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A slightly shorter than usual critic review round up this week because it's Easter Sunday and you're probably all drunk or in a chocolate coma. In the Irish Times Catherine Cleary is at Il Caffe di Napoli near Pearse Street Station, which she calls "classical", with "nothing reimagined or overworked". It all sounds a bit 'slightly above average Italian restaurant', with mushroom bruschetta and arancini needing work, a fish casserole their best savoury dish, and the only wow moment from the cannoli for dessert. She muses that "one person’s lacklustre staple is another person’s comfort dish" and gives them 6/10. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness gives a very rare 30/30 to Uno Mas , saying that each time she's been the food's been better than the one before. The last time she gave a perfect score was to Etto - their sister restaurant. She reckons she's eaten in Uno Mas a dozen times already - alright super fan - and singles out the squid with black rice, "super-fresh" sardines with wild garlic aioli and the flan de queso as stand outs. She gives them a perfect 10/10 for food, ambience and value, and couldn't think of one low point. What restaurant owning dreams are made of. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner Leslie Williams was another very happy critic at  Circa , Terenure's newest neighbourhood restaurant. He loved the owner-backed operation from four friends, saying "only a misanthrope would not want them to survive", and says that chef Gareth Naughton allows his "very well-sourced ingredients to speak for themselves". He thought the buttermilk marinated rabbit with a lettuce, pea and lardon friccasse and tarragon mayonnaise should be his signature dish, and top marks also for the goat's cheese, squash and prunes, pressed pork belly, and the triumphal desserts of kaffir lime parfait and chocolate cremeaux. He says the future for Circa is bright, and gives the food, wine and service 9/10. Read his review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley was at Xi'an Street Food on South Anne Street, where the ma po tofu delivered, and the garlic-fried pork belly was so good that he begrudged giving away the last piece. Dandan noodle soup was flavour-packed, with gyoza just "fine", and mantou, like a Chinese version of doughnuts, sounded decent, but wasn't a patch on Spanish churros. He says that even though the pan-Asian schtick may annoy the purists and food snobs (guilty as charged), there's wisdom in the crowds baying to get in. Hard to argue with that. (Review not currently online) In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was at Edo in Belfast expecting smoky, barbecued sirloin steak, but instead getting flaccid, flavourless meat - with a side of under-cooked chips. It wasn't all bad news bears - padrón peppers were "beautifully charred", ham hock bonbons "perfectly crisp", and chicken thighs with romesco tender and tasty, but a dessert of orange and thyme polenta cake was dense, stodgy and painfully bitter. She had her suspicions that the food was chucked out because a large group arrived just as they were finishing up, and they'd had three courses in under an hour - hope they had some Rennie on hand. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda lists her 20 favourite Sunday roasts across the country. Ten of them are in Dublin - FX Buckley , Guinea Pig , Locks , Marco Pierre White's Courtyard Bar & Grill , Peploe's , Roly's Bistro , Seasons in The Intercontinental , The Legal Eagle , Wilde and The Old Spot (below). You can check out our guide to some of the best Sunday lunches in Dublin here . (Review not currently online) Finally in the Sunday Times Ernie Whalley has a solo dinner at Camden Kitchen on Grantham Street, and gives the deftly cooked comfort food 4/5, but an overall score of 3/5, with wine, ambience and value bringing the mark down slightly. Read that here . More next week.

There are two things that are certain in post-recession Dublin - astronomical rent and brunch. Good brunch was probably one of the best things to come out of the recession (hey low VAT rate, wuu2? We miss you, come back...) Even though there’s a brunch spot around every corner, most of them are boring AF - if we wanted scrambled eggs on toast we'd stay home and do an infinitely better job with our Scéal toast, peanut rayu, McNally peashoots - apologies, that's the hanger talking. Well, worry your hungover head no further, we've compiled our ultimate guide to the best brunch places in the city... 1. Two Pups Two Pups came onto the scene as a pop up coffee shop back in 2015 and has been growing ever since (literally, they’ve had to expand the café for more space). When you ask anyone about where to go for brunch, Two Pups always come up. They have doggos, yoga above the cafe and French toast that's the stuff of legend. 2. The Fumbally This place is utter madness at the weekend so expect long queues to order food, but it still manages to have a good buzz. Take the time to wait (agonizing over the menu will take time anyway) and then go and sit down with the paper. The Fumbally is almost like brunch school for Dublin with alumni going onto open their own cafés with a Fumbally spin on the menu. Bonus feature: the Saturday Market where millennials spend all of their disposable income. Totally worth it, it’s not like we’ll ever own houses. 3. Tang Tang , which opened a second location on the northside last autumn, has bridged a business during the week, party during the weekend format. While midweek offers a speedy lunch service with their salads and flatbreads, their brunch menu offers an extended version of their breakfast menu, which really just means unlimited access to their granola dish, of which we are very big fans. 4. Meet Me In The Morning Meet Me in the Morning is an idyllic café to go to on a sunny day (outside tables FTW) and has been changing the game in Dublin brunch since it opened in 2016. They added a takeaway coffee shop, ‘Reference Coffee’, next door last year, so there's now two reasons to head to Pleasants Street. The menu evolves every so often, but certain dishes like the ‘Eggs and Greens’ are staples for good reason. 5. Bibi's Nestled in between the houses in Portobello is Bibi’s , Dublin 8’s secret-not-so-secret brunch spot. It’s pretty calm during the week but at the weekend, be prepared for a wait. They know their way around a plate of French toast and their Turkish eggs might be the best in the city. 6. The Seafood Café Go for the build your own Bloody Mary station. Stay for the build your own Bloody Mary station. If you’re sick of standard Dublin brunch fare, try The Seafood Café , especially when you're in such a state from the night before that only an alcohol infused brunch can fix you. Ours is a plate of hot buttered crumpets with shrimp. 7. Alma Alma exploded onto the scene in January of this year, and overnight became one of the most popular brunch spots in town, with the only downside being the queues to get in. With strong Argentinian influences on the menu and great service, they're already a solid member of the Dublin brunch club. 8. Brother Hubbard North Brother Hubbard North is one of the OG brunch purveyors of Dublin, with locations on both sides of the river. They’ve kept their Middle-Eastern influence from the start but brunch is an eclectic mix with everything from cornbread and greens to French toast with chocolate truffle ganache, tahini-date caramel and sesame honeycomb. 9. Legit Coffee Co We were blown away by the brunch at Legit on the North Circular Road, particularly the pulled pork benedict. It’s the kind of place that you dream of when suffering with a hangover, and while at this stage we should all just admit that brunch won’t fix a hangover, we won’t stop trying. 10. Gertrude 3fe’s first proper restaurant was a long anticipated but welcome addition to Dublin’s dining scene. Gertrude offers something different, a bridge between a cafe and a restaurant, and brunch dishes like their buttermilk chicken stack with honey butter and hot sauce and the pork tonkatsu sandwich are standouts. Plus there's good wine (or fizz if it's before midday). 11. Five Points From 3fe alumni in Harolds Cross, Five Points is a place that cares about the food, the coffee and gets really creative with the specials. Seasonal granola with rhubarb and tarragon anyone? 12. Fia Fia is a perfect neighbourhood example of brunch. It’s far enough out of town to get away from the buzz of the city and the menu is simple, provenance based and always tasty. Here's their current French toast, because we really love French toast. This one's with rhubarb and ginger compote, blood orange custard and lemon balm. OMFG. 13. Storyboard Storyboard brings some interesting flavours to the table, like their kimchi pancakes and ever changing spuds dish. It’s great for good coffee and fermented drinks, and while the menu shifts every so often the popular staples remain. Otherwise there's a good chance of a riot. 14. Two Boys Brew The two boys of TBB took inspiration from their time in Melbourne to create their cafe, and it guarantees great coffee and inventive food - it’s hard to imagine the site was once a chicken shop. These guys are all about precision and hospitality and their following shows it. 15. Groundstate Groundstate is a godsend for anyone looking for the best Croque Madame of their life near Heuston Station. Former Love Supreme barista Andy Joyce and Mark Quilty opened the cafe/yoga studio late autumn and have created a space that makes you want to move in. Presently you can only stay until the last evening yoga class finishes, but you could always hide under one of the tables.

Dublin's first bar dedicated to Poitín, Bar 1661 , opens in Dublin 7 this Friday, with the most impressive list of Irish made drinks we've seen anywhere. As well as four different poitíns, served straight, in eight different cocktails or in taster flights, they have an incredible amount of Irish whiskeys, gins and vodkas, as well as Killahora apple ice wine from Cork, Móinéir fruit wine from Wicklow, Llewellyns’s red wine from North Dublin, Stonewell Tawny (like Port made from apples) from Cork, and Dublin perry. Bar 1661 has been set up by Dave Mulligan, who's been called "the poster-boy for poitín", and says he wants it to be "the global flagship for Irish poitín". Dubliner Dave has worked in bars and restaurants for the past 20 years, and moved to London in 2011 where he opened the world’s first underground poitín focused venue, Shebeen. He then went on to create his own award-winning poitín brand, Bán , in 2013, which is a traditional style Irish poitín distilled from potato, barley, and sugar beet. Bar 1661 gets its name from the year poitín was banned in Ireland, and Dave said he's opened the bar "to give our national spirit the home it deserves". The food menu is also Irish focused, with cheeses and meats to start with, developing into a lunch menu over the next few weeks. Bar 1661 opens on Good Friday at 12:00. Full details below. Bar 1661 1-5 Green Street, Dublin 7 Tues - Thu 16:00 - late, Fri - Sun 12:00 - late. bar1661.ie

Ah yes, Easter time. A chocolate holiday with some religious ties where everyone feels obliged to eat fish on Friday and lamb on Sunday, but really this Easter Sunday will entail most people eating themselves into a chocolate coma while shouting at Game of Thrones on the TV. Bliss... Anywho, here are some Easter themed foods we want to eat this week. 1. Gertrude's Creme Egg Scotch Egg Going to Gertrude and getting one of their creme egg scotch eggs is the adult version of an Easter egg hunt. Maybe the resulting sedation from eating one of these will ease you into watching the twists and turns of GoT. 2. Salt Aged Lamb from Locks If you’re not in the mood for making the whole roast dinner or need a break from intensive family time, find solace in Locks and their salt aged lamb dish. They serve it with air dried lamb terrine, wild garlic salsa verde and haggis. 3. Lamb Gyoza from Soup Ramen Not your average Sunday dinner but seeing as we’ve had roast lamb on Easter Sunday for an eternity, it’s a welcome alternative. Soup Ramen 's gyoza are served with wild garlic and roasted hazelnuts, and we would like several bowls of them. 4. Crispy Sardines in The Seafood Cafe Fill your “I think I should eat fish on Friday” quota at The Seafood Cafe . Their crispy sardines come with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber and smoked garlic aiol and look like the opposite of penance. 5. Hot Cross Buns from Clanbrassil Coffee Shop Eating hot cross buns, like creme eggs (see above), are seasonal eats that you are obliged to eat at this time of year. Eating them post-Easter would be wrong, so get them toasted and slathered with butter (the only way to go) from Clanbrassil Coffee Shop while you can.

