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

Vegan fast food that's big on fun, and big on flavour. Loaded waffle fries, Buckfast BBQ burgers and Korean-fried broccoli wings all feature on a menu that may have you needing a nap afterwards. Excellent vegan soakage, or the cure the day after. Saucy Cow Website @thesaucycow_ Address 19 Crane Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Vegan fast food that's big on fun, and big on flavour. Loaded waffle fries, Buckfast BBQ burgers and Korean-fried broccoli wings all feature on a menu that may have you needing a nap afterwards. Excellent vegan soakage, or the cure the day after. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Busy neighbourhood restaurant in Harold’s Cross from Chef Philip Yeung, formerly Head Chef at Bang Restaurant and Town Bar and Grill. Seasonal cooking and excellent provenance in a modern, minimalistic dining room. Craft Website craftrestaurant.ie Address 208 Harold’s Cross Road, Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6W Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Busy neighbourhood restaurant in Harold’s Cross from Chef Philip Yeung, formerly Head Chef at Bang Restaurant and Town Bar and Grill. Seasonal cooking and excellent provenance in a modern, minimalistic dining room. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

You might walk into Caffe di Napoli on Westland Row, just next to Pearse Street Station, thinking it’s just a cafe, but venture down the staircase at the back and you could be in Naples. We love the antipasto, which varies depending on what’s available, and while they're not breaking any moulds when it comes to pizza and pasta, we've got a major soft spot for anywhere this Italian to the core. Il Caffe di Napoli Website ilcaffedinapoli.ie Address 41 Westland Row, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story You might walk into Caffe di Napoli on Westland Row, just next to Pearse Street Station, thinking it’s just a cafe, but venture down the staircase at the back and you could be in Naples. We love the antipasto, which varies depending on what’s available, and while they're not breaking any moulds when it comes to pizza and pasta, we've got a major soft spot for anywhere this Italian to the core. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Wood-fired pizza in an industrial space on the north side. Traditional Neapolitan-style bases with New York and Irish influenced toppings. Bit of a student hub with DIT Bolton street across the road. Boco Website boco.ie Address 57 Bolton Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Wood-fired pizza in an industrial space on the north side. Traditional Neapolitan-style bases with New York and Irish influenced toppings. Bit of a student hub with DIT Bolton street across the road. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Ruby Tuesday Jerk chicken & goat curry come to Dame Street Posted: 19 Feb 2019 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 weeks ago we came across an article in the Dublin Inquirer about a new pop-up in Berlin on Dame Street - Ruby Tuesday's Jerk Chicken . Previously home to Lucky Tortoise , the bar has been playing host to some interesting kitchen concepts over the past year, and the promise of a secret jerk sauce recipe learnt from a Jamaican relative was too much to pass up. The Ruby in question was born in Brixton to Ghanian parents, and anyone who's been there will know it's a thriving hub of Caribbean families, food and music. She came to Dublin for the weekend 14 years ago and loved it so much she moved here. She worked in telecommunications before debuting her cooking at a music festival 10 years ago, but only seriously looked into making it a career after being made redundant last year. She started serving food in Berlin in November, and you can read more about her in that great Dublin Inquirer piece. Where should we go for a drink first? It is in a bar, albeit one without an inspiring drinks selection, so it depends what you're after. There was a decent martini made, but they won't be winning any awards for their beer, cider or wine selection. If you're particular about your drinks (*waves*), you might want to walk 5 minutes to The Sidecar in the Westbury (below) for brilliant cocktails which come with fat, juicy olives, mixed nuts and teeny glasses of prosecco while you wait (swoon). For wine, Piglet and Loose Canon and both less than a 5 minute walk away, and for a good old fashioned pub you're just a stone's throw from The Stag's Head . Where should we sit? The bar has two main sections, one with the door out onto Dame Court which had a DJ blasting 90's hiphop on a Tuesday night, and the other where the Dame Street entrance and the kitchen are (thankfully you can still hear the 90's hiphop from here - JLO + LL Cool J + Jerk chicken = good times). We'd sit on the kitchen side for obvious reasons, ideally on the banquettes. What's good to eat? This is very inexpensive food, so we ordered way too much of it, and with enough left for two take home boxes, it came to €17 a head. What we didn't realise was that a lot of the ingredients are in the same dishes so we ended up with four lots of fried plantain and a lot of uneaten rice, but we do like to try all the food. The plantain was surprisingly one of the highlights, and we all struggled to stop eating them - like a marginally healthier version of bar crisps. Ruby was not divulging what they were fried in, despite our pleas, but this is good stuff. From the snacks we also ordered the jerk chicken wings and the Jamaican beef patty. The patty was another resounding win and disappeared as quickly as it was put down. We'd go back for this alone. The jerk sauce on (mostly under) the wings was great, but we'd have preferred them to be cooked low and slow to render the fat down, making the skin nicer to eat, although this didn't bother others. We tried four of the mains, and the Jerk chicken with jollof rice and more of those fried plantains was the unanimous favourite. This time the fat was mostly rendered and the chicken was falling apart. So many good flavours and a nice kick of spice balanced by the milder rice and the sweet plantain. The oxtail stew with dumplings, butter beans and carrots, served with more rice and the meat on the bone, was a really rich, comforting dish with layers of flavour - this was obviously not cooked in a hurry and just what you'd want on a cold night. The other two dishes were fine, but wouldn't have us rushing back. Caribbean fishcakes were a bit 'nondescript fish and potato', and Jollof rice with Caribbean salsa and more fried plantain was a bit of a damp squib - but maybe we were rice and plantained out by that stage - certainly the vegans will be happy to be included. We were totally gutted to find out that the curry goat is only available at the weekend and plan on going back for that. We definitely over ordered with three snacks and four mains between four, but they do have takeaway boxes so you can take leftovers home - which you definitely should, down with food waste. What about dessert? There are currently no desserts on the menu, so you could head back down to Loose Canon for a cheese plate, or across the road to the recently opened Sweet Churro in Temple Bar, for the South American version of doughnuts filled with dulce de leche or chocolate. And the drinks? As stated earlier, it's not the most inspiring drinks list in the city. If you're happy with the usual suspects or spirits and mixers you'll be fine, otherwise you may want to get in, eat, and get out. We would have loved to see some Caribbean inspired drinks on the menu to go with the food, and think they're missing a trick. And the service? Ruby is like the mother hen, lavishing food on people and simultaneously blushing and giggling when they tell her how much they loved it. Bar staff were equally lovely. Our only complaint was that all seven items arrived to the table at the same time, which was way too much for the table to hold and for us to try to eat without a lot of it getting cold. So if you want snacks first followed by main after, make sure you tell them that. The verdict? "Authentic ethnic food" which also tastes great (not always a given, there are plenty of bad Irish stews made in this country on a nightly basis) is the holy grail for pavement pounding food-aholics. This tasted both authentically Caribbean and very tasty, and when you add in fast and cheap it's definitely worth using a meal token on. You could come out of here well fed for €10, and have a new cuisine to add to your repertoire. And if you go at the weekend, get the goat curry. Ruby Tuesday's Jerk Chicken Berlin D2, 14-15 Dame Lane, Dublin 2 www.facebook.com/RubyTuesdayJerkChickensaucedublinstyle New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Pala Pizza and Trattoria A Foxrock trattoria better than plenty in Rome Posted: 4 Oct 2022 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story? Back in early 2020, just a couple of weeks before Covid entered our lives, we told you about chef Rory Shannon, who had returned home from cooking in London and taken over the stoves at his family restaurant Bistro One in Foxrock, shaking things up in the process. We knew he was plotting his own restaurant, but a pandemic has a way of ruining best laid plans. The family has a long connection with Italy and a house out there (they even make their own olive oil), and during one of the many lockdowns, Shannon Jnr started Pala Pizza, as a way to make clever use of a few parking spaces outside the upstairs restaurant. He is shamelessly obsessed with Roman-style, crispy, topped pizza slices, and wanted to bring something new and different to the pizza scene here. The result was one that we and plenty of others became shamelessly obsessed with. Despite Pala's success, we still thought Shannon would hold out for a city centre site of his own, but in June the family announced that after 30 years Bistro One would close, and the next in line to the throne would open Pala Pizza & Trattoria in its place. A trattoria? In South County Dublin? It's the kind of word mediocre suburban restaurants insultingly throw around, like 'tapas', and 'fresh fish', but this wasn't any two-bit chef with a dream and an ill-advised investor. We were quietly confident