoramen.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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

A visit to this Argentinean bakery in The Liberties is not complete without trying their alfajores and empanadas (both benchmark level for the city), but then how to fit in the medialunas, canoncitos, and coconut and dulce de leche pie. A few visits will be necessary to eat your way through Bakeology’s range of ‘alfies’ alone - the dulce de leche stuffed cookie sandwiches that they seem to make in unending varieties - but that’s unlikely to be an issue as once you’ve discovered it you’ll want to come back again and again. Bakeology Website @bakeology.treats Address 43 Meath Street, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story A visit to this Argentinean bakery in The Liberties is not complete without trying their alfajores and empanadas (both benchmark level for the city), but then how to fit in the medialunas, canoncitos, and coconut and dulce de leche pie. A few visits will be necessary to eat your way through Bakeology’s range of ‘alfies’ alone - the dulce de leche stuffed cookie sandwiches that they seem to make in unending varieties - but that’s unlikely to be an issue as once you’ve discovered it you’ll want to come back again and again. 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

Vietnom Street food that's reason alone to got to Stoneybatter Posted: 30 Oct 2018 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? We're really quite into this whole "dingy pub gets great pop up in the back" thing. Between Vurgerface in The Belfry and Dice Bar, Grálinn in MVP and Coke Lane Pizza in Frank Ryans and Lucky's, pub food has never been better. Another one that we've been hearing loads about over the past few months is Vietnom in the back of The Glimmerman pub in Stoneybatter, and while the idea of Vietnamese/Mexican fusion wouldn't have had us running for the Luas, after two excellent reviews in The Irish Times and the Irish Independent we had to check it out for ourselves. Set up by chef Milly Murphy and Alex Gurnee earlier this year, the menu at Vietnom changes every week, and most things on the menu are vegetarian, with at least one vegan option. They work with what's local and seasonal, growing some vegetables themselves, buying others from organic farms, and sourcing only free-range meat and eggs. So far so good. Where should we go for a drink first? The Glimmerman is atmospheric to say the least, with Charlie Haughey and Margaret Thatcher in a bed hanging from the ceiling, beer mats all over the walls and more nooks and crannies than we thought was possible to fit in a single pub, so a drink here is a good shout. Otherwise you've got L. Mulligan Grocer for an immense craft beer selection, The Cobblestone for traditional Irish music, or Walsh's, which was named best pub in Dublin at this year's Irish restaurant awards. Where should we sit? There's loads of seating out the back, ranging from quirky to "I'm sitting on a plastic-covered leather sofa in the middle of a tip", but with the weather turning colder you'll want a good winter coat to eat outside. Luckily the pub are cool about bringing the food inside, so just sit wherever you can find some mismatched furniture. What's good to eat? The menu is short with three main options both times we visited - tostadas, banh mi and fried rice. Ingredient and flavour combinations change each week and we tried everything twice, loving all of it. We marginally preferred the tostada with cauliflower, peanut sauce, chilli and pickled onions to the one with squash, tomatillo salsa and toasted sesame, but there wasn't a lot in it. We much preferred the banh mi with caramelised ginger and apple roast pork to the one with paneer, finding it lacking in flavour - the same could not be levied at the pork, and the lovely crunchy vegetables jammed in alongside it. Our only complaint is that we like a crisper bread for banh mi, Vietnom's being a soft sourdough, but they've had it designed especially for them and it's exactly what they're going for so we might be alone on that one. Both courgette and broccoli fried rice came topped with an assortment of nuts, chillis, pickled onions, herbs and flower petals, and might have been our favourite thing here. To make something as plain as rice taste this vibrant takes skill, and the courgette in particular was verging on "food crack". There was so much food we took some home and there were fork fights over the last of it the following day. What about the drinks? Those clever Vietnom people, knowing the type of customer they were likely to attract with their food, convinced The Glimmerman to stock a couple of very nice, inexpensive wines to go with it. Ciú Ciú are an organic producer from the Marche region of Italy and both the white and red blends are excellent, particularly for €6 a glass. We'd go so far as to say these could be the best value wines in any pub in the city right now (accounting for the quality). If you're going to drink wine here, this is what you want. Forget the rest. And the service? Alex and Milly do everything themselves, with a smile on their faces, and are happy to answer questions about the food or make recommendations. We also found The Glimmerman staff lovely, particularly the younger members of the team who were just super friendly. The verdict? Vietnom alone is worth a trip to Stoneybatter. They can do as much 'fusion' as they want if it tastes this good, and with their focus on local produce, organic vegetables and free-range meat and dairy, it's fast food to make you feel good. Go soon, go often, and order everything. Vietnom The Glimmerman, 14 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 @vietnom New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Vibrant, authentic Indian food packed with freshness and flavour, miles away from what most Irish people associate with the cuisine. Sunil Ghai ran the kitchens for the Jaipur group before going it alone, and dishes like tandoori guinea fowl, goat keema and wild boar vindaloo have had Pickle packed since it opened. Pickle Website picklerestaurant.com Address 43 Camden Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Vibrant, authentic Indian food packed with freshness and flavour, miles away from what most Irish people associate with the cuisine. Sunil Ghai ran the kitchens for the Jaipur group before going it alone, and dishes like tandoori guinea fowl, goat keema and wild boar vindaloo have had Pickle packed since it opened. 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

All The Food x Devour walking food tour of Dublin Explore ATF X Devour Food Tour All The Food and Devour have created a food tour to show the best of Dublin eating right now We've been devout fans of Devour 's European and US food tours for years, pointing our readers towards them on their travels, and being constantly impressed at how they won't settle for second best. When they asked us to help create their first Dublin food tour, we couldn't turn down the chance to show visitors (and locals) the best cooking, baking and ice-cream making in the city right now. We've come up with a morning of sausage rolls, seasonal pastries, Irish cheese, icon-status toasties and the freshest seafood at some of our favourite city centre spots . You'll get an injection of history and culture too as you walk through St Stephen's Green, Trinity College, Central Plaza, past Molly Malone and through Dublin's Victorian Architecture. Find out more and book the Ultimate Dublin Food Tour here . What's New News and recommendations. More >>

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