Newly updated - the best places in Dublin to eat if you're vegan, vegan-curious or just fancy a break from meat and dairy. There are all places doing it the way vegans deserve - not a stuffed pepper or tomato pasta in sight... (we hope) 1. Kale + Coco The ladies who brought smoothie bowls to the city have opened a fully plant-based café in Stoneybatter, with savoury nourish bowls and mushrooms lattés as well as those ultra phone-camera friendly smoothies in a bowl. A vegan instagrammer's paradise. Read more about Kale + Coco here . 2. V-face Stoneybatter is officially the vegan capital of Dublin, you heard it here first (actually we said it here first), and V-face has been making vegans and non-vegans very happy with their plant-based burgers since popping up in The Belfry last summer. The good news is they've secured their own site which is due to open in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you can still find them in and out of The Belfry. Keep an eye on their social media for dates and times. 3. Shaka Poké The Hawaiian raw fish specialists might not be the first place you'd think of for vegan food but it's big at Shaka Poké , with Tahiti tofu and pickled beets as plant-based options. We particularly like the sound of the 'no catch' with avocado, wakame, edamame, pineapple and cucumber topped with chili peanut sauce. 4. Umi Falafel Falafel, mezze plates and salads on Dame Street. A visiting vegan from New York recently told us she visited here twice on her trip to Dublin and thought Umi Falafel  was the best Middle Eastern food she's had outside of the Middle East. Nuff said. 5. Nutbutter Nutbutter in Grand Canal Dock have been fighting the plant-based fight since day one, and most of the menu is vegan or can easily be made vegan. Some of the standout dishes include the vegan caesar, the plant-based poke with watermelon sashimi, and the jackfruit tacos, but everything here is flavour first. 6. The Garden Room at The Merrion Last year The Garden Room in The Merrion Hotel teamed up with blogger and cookbook author Holly White to launch a new vegan menu, and by all accounts it seems to have been a roaring success with dishes like a roasted vegetable buddha bowl and chunky sweet potato chips with cashew cheese. They're updating the menu this week and have just added a lemon meringue tart that Holly says has taken months to get right. 7. Token Token have been on the vegan case since day one, as the owner's Mum is vegan and he wanted her to have somewhere to eat. They do vegan fried chicken, hot dogs, tacos and even a vegan ice-cream sundae, and constantly come up as a favourite in vegan circles. 8. Urbanity Urbanity in Smithfield has a plant-based 'flexitarian' menu in the evenings, which is 100% vegan with the option to add meat as a side. They also do daily vegan specials and desserts during the day. 9. Veginity / Vish Shop If you haven't tried Australian Mark Senn's vegan food before you need to rectify that. The vish and chips, made from cassava and seaweed, is the best fish substitution we've had, and the cauliflower 'wings' are a game changer, giving chicken a serious run for its money. They now have two permanent sites on Dorset Street - Veginity which is more of a sit down restaurant, and Vish Shop which is more fast food/takeaway, but you can sit in. Both are well worth a visit. 10. Shouk Shouk is serving delicious Middle Eastern, purse-friendly food in Drumcondra that's predominantly vegan, with pittas, falafel, mezze and flavour-packed salads. It's BYO too (€4 per bottle) so you can bring along your favourite vegan-friendly wine. 11. Pho Viet Pho Viet has some of the best Vietnamese food in the city with a whole page on the menu dedicated to vegan and vegetarian dishes. Try the savoury pancake filled with bean sprouts, carrots, onions and peppers with their homemade dipping sauce, or the vegetarian bun (noodle bowl) with spring rolls. 12. Fallon & Byrne Fallon & Byrne  have had a vegan-friendly menu  in their  Exchequer Street and People's Park locations for the past four years, with dishes like textures of Irish cauliflower with golden raisins and mixed leaves, and desserts like 'Kinder Bueno' with crunchy hazelnut, honeycomb, coconut and salted toffee sauce. Plenty of vegan friendly wines too. 13. Beo What were we saying about Stoneybatter? Beo is a new café/wine bar on Manor Street serving wholesome food during the day with wine and "fine dining" at night. Read more about Beo here . 14. Sova Vegan Butcher One of the go-to's for vegan's in Dublin for the past few years, Barto Sova's ever changing menu at Sova Vegan Butcher  includes things like mac n' cheese, seaweed chowder with samphire and strawberry and cashew nut cheesecake. 15. Vietnom Vegetarian/vegan Vietnamese food with touches of Mexican, like Saigon tostadas and bánh mì with honey-basted mushrooms, peanuts and shallots. Find Vietnom in a food truck at the back of The Glimmerman pub in Stoneybatter from Thursday to Sunday. Read our once over here (contains meat). 16. Cornucopia Probably the place most people thing of when you say "vegetarian restaurant", Cornucopia has been feeding Dublin's vegetarian and vegan population for over 30 years. Soups, salads, stews and enchiladas with vegan cheese can usually be found at the counter and portions are generous. 17. Brother Hubbard One of Dublin's most interesting places to grab breakfast or lunch, you'll always find vibrant, flavourful vegan salads and sandwiches at Brother Hubbard , and they've organised several vegan supper clubs over the past year. Sign up to their mailing list to get news about the next one. 18. Happy Food by Yoga Hub A vegan destination since it opened on Camden Place a few years ago, Happy Food  serve up vegan burgers, pad thai and tofu ribs (apparently much better than they sound). A yoga class beforehand will take your health-related zen to a new level. 19. Peploe's The swanky bistro opposite Stephen's Green is more known for long business lunches than a focus on sustainable eating, but Peploe's  introduced a vegan menu  last year and it looks good, with dishes like roasted cauliflower with satay chili dressing and butternut squash lasagne. 20. Chameleon Long-standing Temple Bar restaurant serving Indonesian food tapas style in various 'Rijst Tafel', with a vegetarian/vegan option that sounds almost better than the meat. Balinese yellow curry, sesame fried vegetables and onion bao are some of the herb and spice-packed dishes on Chameleon 's menu.

Good week for ramen. Bad week for, well, ramen. We've long been lamenting the lack of ramen in Dublin in comparison to other capital cities so were disappointed with Catherine Cleary's disappointment in Stoneybatter's Ramen Kitchen . She said everything was going fine (bar some over zealous AC and unresponsive staff) until the food came - ouch. It's a bit of a 'read through your fingers' jobby, with yasi gyoza tasting of very little - "a puree of vegetables for a taste-averse toddler", and sushi stuffed with soft-shell crab that was "gnarly and chewier than the issues of the day". Pork bao were the only good bit, apart from buns so sweet they could feature on a dessert plate. The nail in the coffin was the ramen itself, a pork version of which came with "milky and dull" broth, Japanese-style roasted pork belly - "soggy rounds of flaccid meat with no trace of crispness or roasted flavour", and beansprouts which were "funky and have the texture of stewed rhubarb". She couldn't even bring herself to taste the pickled egg "with its gluey yolk, placed appetisingly in the middle of this grey soup". She says that when you’re cooking ramen short cuts stick out like sore thumbs, and kindly says she hopes they got them on a bad night. She gives them 5/10, and you can read the full takedown here . Despite having an almost identical meal, Lucinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent loved it, calling ramen "the new cuisine" and "the latest star to strut the catwalks of our tastebuds". The one thing they did agree on was the yasai gyoza, with LOS calling them "flaccid" and saying she didn't like the flavour, but the soft-shell crab roll was "superb", and tempura battered jumbo prawns were "absolutely delicious". She thought the exact same pork ramen was "a hearty bowl" that would "keep any trencherman happy", citing the "good slices of roast pork", and called the whole experience very enjoyable. Did CC get them on a bad day? Are her ramen standards higher? We'll probably never know... (Review not currently online) In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley was dining alone again (groan, we want to hear about all the food), this time at Crudo in Sandymount who by all accounts are winning right now. This is the third glowing review for the reinvigorated Dunne & Crescenzi, taken over by their two sons - amazing what a little refresh can do - and the man of little appetite liked it so much he managed a whole four courses, including suppli with confit duck, toasted hazlenut and apple purée that he reckons were fit to be served in Rome. Chicken and truffle meatballs were "intensely savoury ... delicious", and pink, milk-fed veal with gnocchi, haricot beans and more truffle was one of the best things he's eaten in a long time. Tiramisu was "streets ahead of most" but he gives a nod to Grano saying that's the one to beat in Dublin. Staff were delightful, the wine list extensive and quirky, and we're just hoping Crudo can get a new sign up soon so people can figure out where they are. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness lists 30 of the best places for brunch in Ireland, with a focus on eggs and provenance - free-range only need apply. Among the ones that get the nod in Dublin are The Fumbally for the 'Fumbally Eggs', Overends at Airfield for their family brunch at €20 for adults and €10 for children, and Gertrude for their chicken and pancakes and soft scrambled eggs with crab. Also making the list are Bibi's for their turkish eggs, Meet Me In The Morning for the recent special of gubbeen sobrasada and bechamel on challah bread (featured here ), Klaw Seafood Café for the Omelette Arnold Bennett and Legit Coffee Co for their pulled pork Benedict (pictured). Get the full list here , and look our for our own feature on the best brunches in Dublin coming in this Tuesday's mail out . In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis was at 777 to try everything but the tequila (she's missing out). She thought the food was excellent, the music great and the staff lovely, and singles out the "punchy" tuna sashimi tostados, the magnificent dry-aged sirloin with miso-adobo glaze and sweetcorn purée, and the beautiful Iberico secreto with grilled chilli, peaches and sour cream. (We loved it all too - here's our our once over .) Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner Joe McNamee finally gets to Cork city's most lauded restaurant, Ichigo Ichie . It's a funny one as it sounds like a meal of highs and lows, but the end score doesn't reflect it. It's one of those experiences where there are too many individual dishes to describe, but highlights included a "plump scallop, sesame-seasoned, blow-torched, bearing caviar and salted green chilli; alongside, a nori cone of salty-sweet aged tuna topped with truffled egg emulsion" - utterly sublime (and sounds it), and dashi with mitsuba (Japanese parsley), sudachi lime, Lough Neagh eel, hen of the woods and gingko nut, which triggers a "near-primal response". To the not so good bits, grilled aged fillet of beef was "far from the best Irish beef I have tasted" and was too thickly sliced, pickles were "pedestrian", dashi cooked rice was too heavy, and dessert was "an oddity" of mochi with Azuki bean and "out-of-season, imported, bland strawberry", calling it a "penitential closer". After all that we were expecting a less than perfect score but he gives the food 9.5/10, which is as good as it gets really, saying that the meal wasn't perfect, but on occasions it sails close. Read his review here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley was at new kid on the block Circa in Terenure, calling it a worthy addition to the area with stylish cooking and inspirational touches. Read that here . More next week.