that this was going to be one of the most needed, wanted and affirmative openings of 2022. Not to mention something genuinely fresh for the city. Where should we sit? The dining room has been transformed from its Bistro One days (see here for a throwback), and is all muted greens, soft lighting and dark wood. It's bright and inviting without being cold, and there's plenty of space - something parents of children who can't sit still will be appreciative of. There are two main rooms, the main one and a small one at the back, which would be ideal to take over as a group or for a family gathering and have what feels like your own private space. What's the menu like? Trattoria by name, trattoria by nature, Shannon Jnr's ticking all the right boxes with this one. Antipasti, pasta, pizza, secondi, deep-fried parcels of deliciousness (otherwise known as suppli and macaroni rimasto) - it all feels so simple, yet bizarrely rarely seen here at this inviting a level. What did you eat? Shannon's been curing his own meat for months and it's clearly a huge passion project, so that's a no brainer/while you wait must-order. They range from €4 - €6 a plate and both the Finocchiona and Mortadella tasted straight outta Bologna. Do not pass on the pickled vegetables and olives - they're electric with tang and heat. Of the deep-fried options we went with the lesser spotted Macaroni Rimasto (which means 'remaining') - deep fried macaroni in a cheesy bechamel with odds and ends of salumi, fried in panko and sitting on top of a vivid, herby, lemony salsa verde,. As deep-fried pasta goes, it's unexpectedly balanced, and expectedly delicious. Filled focaccia is another menu anchor, and we'd seen (and wanted) the Dexter beef ragu one when it was paraded on the gram . At first we thought they must have had trouble with the dough rising as it was missing the bready bubbles we associate with focaccia, but thinner and crispier seems to be the style here, and it works. The sound of the bread snapping against the rich ragu now sits among our favourite dinner soundtracks of 2022. Pastas are priced between €12 and €15 and they are not big portions., so you will likely need to order a few different ones to share, or just a load of antipasti/pizza to go alongside it. We tried the Tordelli Lucchesi (meat filled ravioli) which has the unmistakeable taste and texture of freshly made, but needed a touch more salt in the sauce. We also had the Carbonara which was silky and rich and heavy on the black pepper, with perfectly crisp guanciale dotted throughout. The pizza slices Pala initially became known for are of course on the menu here, ranging from €2.50 for a basic slice up to €6 for more expensive toppings, like burrata, smoked bacon and Cais na Tire Sheeps' cheese. Our 'Finocchiona' with fennel and black pepper salami and marinated artichokes, and our Anchovy & Whipped Ricotta with Kalamata olives were such perfect pieces of crisp, flavour-laden food that we've spent a disproportionate amount of time thinking about them since. How far in advance is the dough cooked? Is it reheated before toppings are put on? In the oven? For how long? How, how, how? There are four 'Secondi' type dishes too - bone-in prime rib, organic chicken with potatoes, whole sea bream on the bone and osso bucco, and we would have loved to try every one of them, but every stomach has its limits. Pala keeps it simple when it comes to dessert with tiramisu, and a deep-fried apple and cinnamon calzone. The Tiramisu is thinner than most we've encountered, but in no way suffers on flavour, and it's easily one of the best we've had. The deep-fried apple calzone with caramel sauce is the show-stopper (like a McDonalds apple pie if it was worth eating), and while you may think "€14 for flour and apples?", this is a dessert to share with a minimum of two, if not more. If you can tackle the whole thing yourself you're made of stronger stuff than we are. It's so rich and so OTT and yes, so very good. What about the drinks? A clear level up from your average trattoria, with plenty of bottles on the walls we would be very happy drinking. There's a nice selection of natural if you're a fan (we are) and everything's Italian, as it should be. There's also an aperitivo/digestif menu that's practically winking at you, and we can vouch for the Negroni Sbagliato. And the service? Servers were all young, friendly and perfectly proficient, and despite it being opening weekend and packed from one side to the other, things seemed (from outside anyway) to be running very smoothly. It's a casual place so they won't be hanging around your table and you may have to wave to get someone's attention, but when they come over smiling and upbeat you really don't mind. Anything else we should know? At 18:00 on Sunday it was packed with families, everything from newborns on the floor in car seats to teenagers fresh from the sportsfield. There was breast-feeding, there were toddlers shouting for food, there was laughter and animated chat and parents so happy to be dining out as a family eating food this good - it was all so Italian. Apparently they had a complaint over the weekend about the amount of children eating there. If you don't want children to be part of your dining experience you can eat out after 8pm when they're all in bed. Pala has Italian sensibilities running through every ounce of it, and that clearly includes catering for all ages. What was the damage? We spent around €40 a head before tip (including a drink and a half), and for the food and drinks we had there were zero complaints. What's the Pala Pizza & Trattoria verdict? If you haven't already gathered, we loved it. We wish every Dublin post code came with a Roman Trattoria so good you'll eat better here than in many places in Rome, but that's unlikely to happen outside of our food fantasy land, so this is somewhere we see ourselves travelling to regularly. And we're bringing the whole family with us. Pala Pizza & Trattoria 3 Brighton Road, Foxrock, Co. Dublin palapizza18.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Always buzzing, always reliable, the pedestrianisation of Capel Street has given Vietnamese Aobaba much needed extra seats. The summer rolls, the spring rolls, the pho, the Bánh Mi, we love it all. End with a Vietnamese coffee or bubble tea, and the pros order more food to go for lunch the next day. Aobaba Website aobaba.com Address 46A Capel Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Always buzzing, always reliable, the pedestrianisation of Capel Street has given Vietnamese Aobaba much needed extra seats. The summer rolls, the spring rolls, the pho, the Bánh Mi, we love it all. End with a Vietnamese coffee or bubble tea, and the pros order more food to go for lunch the next day. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

South Dublin on the sea has plenty of options to keep you happy after a swim or stroll through the character-filled villages of Blackrock and Monkstown. From market stalls to Michelin stars, fresh pasta to French fine dining. Blackrock - Monkstown - Mount Merrion Our Take South Dublin on the sea has plenty of options to keep you happy after a swim or stroll through the character-filled villages of Blackrock and Monkstown. From market stalls to Michelin stars, fresh pasta to French fine dining. Where to Eat 3 Leaves Big Mike's Bresson Camerino Bakery Fable and Stey Fellini's Hatch Coffee Blackrock Liath Little Forest Lobstar Ruchii September That's Amore Volpe Nera

Widely said to be one of the most authentic Italian restaurants in Dublin, the focus at Terra Madre is on sourcing the best ingredients and not over complicating them. Italophiles rave about the bruschetta with lardo, regularly changing pastas, rich desserts and great coffee. Terra Madre Website terramadre.ie Address 13A Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Widely said to be one of the most authentic Italian restaurants in Dublin, the focus at Terra Madre is on sourcing the best ingredients and not over complicating them. Italophiles rave about the bruschetta with lardo, regularly changing pastas, rich desserts and great coffee. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Cork-born Ciarán O'Regan and Diarmuid Connolly learnt their pizza making skills in Naples, before bringing them back to Ranelagh and fusing them with Irish ingredients like Toonsbridge ricotta and Cashel Blue. Their pizzas are heavy on the puns ('N'duja Think You Are' and 'The Fun Guy' are two of our favourites) and heavy on the flavour. Rita's Website ritas.ie Address 51 Elmwood Avenue Lower, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Cork-born Ciarán O'Regan and Diarmuid Connolly learnt their pizza making skills in Naples, before bringing them back to Ranelagh and fusing them with Irish ingredients like Toonsbridge ricotta and Cashel Blue. Their pizzas are heavy on the puns ('N'duja Think You Are' and 'The Fun Guy' are two of our favourites) and heavy on the flavour. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Natural wine café with a white-washed, flower-filled room, in a prime spot looking out to sea. A simple but effective breakfast and lunch menu give way to wine bar small plates in the evening, with tenderly created plates of Irish seafood, pasta and excellent vegetarian options, as well as smaller nibbles to snack on. The natural-only wine list is a draw in of itself, and don't be surprised if you're made to share a table with other diners. It's that kind of place. September Website instagram.com/september.dublin Address September, Bath Place, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Natural wine café with a white-washed, flower-filled room, in a prime spot looking out to sea. A simple but effective breakfast and lunch menu give way to wine bar small plates in the evening, with tenderly created plates of Irish seafood, pasta and excellent vegetarian options, as well as smaller nibbles to snack on. The natural-only wine list is a draw in of itself, and don't be surprised if you're made to share a table with other diners. It's that kind of place. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