Another week, another critic blown away by Liath , and having been, we get it - you can read our take on it here . This week it's Lucinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent who's calling Damien Grey "stunningly talented", and saying that Liath is the most significant restaurant opening of 2019. It's one big gush from start to finish - the space has been "honed to sleek sophistication", the chefs are "superb", and the atmosphere "relaxed and fun", and that's before we even get to the food. She calls the tasting menu "an exquisite experience", despite not usually being a fan of them - "a subtle, sophisticated journey through complex tastes and textures", and she had the exact same menu as we did , loving every dish. Special shout out for that mind-bendingly good eel, anchovy and parmesan cone which she calls "divine". She was clearly high on the whole experience as she thought she had four desserts (there were three) but all were "sublime". She calls it "a complete culinary experience" and says the tasting menu at €78 is too cheap . Get in while you can - if you can. (Review not currently online). Similarly satisfied sentiments from Leslie Williams in the Irish Examiner who was at Host in Ranelagh, which he reckons is the perfect place to get fat as there are loads of gyms, body clinics and 'aesthetic institutes on your doorstep". What a plan. Things started very well with fluffy, light focaccia topped with tomatoes, onions and top quality olive oil, and 'excellent' morcilla came with 'flavourful' artichokes and 'reasonably good' salami - can't win 'em all. He also liked the burrata with aubergine and crab bruschetta, but the homemade pastas were the highlight. Silky pappardelle came in a meaty duck sauce, while the dish of the evening was the pumpkin stuffed cappellacci with walnuts (it really is the dream). Piri piri chicken and crisp cod were also enjoyable, and chunky chips were "expertly made", despite the garlic aioli that should have aioli dropped from its name until they treble the amount of garlic in it. Desserts were a let down, but he hopes they were just unlucky that day, and he says that Host would work anywhere, with their "tasty, well thought out dishes served in a convivial atmosphere." Read his review here . Another happy critic in the Irish Times (everyone's feeling the love this week), where Catherine Cleary is uber impressed with Lucky Tortoise , which she calls a "creative, independent, cheap and enormously cheerful spot". They had everything on the menu (the €20 all in deal is the only way to go), the highlights being the scallion pancake, the kimchi, the okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) and the Taiwanese bun with tofu. She was less fussed on the dumplings - "lost in the blizzard of food" - and the pork and lemongrass bun which didn't overly taste of lemongrass, but the hoisin beef bun with crisp vegetables and pickled cucumber was "the best". She says she says she likes Lucky Tortoise a lot, and that it has "the feel of a young operation that’s only going to get better". It gets 8/10 and we'd advise booking if you were planning on going this week - "the Cleary effect" and all that. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness is the second critic into Dublin 8 café and yoga hub Groundstate , giving it a whopping 9/10 for food, ambience and value. We had this as "one to watch" on our hottest restaurants in March list, and we're gona say it. It's officially hot. The croque madame sounds like reason enough to go - "Bread Nation malt sourdough, Gubbeen hot smoked ham, Dijon mustard, Wicklow Ban cheese bechamel, topped with a crispy fried egg, garnished with pickled onions and a side of house kimchi. Good god. Unfortunately it wasn't left on the pan long enough to reach optimal crisp/gooey tipping point, but she calls the flavours "spot on". The flavour-packed La Resaca, with refried beans, paprika roast potatoes, wilted greens, salsa verde, cashew butter, pickled red onions and a fried egg would "raise the living from the dead", and was "both invigorating and properly tasty". Reason two to visit. They also enjoyed a mushroom version of the croque madame, and a bowl of tarka dahl which was "a bargain of a lunch". She's going back soon for the ultimate bacon sandwich, and we won't be far behind her. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley was in Galway at Hooked , and it's more of a history lesson than a restaurant review this week. After a lengthy discussion surrounding the reasons why Irish people don't eat enough fish, he says that Hooked "celebrates seafood in a way that is gloriously informal and fun". He only tried two things, a ceviche and monkfish goujons, but says there was a generosity there, with the cod ceviche "pretty well a meal in itself". He calls it "simply good food", with its side of guacamole and 'standard' tortilla chips. The other dish of monkfish goujons were "broad, fat strips" in panko breadcrumbs with a "pedestrian" tartare sauce and "delightfully crisp twice-cooked chips". Despite one of the pieces of fish being underdone and pink he calls it "a simple and delicious dish", and says that people pay a fortune for sashimi, which is incredibly forgiving. (Review not currently online) In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis was checking out The Munster Room , Waterford Castle's fine dining restaurant. She was really impressed with the food, particularly because she thinks it must be tricky walking the line between keeping the mature customers happy (diplomatic) and getting new ones to come in. She says the kitchen are sticking to "tried and tested flavour combinations but serving them in a fresh, modern way." Read that here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley visits Crudo in Sandymount, the next generation incarnation from Dunne & Crescenzi, and calls it stylish and unpretentious, with very enjoyable food. Read his review here . More next week.

We've got to preface this article with the fact that London is enormous and the food options there are unparalleled anywhere in the world right now in our opinion, for quality, variety and value for money. The number of great places to eat is frankly overwhelming, which is why we've picked our all time favourites, in the hope that you can ignore the noise and get straight down to the good stuff. And if you're anything like else us you'll be so blown away that you'll immediately start booking your next trip - and we can provide a whole new list of recommendations. Breakfast/Brunch If you're lucky enough to be there on a Saturday, Spa Terminus in Bermondsey is London's little secret. Wander through the industrial park and you'll find possible the world's best pastries from Little Bread Pedlar (buy them all, every one of them), Monmouth Coffee, eye-wateringly good sausage rolls from The Butchery, incredible cheese from Le Mons and Neal's Yard, and loads more of the city's best producers. It's where savvy south Londoners do their weekly shop, and it's blissfully tourist free. It's also just a 10/15 minute walk to Borough Market which unfortunately is packed to the rafters with tourists and a bit stressful at the best of times, but worth elbowing your way through for the doughnuts at Bread Ahead , which are nothing like the majority of what's currently on offer on the Dublin doughnut market. If you're looking to sit down somewhere, Caravan is probably London's favourite brunch spot for dishes like jalapeño cornbread with tomatillos and feta, and grilled coconut bread with rhubarb and lemon curd. If you go to the one in King's Cross prepare for a heart-breaking queue. The ones in Bankside and the city don't tend to be as mental (*said hopefully*). The bacon and egg naans at Bombay-style Indian café Dishoom are a thing of hangover legend, especially washed down with their house chai, and for something a bit dirtier (but no less tasty) head to Chick n Sours for some of the most addictive fried chicken in town - sides of pickled watermelon salad and szechuan aubergine are mandatory. Coffee London has so much great coffee that it's very hard to isolate a few, but that's what we're here for. Prufrock , Workshop Coffee and Kaffeine are three of the city's best, and unsurprisingly all have food offerings that are taken as seriously as the drinks. Lunch There are so many options your head will spin if you think about it too much, so don't and just stick to our list. Padella is a must-do for the daily freshly made pasta at seriously good prices. Again, prepare to queue, but it moves fast and it's worth it. We also love Bar Tozino which is this perfect Spanish tapas bar under an arch near London Bridge with jamon hanging from every inch of the ceiling, a great sherry list and some of the best Spanish food we've had outside of Spain. We're also big fans of Breddos whose tacos are made fresh in house every day and packed full of the most delicious flavour combinations. Dublin unfortunately has nothing that comes close to these bad boys. If you're feeling like something Asian or with a bit of spice, our top picks would be Bao in Soho/Fitzrovia, which are the best we've ever had, both for the bao buns and the fillings, Roti King in Euston for the flakiest, butteriest, crispiest roti imaginable, made to order and served with bowls of silky smooth dahl - you know the drill, you'll probably have to queue for this one - or for something a bit more upmarket head to Hoppers in Soho for better Sri Lankan food than we managed to find in Sri Lanka. Dinner For dinner we've stayed away from super swanky as most of them you need to book sometimes months in advance, but all of these are at the top of their respective cuisines so we think you'll still be blown away. If you want to experience Chinese food that's the antithesis to chicken balls and spice bags, head for Xian Impression (near the Arsenal stadium - 100% worth the trip), for their cold skin noodles, biang biang hand-pulled noodles and beef buns. The first time we had lunch here we ordered the exact same again to take home for dinner - it's that good. For some of the best Israeli food in the city make your way to The Palomar for shakshukit and jars of polenta, truffle and asparagus, and for barbeque on another level head for Smokestak in Shoreditch for coal-roasted aubergine, pig's tails and brisket with pickles. For more "I'm on holidays and I'm getting dressed up" options, it's hard to beat Andrew Edmunds , one of the oldest restaurants in London with consistently excellent food, a gorgeous room and sometimes jaw-droppingly low margins on wine. Ask for one of the tables upstairs in the window. If you want to feel like you're in Barcelona sit at the counter at Barrafina (several locations) eating Michelin-starred tapas, and for the whole shebang get yourself a table at Lyle's , which is just perfection from start to finish (and it would want to be, it's number 38 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants List ). Wine London is without doubt one of the best cities in the world for wine lovers right now, and Dublin only sees a fraction of what's available to drink over there (but it's getting better all the time). Natural wines are King, and some of the most interesting places to settle in are 40 Maltby Street , Brawn and P. Franco , all with excellent food options too - prime Sunday lunch + all the wine material. If you want to really indulge, head to Noble Rot , which has one of the best, most varied and well-priced lists in the city (acknowledged earlier this year with a World Restaurant Award for their red wine list). There are world class bottles open daily by the glass here, and the seasonal, produce-focused food from chef Paul Weaver more than stands up to the wine. Phew. After all that we need a nap, but there are still so many places we haven't told you about. Might have to do a part 2...

On a hot day, people in Dublin flock to the canal like it’s a beacon of light, cans poised, packing the banks more than the 08:45 Luas into town. Aaaand now it’s raining and everyone is inside, stockpiling cans after getting a thirst for them - thus the circle of spring weather in Dublin is in full swing. Are we emotionally or financially ready to pay €4 for iced coffee? No. Will that stop us? No. Maybe. Probably not. The good/bad news is this week looks like rain, so you should probably stay inside as much as possible. Here are five ways to seek shelter until the sun comes out again and we're all sunbathing in 15°C. 1) Sobrasada on Challah at Meet Me in the Morning Let’s face it, sometimes brunch gets a bit tired. Once in a while though, a brunch plate will enrapture you during your endless Saturday morning Instagram scroll, making you rally the troops, clad in your finest dark sunglasses and canvas tote bags, and together, do the hungover hobble in search of it. This sobrasada on challah toast from Meet Me in The Morning is one of those dishes. It’s made with Gubbeen sobrasada (spreadable chorizo), Gubbeen cheese bechamel, a poached egg, sunchoke chips and pickled radish. The people of Ireland are eternally grateful for Fingal Ferguson of Gubbeen and all he has done for brunch menus. 2) The Squid Ink Linguine at Etto When in doubt, go to Etto . The meaning of life is probably Etto, and with it comes this plate of squid ink linguine with cockles, chilli, garlic and preserved lemon. All the vongole vibes. 3) Snacks at Bastible Hear us out here - snacks are one of the most exciting parts of a meal out. Picture the scene, you spent more than ten minutes getting dressed up for a meal, you sit down, you’re giddy, you’re about to eat a lot of good food and they bring you these small bites of really good food. You’re getting excited about these snacks AND the forthcoming dishes all at once. Now think about Coolea and spring onion churros, crab and celeriac tacos with kraut and capers, plus BBQ chicken thighs with preserved lemon and honey. Excitement overload. 4) The Cupcake Bloke's Jambons The food queen of Galway, Jess Murphy recently lauded The Cupcake Bloke ’s jambons as the best she’s ever tasted and there has been a jambon shaped hole in our stomachs ever since.This week’s jambons (only available on Saturdays) were topped with black pudding sausage, bacon, thyme, Durrus Óg and scallions. Sweet flaky Jesus. 5) Gambas and Padrón Peppers from Host Unlike every Irish person saying last week, “Jaysus, isn’t it like we’re in Spain”, this dish actually would remind you of Spain and not Dublin’s capricious weather. Get involved.

We get a lot of last minute area requests, about where the best places to eat are in a given neighbourhood or town, and let's face it, there's nothing more panic-inducing than being stuck somewhere and not knowing where to eat. What if you're dragged somewhere rubbish because you didn't have a better suggestion!? Well you can file this one away for the next time you find yourself in Rathmines or Ranelagh and need a bite to eat or to quench your thirst. Morning First of all start off your #humblebrag Instagram day out by going to the Pot Bellied Pig for brunch and Millennial Pink hues. If you’re not as pork inclined, go a bit further to Fia in Rathgar (okay yes it’s technically outside Rathmines but it’s definitely worth the mention) where the menu is all about provenance and seasonal food. It gets pretty packed in here on the weekend so be prepared to wait for a table. If you're really hungover head to Dillinger's for some serious soakage in the form of brunch nachos, huevos rancheros or fried chicken and waffles, and all the Bloody Marys you can shake a pack of nurofen at. Coffee If you’re in Rathmines, go grab a coffee in Two Fifty Square where they roast their own coffee beans in the building. If you find yourself in Ranelagh in need of a caffeine hit, go to their sister coffee shop, Project Black . Alternatively go to Nick’s for coffee, queue up at the kiosk, sit in the sun, pet a few doggos, forget everything you have to do that the day, panic, pet some more doggos... Afternoon Depending on hunger levels, you could get a falafel sandwich for lunch from Umi in Rathmines, or just go all out and order the entire mezze menu, we won’t judge. If you’re feeling more carnivorous, you can always go for a burger in Bunsen in Ranelagh where consistency is a given, or another option is Farmer Brown's in Rathmines. They name their burgers afters tractors, making the culchies feel at home and the Dubs feel like they're experiencing the country. Things To Do Go to the Stella Theatre . You’ve got to hand it to Press Up, they make a good cinema. It’s a pricey experience but at the same time, you can get a carafe of wine and watch the movie on a bed. Peak bourgeois Dublin. Go for a browse in the Oriental Emporium , the Asian Market in Rathmines, or if you’re in Ranelagh, browse around speciality food shop Mortons on Dunville Avenue. Or you could go to the Swan Centre in Rathmines, which can be quite misleading. Not much to look at on the outside, but step inside and you will find your paycheck instantly evaporating on groceries from The Hopsack (supporting local business though ✓), buying your body weight in Irish Farmhouse cheese from the Sheridan’s cheese counter in Dunnes, and the rest will be taken care of during a stroll around Fallon and Byrne . Evening Be prepared to book a table a few weeks in advance to go for dinner in Host but it’s fast becoming a big player on the Dublin food scene. Read our Host once over here . Our other top choice for Ranelagh is Nightmarket , who are constantly winning awards for their authentic, flavour-packed food, showing Dubliners that there's more to Thai cuisine than green curries and chicken satay. Rita’s opened in Ranelagh in December and almost immediately became a contender in Dublin’s ever growing greatest pizza list. Otherwise if you want more of the full Italian experience, get yourself to Manifesto in Rathmines for award-winning pizza, homemade pasta and one of the most extensive and impressive Italian wine lists in the city - be warned, you could get lost in this one. If you're after something a bit more casual, head back to TwoFifty Square for Nick Reynolds' Friday and Saturday night Caribbean pop up, Lil Portie , for plantain nachos and jerk basted pork ribs, all washed down with some craft beer. Drinks Blackbird in Rathmines is great for when you’re 100%...maybe 99.9%...almost certain that you’re only staying for one drink but then accidentally stay the whole evening playing jenga. Seeing the interior of The Bowery in Rathmines is probably reason enough to go for a drink there - we're talking hardcore nautical themed - and there's often the added bonus of live music. Alternatively if you find yourself in Ranelagh, go for a glass of wine in The Exchequer or to The Taphouse for a craft beer from their mammoth, ever-changing list. So many options. Did we miss any of our favourite Ranelagh/Rathmines spots? Let us know - info@allthefood.ie.

Spanish Wine Week is back next Monday the 8th of April, and as usual there are loads of events on, to give you all the excuses for eating and drinking. It's organised by Wines of Spain and there are events on across the country, but we're spoilt for choice in Dublin, with dinners, tastings and masterclasses on every day. Some of our picks for the week are the wine dinner in Pickle on Tuesday 9th, showcasing wines from Northern Spain, the sherry and wine lunch at Fish Shop Queen Street on Sunday 14th, and the Spanish wine dinner at China Sichuan on Tuesday 9th. We also like the sound of the sherry masterclass in Balfes on Monday 8th from Gregory Buda, from New York's famous cocktail bar Dead Rabbit, and the Cava tasting in Urchin at Cliff Townhouse on Thursday 11th, which sounds like a lovely transition from a day in the office. If learning about wine is your MO, there's a natural Spanish wine takeover at Loose Canon on Thursday 11th with seven different wines by the glass, and a tasting on Fri 12th in The Legal Eagle with Irish Times wine writer John Wilson, which is €45 for six unusual and quite special wines with food pairings. There's also a great sounding tasting in On the Grapevine in Dalkey on Fri 12th with six lesser known Spanish wines, and there are Spanish wine tastings throughout the week in loads of great independent wine shops including Whelehan Wines, 64 Wine, Clontarf Wines, Baggot Street Wines and loads more, so if you're near one pop in. Spanish Wine Week runs from Monday 8th April to Sunday 14th, and you can find the full line up of events here .

It's been a while, but it's official - fine dining is back - with two restaurants this week jostling for the most interesting, most creative, best tasting food in all the land. Liath (formerly Heron & Grey) has smashed it out of the park with two stellar reviews in the Sunday Business Post and the Sunday Times . Gillian Nelis in the SBP calls it a "unique, happy, buzzy space" where you'll find "some of the most interesting food currently being cooked on this island." She had an almost identical meal to us and singles out Wicklow trout with bonito flakes, sweetcorn and a beurre blanc, a brik pastry cone filled with smoked eel, shallots, aged Parmesan and fennel pollen, and a baked Alaska with rhubarb, lime and rose - "eye-rollingly good". She warns it's not for you if you’re a fussy eater, or expecting cloches and formality - who are these people? - and warns to set your alarm clocks for 10am tomorrow when reservations for May go on sale. Read her review here . We're not allowed discuss the Sunday Times as they're afraid if we do you'll stop buying the paper, but Ernie Whalley echoed our sentiments about Damien Grey raising the bar to a new level, and gives the food 5/5. Read the whole glorious love letter here . More fine dining appreciation in the Irish Times , with Catherine Cleary saying that Ox in Belfast is serving "the best tasting menu anywhere in Ireland". What a week for grand sentiments. She gives it one of those rare 9.5/10's, calling it "high-art French technique with its own distinct Belfast accent", and saying that chef Stephen Toman is at the top of his game. It all sounds very worth getting in the car for, particularly the celeriac and lovage with a "glass crisp shard of chicken skin, and a frond of black truffle", and the Chateaubriand with wild garlic and smoked carrots topped with bone marrow. She said they've always known what they were doing, but Ox "has grown into something so good that if Michelin doesn’t give it a second star soon it needs its head examined." All the fighting talk this week. Read her review here . Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent brings us the antithesis to all that lovely food - a "depressing vegan meal" in Dublin's first vegan diner, Beast . Sure enough she's already fighting off abuse on twitter from some very angry vegans (and Beast themselves - mega cringe), for her description of the "leaden" nuggets, and the fake cheese, indistinguishable from the fake bacon. Highlights seemed to be the coleslaw and the 'roastie fries', and her disdain for the "fake meat" that seems to be part of everything isn't hard to hear. She ends by saying "vegans deserve better" and gives the food 3/10. She should probably turn off twitter for the night till they all calm down a bit. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley is underwhelmed with the current talk of South Dublin, Oliveto in Haddington House, Dun Laoghaire. They've had three incredibly positive critic reviews up to now, but for Tom the best parts were the service, the gin martini and a dish of crisp baby calamari. After that... He thought a starter of ricotta, pear, beetroot, honey and seeds was almost a dessert (and a bland one to boot), potato and cheese agnolotti "clumsy" and "lacking in flavour", and taglioni pasta in a lemon butter sauce came with monkfish that felt overcooked - "not a bad dish but not a hop-on-the-Dart must-eat-dish". Oh inconsistency. You will be the death of us. (Review not currently online) Also in SoCoDub was Lucinda O'Sullivan who was in the recently revamped restaurant in the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney. It all sounds a bit "Irish hotel food" but a few notches above, with "fabulous" lime and chilli crab claws with homemade spelt bread, Dublin Bay Prawn provençale, and random dish of the weekend - black bean rissole with avocado, mint yoghurt and mixed leaves - we're nothing if not intrigued. An "excellent" half roast crispy duck came with apple and grape potato stuffing and 'French' orange sauce (second most random dish of the week), and an Irish cheese selection sounds dull but was nicely presented with more grapes, water crackers, celery (why?) and chutney. She calls the space "intimate and buzzy" and they seem to have left very happy. (Review not currently online) Finally in Cork Joe McNamee in the Irish Examiner weighs up two pizza places directly opposite each other: Burnt - good (ironic). Oak Fired Pizza - not so good. In OFP the bases were tight, dense and doughy, and no amount of oak firing could save them. Toppings needed work too, with an abundance of meat overwhelming one, and what he suspected to be industrial truffle oil taking care of another. He reckons there's potential, but much work to be done. Across the road, Burnt fared much better, with blistered, chewy crusts (not burnt), bright San Marzano tomato sauce and well-assembled toppings, the best of which was the roasted garlic-herb chicken, caramelised red onion, mozzarella and basil pesto. Things went a bit askew for dessert, with a Neapolitan chocolate tart "underwhelming" and a tiramisu which "defies the trade descriptions act on many levels", but he says Cork has another good pizza joint on its hands, and gives the food 8/10. Read his review here . More next week.

Terenure has a new neighbourhood restaurant, as Circa opens tonight. Heading up the kitchen is chef Gareth Naughton (formerly Drury Buildings , Suesey Street and L'Ecrivain ), who says he wanted to created "a great neighbourhood restaurant, like the type you find in Melbourne or New York", one that people will want to travel to. Circa is a collaboration between four industry friends - Gareth, Ross Duffy (formerly Drury Buildings , 3fe , Ombra in New Zealand), Robin Murphy (formerly Drury Buildings , The Redhead New York) and Emmet Murphy ( Celtic Whiskey Shop , formerly L. Mulligan Grocer ). They were looking for a site for two years before the former Eaton Square café premises came up for rent on Terenure Road North. There are no money men behind the venture, which has been funded solely by the four friends, so they've done everything from graphic design to painting the walls themselves. Gareth describes the food at Circa as "culturally Irish but not culinarily Irish", and the focus is on the best produce he can source that week from suppliers like Sean Hussey (vegetables), SSI Wholesale (fish) and JJ Young (meat). They expect the menu to change daily depending on what's available, and will be open for dinner from Wednesday - Sunday, and brunch at the weekend, featuring "funky" dishes and hiphop playlists. Gareth says they wanted to create an "open space", where people can drop in for a snack and a glass of wine at the bar, have three courses, or create their own tasting menu from smaller plates. Two of the team come from a strong bar/cocktail background, so we're expecting the cocktail menu to be as interesting as the food, using bases like Móinéir strawberry wine, vermouth and Cocchi Americano, as well as having low abv options. Circa opens tonight at 5pm and reservations can currently be made by phone or email, with an online booking system due to go live shortly. Circa 90 Terenure Road North, Terenure, Dublin 6 Wed - Fri 17:00 - 22:00. Sat - Sun 09:00 - 14:30, 17:00 - 22:00. restaurantcirca.com