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Mister S Everything tastes better with fire Posted: 17 Sept 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Mister S is the much anticipated second opening from Featherblade owners Jamie O'Toole and Paul McVeigh, who had a goal of bringing real, live-fire barbecue to Dublin - something the city has never had many options for. They brought Daniel Hannigan on board as head chef (formerly of Richmond and the driving force behind the Food For Thought charity dinners), and Tim Geeves, previously at London's famous and much loved barbecue restaurant Smokestak , as sous chef, and after some back and forth on the name, colour scheme, and a lot of work to turn what had been a blind and curtain shop into an upmarket but casual restaurant, they finally opened their doors at the start of September. (If you want to see exactly how much work has gone into this build, and be put off opening a restaurant forever, click on the " Our Journey " highlight on their Instagram page.) As you might have guessed, everything here is cooked over fire, even dessert, with the kitchen experimenting with different types of wood for fish, meat and vegetables, and there's something very raw and caveman-like about knowing your food has been licked by smoke and fire. These guys are also intent on delivering serious value for money, so 'nibbles' range from €6 - €8, and 'smoked and grilled' plates from €12 for carrots, freekah and salsa verde to €17 for smoked Angus shortrib. Considering their impeccable sourcing, with free-range pork from Andarl Farm in Galway, Waygu beef from Ridgeway Farm in Wicklow, and free-range organic chicken from Ring Farm in Kilkenny, these prices are pretty unbeatable in the city right now. Where should we go for a drink first? You won't be short of options around Camden Street, but we'd suggest Ryan's for a pint away from the madness, or Against The Grain if delving into craft beer is your idea of a good time. For a cocktail head to The Sitting Room , the bar with a "mid-century feel" above Delahunt (below), or for wine you could hover outside Frank's for a quick one. Where should we sit? There are plenty of seating options, all made from beautiful repurposed wood, that they've painstakingly burnt, oiled and brought back to life. There are booth type seats for four, single tables for two, and a counter with three seats facing out onto Camden Street that have 'solo diner' written all over them. There's also a long communal table hidden down the stairs at the back of the room that's perfect for larger groups. Mister S don't take bookings, but we were relieved to hear that they're using the Qudini app, so if they're full they'll take your name and text you when your table's ready. There are a lot of seats so we can't see this getting to ridiculous wait times (but may stand corrected). What's good to eat? Everything. We tried most of the menu over two visits and want to eat it all again, and again. The gambas served on flatbread drowned in bisque butter are haunting us on the daily. This isn't a dish to go for if you're butter-averse, but this is the land of butter, so why would you be (dairy allergies aside). The shells are used to make the intensely fishy, rich bisque, the gambas are fresh and fluffy, and at €8 this is just the dish to showcase the incredible value to be found here. Another dish you shouldn't miss is the organic smoked chicken with romesco, and if you don't get how rare it is to see organic chicken in a casual dining setting just take our word for it - it's going above and beyond, and only the teeniest amount of chicken produced in Ireland is organic. The thigh served in Mister S is smoky and juicy with crispy skin, sitting on a smoky, fruity, nutty romesco sauce, topped with almonds and olive oil, and will put paid to any notion that chicken is the inferior meat. Another dish of just charred mackerel with fennel and herb oil shows what you can get out of a cheap fish when you treat it right. Light, lukewarm and lovely. Unsurprisingly they really come into their own with the meats. The Andarl pork tomahawk is a very generous portion for €15, particularly considering the quality of the sweet, smoky meat. The meat from Andarl Farm is called 'velvet pork', a description that makes complete sense when you taste it. As for the smoked Angus shortrib, if anyone in the city is doing a better version we need to know about it. Getting a cheap cut of meat to taste this good takes time, skill and slow cooking, but it's a masterclass in why tougher cuts of meat and barbecue cooking are a match made in meat heaven. Don't miss all the crispy good stuff on the bone, and it's also served with smoked bearnaise, in case you needed any more reasons to plan a trip here. Sides include hispi cabbage with spicy sobrasada sausage and feta - what vegetable dreams are made of - and miso roasties with homemade smoked harissa (and loads of crispy bits at the bottom of the bowl), which will ensure that going back to regular roasties is a struggle forever more. Next time we'll be trying the sharing fish or steak, which was brill with langoustines, and côte de boeuf on the day we we were there. For dessert the bubble pudding is the one you're going to see everyone posting about. It's cooked on the grill in a cast iron pan, drowned in salted caramel sauce (which is still bubbling when it comes to the table) and finished off with a scoop of banana ice-cream. It's very good, but very large, so one to share is plenty. The other dessert on the menu right now is a strawberry and elderflower (picked by owner Paul's Mum) pudding, and while it's equally huge (and delicious), it feels slightly lighter on the stomach. What about the drinks? They've created a very smart, concise drinks list, with wine on tap and in bottle, cocktails, four beers and a cider. Everything's been carefully chosen to work with the food, and there are some serious wines on there, like Tenerife producer Envinate's garnacha, which we imagine would be a stellar pairing for loads of the dishes. We weren't expecting to drink white wine with barbecue but the surprise hit was a South African roussane/chenin blanc blend called Adi's House, which had the complexity, texture and acid to pair beautifully with dishes like the gambas and the pork. There are 8 wines by the glass and 18 by bottle, and we would love to see carafes introduced like in sister restaurant Featherblade. And the service? Great. Even though they've just opened it feels like a family operation, with everyone getting stuck in. Staff were warm and chatty and if they can keep up that level of hospitality under pressure and with a queue outside we don't think they'll have many unsatisfied customers. The verdict? We love Mister S, and don't think we've been this excited about a new opening since Variety Jones stormed onto the scene last Christmas. In Dublin's rapidly evolving food scene, it feels like a stake in the road, an important chapter in the growth of fast casual restaurants that could hold their own in any major city. Along with places like Lucky Tortoise, Chimac and Pi, Mister S are proving that exciting food of the highest quality can be delivered at every price point and in every setting, and are helping to reconnect all of us with what it means to eat Irish food. Mister S 32 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2 misters.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Char siu buns, pork puffs and Cantonese style egg tarts are some of the very inexpensive, very delicious reasons to visit Hong Kong taste bakery on Eden Quay. Owner/chef King Liu and his team start baking at 5am each morning and replenish supplies of sausage buns, milk bread and pandan swiss rolls throughout the day. Hong Kong Taste Bakery Website @hongkongtastebakery Address 21 Eden Quay, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Char siu buns, pork puffs and Cantonese style egg tarts are some of the very inexpensive, very delicious reasons to visit Hong Kong taste bakery on Eden Quay. Owner/chef King Liu and his team start baking at 5am each morning and replenish supplies of sausage buns, milk bread and pandan swiss rolls throughout the day. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Free-range egg sandwiches, homemade hash browns and chilled mimosas, with brilliant suppliers like Ballon Eggs and Higgins Butchers. Brothers Hugh and Eoin O’Reilly starting serving egg sandwiches in 2018 at festivals and events, and their second site in Rathmines came after the first on Smithfield Square. Try the Mad Yolk, Bad Yolk or Fresh Yolk, and gain a new appreciation for the humble egg. Mad Yolks Rathmines Website madyolks.ie Address Mad Yolks, Rathmines Road Upper, Rathmines, Dublin 6, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Free-range egg sandwiches, homemade hash browns and chilled mimosas, with brilliant suppliers like Ballon Eggs and Higgins Butchers. Brothers Hugh and Eoin O’Reilly starting serving egg sandwiches in 2018 at festivals and events, and their second site in Rathmines came after the first on Smithfield Square. Try the Mad Yolk, Bad Yolk or Fresh Yolk, and gain a new appreciation for the humble egg. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Row Wines This new wine & music bar is serving heady food in a striking space Posted: 22 Aug 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Row Wines? When Coppinger Row closed at the end of 2021, after their landlord decided to develop the building and put the lease on the open market, the Mediterranean-style bistro's regulars were devo.com . Owners Marc and Conor Bereen were already deep in plans for their next restaurant Orwell Road in Rathgar, which opened the following March, but they had unfinished business with this pedestrianised alleyway off South William Street. It took another year, but in April 2023 they revealed that they had secured the lease for the site next door, and were opening a "natural wine and music bar", with snacks and small plates from 23-year old Head Chef Paddy Maher, who had been sous chef at Orwell Road under Daniel Hannigan (he's also across things here as Executive Chef). If you know us you'll know we think Dublin needs more wine bars - places you can show up to without a reservation, that don't make you order three courses including a main, where the focal point is as much on the by the glass list as the food, so this was very good news. Where should we sit? The space looks incredible from every angle. This was not a cheap fit out, designed to feel like a wine bar in Barcelona or San Francisco, and from the green leather to the gold accents, the built-in decks in front of the kitchen to the striking art work covering the walls, there's nowhere else in the city we can compare it to. If you want to sit indoors we'd settle in at a banquette against the wall, giving you full view of the striking space. Over at the bar you'll find counter seating (one to add to our where to eat solo guide ) and some high tables, and there's a good amount of seating outside if it's a rare sunny day in Dublin. The outside seating is not as comfortable though if you're settling in for a few hours, with chair backs slouchy and tables slanted on the uneven ground below. They're also all tables for two meaning you'll have to pull a couple together if there's more of you - all or any of this may or may not bother you. What should we drink? The wine list is more accessible (read: affordable) than places like Fish Shop, Bar Pez or Note, with glasses starting at €8. While they may not have every wine producer with a cult-like following on there, it's fun, full of interest, and both a Portugese pet nat from Vigno and a Chenin Blanc from Domaines de Baumard in the Loire were exactly the light-touch, lively wines we wanted to drink on a sunny Saturday in the city. The more we looked at the list the more we wanted to drink from it, and we didn't even get a chance to try their cocktails, which favour Irish drinks producers and low ABVs. There's a few softs too, including that refreshing kefir from The King. What about food? Their menu of 8-10 small plates changes regularly, and it would have been easy to stick to the same old wine bar classics, but there's nothing dull or carbon-copied about the food in her e. A group of three or four could easily get through the whole menu - which is our pretty much our goal for every meal. Is there anything worse than food envy while looking at another table, or food regret for the one you didn't order... As we established a couple of weeks ago , Row's gilda (€5 for 2) is on the cheaper end of the Dublin scale for the Spanish bar snack, but it's also smaller than the ones at Fish Shop , Uno Mas and La Gordita , with an unexpected hit of chilli. Depending on your spice appreciation levels you may or may not enjoy this - we prefer to get the heat from the pickled green chilli and didn't think it was needed, but we'd still start our next meal with one of these salty, spicy mouthfuls. Marinated olives (green with stone in, black with stone out) were very good quality, juicy, mild and sweet, and a more generous portion than a lot of other places (they are €5 though). Something that's been on the menu from the start (and will hopefully stay on there as long as supply makes it possible) is the Kilkee crab rosti. Thinly sliced layers of waxy potato are deep-fried to a cripsy, chewy finish, served warm and topped with beautifully seasoned Kilkee crab. They're €16 for 5 so work out at just over €3 a bite, but this is a premium product showcased masterfully. There always seems to be a flatbread on, and ours was with nduja, anchovy and fresh basil (€12). The immaculate base was topped with a flavour bomb of spice and salt, but it was very oily and ended up all down our hands after a few bites. A little less nduja would have solved the problem (but it wasn't that big of a problem). Unusually large padron peppers (€8) came with zatar instead of the usual heavy hand with flaky sea salt, and needed a few more minutes in the pan to get the sweet, melting flavours and textures we love. We did see other people's which looked more like it, so we may have just gotten unlucky, and we would have preferred salt, but they were still finished off. Row has an admirable selection of vegetarian dishes (veggies and friends of veggies take note), and another menu success was the baby gem with caesar and Kilnahlan reserve - a Parmesan-style cheese from Kylemore Farmhouse (€10). The fresh, crispy lettuce halves are spread with a cheesey caesar dressing which starts to submerge down through the leaves, then are topped with breadcrumbs and more finely grated cheese. Lettuce has never had it so good. Burrata (€13) came with ripe, roasted peach, basil and mint, and more breadcrumbs, this time laced with zatar (they like zatar in these parts, and this was a very clever addition), We would eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and every flavour and texture was a paragon of summer - get in and eat it while you can. Our last savoury dish of mixed Garryhinch mushrooms (from Offaly) came with shallot xo, shiso leaves and an egg yolk (€14), and while flavours were good (particularly in the sauce), this is one for fungi fanatics. Some of the larger oyster mushrooms were jaw-pain-inducingly chewy, while the smaller ones like shiitake worked much better popped into your mouth with a spoonful of sauce and a drizzle of egg yolk. There's one dessert and one cheese plate (when we visited there was a triple cream from Ballylisk, an 'Irish camembert' and a blue, but details were scant). Dessert was an olive oil cake that Maher learnt how to make while cooking in Spain, with maceated strawberries and whipped mascarpone. There are few better pairings in life than strawberries and vinegar (get involved), and the rich, finely crumbed cake and light mascarpone made for an elegant, summer fruit-laced end to an excellent lunch. How was the service? Full of warmth with lots of big smiles meeting every request. There did seem to be a slight gap in knowledge when it came to the menu, with one (delightful) server unable to answer some questions about the menu, and having to check several things with the kitchen, so a bit more training on what the kitchen is using and serving would be welcomed. What was the damage? €113.50 with two glasses of wine and a kefir, which felt like decent value for what we had. What's the verdict? Although Row Wines is where Coppinger Row was and has the same owners, it's a very distant relative. While Coppinger was a cosy jumper that you've worn a hundred times and knew exactly what to pair it with, Row is like the 'investment' jacket you've bought in All Saints across the road - thrilling, unusual, ripe for eye-widening and compliments from anyone who comes across it. The space feels like nowhere else in Dublin, the drinks are made for diving into, and for a chef in his early twenties to be turning out food this heady and distinctive, we're marking him as one to watch. Row Wines Coppinger Row, Dublin 2 bereenbrothers.com/row New Openings & Discoveries More >>

All The Food is an independent guide to eating and drinking in Dublin. About Us Behind the Food All The Food is an independent guide to eating and drinking in Dublin. ATF was started in 2018, to help readers experience the best food Dublin has to offer, and not waste time or money on mediocre meals. Eating in Dublin has never been more exciting than it is at this very moment, especially when you know which places you should run to (and which you should sidestep). Every meal written about here has been paid for us. We don’t accept invites or free meals in exchange for content. We think that the only way to judge a meal involves handing over money at the end and seeing if it stings. Editor - Lisa Cope What We're About 01 We're Indie We visit cafés, restaurants, and bars on our own terms. We don't do invites, publicity events, or sponsored visits. All the meals and featured content have been paid for by us - that means we can be as thoughtful, honest, and real as we need to be. 02 We're Ad-free We are ad-free on all of our platforms, and fully reader-funded through our ATF Insiders service. This means we are the only people influencing our content. Well, us and our readers. 03 We're Hungry We think about nothing but food and are capable of talking about little else. It consumes every minute of our days, and we’re putting it to use digging out the best places you’ve never heard of, giving you the honest lowdown on headline hoggers, and telling you where your money is best spent. What's New News and recommendations. More >>

La Gordita Exciting, original Spanish cooking, in a Bodega-style setting Posted: 4 Apr 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What do we need to know about La Gordita? It's the second, more "grown-up" opening from Las Tapas De Lola 's Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy, just around the corner. It's been pitched as 'bodega-style', but they're not actually looking for people to pitch up at the bar sipping sherry and eating olives. Instead this is somewhere to settle in for a three-course meal with all the wine, and leave feeling spoilt. The head chef here is Maria Luisa Moraleda, who was cooking with Killian Walsh at Clanbrassil House before being nabbed by the Lola girls, and he's clearly a fan . She seems to have been a brilliant and perhaps lucky hire, being on the ground, ready to make a move, and fitting the restaurant's spec so perfectly, coming to Dublin by way of Sevilla and Donostia. We'd imagine the opening menu is a collaboration between Maria and the owners, but she seems like someone with a strong style and a lot of confidence, so we can see her fully taking the reins before long. Where should we sit? It's a long, narrow room, with a few tables for two, four or six, and the rest bar seating. You know the story. Solo diners will love the bar option, as will a lot of couples. Any more than two and you're probably better off at a table for conversational reasons. They're aren't many though, two in the front and three in the back, and the maximum booking they can take is for six people. When we booked the website said there was only bar seating available, even though there were empty tables when we got there, and a staff member told us they're trying to keep the tables for bigger groups. If you're a two and would prefer a table, it's worth giving them a call to ask. Two of the tables in the front offer a great people watching vantage point onto Montague Street, while the ones at the back will give you views right into the kitchen. Again if you have a preference it's worth calling and asking if your preferred area is available. What's the lowdown on the menu? Something that may or may not