All the middling reviews this week, without a whole pile to make you rush off the couch and out to eat, except for a reincarnation of an old favourite in Sandymount and lots from the Sunday Business Post's best restaurants list. Apart from those featured in the SBP's "101 Great Irish Restaurants", the winner of this week's reviews is Crudo in Sandymount, a new incarnation of Dunne & Crescenzi from the owner's two sons. We've been eyeing this one up for a while due to their excellent insta game , and according to Lucinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent it all tastes as good as it looks. Suppli (like arancini) came with confit duck, apple and hazlenut, and buffalo burrata was "divine", while polpette (meatballs) with chicken and truffle were "very elegant". For mains they had a white rabbit ragu with tagliatelle, causing her to warn those "newfound vociferous vegans" not to fire darts from their fake twitter handles as this was "not your fluffy white pet bunny or anything to do with Alice in Wonderland". Glad that was cleared up. Panna cotta with blood orange, hazelnuts and basil oil was "delicious", and she found the shelves of wine surrounding them "very comforting". True dat - the adult equivalent of a baby blanket. (Review not currently online) A slightly less satisfactory Italian experience for Catherine Cleary who was in Gigi in Ranelagh (which Lucinda also loved a few weeks ago ). She found it all a bit retro (except for the prices which are bang up to date and then some), particularly the glacé cherries (on top of gorgonzola on toast), the long wooden pepper grinder ("a ghost prop from restaurants past"), and the bare wooden tables and chairs that "look like they were borrowed from someone's nan's front room". A rustic, chunky liver paté tasted of "gutsy home cooking", but cod was underwhelming with the accompanying zucchini fritti watery and oily, and ravioli stuffed with purple potatoes and mascarpone was "fine in a blandly inoffensive way", apart from the chewy pasta which she compares to ear-lobe gristle. Mouth-watering. Desserts of fluffy tiramisu and chocolate mousse were the best part of the night, and she says she's a fan of the restaurants serving "ladlefuls of atmosphere with food that is merely fine", which seems like an odd thing for a food critic to say but there you go. She gives it 6/10 calling it "enjoyably relaxed but maybe a bit too relaxed about the food". Read her review here . More shoulder-shrugging from Katy McGuinness who was at recently opened Xi'an Street Food on South Anne Street. She was struck with the curse of having already experienced phenomenal Xi'an food at the renowned Xi'an Famous Foods in New York (and if you want the real deal closer to home it's worth getting on a plane to try Xi'an Impression in London), so was probably set up for failure. She liked the lamb roujiamo burger (although her son didn't), and the salty, spicy green beans with pork mince, but the noodles in the house speciality of biang biang noodles were stodgy rather than slippery, and aubergine in a hot garlic sauce was neither hot or garlicky enough. They also didn't respond to a query from her afterwards about where their pork, lamb and chicken comes from - rookie. She says the food is cheap, the portions huge and some of it is "damn tasty", but gives the food 6/10 overall. Review not currently online but should be soon here . In the Irish Examiner Leslie Williams checks out new Japanese spot Sisu Izakaya near St Stephen's Green, and questions whether authenticity is everything. The food sounds mixed, with cod tempura nice but under seasoned, tataki beef "tender, sweet-savoury and delicious", and dragon roll sushi "a solid B grade". The lunchtime €10 bento box and the kimchi beef ramen get a solid thumbs up, and he says that while it's "not necessarily the place to bring your homesick Japanese English-language student ... it is a good addition to Dublin’s dining scene." He gives the food 7/10 and you can read his review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley was enjoying the cocktails, and to a lesser degree the food, at Cask in Cork. It sounds like the ambience was great (pleasant and enthusiastic staff, a window table to "watch Cork strolling by"), and the drinks faultless (including a "superb" negroni), but the food was mixed, with "bland" guacamole, a Nordic style 'pizza' lukewarm with under-melted cheese, and black pudding and pork belly sliders with onion jam "a little too sweet". The best thing they ate was the white chocolate and raspberry crème brûlée, "as smooth as silk" with a "properly crisp" topping, and coffees were just okay. He ends by saying that the bar is impressive both in appearance and in content, but they need more attention to detail when it comes to the food. (Review not currently online). In the Sunday Business Post, they released their yearly " 101 Great Irish Restaurants " list with 33 in Dublin. New additions this year are The Saddle Room in The Shelbourne, Variety Jones , Hang Dai , Oliveto , Wilde at The Westbury, The Old Spot , Locks and Rosa Madre . Dropped from last year's list are Heron & Grey (now reopen as Liath ), The Pig's Ear , Ely IFSC (replaced with Ely on Ely Place), Forest & Marcy , Lobstar , Delahunt , Mr Fox , Old Street , and Asador . Get the full list here . Finally Ernie Whalley reviews Shelbourne Social in this week's Sunday Times and finds himself pleasantly surprised, despite the tranch of underwhelmed critic reviews that came before. He compares it to having the last throw in a game of pétanque, when you can either roll your boule gently up to join the rest, or plunge it into the middle and send the rest flying, which is what he did. Read that here . More next week.

Not booked somewhere yet? Shame on you. Officially world's worst child. But it's okay. We've got you covered. All of the below have availability for Mothering Sunday at the time of print, so if you're sensible, you will make a booking immediately after reading this and ensure your favourite son/daughter title remains in place at least until her birthday. The Posh Ones The Shelbourne Let's face it. There's something very luxe about a glass of Champagne in The Horseshoe Bar, and even moreso about descending the stairs of one of the city's poshest hotels into The Saddle Room for lunch or dinner afterwards. Their three-course Mother's Day lunch is €45 and includes dishes like Castletownbere Salmon Gravlax, Pickled Lusk Cucumber and Smoked Yoghurt, Roast Aged Sirloin of Charleville Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Tarragon Jus, and the Shelbourne Pavlova with Crème Chantilly and Mixed Berries. Lobstar How better to say 'thanks for birthing me' than with the most luxurious of all seafood, lobster. Lobstar in Monkstown is the real deal - always Irish, always fresh, always utterly delicious. Oliveto Oliveto in Haddington House, Dun Laoghaire has been firmly cemented onto the Dublin dining map in the past few months, with three national critics praising the Irish produce, thoughtful cooking and knockout sea views. Bonus points for the fact that you can take a nice stroll down Dun Laoghaire pier afterwards. Taste at Rustic Somewhere between posh and cool, Taste at Rustic is the place to take your Mum if she loves Japanese food and you have a healthy bank balance. Of all of Dylan McGrath's restaurants, this is the one that seems to most wow diners, and it's frequently mentioned as some of the best high-end Japanese food in the city. The Cool Ones Bastible It's really hard to beat Bastible for Sunday lunch. It's without fail one of the best value options in the city when you take into account the quality of the food and the whole experience. There's a no choice, chef's menu on Sundays so you can just sit back, relax and focus on which minimal intervention wines to pair with it. The Old Spot If your Mum's not one for formality but still enjoys great food, The Old Spot is where you need to be. It feels insulting to call it a gastropub - it's more like a great Irish restaurant in a cosy neighbourhood setting. Staff are wonderful and the food from chef Fiachra Kenny and team always seems to over-deliver. Locks Another contender for the best Sunday lunch in town, Locks has it all going on - brilliant food, an interesting wine list, a gorgeous dining room (try to nab a window table) and an idyllic setting. At the time of print they only had late lunch tables left, so if you a booking here you'd want to act fast. Read our Locks once over here . Pickle For some of the most interesting, non-standard Indian food in Dublin, head to Pickle on Camden Street. Since opening in 2016 the food has never faltered, and at the time of print there were only tables available from 3pm so if you want it, jump on it. The Cheap Ones Groundstate Coffee Since Catherine Cleary called Groundstate "one of Dublin's best cafés" in The Irish Times a few weeks ago, you can expect weekends to be a bit busier than usual, but we can think of few places nicer to take your Mum for something casual and relaxed, without having to worry about a reservation. M & L Chinese A perennial favourite of ours for the green beans, deep-fried seabass and homemade dumplings, M & L is a very tasty, very budget friendly option - particularly because it's BYO with a corkage charge of €6. At that kind of price you could even treat her to Champagne. Read our M&L once over here . The Ramen Bar Reliable and hard to break the bank in, you could definitely get and out of The Ramen Bar for under €50 for two, and while there's still a chill in the air we plan on making the most of soups and stews before it's officially salad season (we'll let you know). 3 Leaves The value in 3 Leaves for the quality of the food is almost unparalleled in Dublin, as are the flavours in chef Santosh Thomas' food. Again you can BYO for €8 a bottle, so between that and the ultra cheap food this is very much champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget. So no excuses for last minute panic, whatever your budget, whoever your Mum.

There are days when payday is taunting you, rent is laughing at you and the direct debit payment that you meant to cancel but didn’t cancel and definitely don’t need anymore still surprises you each month. Your bank account ... well let’s not think about that. If you can’t stand the idea of at-home lunch prep, or the urge to eat out is just too strong (we can relate), here’s a list of cheap places to eat that won’t make you weep into your wallet. 1. Sano Hidden of the end of Dame Street, all of the pizzas in Sano are under a tenner, which is pretty bargainous for good pizza in Dublin. Pizza will also fill the void of your bank account. 2. Masa Masa on Drury Street offers pretty cheap tacos and assorted Mexican sides. Portions aren’t huge so it works best if you’re sharing with a few mates. You’ll end up well fed with an affordable bill (and maybe a food baby, if you get carried away with ordering). 3. Sisu Izakaya Sisu Izakaya , which opened late last year, is already making a name for itself for their sushi, and their daily changing lunchtime bento box will only set you back a tenner. 4. Shouk Our favourite place for Middle Eastern food, the mezze platter in Shouk is pretty massive so you could definitely share between two, making it €7.50 each for a decent feed. And maybe order some sides ... they’re so cheap they don’t count. Read our Shouk once over here . 5. Pang Pang on Kevin Street is an easy lunch choice for their €6.50 banh mi sandwich - the lemongrass chicken is especially good. Quick, cheap and certifiably inhalable. 6. Aobaba Get a big bowl of pho for under a tenner on Capel Street and don't even think about feeling bad for not taking sad salad to work again. Read our Aobaba once over here . 7. Takara Most of the menu in Takara is under a tenner, the ramen is tasty and very satisfying, and we've been told the salmon teppanakyi is the best in town. Gyozas are mandatory. 8. Ruby Tuesday Jamaican food pop-up Ruby Tuesday in Berlin is serving inexpensive, delicious food, and the plantain chips for €4.50 are addictive. Trust us ... we went, we conquered, we overate, we took food home to eat later. Read our once over here . 9. Vietnom Hidden in the back of The Glimmer Man pub in Stoneybatter, Vietnom has pretty much reached cult status at this point. They're just back from a couple of months break so join the cool kids and get in here for a feed asap. The menu changes every week, depending on what seasonal veg is available, and it’s predominantly vegetarian. It’s hard to break the bank with most dishes costing around the €6 - €8 mark, and satisfaction is guaranteed. Read our Vietnom once over here . 10. Assassination Custard It’s hard to venture into expensive territory in this small cafe on Kevin Street. The handwritten menu items usually range from €3 - €9, and it’s BYOB if you know you’re not going back to the office. Read our Assassination Custard once over here . 11. Fumbally The Fumbally sandwich menu changes daily depending on produce and costs €7 for the vegetarian one and €7.50 for the meat option. They also have a porchetta sandwich with caper mayo as a menu staple, which always hits the spot.

It’s safe now guys, you can leave the house, the tourists are gone. The green sea that was Dublin over the bank holiday has returned to well, the usual scenic delight, with extra rubbish around the place. How’s the head? How’s the bank account? It’s okay, we don’t want to talk about it either. Let us distract you from being back at work with five things we want to eat in Dublin this week. 1. Granola from Alma Alma ’s chocolate granola is topped with greek yogurt, coconut shavings, dark chocolate, housemade lemon curd, mint and seasonal fruit. Okay yes, this is basically dessert for breakfast but look, it's already a short week and we're suffering from multiple hangovers. 2. Taleggio Toastie from Clanbrassil Coffee Shop Clanbrassil Coffee Shop does a mean toastie, and this one with taleggio, butternut squash and pickled shiitake mushrooms ticks all the carb and cheese boxes (and vegetables, we guess). 3. French Toast from Brother Hubbard North Brother Hubbard North has just put this ridiculously looking brioche french toast on their menu, with chocolate truffle, date caramel, white chocolate and tahini drizzle, toasted sesame and housemade honeycomb. You can feel a food coma coming on just by looking at it, which is just what you need for rest and repair after the bank holiday boozing. 4. Brioche Feuilletée from The Greenhouse Brioche feuilletée is laminated brioche to us civilians, and these guys from The Greenhouse are filled with niçoise olives and anchovy. We’ll take seven. 5. White Pudding Scotch Egg from The Old Spot It’s never not a good time for a scotch egg, especially one made with white pudding and bacon, served with caper dressing and housemade brown sauce at The Old Spot . A major faux pas in Dublin restaurants these days seems to be not making your own brown sauce, so we doubly approve.

Lucky Tortoise on Aungier Street launch their new lunch deal this Thursday, and is giving away free dim sum to celebrate. From 12-4pm on Thursday 21st March, those willing to brave what will probably be a lengthy queue will get to try their new lunch deal at no charge (but if you get in it would be sound to at least leave a tip for the staff). The new lunch offer includes miso, okonomiyaki, pork siu mai, vegetable dumplings, rice and kimchi for €12, and there's wine on tap if you have an easy afternoon ahead of you. Lucky Tortoise were only supposed to be popping up on Aungier Street for two weeks last September, but it's proved so popular that they've stayed put. Evenings are a €20 all-in menu which is definitely one of the best deals in town right now. Diners will be served on a first come, first served basis on Thursday, and looking at the queues Pi had last week when they offered pizzas for €3.14 for Pi day, we're expecting this to be busy. People love free food. Lucky Tortoise 8 Aungier Street Mon - Sun 12:00 - 22:00 www.luckytortoise.co

After a brief hiatus we've come back to critics drinking expensive wine, fish cooked in "crazy water", and a review of McDonalds. How long were we gone? In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley is in one of the last places we would ever expect to find him - McDonalds. He thought that their introduction of 'table service' made it worthy of a review, but we've already had messages complaining about giving column inches to a corporate entity like Ronald rather than an independent business who it would mean something to, but to be fair, he did put it to the general public and a lot of people said go for it, so you can't win. Despite him being 'transfixed' by the idea of table service, but it was all a bit of a damp squib, with the computer ordering screens providing "digital hoops" to jump through, and the whole thing "a bit of a palaver". Both the quarter pounder with cheese and the 'classic signature' were good, but the chips were "limp, flaccid, terrible", and we can't quite believe we're discussing the food at McDonalds right now but there you go. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary calls the food at Gertrude "really simple and really lovely". She wasn't crazy about the room, saying that without a lot of people and sunlight streaming through the windows it felt a bit cold, but the food made up for it. The dish of the night was a scotch egg with celeriac remoulade and wild garlic pesto, which she says achieves "all the best things redolent of great cooking", and the snack plate including cooleeny croquettes and bacon and cabbage dumplings also went down well. Main's had "that satisfying supper feel of well-sourced and expertly-cooked food", with falling apart featherblade steak and a "lovely" plate of brill with capers and roast lemon purée. Dessert of apple fritters "just work", and they wangled our favourite menu hack of the year so far by asking for that 3fe espresso soft serve instead of the custard it usually comes with. Well played. No comments on the wine list which is a shame because it's great, but she calls it "a lovely addition to dining in this part of Dublin." Read her review here . In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness calls Grano in Stoneybatter "the simple, sincere type of restaurant that Italians take for granted", and it all sounds pretty amazing, from the nduja to the black pig lardo on sourdough to the burrata with cured capocollo ham (we've also had a lot of it and it is - read our once over here ). Hand-made pasta with cuttlefish had deep, intense flavours, and pork neck with smoked pancetta, caciocavallo cheese and cime de rapa was "quite perfect" There weren't crazy on the cannolo which was "pleasant" but not exciting, and they pushed the boat out with a "top-notch" frappato from Sicilian winemaker Arianna Occhipint at €85 - why do so reviewers so rarely drink amazing wine? Newspaper budgets? Too exclusionary? She calls it "a little outpost of Italy in Stoneybatter", and gives it 8/10 for food and 9/10 for value. Read her review here . More Italian food in the Sunday Independent where Lucinda O'Sullivan happened across a café in Dun Laoghaire doing paninis by day and pasta by night. She calls Belli Dentro "a delightful spot" and they loved their aubergine parmigiana, pasta with porcini mushrooms and cream, and monkfish in tomato sauce with black olives and capers. Special mention too for the brill cooked in "crazy water" which they didn't have but which we are now extremely curious about. No comment on their desserts of tiramisu and chocolate cake (but presumably no complaints), and despite the depressing looking dining room and plastic chairs, she calls it "a buzzing little neighbourhood restaurant", and says they'll be back. (Review not currently online). In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis is the third critic to be bowled over by Oliveto in Dun Laoghaire, saying it was "quite simply, one of the best meals I’ve eaten in ages". Her slow-braised venison ragu with potato gnocchi, smoked pancetta, kale and pecorino has become something of an obsession since eating there, and she compares the Italian-inspired cooking to Etto , which is a huge compliment. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee was at Monk's Lane in Cork. He thought the country pub with a reputation for great food would be near dead outside of tourist season but found it packed to the gills, and they just about managed to nab the last table in the place. He says they're serving familiar dishes with "top notch" delivery, built on a solid foundation of excellent, mostly locally-sourced produce, and it's consistently good. Singled out for praise is a rosemary focaccia with gubbeen cheese and salami, "excellent" fish and chips, and a fried Macroom halloumi salad - "a most cracking lunch dish altogether", and the children's menu sounds a lot better than most, with lamb quesadillas and house-made chicken goujons. He says that although they're not reinventing the wheel, the food was "sublimely tasty" and the space cosy and intimate. Read his review here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley went to Ruby Tuesday Jerk Chicken in Berlin and found curry goat that was all he was hoping for. Read that here . Or read our Ruby Tuesday once over here . More next week.

Zaytoon on Parliament Street reopens today after closing in January for a rebrand and refurbishment. A fixture on the Persian food scene in Dublin since it opened in 2000 (as well as the only acceptable place to get a kebab at 3am), the interior's had a much needed face lift (taking inspiration from the carpet shop the owners previously ran on Dame Street), and there's a newly expanded menu. Zaytoon 2.0 features more healthy, vegetarian and vegan options, as well as family recipes including a "legendary" lentil soup, and carrot & walnut cake. Other new dishes include saffron ice cream (Zaytoon is the biggest importer of saffron in Ireland), smoked aubergine dip and chicken Kubideh, and five vegan options include stuffed aubergines, falafel and vegetable shish. Everything is made fresh each day, including all of their sauces and doners, and they've committed to Irish meat, free-range eggs and no deep-frying. The Camden Street branch will be updated next, and Zaytoon has also announced they're coming to Swords in the next few months, with another three other branches to follow (locations TBC). Great news for nightlife lovers across the city. Zaytoon on Parliament Street reopens at 12:00 today. Zaytoon 14/15 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Sun - Thu 12:00 - 04:00, Fri - Sat 12:00 - 15:00. www.zaytoon.ie

Our new bi-monthly list features the most talked about restaurants in Dublin right now. The ones the reviewers are reviewing, the instagrammers are instagramming, and where getting a Saturday (or any) night table can take military planning. These are the hottest restaurants in Dublin right now, in alphabetical order... 3 Leaves Where: Blackrock Market The tiny Indian in Blackrock exploded in 2018 with zero PR attached - just word of very satisfied mouths. Soon it was being called "outstanding" by Tom Doorley and "a revelation" by Katy McGuinness and it was firmly on the Dublin food map. Expect very tasty, very good value food, and the fact that you can BYOB is another reason it's difficult to get a table in. Read more about 3 Leaves here . Alma Where: Portobello The Argentinean café opened in mid-January with slick imagery and a very different menu to what's currently available on the food scene, and seems to have had a queue since day one. You have definitely seen the dulce de leche pancakes on social media and have probably stood on the SRC waiting for a table. No critic reviews yet but it is only a matter of time. It's got Catherine Cleary all over it. Read more about Alma here . Bread 41 Where: Pearse Street Did cruffins even exist before Bread 41 opened last September? What did we have as a 'treat' breakfast? What did food bloggers pull apart for insta story videos? It's fair to say that Real Bread fanatic Eoin Cluskey's Pearse Street bakery burst onto the scene and shows no signs of slowing down. Watch the sad faces pile up around 10am when they find out that everything's gone and the next bake isn't till 11. Check out Bread 41 here . Chameleon Where: Temple Bar Indonesian-inspired Chameleon's been around for an incredible 25 years and is part of the fabric of Temple Bar, but has managed to somewhat reinvent itself in the past year, with some of the best looking bao buns in the city and a new logo and paint job. It got Katy McGuinness through the door and she says she's kicking herself for never having gone before. Read more about Chameleon here . Clanbrassil House Where: Clanbrassil Street Originally nicknamed ‘Baby Bastible’, Clanbrassil House is definitely standing on its own feet these days. Head chef Gráinne O'Keefe's food seems to be getting better and better, which was confirmed when they were awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand last Autumn. Their social media channels are on fleek and celebrity fans are many and varied . Read more about Clanbrassil House here . Etto Where: Merrion Row Etto has been dream dining since opening mid-recession in 2013. One of the most highly rated, consistent restaurants in the city, no one was surprised to see them take home best restaurant in Ireland at last year's Restaurant Awards . Katy McGuinness reviewed them for a second time last February giving out a very rare 10/10, and saying she wouldn't change a single thing about it. Read more about Etto here . Fish Shop Benburb Street Where: Smithfield Simple seafood, sherry and natural wines have been drawing the crowds to Smithfield since day one, and it's one of the food & drink industry's favourite hang outs . Catherine Cleary likened it to "a world class tapas bar", Katy McGuinness called it "perfection", and their Monday Wine Club is without doubt the best value place to drink quality wine in the whole of Dublin. Champagne for €7.50 a glass anyone? Read more about Fish Shop Benburb St here . Forest & Marcy Where: Leeson Street The second opening from the team behind Forest Avenue and chef Ciaran Sweeney is another place you'll find most of the city's restaurant staff hanging out on Sunday nights. It was originally walk in only, but thankfully they changed it and now take bookings, which is good because these are some of the hardest to get seats in town. Read more about Forest & Marcy here . Gertrude Where: Pearse Street The city waited an agonizing two years for Gertrude to open its doors and when they finally did last December their upmarket-diner-with-good-wine style was something completely new for the city. The pork tonkatsu sandwich, bacon and cabbage dumplings and fried chicken pancake stack were suddenly proliferating instagram, and all three critics reviews so far have been encouraging. Read our Gertrude once over here . Grano Where: Stoneybatter We don't remember a new Italian restaurant ever having the impact Grano has in just two months since they opened, with 5 critics in already. By January they were booking out weeks in advance, and on the two occasions we ate there, countless people were turned away all evening. Catherine Cleary called it "terrific", and Lucinda O'Sullivan said if she lived locally she'd be there every night. Read our Grano once over here . Host Where: Ranelagh Host opened in Ranelagh in 2017 and was like a corridor of London transported into a street in need. Soon the neighbourhood had a new favourite hangout for handmade pasta, sharing steak and great wine, and more than one critic complained about not being able to get a table. Host is still killing it in the popularity stakes and their fans frequently travel across the city to eat there. Read our Host once over here . Liath Where: Blackrock When Heron & Grey announced they were splitting up late last year, anyone who's eaten there (or was never lucky enough to get a booking) sobbed inwardly, but when Damien Grey announced he was opening the restaurant under a new name, 'Liath', sighs of relief were heard across the city. It opens next weekend, with the first two months of reservations selling out in seconds. Expect that to be par for the course for the foreseeable future. Read more about Liath here . Lucky Tortoise Where: Aungier Street The dim sum pop up that started in Ranelagh has been on a bit of a travelling tour of Dublin for the past year, but after what was supposed to be a two week pop up on Aungier Street in September went so well, they decided to make it their permanent home. The €20 all in menu has been attracting the masses since day one and it only seems to be getting busier and busier. Good food, good music, good wine, good vibes. Read more about Lucky Tortoise here . Michael's Where: Mount Merrion Not knowing about Michael’s is a major faux pas on the Dublin dining scene. Serving some of the freshest seafood you can get in Dublin right now, often straight from the boats, the place is constantly booked out, but fear not, they’ll be opening a wine bar down the road in April to deal with the spillover. Practically every food critic has been through the door in the past year, each one leaving more infatuated than the last. Read more about Michael's here . Pi Where: George's Street Pi was the instigator of "the great pizza debate of 2018", which we take credit for starting after declaring it the best pizza in Dublin . A summer of hotly contested opinions followed, with Catherine Cleary agreeing with us in September, and Leslie Williams says it's as good a pizza as he's ever tasted. There was a point where the queues got a bit nutso but it's settled into nice hum, partly in thanks to the clever new queuing system that lets you go for a beer until they text to say your table's ready. Read our Pi once over here . Rosa Madre Where: Temple Bar Owner Luca's prolific instagram stories are not for the faint-hearted (or those who have lives or jobs) but his Italian charm and tendency to sabre Champagne bottles in the restaurant have put it firmly on the map for much of the restaurant industry and the influencer set. His decision to delist all Prosecco from his wine list last year and cut the margins on Champagne earned him lots of fans too. Read more about Rosa Madre here . The Seafood Café Where: Temple Bar Niall Sabongi's Seafood Café has managed to stay front and centre in the seafood stakes by serving the freshest Irish fish, constantly coming up with inventive (and snappable) dishes like beer battered crab claws, and with events like their weekly Bloody Mary brunches . Sabongi's a vocal advocate for Irish seafood and its meant TSC is the first place a lot of people think of for quality, casual seafood in the city. Read more about The Seafood café here . Two Pups Where: Francis Street Casually going about their breakfast, lunch and brunch business since 2016, Two Pups is still one of the most sought after brunch spots in Dublin, and if you go on weekends prepare to queue. They're single-handedly responsible for one of the world's greatest pairings - avocado and peanut butter, and the French toast with plum compote and white chocolate reached legendary status. Read more about Two Pups here . Uno Mas Where: Aungier Street The second, Spanish-influenced opening from the guys behind Etto almost kept us waiting as long as Gertrude, but from the day they announced they were opening at the end of November there's been a steady stream of critics, bloggers and just breathing humans coming out awestruck at the gildas, the mussels, the flan. It also has some of the best bar seating in town and some is saved for walk-ins. Jackpot. Read more about Uno Mas here . Variety Jones Where: Thomas Street The first solo opening from chef Keelan Higgs opened five days before Christmas with no fuss, they just got the fire going in the hearth at the back and swung open the doors. Pretty soon reports were coming in about some of the most exciting cooking in the city, and all seven national critics had paid a visit in the first two months. Almost all left very satisfied. Read our Variety Jones once over here . Ones to watch... - Ex-Drury Buildings head chef Gareth Naughton opens Circa in Terenure later this month. - Initial reports from The Ramen Kitchen in Stoneybatter are positive. Expect a critic in there soon. - Groundstate Coffee has had a new lease of life since Catherine Cleary's review at the weekend. We've already seen an Insta uptick. - Niall Davidson 's new restaurant opening's been pushed back until June. Expect that to dominate the summer.