come as an unwelcome surprise is the stipulation that you must order a main course, as part of a minimum two courses per person. A minimum order is never an issue, but when faced with 18 snacks and small plates before the "main deals", each sounding better than the last, being forced to use up so much of your budget and stomach space on the bigger plates might not be what you want. Our server explained that "we're not a tapas bar, that's around the corner in Las Tapas de Lola", but as it's been pitched as 'bodega-style' we assumed there would be more flexibility around ordering, especially as we (and we know most of you) want to try as much on a menu as possible. We pleaded with our server that we'd already picked what we wanted online (three snacks, three small plates, the lobster main and two desserts), and after some back and forth he agreed to let us go forth and eat. We know that being forced with a minimum spend on a menu doesn't sound great either, and that they can't survive unless people order an adequate amount of food, but would that many people really rock up and sit over a plate of almonds for a couple of hours? We don't know what the answer is other than trusting that diners who come to a restaurant actually want to eat, and if they don't having them justifiably removed by the heavies. We started with a couple of gildas, which are the only way to start a meal in any respectable Spanish establishment. Pair with a Manzanilla sherry for the perfect opening to dinner. Before these came a little bowl of complimentary olives from Antequera in Spain, which were richly flavoured, salty and tangy. Then the La Gordita version of garlic bread, or really garlic on toast. So simple, so perfect, so hard to understand why no one else has done this here. This isn't your 49c garlic from the fruit and veg aisle. Staff told us it's coming from Spain each week, and after a low, slow roast is so sweet, so savoury, so perfectly salted, squeezed out and slathered all over the crunchy toast. Our love for vinegar-soaked boquerones runs deep, but the ones here weren't the best we've had. The best ones are bright white, with plump juicy flesh, tang and oil beautifully intertwined. These ones had clearly been doused in some quality olive oil, but were greying and on the tougher side. An 'Asadillo con melva' - salad of roasted red pepper, melva tuna from Barbate in Cádiz, and garlic - on the other hand was simple and perfect. This is the good tuna, the one that makes John West look and taste like cat food, sitting on a bed of sherry vinegar marinated roasted red peppers and slivers of white onion. It tastes like sitting on a Mediterranean beach sipping a cold glass of white wine, feeling the sand between your toes and the sun on your arms. We were advised to order the bombitas de morcilla, one of their most popular dishes, which are Spanish black pudding balls with goat's cheese, served with tomato marmalade. The excellent morcilla is silky soft, and while you might not spot the goat's cheese amongst all the black, every so often you'll get a pleasing whack of it. We can never resist some berenjenas fritas con miel de caña (f ried aubergine with sugar cane honey for the uninitiated), and these were very good but different to every other example we've tried. They're cut so finely they're more like crisps and you don't get any aubergine texture, but once you pop you won't be able to stop, and the sugar cane honey was the ideal consistency, not too thick and treacly as is sometimes the case. For the 'main deal' we couldn't see past the 'Bogavante de Formentera' - fried lobster with potatoes, padrón peppers and fried eggs. It's €37 so it's a splurge, and you only get half a lobster so it's a tricky one to share - we wouldn't advise even attempting if there are more than two of you. It's a beautiful dish, the fresh Irish lobster just cooked, the potatoes cut thin as crisps, padrons oily and salted, and the fried eggs crumpled with all the right crispy edges, and oozing yolks. It's pretty plush, but you're worth it. We'd ordered the patatas panaderas (because trying all and any form of potatoes as an Irish person is mandatory), but as the lobster already came with potatoes our server suggested we try the 'espinacas cremosa' - creamed spinach with pinenuts and raisins, and we scraped every last sliver from the dish. It's the type of side you might try to make at home for steak night, but yours never ends up as silky and creamy and utterly delicious as this one. There are four desserts on the menu and a cheeseplate, but we think they've missed a trick not using the latter as an opportunity to showcase some of the incredible Spanish cheeses available in Ireland, like Manchego, Monte-Enebro and Cabrales. When we visited it was Comté, Delice de Bourgogne and Cashel Blue, which jarred with the rest of the menu and feels like an attempt at appealing to the masses rather than committing to the bit. We were recommended the Tarta de Manzana, a Spanish apple tart not unlike a Tart Tatin, with richly flavoured rum & raisin ice-cream, and while enjoyable, it needed to have been cooked for longer to up the caramelisation - we saw another leaving the kitchen beforehand which was a lot darker and looked more like it. The other headline-grabbing dessert is the Torrijas - almond milk-soaked bread with almond cream. It's a heavy choice to end a meal with, and one you might regret while walking for a taxi/DART/bus, but you'll have no regrets while spooning the burnished, milky, marzipan-esque toast into your mouth. What about the drinks? There are seven sherries by the glass, which is admirable by any Dublin restaurant's standards, but they're all Lustau bar one. Lustau makes some really great sherry, and the three we tried (a dry Palo Cortado, a 25-year dry Oloroso, and a sweet 'Solera' with dessert) were choice examples, but in a city where superstars like Callejuela and De La Riva are readily available we would have liked to see more breath. There's plenty of interest on the main wine list too (more so by the bottle), but we would have loved to see them do a solo Spanish deep-dive like Grano or Apertivo have done for Italy, and left the people pleasing Picpouls and Pouilly Fuissés to the others. Our advice - stick to Spanish, like Raventós' cava-style (but better than most you've probably tried) 'I Blanc', Raul Perez's Godello 'Ultreia', or Comando G's cult Garnacha 'La Bruja De Las Rozas'. There's a classic cocktail list too, plenty of spirits, and beer from Estrella. How was the service? Delightful, charming, hospitality personified. You know immediately that they're going to build up a roster of regulars, whose likes and dislikes they'll get to know, who'll have their favourite spot at the bar, a comped drink before going home. It's just that kind of place, and was always going to be coming from the same team as Las Tapas de Lola, known for one of the warmest welcomes in Dublin. What was the damage? This amount of food which happily fed (stuffed) two with five drinks will cost you €163 before a tip. And the verdict? We always think the mark of a great restaurant is when we're walking out the door looking for reasons to return, and in a city of constant new openings that we're occupationally compelled to try, that's not often the case. We were thinking up excuses to go back to La Gordita before we'd even left, for the caviar and crisps, the anchovies with blue cheese butter, the lamb ribs, the octupus with romesco, the weekend arroz special. Head chef Maria's cooking is exciting, original, honest, and we want more of it., We'd love to see the must order main course stipulation changed to a minimum spend (or dropped altogether), but if this doesn't happen we'd suggest going as a four or six so you can try as many snacks and small plates as possible. Otherwise the sadness at leaving so much unordered may be unbearable. On the other hand it's an excuse for another visit, not that you'll have to try too hard to come up with one. La Gordita 6 Montague Street, Dublin 2 lagordita.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Spanish tapas restaurant owned and run by Spanish/Irish couple Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy. Open since 2012, getting a reservation for sangria, Ensalada Rusa and Chicharrones is still a book well in advance situation, but it's worth planning ahead like the regulars do for a dining experience as fun as it is flavoursome. Las Tapas de Lola Website lastapasdelola.com Address 12 Wexford Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Spanish tapas restaurant owned and run by Spanish/Irish couple Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy. Open since 2012, getting a reservation for sangria, Ensalada Rusa and Chicharrones is still a book well in advance situation, but it's worth planning ahead like the regulars do for a dining experience as fun as it is flavoursome. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Casual Malaysian café serving authentic versions of Nasi Lemak, Rendang Chicken and excellent Roti Canai. Kopitiam Website @KopitiamDublin Address 53 Capel Street, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Casual Malaysian café serving authentic versions of Nasi Lemak, Rendang Chicken and excellent Roti Canai. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Portobello favourite Bibi's could exist solely on sales of their Turkish eggs, but their brownies are almost as famous. Breakfast, brunch and lunch are what they're known for, but recently you'll find natural wines and sharing plates there several evenings a week. Bibi's Website bibis.ie Address 14b Emorville Avenue, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Portobello favourite Bibi's could exist solely on sales of their Turkish eggs, but their brownies are almost as famous. Breakfast, brunch and lunch are what they're known for, but recently you'll find natural wines and sharing plates there several evenings a week. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

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 >>