The twitter debate machine was fed new content this week with reports that the government is going to make restaurants display calories counts on menus. In our opinion, it’s a weak attempt to fix an education issue and a whole load of energy wasted in the wrong places. If it does go through, dining culture in Ireland will change, bringing an extreme amount of guilt to eating out, and menus (and food composition) will change accordingly. At this stage, trying to understand how this new system will be properly implemented is akin to attempting to predict the aftermath of Brexit, so while we're still able to enjoy food without calorie counts shoved in our faces, here are 5 desserts we’d like to eat this week. Amen to blissful ignorance... 1) Lemon Meringue Pancakes from Brother Hubbard It’s that one day of the year where it's socially acceptable (if not expected) to gorge yourself on pancakes, and this year we’re thinking of heading to Brother Hubbard for some of their Morrocan style semolina ‘beghrir’ pancakes with torched meringue and pistachio. So much fancier than the Odlums pancake mix. 2) The Blood Orange Cake from Locks Ever persuaded by seasonal produce, we've been giving the glad eye to this blood orange cake with almond custard and blood orange ice-cream from Locks . On a scale of 1-10, how acceptable is it to book a table just for dessert? 3) Lemon Cakes from Lilliput Stores We’re very tempted to stop by Lilliput Stores and pick up one of these dainty lemon cakes...as well as some olives, cheese, cured meats... Basically all the food. 4) The Snickers Dessert from The Pig’s Ear The Pig’s Ear have been showing off some new desserts recently on the gram. They’ve always been known for their cheesecake-in-a-jar-in-a-bag, but we’re liking the sounds of their take on a grown up version of a Snickers. 5) Acai from Nutbutter This colourful classic acai bowl from Nutbutter with banana, blueberries, hemp, granola and honey is just the job to perk you up on one of these rainy mornings, and just by having a quick look at it we'd say it has zero calories. It's basically just fruit. Who needs calories counts!?

Just when you thought Stoneybatter couldn't get any cooler, a dedicated ramen restaurant has opened up on Manor Street. The Ramen Kitchen opened last Friday and already seems to be getting the thumbs up according to Instagram . The Ramen Kitchen does six different types of ramen, with ingredients like braised beef ribs, Japanese style roast pork and grilled salmon, as well as a vegetarian option with tofu, pak choi, black garlic and mushrooms (you can find the full menu at the bottom of this article). They also serve donburi rice bowls, bento boxes and sushi, and there's a full wine list (including sake), as well as Japanese beers and a couple of prosecco cocktails. The Ramen Kitchen say the secret to good ramen is the broth, and they make theirs from scratch before cooking it for six hours. They also have two different types of chefs in the kitchen which they think gives them an edge - classically French trained and traditional Japanese. Their vegetables are organic where possible, wagyu beef comes from Cork, and seafood comes in daily from Wrights. The Ramen Kitchen is open from 12pm seven days a week, and we can't be the only ones thinking about moving to Stoneybatter right now. The Ramen Kitchen 56 Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Mon - Sun from 12pm www.instagram.com/ramenkitchen

Stoneybatter seems to be exploding right now when it comes to food and drink, particularly of the vegan variety, and now there's another place for plant-eaters to call home - Beo, a new vegan, fully organic café and wine bar. They're still waiting on their wine licence, so in the meantime they're offering BYOB with the corkage fee donated to Cara Rescue Dogs . Beo (which means alive in Irish) sells organic, living foods, fermented foods and medicinal drinks, and the menu is "casual but creative", with plant-based platters, pastries and desserts. Drinks include Imbibe organic coffee, medicinal lattés, tea infusions, kombucha and kefir (both produced in house), and everything can be eaten in or taken away. Their in-house baker is making all of their cakes, pastries and breads, and they're taking bespoke orders for special occasions. They also have a vegan chocolate selection, and want Beo to become "a soothing little oasis in Stoneybatter". The sustainability theme is also following through with their product sourcing, recycling and packaging, and composting will be done on site. Beo is open now and you can follow them on Facebook here and Instagram here . Beo 50A Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Mon - Sun 07:00 - 22:00 beokitchen.ie

There's a new food market coming to Dublin 8, featuring some of the city's most loved producers, like Scéal bakery, White Mausu and the Dublin Food co-op. After months of uncertainly surrounding the Dublin Flea and whether they'll find another home, the Fumbally Stables have decided to start their own Saturday market, with eight traders, many of which had been trading at the Dublin flea before it closed last May. The new market will take place every Saturday from 10am - 2pm, and the guys behind the Fumbally Stables say that, "As the city moves towards favouring hotels, and short-term let accommodation over community and cultural spaces, it feels like an important time to be able to present this small market offering to the Dublin 8 area." They've focused on variety so that people can do the bulk of their weekly shop there, and no doubt the securing of Scéal and McNally Farm in particular is going to bring their loyal followers with them. Scéal had been trading at Pender's Market in Stoneybatter since 2017 but will cease to do so with the opening of the new market, and McNally Farm are keeping their regular Saturday stall at Temple Bar Market, with this one an additional site. The full list of traders at the Fumbally Stables will be as follows: McNally Family Farm  - organic vegetables, herbs and fruit from North Dublin Scéal Bakery  - sourdough bread and pastries Dublin Food Co-op  - packaging free grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, (bring your own containers), raw & pasteurised milk with bottle return Lilliput Trading Company  - cheese, olives, cured meats Fumbally Ferments  - sauerkraut, kimchi and other probiotic rich foods White Mausu  - Peanut Rayu and more Elmhurst Cottage Farm  - seasonal vegetables, herbs, flowers, eggs and treats from the urban farm in Glasnevin McEvoy Nurseries - potted plants, flowers, seedlings, medicinal plants The Saturday market starts at the Fumbally Stables this Saturday, 9th March, and will run every Saturday from 10:00 - 14:00. Fumbally Stables Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8 thefumballystables.ie

Eatyard , the outdoor street food market at the side of The Bernard Shaw reopens this Thursday, with new food and drink options, including Galway's most famous burgers, free-range lamb flatbreads and black soft serve ice-cream. Handsome Burger , arguably Galway's most famous burgers, are joining the new line up. They'll be serving their fully Irish burgers with sticky onions, pickled cucumber and signature sauces, as well as loaded fries, triple cooked in beef dripping with chorizo, fried veg and aioli, or parmesan and maple bacon. Olea is another new addition, both to Eatyard and to the Dublin market, and will be serving warm flatbreads with free-range lamb or halloumi, vibrant vegetables, chickpeas and herbs. They'll also have bulgar pilaf bowls if you want to go bread free. But probably the thing you're going to see most of is The Milk Bar 's black vanilla soft serve. The Milk Bar started in Kildare Village last summer, and are now taking their black ice-cream cones and Thai rolled ice-cream to the streets of Dublin. Prepare for many, many instagram posts. Sweet Churro are another new addition on the dessert side, and will be making their chocolate and dulce de leche filled churros as well as crepes. Also coming back to eatyard are everyone's favourite vegan fast food truck, Vish Shop , with their cauliflower wings and Vish and chips, and Arepas Grill with their stuffed Venezuelan cornbreads. Like the last few seasons they have plenty of events planned, including the Great Eatyard Bake Off on April 4th, the Wine & Cheese Festival on May 16th, the Crisp Festival on June 13th, Gin Fusion on June 27th and Beerfest on July 11th. They've also teased about two more Eatyard sites opening in the next few months. More news on that when we get it. Eatyard 9 - 10 South Richmond Street, Dublin 2 Thu - Sun from 12pm the-eatyard.com