Nan Chinese A taste of East China in a great space for groups Posted: 10 Jan 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What's the story? Nan Chinese is a new opening from the team that previously brought us Stoneybatter success story Hakkahan and Double Happy takeaway in Rathfarnham. It hones in on Huaiyang cuisine - one of the “four great traditions” of Chinese gastronomy, and has a menu built around a selection of the main regional specialties. The kitchen team has been largely parachuted in directly from East China, and they say they're dedicated to serving up an authentic taste of a part of the world not currently represented in Dublin's food scene. Considering how much Hakkahan impressed us with its top-tier take on Sichuan cuisine - one of the most familiar of the Chinese culinary traditions to Irish palates - we were very curious to see what fresh new flavours Nan might bring to the city. Where should I go for a drink first? If you’re after wine, Nan is just a short stroll from Loose Canon or a slightly longer one from Frank’s : both have a great by-the-glass range to while away however long you’ve got. On the cocktail front, Drury Buildings and El Silencio are each a stone’s throw away and awash with great drinks; you could stick to the Chinese theme and start off in Hang Dai’s Gold Bar . Where should we sit? The room has been completely overhauled since the time of the last tenant, much-missed late-night café Accents, with low overhead lighting casting a welcoming glow across the tan leather seating and dusky pink walls fitted out with simple Chinese city maps. Apart from a pair of window tables up front with good people-watching potential onto Stephen Street, there’s not much difference between the two-and four-top tables spread comfortably throughout the space, flanked by soft cotton drapes and low hanging lights. There’s also a private dining space downstairs, with a grand chandelier-illuminated circular table that can seat up to twelve - perfect for your next group gettogether. What did you eat? Too much, most likely, but Nan has a broad and far-reaching menu that it’s hard not to want to get a wide selection from: bringing along a group is definitely recommended. We started off with soup dumplings because we can never say no to them, and here the paper-thin casing hides a delicately-flavoured pork broth and meat - a short and sharp umami hit and a welcome warm escape from the January cold. Next up, a minced pork meatball in broth had a surprisingly soft texture, with meltingly tender meat yielding under the lightest pressure and almost dissolving in the mouth. The sad, stray little mushroom and bok choi left swimming in the broth didn’t bring much flavour though - this isn’t the kind of leftover liquid any table is likely to come to blows over. More pork next - can you tell it's a speciality - in the form of the Shengjian bao. (We had meant to order these and forgot, but we'd been busted and then they arrived to the table FOC because we "had to try"). These plump little buns are pan-fried for a perfectly crisp bottom that complements the airy lightness of the dough, and inside, little discs of ground meat show off more of that tender pork texture. If you're opting for just one starter, this is the way to go. The Nanjing salted duck was one of the dishes the owners most keenly recommended as a particular regional delicacy, and one the servers took extra care to ensure we knew would be coming out cold - while the mostly Chinese diners in at the same time as us seemed to be going straight for this one, there’s clearly a fear that Irish tastes might not take to cold meat on the bone. It’s a uniquely-textured dish with the cooked and cooled duck notably less firm than more familiar servings after its salt treatment, but we found this a mixed bag. As the centrepiece of a salad this preparation could work really well; just served sliced in admittedly generous mounds, it can tend to taste a little one-note. Worth a shared plate among friends for a chance to give it a go, but again don’t expect arguments over who gets the last piece. “Lion’s head” meatballs are one of Huaiyang cuisine’s classic exports, and come with salted egg yolk inside, bathed in brown sauce (an oyster, soy and beef broth reduction, not your childhood Chef bottle). The yolk has a soy-cured character and almost grainy texture that plays well against the sweet softness of the meat, while the sauce is so thick it’s a race to lap it all up before it congeals. Near-raw broccoli brings a pop of colour if nothing else - the one bum note in an impressive plate. Seafood features heavily across the menu and we were disappointed to find no lobster on the night despite a dedicated section in the menu, so we made our peace with a pair of fish dishes instead. Stir-fried turbot came first, cooked with asparagus and bell peppers in a garlic chili sauce. It’s a well-presented plate framed with crispy fried noodles, which add needed crunch, even if they’re a little too tricky to get your chopsticks round. You won’t often see turbot on a Chinese menu in Dublin: we’re pleased to report this is one of the more interesting uses of the high-end fish we’ve seen in some time, although the chilli seemed to be more sweet than spicy. The deep-fried sweet and sour seabass is plainly the standout visual presentation in the place - more than one of our fellow diners almost pulled a muscle craning to get a look at the plate as it came our way. The deep-frying gives the skin a crispy kick, shattering on first bite and melting into the bright red sauce. It’s a great first mouthful, albeit a dish we couldn’t imagine anyone eating all to themselves - like a lot of the food at Nan, this is probably best shared amongst a crowd. On the side, we had a serving of claypot green beans with spicy mixed pork and a portion of Yangzhou fried rice. The egg, pea, and prawn-laden grains weren’t wildly distinct from anything you’ll get across town, and a little over-priced in our opinion at €18, but the green beans had us all clashing chopsticks for more, with the balance of fresh veg crunch, chili spice punch and a little hint of sweetness from whole roast garlic cloves. Like the rice, this is a dish you can find all over Dublin, but Nan's shows off the skill of this kitchen and this is something we would order every time. By this point we didn't have much room left for dessert, but we'd been told we had to try one of the sweet soups for dessert, and again it was brought by management FOC. The pumpkin and sweet wine soup with sesame rice balls is a light finisher after all the savoury plates, with a deep, mellow earthiness from the stewed pumpkin, with stringy flesh floating throughout just a little off-putting. The sesame balls are the star of the show, rich bursts of nutty flavour that leave you wanting more, no matter how full you might be. What about the drinks? The wine menu is serviceable and unspectacular, with a reasonable price range to suit most budgets. We started with the Le Comtesse sparkling rosé, whose strawberry notes held up well against the tender pork plates. A Vickery Watervale Riesling followed, with a crisp, off-dry acidity that handled the spicier mains nicely. Beer options are decent with some craft choices, and likely to be a popular choice. How was the service? Attentive and friendly, with no issues catching an eye whenever we needed anything, but a little trouble confirming exactly which wine we wanted - a little more training on the list might be needed. We ordered everything together and the arrival of dishes was well-paced, with welcome breathing space left between each wave, but never so much that we started looking around us. Staff are very happy to help you make the difficult call on what you want, but be sure to say you want a traditional taste, as a few (mostly chicken) dishes have been added to cater to the less adventurous Irish eaters. What was the damage? Around €75 a head with two bottles of wine between three, but as you can see we over ordered. They do have take away containers if you want to do the same and take some home. The verdict? The latest, welcome addition to the growing roster of quality Chinese restaurants in Dublin, Nan shines a spotlight on a lesser-seen cuisine with a diverse selection of dishes and simple, confident cooking. The flavours aren't as in your face as some other Chinese cuisines, but the whole concept of Huaiyang is supposed to be softly flavoured, simple and sophisticated. Its soft lighting and low-key background music make it an ideal choice for casual catchups, especially with friend groups who are happy to pass plates back and forth, but currently veggie options are thin on the ground - with two of the three dishes in the “vegetables” section not even meat-free, this might not be the best option if your group isn’t all sworn omnivores. Nan Chinese Unit 1, Drury Hall, Stephen Street Lower, Dublin 2 www.nanchinese.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Chameleon A reinvention for Indonesian tapas in Temple Bar Posted: 2 Apr 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Indonesian-inspired Chameleon 's been part of the fabric of Temple Bar for an incredible 25 years, and recently made the clever decision to do a bit of a brand update - they got a new logo, changed the outside of the restaurant from black to bright blue, and invested in a beautiful new spray-painted shutter . It's a shrewd move to stand out in a city that's currently seeing a record number of restaurant openings each month, and one that got them onto our hottest restaurants in Dublin list for March. We hadn't visited in a long time, and after a very well-eaten foodie told us they were "hitting all the right notes" when it came to Indonesian cooking we thought it was worth a visit. Where should we go for a drink first? The temptation is always there to dance into Oliver St. John Gogarty 's and act like a tourist for an hour - you'll leave with a lighter wallet but a newly invigorated sense of national pride that only twee Irish music, aran jumpers and barely passable bowls of stew can summon up (but best to avoid the toilets if you can - €5 million a year in profit clearly isn't enough for a new paint job and some air freshener). Roberta's and The Liquor Rooms (below) do great cocktails, and for wine both Piglet and Loose Canon are within a 5 minute walk. Where should we sit? Upstairs all the way, ideally at the lower tables with the cushioned seating for the full experience. Anyone with a dodgy back or who likes proper tables and chairs can opt for