Another almost home run of Dublin reviews this week (bonus), and once again it's a full contingent of positivity. Thought of the day: Anyone else noticing that bad or middling reviews are getting less and less frequent? Rather than critics bottling it, maybe the standard of food across the city is getting so good, particularly with the glut of new openings, that it's getting harder and harder to find somewhere bad enough to give a kicking to? Both Catherine Cleary and Tom Doorley went on the hunt for brunch this week, and might have uncovered a couple of new places to add to your to-do lists. In the Irish Times CC expected to be underwhelmed by Groundstate Coffee , thinking it looks "too hip to be delicious", but on leaving says she hasn't loved a café this much since Laura Caulwell was cooking at Storyboard . Stop the lights. She liked it so much she went two days in a row, and it all sounds pretty amazeballs, especially the croque madame with Bread Nation bread, thick-cut ham "that tastes like it came from a pantry in the 1950's", parmesan and cheddar cream, crispy fried egg and a side of perfect kimchi. Be still our hearts. Also getting pulses racing was the French toast with citrus crème anglaise, labneh, and berries, and apparently the weekend vegan toast "sounds purgatorial but is delicious". The only disappointment was the date-based desserts, but she calls the food "excellent" and gives it 8.5/10. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley was at Legit Coffee Co. in Phibsborough, loving the fact that they're dedicated to brunch. He say he would go back for the "clever" pulled pork benedict, with "perfectly cooked eggs", "pleasingly sharp yet silky" hollandaise, and "pork tasting of pork". Another dish of eggs and greens came with toasted sourdough, spring cabbage, avocado, spinach leaves and "delightfully pink" beet hummus, which he calls "healthy stuff" yet substantial. Once again desserts didn't really do the trick, with a pineapple upside down cake "okay but rather dry", and a bounty bar also too dry, and hard to eat, but the situation was saved by a salted caramel canelé - "glorious", and "oozed salted caramel everywhere". Coffee and tea was excellent and they liked the minimalist design and the "pleasantly vague" staff, which must be the best insult compliment of the week. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee says that Pickle on Camden Street is the best Indian food he's had in Ireland: "playful, inventive, damn tasty and so much more than mere reproductions from the canon." Read the review for the full descriptions of the mammoth amount of dishes they tried, but the Wicklow venison samosas with berry chutney and the 36 hour lentil dahl with butter naan sound particularly good - maybe because we've had the dahl and it is that good. Pickles comprised of a "glorious selection" of carrot, mango, lime, seaweed and chilli, and he was delighted to see rarely sighted goat on the menu, in the famous Pickle goat mince curry - "an earthy old school bowl with a throbbing chilli undertow." Desserts of kulfi and deep-fried dough balls soaked in cardamom were "a blissful conclusion", and he gives the food 8.5/10. Read the full review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda O'Sullivan is the second through the door of Jay Bourke and chef Matt Fuller's new South William Street opening Bart's , and like Ernie Whalley she was seriously impressed with the tapas-style, unusual sounding menu. She skims over Jay Bourke 's "financial controversy", saying "times move on, and he was always a great ideas man", and she reckons the small plates at Bart's would sit comfortably in a Michelin-starred restaurant. She says they wanted everything on the menu, but settled on "featherweight" oyster crisps, "chunky" arancini with wild mushrooms, and "finger-licking" fries with lobster emulsion and grated parmesan. Battered turbot with coriander salsa was "heavenly", and hoisin duck was "precision cut", with a rich, dark sesame, soy and ginger jus with pickled ginger. They seem totally wowed by desserts of a Spanish smoked sheep's cheese cheesecake with angostura pears and quince jelly, and a ricotta panna cotta with rhubarb, meringue "nipples" (no other suitable descriptor?), and cava ice cream, and says they almost gave the kitchen a standing ovation. Wowsers. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness was at Oliveto in Haddington House Dun Laoghaire, who've clearly gotten over their fear of a review only three years into their five year renovation programme (they tried to dissuade Ernie Whalley from writing about it last November, but had nothing to worry about). Katy loved it too, especially as they bagged a table with a sea view. They describe the menu as "Irish seasonal food through an Italian lens", and to be fair that's exactly what it sounds like. Lightly battered baby squid with garlic aioli, salsify with roasted parmesan, smoked almond and saffron, and potato and cheese agnolotti with guanciale were all impressive, as was a vegetarian dish of chargrilled celeriac, black garlic butter, savoy cabbage, mushroom ragu and pine oil. Braised Andarl pork cheeks with Jerusalem artichoke purée, hazelnut butter, kalettes and Pedro Ximinez jus was a "triumph", and despite a few minor quibbles gives it 8/10 for food and value. Read her review here . In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis was back to review The Pigeon House in Delgany after her last one 5 years ago. It all sounds a bit suburbia, crowd-pleaser stuff, but they liked it, with the exception of some flavourless cured salmon and roast potatoes which tasted boiled. Overall she thought the menu had a "full flavoured vibe", with dishes like buttermilk-fried quail with honey, sesame and chipotle mayo, roast cauliflower with almonds, grapes and a cheese sauce and half a chicken served with apple and apricot stuffing and "very good" chicken gravy. Read her review here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley lunched at Gertrude solo three times to give a really good overview of the menu, the drinks and the atmosphere. Read that here . No critics reviews next week. Back in two.

Indigo & Cloth , the menswear, lifestyle and design shop in Temple Bar, open a new café today, after previously having Clement and Pekoe run it as a concession for the past three years. They want the new incarnation to replicate what they do with their fashion buying, focusing on two distinct seasons - Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer, changing everything up twice a year. They've invested in new high tech coffee equipment, and for Spring/Summer '19 will be working with Bailies Coffee Roasters Belfast, Bonanza Berlin and Nomad Barcelona for coffee, Bread 41 for food and Minor Figures and Alrpro for non-dairy milk. In-store ceramic cups will come from Japanese brand Kinto, with reusable cups on sale from Huskee Australia. The new space opens this morning, and from 9am - 12pm they're offering customers their first coffee free of charge, to thank their regulars for their support and to welcome new faces to the space. Sounds like a very good start to a Friday. The new café is open from Mon - Fri 09:00 - 18:00, Saturday 10:00 - 18:00, and Sunday 11:00 - 18:00. Purchasing of pink silk shirts and designer candles optional. Indigo & Cloth 9 Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Ph: + 353 1 6706403 indigoandcloth.com

Elephant & Castle opens in Monkstown today, adding to the original Temple Bar restaurant, there since 1989, and their second second in Rathmines, which opened just before Christmas. Famous for wings, wings and more wings, expect this to be the focus of the menu, but they're also serving burgers, ribs, pancakes and salads. The original Elephant and Castle was opened in New York in 1973 (and is still open today ), and came to Dublin after one of the restaurant's Irish chefs came home for a visit and thought it would be a hit in Temple Bar. It was bought by Press Up Entertainment in 2017, and it's thought that more sites are on the cards. The landmark city centre restaurant was has been at the top of every "best chicken wings in Dublin" list in recent memory, and has a very dedicated legion of fans, so no doubt a south-side location is going to be very popular. The 90-seater Monkstown site is set over two floors, and will open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with brunch at weekends. You can see the full menu here . Elephant & Castle Monkstown opens at 12pm today and you can book tables via their website. Elephant & Castle 18a Monkstown Crescent, Monkstown, Co. Dublin Ph: +353 1 572 0630 elephantandcastle.ie/monkstown

A full run of Dublin based reviews this week - wait for the inevitable moaning about how we all think Dublin is the centre of the universe - which it is. Also, don't you love it when a plan comes together? That's how Tiller + Grain on South Frederick Street must be feeling this weekend. They're not even open a month and they've got two reviews under their belt, both stuffed full of praise for their "very striking" salads and "flavour filled condiments". Read our piece about Tiller + Grain opening up here . In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary praises their "bowls of salad as cheerful as anything the lunch scene has to offer", and urges readers to sit in rather than take away as you might be able to pounce on the newly baked pecan cookies coming straight from the kitchen. Dreamz... She loved the various homages to vegetables, including tenderstem broccoli with "flavour clusters" of miso almonds & walnuts, and a nutty, sweet and zesty cabbage slaw. A lentil dahl was "comfort food" with jazzy flavours of chilli and lemon, and the aforementioned freshly baked dark chocolate and pecan cookies would have her mother driving to Dublin at the promise of one. She says that Tiller + Grain is serving food that makes "the stuff of other salad bars (even the pomegranate pretenders) look like sludgy sameness", and gives it 8.5/10. Read her review here . Very similar sentiments in the Irish Daily Mail from Tom Doorley who calls it "a place as bright and vibrant physically as it is in terms of taste." He also loved the salads which he calls the "stars" - beetroot on a bed of silky hummus, "delicious" quinoa with feta and pomegranate, and "the star amongst stars", farro with preserved lemon and olives. Pork and beef meatballs were "generous and not stretched out using breadcrumbs" with "properly dry couscous" cooked in excellent stock, and another dish of cold trout was "just cooked, delicate and flaky". A brownie for dessert was "fabulously savoury and intense", a vegan blood orange cake "delightful", and he says there's "a genuinely homemade, homely and caring feeling about what is produced here." Winner all round. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner Leslie Williams finally got around to writing about Uno Mas after three visits, and says that during every one he was "taken aback by the sheer precision in the cooking as well as by the quality of ingredients and the balancing of flavours." It's a home run when it comes to the food, with padron peppers "the best I've tried outside Spain", cockles in fino sherry "a gorgeous dish", and "the most perfectly cooked piece of cod I have ever eaten". Ox cheek with polenta was a perfect combination of flavours, and a dark chocolate and olive oil ganache "revelatory", while salt caramel ice-cream and espresso granita were "as good as they sound". He says Uno Mas is focused on the best foods of Spain — "perfect sourcing, precision cooking and one of the best wine lists in the city", and advises booking it promptly. Read his review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda O'Sullivan reviews everyone's new favourite Italian Grano , in Stoneybatter. Owner Roberto's mama was still in the kitchen so she must have visited in early January. She also had an identical meal to us, so we reckon we ate there within a day of each other (or maybe the same night a couple of hours apart), and like us, she loved every bit of it, including the stuffed artichoke, black pig lardo and charred green peppers with marinated anchovies. The cacio e pepe fileja came with a "fabulous" cheese sauce and chargrilled artichoke shards, and another pasta in a tomato, black pig guanciale and pecorino sauce was "divine". Dessert of salame di cioccolato was "a delight", and the wine list "excellent", and she says "If I lived locally I'd be there every night". Ditto. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness went to Pi on George's Street and says she liked it but didn't find it life-changing (in case you forget, we were in the life-changing camp ). It didn't start off great when they were given "the worst table" at the back by the stairs, and then the pizza she really wanted with funghi, grana padano, fontina, sage and spinach wasn't on the menu, so probably a tough recovery from there on. They settled for the nduja and the patata, and she thought the dough was "excellent, crisp on the outside, chewy within, nicely tangy, beautifully charred and blistered", but the toppings on the nduja (which included honey) a bit sweet and lacking in spice. The patata with grana padano, potato, scamorza, black pudding, caramelised onion, pickled shallots and garlic had better balance. Their dessert of chocolate budino was "perfectly pleasant", and she thought it "wholly enjoyable" but not world altering. Read her review here . In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis was in Lucinda's favourite restaurant, Rasam , and found it comforting and calming after a trying week. Cauliflower florets in a spicy batter were "the perfect consistency", as were battered spinach leaves with honey and yoghurt dressing. Tandoori seabass was "a light delight", and Malabar prawns came in a "great" tomato and coconut sauce. She says it might be lacking in the more adventurous dishes, but they know what their customers want and deliver it to them consistently (and judging by how often she goes there we're guessing Lucinda agrees). Read her review here . And in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley visits newly opened tapas-style Bart's on South William Street (which it turns out is a Jay Bourke enterprise), where he had highs including lobster fries and roast brill, and lows including the hoisin duck and the wine list. Read that here . More next week.