the standard tables. There are more tables downstairs, but we don't think it has the same atmosphere or feel as the first floor. What's good to eat? The main part of the menu revolves around set menus that are either meat, fish or vegetable based, from €36 - €40 per person. There are also 'Asian Tapas', a lot of which are found on the various set menus. We thought it would be a good idea to get one Java (meat-based) and one Sumatra (fish based) to try as much as possible, but we hadn't realised that four of the seven dishes were the same on both (noodles, vegetables and a fish cake), so if we were choosing again we'd pick one set menu and other dishes from the Asian tapas section so that we could try more. The best thing we ate was probably the fish finger bao, with tiger prawn and squid katsu and sambal (a type of chilli sauce) in a homemade bao. Immediate regret for not having ordered all the bao. Other highlights included the Sweet Sambal Udang - marinated prawns with pineapple and chilli mango sauce - which walked the line perfectly between sweet, savoury and sour, the Kari Java - a Javanese curry with braised shoulder of Wicklow lamb and sweet potato that was incredibly rich in flavour, and the sesame fried vegetables with sautéed onions and toasted sesame seeds, which managed to make cabbage addictive. Both the crab cake with haddock and the chicken satay (props for using free-range) were enjoyable, and the beef rendang had great flavour but the meat could have been more tender. We weren't keen on the noodles which had an overpowering taste of molasses, and the salad with cucumber, mango and Chinese leaves could have done with having the dial turned up on the dressing - or maybe just needed more dressing. A dessert of Kahlua and organic dark chocolate pannacotta with peanut brittle had the perfect wobble, and was a nice midway point between coffee and dessert, when your heart says espresso, but your head says it's too late, don't do it. And the drinks? The wine list is pretty compact, with half on tap and half in bottle. The advantage of those on tap is that they're available in small and large glasses, carafes and bottles, so everyone can drink what they want in exactly the amount they want, but we would have liked to see a few more options that would specifically compliment the food in either format, like off-dry Pinot Gris or Gewurztraminer. We drank the Hobo Workbook Californian red blend on tap which is a great all-rounder, and for white we would have gone for the Peter & Peter Riesling in bottle, a grape that tends to work well with Asian flavours. And the service? Really warm, and couldn't do enough for us. The only issue with the set menus is that everything comes at once, and it's a lot of food, so by the time we reached the end some of it was cold, but retrospectively if we had asked our lovely server to bring a few things first like the bao, satay and fish cake, we think she would have been more than happy to oblige. That would be the plan next time. The verdict? There are a lot of good flavours going on at Chameleon, and we kept thinking what a perfect place it is for group dining - bag one of the big tables upstairs, order all the food and a load of carafes of wine, and we're pretty sure everyone would leave happy. Keeping a restaurant open for 25 years is no mean feat, and keeping people talking about you for that long is even more difficult, but we think updating their image was just what was needed to put Chameleon back on Dublin diner's agendas. Chameleon 1 Fownes Street Lower, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 www.chameleonrestaurant.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Orale Street Food @ Pawn Shop Steak tartare tostadas, tacos and chicken fat rice make for supremely better bar food Posted: 21 Mar 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story with Órale? Órale Street Food (pronounced Orralaay, meaning 'all good' in Mexican slang) was started by Ian Cairns in 2019, originally operating out of The Belfry in Stoneybatter as a taco-based pop up. They were trucking along nicely until Covid butted its head into things, shutting them down and causing them to narrowly miss out on an Irish Times write up from Catherine Clear y, who visited and called the tacos "brilliant" and delicious". Once restrictions were lifted they pulled their trailer to Bonobo in Smithfield, Walsh's in Stoneybatter and Eatyard in Drumcondra, before taking up a more semi-permanent spot in Dun Laoghaire on the Pavillion, but a permanent location was the goal. After Berlin Bar on Dame Street was shut down mid-Covid for flaunting regulations, new operators moved in to open Pawn Shop , and knowing Cairns they asked if he'd come on board to do the food. He jumped at the chance, but it's taken over a year to get their bar licence back, and they've only officially reopened this month. To add insult to (literally) injury, Cairns managed to damage his arm so badly a few months ago that he needed surgery at the start of the year, and needed a new head chef to come on board stat or they wouldn't be able to open. Brian Spain (previously at 777 and Charlotte Quay) came in to save the day, and looks to have been a brilliant hire . The bar and restaurant opened fully for business a few weeks ago, and the new menu looked so good we had to get straight in there. Where should I sit? The 'restaurant' area is just in front of the kitchen, under a glass atrium bringing all the light. Sit anywhere here for the full menu, or you can order from a more condensed version at the bar or around the back (but if it's quiet we imagine they'd be flexible) What's on the menu? It screams sharing, so please go with people who want to try all the food. Tacos are a non-negotiable, but there are loads of smaller places like tortilla chips and tostadas, as well as bigger mains and burritos. It's a really nice sized menu, with plenty of choice, but not so big you'll worry about whether they can get it all right. The corn tortillas come from Mexican food producer Balam (also used by El Milagro and made from scratch, nixtamilization and everything), and it's these tortillas that are cut up into triangles, deep-fried and topped with cheese, jalapeños, sour cream, salsa roja, salsa verde and pico de gallo. Once you've had freshly fried tortillas it's hard to go back to the stuff in foil-lined bags which seem stale in comparison, and we loved every element here, we just would have liked a little more cheese and jalapeños (but we're greedy). They did give us extra sauces on the side. It's a hefty portion so best for sharing, or you'll fill up before you've even gotten started. We'd place a bet that the agave habanero chicken wings with achiote and orange are going to be a popular order in here, and the fact that they're using free-range chicken from Rings Farm makes them all the more appealing. The smoky, spicy sauce will have you throwing the wet wipes to the side and licking the remnants off your fingers, but they were quite fatty and we would have prefered a longer, slower cook to render them down and make them crispier. One dish that we couldn't take our eyes off after seeing it on the menu was the steak tartare tostada with bone marrow, habanero salsa, sunflower seeds and pickled onions, and it's a stunner. Every ingredient has a place on the plate, every flavour shines through, the textures are nailed. We'd suggest popping in for a beer and one of these, but we wouldn't be able to stop at just one. Órale made their name on tacos, and there are five on the menu here, with pork, chicken, fish, flank steak, and sweet potato. Everything except steak can be mixed and matched at €13 for two or €18 for three (the flank steak are €15 for three), and we tried the chicken, pork and fish (in that order in the pic below) All three are worth ordering and were loaded with flavour, but the masa-fried chicken with lemon aioli, sesame onion salad and coriander was the unanimous favourite. Pork carnitas comes with mango and habanero salsa, lime and jalapeño slaw, onion and coriander, and the Baja fish comes with pickled cabbage, pineapple pico, ssamjang and orange salsa and coriander, and this kitchen bring a very good (and different) salsa game. We wanted all the mains, which include bavette steak, whole seabass, and squash al pastor with blue corn tortillas, but the Rings organic half roast chicken with ancho mole, chicken fat rice and crispy garlic won out (mainly becase of the chicken fat rice). The meat had been flattened and cooked over a grill, leaving the meat nicely juicy and the skin nicely charred. The mole was a savoury pile of deliciousness (albeit a bit heavy on the coriander seeds), and the chicken fat rice, oh the chicken fat rice... We were so taken by this one that we had to grill the chef afterwards to find out what he'd done. It's bascially day-old rice cooked in the fat that drips down when the chicken's cooking, with some other spices and flavourings in there, and crispy garlic on top. We will be trying to make this at home, and it will not taste as good as this. For now the solo dessert is a chocolate brownie with salsa cachete and vanilla ice-cream, but we were royally stuffed at this point and a brownie wasn't enough to make ourselves even more uncomfortable. What about drinks? Pawn Shop are behind the drinks, and there's a nice looking beer and cocktail list, with Irish brewers including Whiplash , Dublin City Brewing Company and Trouble Brewing . We tried a 'Friskey Sour' with Teelings small batch, Ancharo Green (we have searched and searched and have zero idea what this is, except maybe a typo), gooseberry, sugar and egg whites, but it was unbalanced in the direction of sour, leaving puckered lips behind after every sip. We really liked the Liberator lager which was a nice easy sipper, and the bar also came up with a non-alcoholic cocktail for the driver, in the region of passionfruit and lemon, which was pleasant if basic. How was the service? Owner Ian was doing all of the food service when we were there with another lovely server bringing drinks, and the food came out at a really nice pace, with optimum opportunities to ask questions and have the chats. It was very quiet at lunchtime though so we can't speak for how you'll find it on a rocking Saturday night, but we think these guys get it. What was the damage? €97 for enough food to feed three comfortably with a drink each, so you're looking at just over €30 a head for a very good feed. And the verdict? Órale are serving properly tasty, different food from their Dame Street bar base, and our only concern is whether drunken bar goers will appreciate it. Bars need better food, but after the quick demise of Taco Libre we just hope this better bar food experiment is more successful. It's a perfect place to meet with a group of friends or family, right in the city centre, relaxed and well-priced, and lunchtime is pretty perfect for younger diners in too, as there's loads of space for buggies and colouring equipment on tables (there's no nappy change though). The next time you want to just pull up a chair, order a beer and eat something really tasty with none of the fuss, you've got a new option on Dame Street. Órale Street Food @ Pawn Shop 15 Dame Street, Dublin 2 instagram.com/pawnshopdublin New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Steak and seafood with more than a few nods to the Parisian bistro. Classic, comforting dining in the seaside village of Dalkey. Deville's Website devilles.ie Address 25 Castle Street, Dalkey, Co. Dublin Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Steak and seafood with more than a few nods to the Parisian bistro. Classic, comforting dining in the seaside village of Dalkey. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

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

Hera The Northside's newest gastropub serving the food we really want to eat Posted: 21 Jan 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Hera? It's the new Drumcondra/Dorset Street gastropub that started off as just Juno , from the guys behind Achara on Aston Quay and Crudo in Sandymount (Sean Crezcensi and Jamie McCarthy), and the guys who own The Fourth Corner in Dublin 8 (Brian McCarthy and Jonathan Foley). Juno remains an old-man style bar (for now) on the right, but the left side of the building has been given a facelift fit for 2025, and been turned into Hera (the Greek version of the Roman Goddess Juno - swot up on your Greek mythology here ). We loved the food at Juno , but it was fast food style, with battered sausages, burgers and fish sandwiches. Hera has grander notions for herself, and with Dublin tending to struggle for good gastropubs (particularly on the Northside), where the food is the main draw over the drinks and atmosphere, she's been warmly welcomed to the neighbourhood. When it comes to industry players to watch, we'd put the guys behind Hera , Achara and Crudo in the upper tier of restaurateurs who just get what diners want right now, and strive constantly to give it to them at the best price, so we were eager to see what they'd come up with next. Where should we sit? The former old man pub has been brought bang up to date in a soothing room of greys, greens and browns, with eclectic artwork on the walls and candles on the tables. The sort of alcove to the left when you walk in has all the cosy vibes, but the tables down at the bar opposite the kitchen have more space for groups of four - six, or if you have bulky things with you like bags or buggies. There's also a semi-private dining room in between the two that comfortably sits six, wrapped in walnut wood and bathed in soft lighting and plant life. What's the menu like? Gastropub goes upmarket, with none of the boring box-ticking dishes seen at the majority of other food-serving pubs who consider themselves in the same bracket. There's no burger, no chicken supreme, no seafood chowder - let us rejoice for originality. Prices are on the reasonable side, with snacks from €3 - €8, but small plates are a punchier €12 - €16, so better to see them as smaller sharing mains than starters lest you accidentally blow the budget. Big plates start at €19, and they have what must be one of the best value rib-eye steaks in Dublin at €30. As far as oysters go, Hera's Carlingford ones topped with smoked butter (torched tableside) are a seafood celebration, and a brilliant entry point for anyone struggling to get a taste for the love it or hate it shellfish. A creamy, smoked cod taramasalata comes with homemade Ballymakenny crisps - another nice appetite opener, but we would have prefer the crisps less oily. Remus' sourdough foccacia is the same as the one they use in Crudo, from Dublin's Oaksmoke Bakery , and it tasted even better here. So crisp on the outside, so fluffy in the middle, we would have sworn it was fresh from the oven. We love a flavoured butter, and the chicken and mushroom one here was gone as quickly as it landed. Two long strips of fried Tallegio came with a (subtler than expected) pear and ginger mustard, and a black lime dressing that we couldn't taste black lime off. It's a cheesy, gooey, God forgive me kind of starter, but again needed better draining to soak up the excess oil. We don't often expect meatballs to wow, but the chicken and pancetta ones here did. Your spoon will glide through the soft spheres swimming in chunky wild mushroom and chipotle sauce, topped with finely grated, melting Cloonbook reserve cheese (a semi-hard cow's cheese from Velvet Cloud). You'll want every crumb of that focaccia to scarpetta the bowl clean. Purple broccoli fritti appeared to be regular tenderstem, but were cooked beautifully with just enough bite. The miso bagna cauda didn't have the flavour punch we would have liked, but regardless it's hard to stop bringing them in the direction of your mouth. Then onto that €30 rib-eye that's going to be a massive draw here. The meat was flawlessly seasoned, beautifully charred, and on the right side of medium. It is a fatty cut, but that's what's delivering all that flavour. Pickled onion rings really need to dial up the pickle, and again needed a rendezvous with some paper towels before being plated up. We really didn't like that green peppercorn sauce though, which was strangely sharp and astringent. Maybe cream would help, or something else to temper the acid, but even with that we found the flavour profile oddly unpleasant. Caribou has set the pepper sauce standard in Dublin and it's a high bar. Vegetarians are well looked after here with six options before sides, and the juicy aubergine schnitzel with tomato sugo, cucumber pickle and aioli verde is a great one (although we would have liked less smooth sugo and more of that lipsmacking pickle). Yeast butter fried potatoes are almost shockingly crunchy, and will undoubtedly get all the love online, but could be improved with a more floury potato for more contrast again that crunch. Desserts in places like this don't tend to get much love, being generally demoted to ice-creams, mousses or custard-like things in pots. Not in Hera, where the warm, not too sweet brown butter and miso tart, with short crumbly pastry needs to become their signature dessert. It's the kind of thing someone might make for a dinner party and everyone harasses the chef until they hand over the recipe. The billed crème fraîche must have run out as we got what appeared to be cream - crème fraîche would have been better. Sorbet still gets its day though - ours was raspberry with amarena cherries ( paging Bologna ), and again the salted hazelnuts must have run out because we got pistachios. Sharp and sweet with super-charged flavours and nice texture contrast, it's a kid's dessert for adults (or kids with mature palates). What should we drink? These guys do drinks very well, treading the line nicely between quality and price when it comes to the wine list. There are enough interesting bottles there to ensure everyone will find something they want to drink, whether it's a decent Spanish tempranillo for €33, or a French petillant naturel for €49. The most expensive bottle on the list is €59 and that's a one litre Italian red (the perfect amount for two people). Cocktails go the extra mile too with clear invention in the menu, although we found the Smoke & Mirrors (Connemara whiskey, Valentia Island vermouth, black tea gomme, walnut bitters and smoke) a bit one note, tasting mainly of whiskey. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt as we've had great cocktails in Juno before. There's also plenty of beer on draught and in bottle, with some craft names in there. How was the service? Lovely, with a proper welcome, plenty of chat and nothing too much trouble, including moving to a bigger table. The food was generally well paced, apart from a serious lag of 20-25 minutes between snacks and starters, which was strange as we were in early and it wasn't busy. It feels like a kitchen still figuring things out. What was the damage? It came out at around €50 a head for plenty of food and one drink each, but you could do it for less. Be aware though that a service charge of 12.5% is automatically added to the bill on tables of five or more, even if one of the five is a toddler in a highchair... What's the verdict on Hera? There are the bones of something really great at Hera , with the owner/operators in touch with the current zeitgeist, and obvious talent in the kitchen, which needs to be harnessed and refined. Some more draining in the fried section, attention to detail in ingredients and an ability to get the food out faster would have made this an almost faultless meal, dream gastropub stuff, and looking at sibling restaurants Crudo and Achara, we fully expect them to keep pushing to get it there. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Big flavours in a small space, Italian inspired Etto, owned and run by partners Liz Matthews and Simon Barrett, is a must-try on the Dublin food scene. Compact menu with rarely (or maybe never) a disappointment, and one of the most interesting wine lists in the city. Sister restaurant to Spanish/Irish Uno Mas on Aungier Street. Etto Website etto.ie Address 18 Merrion Row, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Big flavours in a small space, Italian inspired Etto, owned and run by partners Liz Matthews and Simon Barrett, is a must-try on the Dublin food scene. Compact menu with rarely (or maybe never) a disappointment, and one of the most interesting wine lists in the city. Sister restaurant to Spanish/Irish Uno Mas on Aungier Street. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra