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In case you had your head under a rock yesterday, or happened to be partaking in a social media detox, you might have missed that Clanbrassil House is the latest Dublin restaurant to be awarded a Bib Gourmand in the 2019 Michelin Guide. Named after the Michelin man, Bibendum, a Bib Gourmand is awarded for good quality, good value cooking, where a three-course meal comes in at under €40. Clanbrassil House was opened in October 2017 by Barry Fitzgerald and Claire-Marie Thomas, owners of Bastible (which was also awarded a Bib Gourmand last year). The charcoal grill takes centre stage on the menu with the majority of the dishes cooked over fire. The seasonal menu also encourages family style eating. The kitchen is run by head chef Grainne O’Keefe, former chef of Bastible and Pichet, with Barry O'Neill as sous chef (both below). O’Keefe has to be one of the busiest chefs in the city right now - she's also culinary director of chargrilled-burger mecca Bujo in Sandymount, and collaborated with Hugh Higgins (who'll be running the kitchen in Niall Davidson's new restaurant ) on the Italian menu in this Summer's House of Peroni residency on Stephen's Green. Clanbrassil House is the newest Dublin restaurant to receive the award and the only addition this year. All of the other restaurants in Dublin with a Bib Gourmand have retained it. Those are Bastible , Delahunt , Etto , Pichet , The Pig’s Ear , Richmond , The Pigeon House , Forest and Marcy and Craft . The full Michelin Guide will be announced this Monday, October 1st and we are on the edge of our seats waiting to find out if there will be any new starred restaurants in the capital by Monday evening, if any one stars get promoted to two (The Greenhouse - we're looking at you), or if anyone loses a star - flashback to the dramatic Thornton's demotion . As always we’ll keep you posted.

Since Lucky Tortoise finished their residency in Hobarts Café in Ranelagh a few months ago, there's been a dim sum shaped hole in Dublin's dining scene. They're still on the hunt for a permanent spot, and are in the process of opening a new Vietnamese (watch this space for news), but in the meantime they're bringing Lucky Tortoise back for two weeks in the old Granthams site on Aungier Street. The Lucky Tortoise pop up will open for lunch and dinner, and the menu will be a mixture of old favourites and new dishes, including siu mai, wontons, lemongrass pork baos, coconut rice, kimchi and sesame cucumbers. They're also doing a €10 set lunch, which includes dim sum, rice and kimchi, and it's BYOB. Sold yet? Lucky Tortoise opens tonight at 6pm, and from tomorrow will be open from 12-10pm for the next two weeks, serving food all afternoon. This is a great opportunity to get a dim sum fix, while we (im)patiently wait for Thom Lawson and co to find a permanent home. Lucky Tortoise Pop-Up 8 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 From 6pm tonight, then 12pm - 10pm for the next two weeks www.luckytortoise.co

We're getting far too used to seeing Robin Gill around these parts. One of our most impressive exports when it comes to food and cooking, the Dublin-born, London-based chef has been back and forth over the past few months doing events and dinners at Chapter One , Glovers Alley and Airfield , and now Bresson in Monkstown have announce he'll be cooking there next Thursday, the 4th October, alongside best pal Paul McNerney ( Paulie's Pizza , Junior's , The Old Spot ). Despite Bresson 's menu being classic French, Robin and Paul will be cooking Italian food inspired by their time (separately) working on the Amalfi Coast, and the six-course dinner will include antipasti of panzarotti (deep-fried dough pockets - need we say more), agnolotti pasta, hand-dived scallops, roast rack of veal, a cheese course, and will end with fig panna cotta. Robin, whose book ' Larder ' was published earlier this year, will be bringing salumi, nduja, pickles and ferments from his London larders, in restaurants The Dairy , Sorella and Counter Culture . The menu is €85 per person, with the option of matching wines for an additional €65, or wine can be ordered by the bottle or glass, and Bresson are promising more special events over the coming months. Although this isn't going to be a cheap night out, we think it sounds like a pretty amazing evening, and a chance to experience Gill's ethos of great produce and seasonality up close, which he says he learned in Naples. Robin Gill is spending so much time here lately that we think it would be better for everyone if he just moved home already, and if we get any news on that you'll be the first to know. Robin Gill at Bresson Thu 4th October Dinner - €85. Matching wines €65 Bookings - Contact Bresson on 01 2844286 or email hello@bresson.ie bresson.ie/gourmet-evening-with-robin-gill/

There were four Dublin winners at today's Georgina Campbell Awards 2019, which took place in Bord Bia's headquarters in Dublin. The Seafood Café by Niall Sabongi was named "Seafood Restaurant of the Year", with Campbell saying that seafood was becoming more popular, and sustainable seafood was "making its mark". Michael's in Mount Merrion took home "Family Friendly Restaurant of the Year", no doubt helped by chef/owner Gaz Smith's " Seafood September " initiative, where children can eat seafood for free when dining with their parents. "Seafood September" was started last year as a way to get children eating more fish, and it's been such a success that other restaurants around the country came on board this year to offer the same deal . The other Dublin winners were The Marker Hotel in Grand Canal Dock, which was named "Business Hotel of the Year", and Whelehan's Wines in Loughlinstown, South Dublin, which won the "Wine Award of the Year". This is the second award this month for Whelehan's Wines who also took home the "Best for Wine Lovers" award at this year's Food and Wine Awards . "Restaurant of the Year" went to The Strawberry Tree , the country's first certified, fully organic restaurant, in Brooklodge Hotel in Wicklow, and Hotel of the Year went to Adare Manor , which reopened last November after a multi-million euro restoration. Adare Manor was also named global "Hotel of the Year 2018" at the international " Best of the Best Awards " in Las Vegas last month. Better start saving if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

After last week's ups and down, we're back on more even footing this week, although with pretty much everywhere (one exception) being classified as "good BUT"... Katy McGuinness in The Irish Independent reviews Bread 41 , the new bakery and café on Pearse St. With limited food options (but a serious buzz) we weren't expecting a full on newspaper review, so were pleasantly surprised to get the full lowdown on the menu. After a fear-inducing (but necessary) explanation of what exactly your processed, plastic-covered sliced-pan contains, she says that the star of the show was a "flaky, buttery" sausage roll, with a prosciutto and cheese croissant "pretty damn fine also" (we've already heard enough). Blood pudding spread on a thick slice of toast was the winner from the official lunch offerings, and the porchetta sandwich won out over the veggie option of goat's cheese, beetroot, carrots and horseradish, but she was not a fan of the salad, with "too much grain", "dull vegetables" and "greige" colours. She calls it "a bargain for food of this quality", just stick to the bread and pastries. (Review not currently online but should be soon here ) In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley reviews Crow St , the new Irish/American soul food (their words) restaurant in Temple Bar, on the former site of Nick Munier's Avenue. He finds it confused, with "multicultural" tacos containing braised pork shoulder, chipotle aioli and pickled cabbage - not usually found in Mexico - but he liked them. Another starter of smokies, with smoked fish, cheese and cream was "grand" - the most Irish of compliments. A special of seatrout was perfectly cooked, unlike the underdone, chalky beetroot risotto it came with, and while buttermilk chicken (above) was "pleasant enough" it was let down by the fact that it was white meat. We're a bit confused by this, as the publicity shot (above) is definitely showing a thigh and a leg. Did they start with dark meat and change to much less flavoursome breast meat due to customer complaints? Strange one. The kimchi it came with was "almost apologetic", but thankfully not the worst he's had, and again we're confused because again in the PR shot it seems to come with red cabbage. A sticky toffee pudding was "damn good", staff were "utterly delightful" and he says he hopes Crow Street grows up soon. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Examiner Leslie Williams is throwing his opinion into the ring on new Mexican taqueria Masa (from the guys behind Bunsen ). Reviews on this one have been mixed (read ours here ), but Leslie liked it. A discount on the bill made up for delays with the food, and there were no complaints about tortilla chips with "proper guacamole", patatas bravas (except for a few burnt edges) and a "properly firmed" quesadilla with mushrooms. When it came to the tacos, he thought they were the correct thickness and texture (sounds like we might need to go back), and both beef and chicken tacos were good (despite the overcooked chicken - salsa helps it slip down apparently). Churros with goat's milk caramel were "wonderfully good", and he says Masa is serving some of the best value and tastiest food in the country - which made us go "WOOOAAAHHH" - that is a bold statement. Read his review here . In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary visited Restaurant Chestnut in West Cork, and allows Rob Krawczyk and Elaine Fleming's review record to continue unblemished. She says RC puts many city restaurants to shame, and that it's the kind of place that can keep rural Ireland relevant. Bread with smoked butter is "gorgeous", and snacks sound delicious, with the exception of beef tartare wrapped in gelled tomato that's not "tomato-y or tartare-y enough". The dish of the night was a tapioca and mussel bowl with seaweed, a scallop and cauliflower dish had a "clever temperature thing going on", and she allowed them a pass on serving a palate cleansing sorbet because it had gin and cucumber in it (which is confusing as we thought she didn't drink). Hake had "butter crisp skin", lamb came with fat almost more delicious than the meat, and desserts included strawberries and celery ice, and a blackberry and cookie crumble with a sabayon. They finished with a cube of Young Buck cheese with honey and pollen, and we finished by checking our calendar for the next available opportunity to go to West Cork. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan revisits The Forge in Co. Meath, whose kitchen has been taken over by a new chef, and says she left disappointed, although her gripes seem to be mainly with the curtains, the tablecloths and the general clutter (also the artificial flowers, the temperature, the upholstery, the paint...). Starters of seafood tagliatelle and a crab roll were "unmemorable", and she suspected a chilli dressing was of the commercial-variety, despite the addition of diced mango. From the mains ("a carnivore's delight"), a special of hake with garlic mash and prawns, and lamb rump with kale, carrots and lamb gravy were a definite step up. Desserts of rice pudding with strawberries and a "very nice" white chocolate fool with raspberries got the thumbs up too, but they were unimpressed that chocolates that were supposed to accompany their coffee never arrived - no word on whether they actually asked for them or just sit there scowling. She seems to have found it all a bit heavy and fusty, but some of the food descriptions sound really good (e.g pork rib-eye steak with black pudding sausage roll, pork scratchings and mustard sauce), and despite her decor issues we quite want to visit. (Review not currently online) In The Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis reviews The Gables in Foxrock, where she loved chef Simon Williams' flavoursome food and commitment to Irish produce (read that here ), and in The Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley also visits Crow Street , and has a similarly mixed experienced to Tom Doorley, with some dishes better than others. Read that here . More next week.

Smithfield Market was first laid out as a marketplace in the mid-17th century, and until the early 21st century (that's less than 20 years ago if you're numerically challenged), the square was lined with inner city 'farm yards' housing livestock. The market evolved from cattle to an indoor market in the Generator Hostel building, and these days only to occasional pop ups by Urban Markets , but the area has remained a cultural hub in the city. Between proper coffee, the freshest fish, and arcade games with a side of basic bitch hot dogs, there are plenty of reasons to spend a day exploring the former inner city marketplace, but obviously our main priority is where to eat and drink. Morning To start off your day around Smithfield, grab a coffee in Proper Order Coffee Co on Haymarket St. Open since 2016, Proper Order is one of the best coffee shops in the city, run by expert coffee couple Niall and Aliona Wynn. Square Mile is their house coffee and they have a seasonal drinks menu, like the (now very distant) summer’s coffee slushie. They also sell pastries from Scéal , and as we all know, there is no better start to the a day than a gooseberry and elderflower cruffin or a gubbeen cheese and smoked ham croissant. Once you've given your pastry and coffee an hour to digest, walk around the corner to Urbanity for brunch. The kitchen is run by former Brother Hubbard chef, Rachel Lynch, so as you'd expect, the focus is on local, quality produce. The space, using Nordic influence for its design, also has its own small-batch coffee roaster. Try the ultra-instagrammable (shoot us) acai bowl or the Mexican take on a fry up with fried eggs, refried beans, crispy spiced black beans and guacamole. Lunchtime In the afternoon, you could catch a movie in the Lighthouse Cinema or have a browse for vintage threads in the Dublin Vintage Factory , both in Smithfield Square. If you have no interest in deviating from food and drink, go to the Jameson Distillery on Bow St for a tour and whiskey tasting. Jameson whiskey was distilled here until 1971 before moving to Midleton in Cork, and the Smithfield location was reopened last year for tours and tastings. Evening Head to Fish Shop for dinner. Depending on your mood, you can either go to the informal Benburb Street location (below) for fish, chips and natural wine, or book a table at the Queen Street location for the set menu, showcasing the best Irish seafood they've been able to get their hands on that week. Fish Shop is owned and run by husband and wife team, Peter and Jumoke Hogan. They began serving fish and chips from a converted shed in Blackrock Market in 2013, after returning from working in the London restaurant scene, and after some serious hype they managed to make the move to a permanent spot in early 2015. Queen Street came first, with the more casual Benburb following later. Reservations are recommended for the original, but the Benburb Street location takes a lot of walk-ins. Not many people seem to know that you can actually book here too now, though not on the same day strangely. To finish off the day, have some craft beers in Token , whilst playing vintage arcade games in classic hipster fashion. If Fish Shop isn't for you (which is hard to fathom), get some dirty (delicious) fast food here, like basic bitch hot dogs, mac and cheese nuggs and deep-fried oreo cheesecake bombs. There’s an extensive vegan menu (vegan calamari anyone?) and you can also avail of Token’s €20 deal: a main, a side, a pint and 10 game tokens. You can't lose. To end this most amazing of days, head to dark Dublin dive Frank Ryans for a pint and a game of pool, or to The Cobblestone which has trad music sessions every night. Sink a pint of Guinness and pretend you're a tourist while blasting out 'The Auld Triangle' at volumes that would make Glen Hansard proud. Want one last feed before bedtime? Get back to Frank Ryans before 11pm for a 'Scarface' or 'Vincent Vega pizza from Coke Lane Pizza , one of the best Neapolitan pizza purveyors in the city, who are currently popping up in the back from Thursday - Saturday. Talk about a day of dreams. Have we missed any of your favourite Smithfield spots? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

EAT:ITH is back, and this year's line-up looks like the best one yet (but we probably say that every year). Started in 2015, EAT:ITH is a forum to share ideas and thoughts around Irish food culture, “ith” being the Irish verb to eat. Created by the team at The Fumbally , the events will be held in the Fumbally Stables and run over a number of weeks. This year’s events are predominantly female led, something the Fumbally team feel strongly about. Many of the events are free, including the talks and markets, and EAT:ITH is funded solely by the Fumbally and ticket sales. Everything on the programme, including talks, workshops and performances are open to all, whether you work in the food industry or just have an interest in Irish food and the people who produce it. Workshops will be held in the Fumbally Stables Kitchen on Saturdays, and include “ Make your own mozzarella with Toonsbridge Dairy ”, and " Vegetables with Katie Sanderson ", where she'll share some of her favourite recipes, including fermentation and Asian inspired dishes. Sanderson used to work as a chef in the Fumbally, before going on to run The Dillisk Project in Connemara with her partner, Jasper O’Conner, and developing her pop-up rice bowl stall, White Mausu , and the addictive Peanut Rayu (casually known amongst its fans as 'crack sauce'). Something else we'd be making a beeline for is Louise Bannon's workshop on “ Sourdough baking and heritage grains ” on October 13th. Bannon is a graduate of Culinary Arts in DIT and a former pastry chef at René Redzepi's Noma in Copenhagen - named the " World's Best Restaurant " four times since opening in 2003. Louise has more recently been working directly with farmers in France and Copenhagen who are reviving some of Europe's heritage grains, and testing these flours in her bread and pastry making. There are also some brilliant talks which are all free (although if you can afford it a small donation on the night would be appreciated), you just need to register for a ticket. First up next week is “ Will dairy be the death of us ”, chaired by Alison O’Connor, freelance journalist and opinion writer. The discussion will centre on the sustainability of the dairy industry, its impact on the environment and the livelihood of Irish farmers. Catherine Cleary, Irish Times journalist will be for the motion, while Mike Magan, chairman of Animal Health Ireland, will be against the motion. This is less an argument for veganism, and more about the morals of the Irish dairy industry and what’s happening behind the big campaigns. The following week on October 4th, Ali Wynn, owner of Proper Order Coffee Co . and Irish Brewers Cup Champion 2018, will present “ Pay no attention to the (wo)man behind the curtain ”. Coffee roasting in Ireland has grow massively in recent years and the sustainability of this, and whether there's room in the market for everyone, will be discussed with a panel of influential coffee roasters from Ireland and Europe. Another talk on October 11th centres around “ Food and Cancer ” and will be hosted by walking inspiration Fiona Cribben , an artist and designer in Dublin who has been living with cancer for over ten years. Since receiving a terminal diagnosis of liver and bone cancer she has refused chemotherapy, instead choosing to treat her body with nutrition, and doctors are shocked that she's still alive. The final talk on October 18th, “ Food today: fetish, commodity or basic right? ”, will be hosted by journalist and farmer Fergal Anderson, and will address some of the issues with modern food systems. The EAT:ITH Markets will run every Sunday from September 30th to October 21st on Fumbally Lane, and each market is themed around vegetables, bread, cheese and fermented foods, with some of the country's best producers popping up, including McNally’s, Sceal Bakery, St Tola, Young Buck, Gubbeen and My Goodness. Dublin 8 has been market-less ever since Newmarket Square was taken over by developers, so this should fill the void temporarily. Probably the most highly anticipated event on the programme is the dinner , where Jess Murphy of Kai, Carmel Somers of Good Things Cafe and Rose Greene of De Wulf and Coombeshead will cook a six course meal on the final evening of the series. Wines will be supplied by natural wine champions Le Caveau, and will consist of wines from female winemakers. You can see the full programme of events here , and if there's something you're interested in don't hang around. These are going to sell out. EAT:ITH The Fumbally Stables, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8 27th Sept - 27th Oct '18 eat-ith.com

The Fat Fox has closed their café on Camden Row, two years after opening - but before mass hysteria breaks out, they've assured us they'll be back in a new location soon. They're keeping the details under wraps as it's all still being finalised, but we know the new site is in Dublin 6 (we're presuming Rathmines or Ranelagh) and it's going to be bigger, which is very good news. The site on Camden Row was takeaway only, and whilst it didn't dent its popularity, the guys want to keeping moving onwards and upwards. They're currently recruiting a chef, kitchen porter and floor staff, and we're excited to see what they've got planned for a full sit down menu. We imagine presuming brunch will be special, but no word yet on whether they're keeping their free porridge (you just pay for the toppings). The Fat Fox has been one of Dublin's most colourful, character-driven cafés since they opened in 2016, and their social media channels are like a vortex that it's hard not to get sucked into - eye-watering cookie stacks, egg yolks bursting out of sandwiches on graffitied backgrounds, staff doing handstands outside the shop - all in an average week. And beware clicking on their Instagram stories - you will lose hours of your life... You can keep up with The Fat Fox on Instagram or Facebook , or we'll update you as soon as we have more details.

Instagram has been very good for food inspiration this week. We actually had to whittle these down from 10 things we want to eat, and it was a tough one. Also we didn't mean to take you on a cheesy world food tour swear, it just kind of happened that way... 1. The Fritura Malagueña from Las Tapas de Lola There's nothing like a plate of fried fish with a squeeze of lemon to convince yourself that summer's not over yet. Especially if you can get an outdoor table with a heater. Eat it with your eyes closed and tell yourself you're in Spain... lastapasdelola.com 2. The Peek Gai Tod Nahm Pla (or spicy chicken wings) from Nightmarket Spain not your thing? Want to pretend you're more further afield? It's pretty widely accepted that Nightmarket is the place to go for the best, most authentic Thai food in the city, and these spicy chicken wings with palm sugar, roasted rice, chilli flakes, spring onion and fish sauce are making us want to book a long haul flight. Seen as the chances of that actually happening are slim to none we'll settle for the luas to Ranelagh instead. www.nightmarket.ie 3. Italy in a Sandwich from Dunne and Crescenzi Tomato, mozzarella, pesto and basil on lightly toasted Altamura sourdough bread (a regional speciality from the province of Bari). Struggling to think of a sandwich we'd like to eat more this week. www.dunneandcrescenzi.com 4. The Curried Lamb Special from 147 Deli Until we saw this one, from superstar sandwich makers 147 Deli , making India the next stop on our world tour. This week's special is the curried lamb bap - Indian spiced lamb and curried cauliflower slaw with Indian spiced mango and yoghurt dressing on a sesame bap. Their sandwiches are enormous so go hungry. You probably won't need dinner either. www.facebook.com/147deliparnell 5. This Month's Special BuJo Shake Finally if you're more of a staycationer, the brilliant, Irish-producer championing burger joint BuJo have a milkshake special on the menu right now, which is a collaboration with the equally brilliant Cupcake Bloke . We had his ridiculously tasty smoked brownies at The Big Grill Festival last month and now he's gone and put them into this, along with a Teeling Whiskey caramel sauce. It's only on the menu for a few weeks so if you like the sound of it get to Sandymount soon. We'll see you there. www.bujo.ie

It's been a weekend of extreme highs and lows for restaurant reviews. On one hand you've got newbie restaurateurs finding a lot of hard work finally paying off. On the other you have a newly-appointed, two Michelin-star trained chef getting his cooking slammed for being "salty", "overcooked" and "unappealing". We hear you should always start with a positive, so with that in mind... Reggie White, Pi 's exhausted, sleep-deprived pizzaiola and grand master was bopping around the kitchen to Irish country music sensation Declan Nerney yesterday (Insta stories), after his Neapolitan style pizzas were declared the best in Dublin by Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times (you heard it here first people). She calls them "terrific", created by "someone who just loves something and a backer who gets it", with puffy crusts as good as the rest of the pizza, and a margherita where "nothing is dumbed down, from the "truly tomatoey sauce to the higher-end cheese". She thought the veggie option with hen of the woods mushrooms, Grana Padano, fontina, spinach and sage cream was the best (we can only imagine what she would have thought of the courgette one, which we thought was even better). The sweet, salty chocolate pot (budino) is "delicious ... like chocolate in butter form or butter in chocolate form", but despite the mammoth praise and whopper score she seems intent on getting across that she sees this turning into a chain. We're not sure how the Pi guys will feel about this, but Reggie posted a picture of the review yesterday saying "there's hope for Independent restaurants yet!". We would imagine they're soley focused on getting one location running like clockwork (and maybe giving the main man a day off occasionally) before thinking about what's next. Read the review here . In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness was left feeling confused and exhausted after a trip to The Cake Café off Camden Street - luckily the food managed to make up for a good chunk of it. She was extremely frustrated that a chef's special of 'organic potato rosti with spring onions, goats cheese, smoked bacon, organic kale and green goddess dressing', came with an option to add an egg, which she did, but then it arrived with two eggs, and the server told her it already came with one egg. *Brain-exploding emoji*. And the plot thickens... We've found a picture of said dish on their social media (below) and there is NO EGG. Oh what a mess... Although she thought the dishes lacked presentation finesse, it was clear that the produce was of good quality, with merguez sausages "properly meaty", rashers "fine thick smoky" and chorizo "excellent". The best thing they ate was the Goatsbridge smoked trout smokies which were "rich and unctuous". The worst a sausage scramble with "heinously over-cooked" eggs and "insipid" baked beans. Cakes were the star of the show, with a blueberry victoria sponge "a joy both to behold and to eat", and even a vegan sugar-free caramel slice is "surprisingly good". She leaves feeling "charmed ... despite the slightly chaotic service", and hopes that with a bit more time things will straighten out. (Read her review here ) In The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley said he "loved every moment" of his meat at Hunters Hotel in Wicklow, but at certain points it really doesn't sound like it. He advises coming here if you're looking for "relatively plain food" - genuinely never - their wine order wasn't taken until after they'd eaten their starter - infuriating - and after placing said wine order, they were told to have a back up in mind as their first choice was likely to be sold out - we're probably walking out at this stage. The food doesn't get off to a great start either. A shrimp cocktail came with some "pink-ish liquid" at the bottom of the dish, in place of actual Marie-Rose sauce, and tasted of smoked paprika. Things improved with a shiitake mushroom risotto which was "rather good", Wicklow lamb and stuffing which was full of flavour, and a 'Crispy Duo of Duckling' which was "rather better than it sounds". A dessert of 'Millefeuilles Gateau' reminded him of Superquinn custard slices (not a compliment), and a bramley apple and plum crumble with ice cream was 'bliss'. He calls Hunters "eccentric, unique, glorious", and we think it must be an acquired taste. (Review not currently online) In The Sunday Independent, it took Lucinda O'Sullivan three attempts to get into the Steps of Rome , which used to be in the city centre but moved to Dundrum a couple of years ago, and it turns out it wasn't worth the effort. The server did her best to put them on a tight table in the middle of the floor next to a "romantic couple", which Lucinda was having none of - bad start. A special of 'Alps mountains cheese' to start was actually a deep fried cheese croquette (below) with "wilted and undressed dry leaves" and a "jammy" sauce, which was "very bad value". Mains of 'grigliata misa' - chargrilled fish - and tagliatelle with Dublin Bay Prawns and cherry tomatoes were better, although the eagle-eyed Lucinda spotted afterwards that she'd been charged €3 more for her pasta than the price on their website . Rage. They passed on desserts, settling for one affogato (which might have been good or bad, she doesn't tell us), and she thought that both the wine and the water (€2.50 for a carafe of filtered!) were overpriced. She shan't be back by the sounds of things. Finally, uncomfortable review of the week goes to the Irish Examiner 's Joe McNamee who was at the Eccles Hotel in West Cork. With a new GM and two star Michelin-trained Head Chef coming on board in the past few months, they've been on something of a publicity drive to tell the world about the "destination resort" they are creating, with "clean cooking" and "forgotten foods", and it does sound like Joe would rather forget what he ate there. Starters are "pleasant and tasty if less than inspiring", particularly a greasy fritto misto with "tired farmed salmon", but things really rollercoaster downwards with the mains. Butter poached hake is "mealy and overcooked" in a "watery butter sauce", braised ham hock is dry and "overly salty" (not even peas, a fried egg and hand-cut chips could save it), and staff failed to address the half-eaten plates. A rhubarb and apple crumble came with overly-stewed fruit, and cold crumble scattered on top - "desultory treatment for what is usually a simple yet splendid old comforter" - and there's a major cringe moment when the server is asked to recommend a red wine, and responds by saying she doesn't drink red, but suggests her favourite white. Joe says he'll be sticking to soup and tea next time. Read his review here . In the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley gives us a whistlestop tour of Wexford's food trail, including an enjoyable meal at Cistín Eile - read that here - and in The Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis paid two visits to Daata in Greystones, and recommends we all do the same - you can read that here . More next week.

As if Michael's in Mount Merrion needs any more reasons for the phone to ring off the hook. Between the three Irish Restaurant Awards they won in May (Best Newcomer, Best Kids Size Me and Best Manager), their stellar Irish Times review a few weeks ago, and another two gongs last Sunday at the Food and Wine Awards (Local of the Year and Host of the Year), it's safe to say there won't have to worry about empty seats between now and Christmas - not that that's stopping chef Gaz Smith from bringing back Kids' Seafood September, which was such a big success last year. For the whole month of September, kids can eat fish for free in Michael's when an adult is eating, and it's a proper menu, none of this fish fingers and chips cheating - they can have calamari and chips though. Other options include mussels in a lemon and garlic cream, prawns in garlic butter with broccoli, and linguine with mussels, cockles, prawns and squid. They can also have a 1/2 portion of any adult main course, and tackle their own Dublin Bay Prawn. All for free. And if they finish their dinner they get ice cream - also free. Seafood September started last year after Gaz, who's become one of the country's most vocal champions of Irish seafood since taking over Michael's just over a year ago, found that children in the restaurant were saying no to fish a lot, and their parents weren't encouraging them to order it in case it was left on the plate - easier to choose something they know they'll eat. So he started visiting the tables, encouraging them to try the fish, and offering to replace it if they didn't like it. He says 9 times out of 10 they loved it, so decided to make it a bigger thing. One of Michael's suppliers, Kish Fish , also partnered with them on the initiative to help with the cost of the fish. This is the second year of Seafood September and other restaurants have now jumped on board, including L. Mulligan Grocer in Stoneybatter, Gallagher's Boxty House in Temple Bar and The Gables in Foxrock who are both offering the same deal as Michael's - kids eat fish for free when adults are eating, and restaurants in other parts of the country are running similar initiatives (there's a good list here ). They're hoping they might be able to get a state body involved next year and expand it further across the city and country. Now your only problem is going to be beating off the Mount Merrion locals for a reservation.

Glovers Alley were the big winners at last night's Food and Wine Awards , held in The Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge, with Andy McFadden and his team taking home the award for 'Chef of the Year 2018', as well as 'Best Chef Dublin'. Dessert Queen Aoife Noonan also took home 'Pastry Chef of the Year', which her second in command Tara Gartland collected on her behalf, as she's over in London to cook at a dinner in Selfridges tonight featuring Ireland's best culinary talent. Good week all round. Giving such a big award to a chef and restaurant that's only been open for six months is an unusual move, especially with long-established chefs like JP McMahon from Aniar and Mikael Viljanen from The Greenhouse in the same category, but Norah Casey cited McFadden's "A-team" and the restaurant's "craic". All eyes will now be on McFadden and Glovers Alley when the new additions to the Michelin Guide 2019 are announced on the 1st of October in London. Chapter One was named 'Best Restaurant in Dublin', with head chef Eric Matthews collecting the award, and overall 'Restaurant of the Year 2018' went to Ox in Belfast, who looked totally shocked at the win, claiming they only came up for a day out, and celebrated with tequila shots. Strangely Ox didn't win 'Best Restaurant Ulster', and only came fourth. That went to Wine & Brine in Armagh. Other Dublin winners included Michael's in Mount Merrion (below) who took home 'Local of the Year' and 'Host of the Year' for manager Talha Pasha, and The Legal Eagle who took home 'Pub Food of the Year'. L'Ecrivain won 'Restaurant Bar of the Year', and Meet Me In The Morning were named 'Best for Brunch'. The Wine Lovers award went to Whelehan's Wines in South Dublin, and the Food and Wine 'Rising Star' award was given to Ananda in Dundrum's head chef, Karan Mittal. For the full list of regional and national winners click here .

There were lots of happy critics tapping away on their keyboards this week, with some surprisingly positive reviews. It looks like the spate of new restaurant openings which has everyone in a panic isn't adversely affect the quality of the food across the city - might we even suggest it could improve things? This week it's the turn of Catherine Cleary in The Irish Times to give her verdict on The Ivy , and while we would have thought that everything about the deafeningly decorated place stands in opposition to Cleary's very core, she gives it a half decent review. We were expecting something more along the lines of Conor Stevens' epic takedown in last week's Totally Dublin (a must-read for amusement's sake if nothing else). She describes it as looking like a "country pile inherited by the party animal", and thought the loos had more atmosphere than the dining room. Starters of scallops and asparagus were enjoyable if for a few faults, but the signature shepherd's pie was "a little bigger than a saucer", lacking in meat, and "eats like the Thursday night staple in a Kensington nursing home" - and just like that she's back. Another main of blackened cod was overcooked and overwhelmed by a sticky sauce, and desserts included a "fine" strawberry ice cream sundae, and a cappuccino cake that was a "funny mix" of chocolate cake, boozy milk mousse and coffee sauce, all competing with rather than complimenting each other. She says they enjoyed it (despite the 6/10 score), but that the food won't be enough to distract you from the gossip and people watching. Read her review here . Another team breathing a sigh of relief yesterday was the one at The Grayson (the new opening from Press Up , formerly private members club Residence), after Lu cinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent gave it a surprisingly firm thumbs up. Press Up have been panned for their food offerings in the past, with most reviewers commenting that what was on the plates didn't live up to the expensive fit outs, so maybe they're starting to take note. She was clearly taken with the space, particularly the "splendid winding staircase","colourful cocktail bar" and "glorious view over St Stephen's Green", and the "serious ... delicious" food lived up to the surroundings. Sesame seared tuna was "quite perfect", pan-fried scallop was "exquisitely delicate", and fried halibut was "superb". Pan-fried gnocchi was "light as a feather", and sides were "excellent", including tempura courgettes with chili mayo. Courgettes, according to Lucinda, are "hot right now" because they're a favourite of Meghan Markle. So now you know. Dessert of ice-cream and sorbet, and a slightly dull sounding (but apparently not tasting) cheeseboard completed the meal, and they left before the music got too loud. It will be interesting to see if other critics share her enthusiasm. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner Leslie Williams is at L'Ecrivain (where he reckons he's eaten 40 times, wonder if there's a a loyalty scheme), which has been in business for an incredible 28 years. We've been wondering what's happening with L'Ecrivain , as for a Michelin-starred restaurant we don't hear much about it. It's certainly not attracting the instagram brigade, which might be something to do with their own social media feeds , which can be ever so slightly lacking in the cool factor. He calls it deserving of its categorisation as "a classic" of the Dublin dining scene, and everything from the "nutty, dark Guinness bread", to the "perfectly caramelised scallop" amuse-bouche, to a starter of lollipop chicken wings with langoustine and sweetcorn were "perfect", "balanced" and "fun". A palate cleanser of mint and lime granita was "pitch perfect", but the main courses were the dishes of the night. Both perfectly seared Magret Duck and Spring Lamb Rump came with in season girolle mushrooms and expert saucing - very important to LW. They also came with other lovely sounding things like confit croquettes and parmesan gnocchi. Desserts of peach mousse and yoghurt parfait followed the same theme - deliciousness - and he ends by saying, "classic and all the positive connotations of that word tell you all you need to know." Read his review here . Another winner winner chicken dinner (literally) in the Irish Daily Mail, where Tom Doorley was lunching in Pichet . This is their second review in a few months after Katy McGuinness visited in June, and while her verdict was that the food "pleases rather than thrills", Tom's is far more doe-eyed. The food was "ace", the pace "faultless", and overall they were "enchanted" - and it does all sound rather dreamy. An amuse-bouche of tuna and watermelon with soya and sesame was "beautiful", although we're wondering if an amuse-bouche is a normal part of the lunch deal or a Tom Doorley special. A mushroom risotto with goat's cheese croquettes was "perfect in texture", and salt cod beignets with chorizo mayonnaise were as good as they sound. Roast, organic salmon was perfectly cooked, and the free-range chicken, which came with shallot purée, sage and white turnips, tasted of "actual chicken", which is a depressing compliment perfectly illustrating the current state of the food industry. Îles flottantes, that rarely seen French dessert, was "etheral, heavenly", and a crème brûlée espresso was "perfect". We're getting the feeling he ran out of superlatives by the time coffee came. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness admits to having a deep-fried kimchi addiction, after finding it at newly opened ramen bar Soup in Dun Laoghaire. She calls it "a thing of beauty", "coated in a light batter of perfection", and suggests that you focus on the health benefits of fermented foods and eating your vegetables. We're convinced. The ramen itself is "pretty good", but there's a general air of suspicion about all of the meat and eggs because there's no provenance anywhere (and she seems pretty sure that the meat isn't organic or free-range). The tonkotsu pork is "super tasty", but the miso broth bland. The shoryu broth is better, but the grilled chicken it comes with "lacked flavour". Portions are "enormous", and she gives the food 7/10, but we imagine this would have been a solid 8 if she'd been assured of what kind of life the meat in question had. (Read her review here ) In The Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis finds hits and a few misses at newly-opened Portugese Galito in Bray (read that here ), and in The Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley has a similar experience at newly opened Indian Ruchii in Blackrock, which he compares to a British curry house - take that as you will. You can read that here . More next week.

If there was ever a poster-child for gentrification in Dublin it's Stoneybatter. The working class neighbourhood has transformed into one of the most sought after property locations in the city, and the number of great places to eat and drink has exploded in the past few years. The Guardian recently called it “a taste of little Williamsburg by the Liffey”, and while very close to the city centre, it has a neighbourly and community driven feel that's hard to find, most recently illustrated by the brilliant Stoneybatter Festival . It’s a great place to stroll around on the weekend, with a glut of food and drink spots to visit, and if it's somewhere that's alien to you (most likely because of Dublin's woeful transport links), we think it's time you got to know it a bit better. Morning You could visit Stoneybatter any day of the week but we'd strongly advise you to go on a Saturday morning to catch the market in Penders Yard , and the main attraction - Scéal Bakery . After a stint training in some of the best bakeries in San Francisco, Shane Palmer and Charlotte Kane, two DIT Culinary Arts graduates, are making some of the best sourdough and pastries in Ireland right now. We recommend anything they’re selling but particularly the almond croissants and morning buns, which are like cinnamon buns on a whole new level. We've also heard good things about Gaby Empanadas . After stocking up on bread and pastries, grab a coffee in Love Supreme on Manor St, a staple in Dublin’s coffee culture, where they use Koppi coffee from Sweden. If you happen to miss the market, grab a sausage roll or pastry in here from their mini-bakery. Lunchtime Stroll into Lilliput Stores on Rosemount Terrace for a browse around the greengrocer, deli and coffee shop. Most of their artisan products are sourced locally. They stock their own range of oils and vinegars, as well as pestos, salads and olives. They serve sandwiches, soups and stews all day, using seasonal produce. Bordering Stoneybatter is the Phoenix Park - a prefect place to take a picnic from Lilliput. Continue down the street to Cotto , where you can get their weekend brunch from 11am - 3pm, or come back later for dinner to try their Neapolitan-style pizzas, including the Elliot with fennel sausage, baby kale, ricotta and chilli oil. It was opened in 2015 by chef-owner Conor Higgins, who also owns Oxmantown , and frequently appears on "best pizza in Dublin" lists. Evening Head for a meal in L. Mulligan Grocer , one of the best gastropubs in Dublin, with an incredible selection of beers to choose from. There's a big emphasis on local Irish produce, with dishes like raw Irish cheese bon bons and salad from their allotment, and wild boar chops from Cork, and they offer a beer pairing for every dish. If you want something quicker, go to the beer garden in The Belfry for Vurgerface , the pop-up vegan burger stall that's had vegans and non-vegans making pilgrimages to Stoneybatter over the past few weeks. They were supposed to finish up there last week but it's gone so well that it looks like they'll be a semi-regular fixture. Check out their social media for updates. Another fast, purse-friendly option is Vietnom in the beer garden of The Glimmerman pub, which serves predominantly vegetarian Vietnamese food with some Mexican influences, and which Catherine Cleary in The Times called "some of the best street food in Dublin". The Glimmerman is worth a trip alone to see its mental interior, including a bed hanging from the ceiling with Margaret Thatcher and Charlie Haughey in it. You could happily while away a few pints taking in the eclectic decor. If you like your drinks without a side of half-naked politicians, head to Walsh's , which was named "Best Pub in Ireland" at this year's Irish Restaurant Awards . They're known for their cosy atmosphere, friendly staff and great pints of Guinness, and it's the perfect place to finish a great day of eating and drinking. Have we missed any of your favourite Stoneybatter spots? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

If you're heading to Electric Picnic this weekend and want to ensure your trip includes a requisite amount of good food and drink, the Theatre of Food is where it's at. Located in the Mindfield area of the festival, it's a good spot to hit if your brain needs a break from partying and copious amounts of alcohol, and this year’s line up is particularly good, with two new stages as well as the main stage - a workshop theatre and a drinks theatre. The latter may not help with that break from copious amounts of alcohol. Events over the weekend have been curated by John and Sally McKenna of the McKennas' Guides , with topics including fashion for female chefs (more below before outrage ensues), spice bags, Dia de los Muertos cakes, psychobiotics and sustainable fish shopping. On that long-standing issue of what women should wear when in a kitchen, there will be a fashion show of ethically-made Irish chefs-wear for women chefs. Chef Caitlin Ruth, of Deasys in Cork, commissioned designer Ali Wheeler to come up with the new threads, saying, “For too long, women’s chef gear has been simply men’s gear with the odd dart”. On Saturday at 5:30pm, Andy Noonan of Fowl Play and The Big Grill will be demonstrating a live fire feast inspired by South American techniques. Noonan and butcher Pat Whelan will be slow-roasting whole animals with seasonal vegetables. All parts of the animal will be pulled, seasoned and mixed together and served at 6pm. We’re getting nostalgic about The Big Grill already. Many talented Irish chefs feature on the line up this year. Kwanghi Chan, former head chef of the Cliff House Hotel and owner of food brand ChanChan , will be talking about the spice bag, while Executive head chef at Greenes in Cork, Bryan McCarthy, will be making farm-to-glass cocktails. JR Ryall, head pastry chef of Ballymaloe House will reveal the secrets of Ballymaloe’s famous dessert trolley, demoing apple tartlets and a chest of sandwiches, while Klaw ’s Niall Sabongi will make his much-loved (and instagrammed) seafood poké. In the Workshop Tent, as part of the children’s programme, Jack O’Keefe, head chef of Cook’s Academy , will be running a pizza workshop, while Graham Herterich, The Cupcake Bloke himself, will be holding a hands on decoration class. He’ll also be exploring the idea of Cupcakes with a Twist on the main stage. Kevin Thornton will bring his Kooks Cookery Class to the Fringe Theatre, teaching a group of festival-goers how to make bread. No word yet on how intoxicated you need to be to take part. There will also be talks on mood food with Professor Ted Dinan, author of The Psychobiotic Revolution , and discussions on how to be an ethical consumer of fish with Dr Susan Steele, and famed Galway fishmonger Stefan Griesbach from Gannet fishmongers and eatmorefish.ie . Other chefs on the bill for the weekend include Grainne O’Keefe from Clanbrassil House , Jess Murphy of Kai and JP McMahon of Aniar . Gulp 4.0 will be looking at the science of food, while gaelic footballer and food blogger Sinéad Delahunty will be looking at food and sport with surfer and cookery author Finn Ní Fhaolain. In the Drinks Theatre, there will be demos on making the perfect coffee, rhubarb martinis and 'Intelligent Tea', along with cocktails and mixology from various spirits brands. There will also be tastings of Slane Whiskey from Alex and Wolf Conyngham (the family who own Slane Castle) and wine tastings with Leslie Williams, so there's so excuse to get hungry or dehydrated over the weekend. The Theatre of Food @ Electric Picnic 31st Aug - 2nd Sept Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois www.electricpicnic.ie/stage/theatre-food

Instagram has been filling our timelines with toasties lately, and things culminated this week with the "black and blue" - best name ever - from newly-opened Daniel on Clanbrassil Street. The unwelcome drop in temperature has us craving cheese and bread again (let's pretend we ever stopped), so here are five toasties we want to eat in Dublin this week. 1. The “Black and Blue" from Daniel Hilary O’Hagan Brennan, 3fe's Executive Chef, had the brainwave of using Christmas leftovers to make a toastie with black pudding, blue cheese and onion marmalade, and it was so good that she's put it on the tiny menu at Daniel . We've had it, and we want it again. 3fe.com 2. The Kimchi Cheese Toastie from Clanbrassil Coffee Shop This staple on the Clanbrassil Coffee Shop menu is filled with homemade kimchi (which has no fish sauce so is vegetarian), Crozier Blue and Hegarty’s cheddar. Perfect for meat-free Mondays. www.instagram.com/clanbrassil_coffee_shop 3. The Provolone, Salsa Verde and Marinated Courgette Toastie in Two Pups The food at Two Pups has always been a favourite of ours and we’ve been craving this beautiful looking combination ever since it popped up on our feed. www.facebook.com/twopupscoffee 4. Grilled Cheese Toastie with Derg cheddar, Coolea, Gouda and Scallions at Loose Canon When a natural wine and cheese shop starts making cheese toasties you know they're going to be good. This glorious looking three cheese combo even has some scallions thrown in so you can justify it as one of your five a day. Just take our money already. www.loosecanon.ie 5. The Salt Beef on Rye from The Fat Fox There are few places in the city with stronger sandwich (and Insta) game than The Fat Fox , and we couldn't leave this week's salt beef on rye out of the ultimate toastie line up. Coleman's aioli pickle, gherkins, cheddar cheese and salt beef on toasted rye bread. Mega droolz. www.instagram.com/thefatfoxcamden

Restaurant reviews can be like waiting for a bus. We wait and wait and then two come at once, which is what's happened this week with new taco spot Masa on Drury Street (you can read our Masa once over here ). Katy McGuinness left happy, giving the food 8/10, while Catherine Cleary thought they could do better, giving it 6/10. Interesting to note that Cleary was recently on holidays in Mexico, while McGuinness admits to not knowing enough about Mexican food to vouch for its authenticity. No doubt being up close and personal with the definite article in its natural habitat will raise expectations. We were also amused by the fact that both critics attended a taco making workshop at Picado , after which they invested in a tortilla press and a bag of masa harina (the flour made from nixtamalized corn that's used to make tacos). Cleary's been putting hers to use, McGuinness' is still loitering in the pantry. Cleary's favourite was the fish taco with pickled red cabbage and chipotle mayonnaise (above), and the chicken "also rocks our boat", but she vows to not eat it again unless the words "free range" appear on the menu - she's generally unimpressed at the lack of provenance. The beef and mushroom tacos were less successful, but the biggest disappointment was the taco al pastor. After a detailed, hunger-inducing explanation of what al pastor should consist of (pork lovingly spit-roasted with pineapple), she says that "Masa’s chewy cubes of pork in their al pastor have some ways to go..." She ends by saying, "If Masa perfects its craft as well as its concept it’ll be a great new spot for a noisy, messy, nearly Mexican experience," which is the same conclusion we came to. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness is much more positive, calling the tacos "excellent", the elotes "delicious" and the quesadillas "thin and tasty". She gives some background on Masa, which is from the same guys behind Bunsen , and the impressive pedigree of "culinary lead" Shane ( Wahaca and Breddos in London, as well as extensive travel in Mexico). Her only disappointment was the Mexican bravas, which should have been hotter and more crisp, and the fact that the only dessert on the menu (churros with goat's milk caramel) wasn't available. They told her something had gone wrong with the batter that day, whereas Cleary was told it wasn't available yet as they were still working on the savoury items - we were told the latter on two different occasions. This wasn't a bad start for for Masa, especially as they're still working on things, and Katy gives them 10/10 for value. Review not currently online but when it is it will be here . Over in Dundrum we could hear the sound of Bolly popping after Lucinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent visited newly opened Cooke's above Harvey Nichols, and calls it "ab fab". She seems enamoured from the getgo, calling Johnnie Cooke's previous city centre restaurant 'Cooke's Café' which he ran in the 90's and noughties, "the coolest place in town", and praising his "great, casual, sophisticated food with a Mediterranean bent". A tian of Lambay Island crab was "fresh and zingy", and came with a "wonderful" salad. Her dining companion wasn't enamoured with her lobster pizza, finding the sauce overpowering and not liking the avocado topping, but despite this Lucinda is surprisingly generous, saying "someone else will no doubt love it". She loved her Dover sole on the bone, which "they will of course, fillet" - a dig at The Ivy after last week 's shenanigans? - and she calls it "a perfect summer lunch". Desserts sounded "so good", and a Sicilian lemon tart came with "superb" raspberry ice-cream, while an almond tart was "divine". Service was excellent, and she leaves happy saying "once again the restaurant at Harvey Nichols is ab fab." In The Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley is at JP McMahon's wine bar Tartare in Galway (which Catherine Cleary memorably reviewed a few months ago without trying any of the wine), and his solo lunch was a bit of a rollercoaster. An Irish charcuterie board had "simplicity and provenance" and "glorious fattiness", but was "a little lacking in generosity". Chicken schnitzel, beetroot slaw and ramsons came with a "very small" schnitzel, but the combination was so nice that he ordered a second one - which was twice the size of the first. The only disappointment was a "terrible" woodruff custard tart - not so terrible that he couldn't eat it mind - with a custard lacking richness, texture and flavour, and "tired" pastry, but he saw later that he wasn't charged for it, a flat white or a bottle of mineral water. Another attack of the recognised critic? Or did they spot his scowl from across the room and try to neutralise the situation? Either way, he felt it needed to be mentioned. The wines were wonderful. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was at Little Fox in Ennistymon, Co. Clare, which has been the talk of the food world since it opened at the start of August. Chef Niamh Fox has a stellar CV including Ard Bia in Galway, Paradiso in Cork and Rochelle Canteen in London, and her first opening with husband Sam has had those in the industry buzzing with talk of local smallholdings, organic produce and zero-waste. Ginger, coconut and courgette soup was "pristine, harmonious and fresh", stew with Gubbeen smoked pork belly had "fine, creamy smoky flavours", and tarka dahl was "comforting and solid", but the stand out dish was a Moy salad with broccoli, beet hummus, spelt tabbouli, grated carrot and flat bread, which was "extraordinary ... herby, sweet, earthy and tangy". Coffee was good, kombucha homemade and lemonade excellent, as were a dark chocolate brownie and a lemon drizzle cake to finish. He calls it a highlight of his trip to Clare, thanks to the artful cooking and freshest of produce. Review not currently online but should be soon here . As for the other two, Gillian Nelis finds "Eye-rollingly" good food at Luna under new chef Vish Sumputh (read that here - subscription only), and Ernie Whalley appreciates the hand-pulled noodles at Dakoi Oriental Café on Millenium Walkway. Read that here , or read our Dakoi once over here . Taking a break from the critic's reviews next week. Back in two.

Of all the Irish chefs abroad that we're willing to come home and open a restaurant, Robin Gill is at the top of the list (Kevin Burke, head chef at The Ninth in London, also gets a mention). The South Dublin boy turned good owns three of London's most dynamic restaurants with his wife Sarah - The Dairy , Counter Culture and Sorella , and has another London venture currently in the works, details of which are TBA. He's also known for being very sound. Robin's been keeping a foot in Ireland for the past few years - he's involved with Airfield Estate and the brilliant Overends Kitchen , and has been appearing at events like Litfest and Taste of Dublin , but we were ultra excited to hear that he's in town next week to cook dishes from his new book ' Larder ' at Glovers Alley , with Executive Chef Andy McFadden. McFadden returned to Dublin at the start of this year after 10 years in London, to open the much hyped Glovers Alley in The Fitzwilliam Hotel, in the site that was formerly Thornton's. Presumably the two knew each other as fellow members of ' The M urphia ' in London, and McFadden says he's always enjoyed eating in Gill's restaurants. The menu for the evening starts with snacks, then Robin's famous charcuterie which he's bringing over from London, accompanied by Glovers Alley's famous bread (parmesan and black olive bun for the win), followed by a starter of beet tartare with radish, mustard and truffle, a fish course, a lamb dish, and ends with a strawberry, raspberry, cream cheese and white chocolate dessert. The four course menu, snacks, petit fours and coffee is €80. If you've been looking for a reason to visit Glovers Alley, this is as good an opportunity as we can think of, but don't dawdle too long. We fully expect this to be a sell out. An Evening with Robin Gill & Andy McFadden Wed 29th August, sittings from 18:30 Glovers Alley, 128 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 gloversalley.ie

Dublin has itself a plush new playground for adults when ' The Grayson ' opens at 5pm today. Housed in the building that was formerly private member's club Residence (along with Restaurant Forty-One ), ' The Grayson ' is the latest addition to the Press Up Entertainment group, who also own Roberta's , Sophie's and The Stella Diner , amongst others. Press Up quietly purchased the beautiful but long-troubled building at 41 St. Stephen's Green from the Residence owners in January, and quietly closed it for refurbishment. Residence had boomed during the Celtic Tiger years, but had suffered to stay afloat since the recession, with yearly financial losses and numerous changes of ownership. We've had a sneaky peak into ' The Grayson ' and it's pretty stunning. There are four floors to explore, and one of the biggest differences between this and its previous incarnation is that they want it to feel less 'exclusive members club' and more 'everyone is welcome'. You can't book the bars, and they will always take walk-ins for food, so we're not expecting The Ivy mark two, where you seem to need a secret password to get to the bar without a prior booking. One of the most striking areas is the atrium bar with its glass roof, and up the steps there's a smoking area with a retractable roof, the only downside being the smokers. The ground floor will serve lunch from Monday - Friday, and drinks and bar snacks all week, while the first and second floors will serve dinner every night from 5pm and weekend lunches from 12pm - 4pm. There are also loads of little nooks and crannies that you can book for a private dinner or event. It does feel a lot like being a guest in someone's mansion. We've also heard rumours that the basement might host a nightclub. They describe the menu as "something for everyone", and while some of their other venues have had hammerings for their food in the past, this one looks pretty good (if unfocused), particularly the long weekend lunch with three different roast options, for when you just can't eat any more avocado toast. There are some interesting options on the wine list, and cocktails are well priced at €10 - €12. James Gibbons has come home from managing Hawksmoor Seven Dials in London to take up the role of GM here, and he's about as pro as it gets when it comes to making people feel welcome - we're not expecting the front door to come complete with gatekeeper. We'd bet any money there'll be a critic in here within the next week, so watch this space. The Grayson 41 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 01 683 3680 thegrayson.ie

'Daniel', the new café from 3fe 's Colin Harmon, has opened at 19 Clanbrassil Street Lower, on the corner of Daniel Street. All eyes have been on Harmon lately waiting for news of his new all day dining spot Gertrude on Pearse Street, but this one flew under the radar a bit. Daniel is open from 7am - 3pm Monday - Friday (with weekends to follow), and the very short food menu consists of toasties, pastries (from Bread Nation on Pearse Street) and brownies. As usual with 3fe there's an extensive range of coffees to drink in and take home. Harmon has said that more than anything, Daniel is "such a lovely space to sit and drink coffee in", and with Clanbrassil Coffee Shop and Gaillot et Gray a few minutes walk down the road, Dublin 8 residents are increasingly spoilt for choice in that area. We can feel a café crawl coming on. Daniel 19 Clanbrassil Street Lower, Dublin 8 Monday - Friday 07:00 - 15:00 3fe.com

It's a seafood fest this weekend - looks like the last days of summer had everyone craving shellfish platters and dressed crab (which should contain brown and white meat by the way - more of that later). The winner of this week's reviews is undoubtedly Michael's in Mount Merrion, where Catherine Cleary in The Irish Times finds "sublime seafood worth shelling out for", and gives it a rare 9/10. Michael's has been riding a wave of raves for the past year, and if you've eaten there you'll understand why. Truth be told we're a bit miffed she's told the whole country how good it is. Good luck getting a table there any time soon. Cleary is on fine form as ever, calling chef Gaz Smith "a noisy hugger", who gives out "mafia don clinches" and poses for photographs with happy guests. She sums up Michael's by saying, "behind all this friendly gee-whizzery is a real connection to something just glimpsed twinkling on the horizon down the hill." She describes how Smith has built up a relationship with two fisherman who sell directly to him; how he knows exactly where his crab has been caught by how it tastes - she sounds slightly swoony. Portmarnock razor clams "knock the socks off any razor clams I've had in Ireland", and the Irish seafood sharing platter is "unmissable". John Dory is "superb", crab claws are "so fresh that the crab meat comes away in sweet threads rather than one generic wodge", and the "luscious feathery innards" of the Clogherhead prawns "take some winkling out of their shells because they haven’t cooked into a lump". She describes the joy of it as not just the freshness, but the cooking with minimal fuss. She wasn't keen on a "cheffery" amuse bouche or a sorbet, but she describes the service as "great", and ends by saying that Michael's is all about the food - "excellence hiding in plain sight in the south-city suburbs up the hill from the bay." Safe to say Chef/Owner Gaz Smith is happy with this one. Read her review here . Somewhere that might be calling Michael's for a few tips is Fallon & Byrne in The People's Park, where Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent settled for a seafood platter that was "woefully shot on provenance". The dressed crab had only white meat and was "fine" but lacked the flavour of the Lambay crab at Michael's , which she calls her "benchmark". Thankfully mackerel paté was "a thing of beauty ... creamy, lemony, rich, delicious". Smoked salmon and "tiny" prawns were "grand". She calls the menu "a dull read" with "little to excite", and a "yawn-worthy" dish of hake with a cassoulet of beans, chorizo and sprouting broccoli had some advertising errors - beans but no cassoulet, regular broccoli, not sprouting. A dish of braised Comeragh mountain lamb was "too-wintry", with artichokes that tasted like they came from a jar. She calls it "dull-fare", and not wanting to waste any more stomach space they skipped dessert in favour of dessert cocktails, two of which were "indistinguishable". She says she finds it odd that they set the bar so high for their food halls but are satisfied with such an "unprepossessing" offer in one of its restaurants. On the plus side service was good and they got to eat outside, but she gives it 6/10 for food. (Review not currently online but when it is you can find it here ) More seafood dramas for Lucinda O'Sullivan who graced the threshold of The Ivy to bring us review number four, and they wouldn't even crack her lobster claws for her, something she says should be reserved for doing shoreside in jeans, not on a small table "in a restaurant that considers itself smart!" After some kerfuffle they relented, but the whole thing sounds bizarre. Did they not have anything to crack them with? Do they think if you work for your dinner you'll enjoy it more? We may never know. Despite a few digs about whether it was "all fur coat and no knickers", the "PR overkill" and how the lush, jungle decor is more Carmen Miranda than classical Parisian dining room, she quite enjoyed the food. An Asian-style duck salad was nice but could have done with more spice, and a watermelon and crab salad was "lovely". The famous Shepherd's Pie was "delicious" if "delicately-sized", and despite "lobster-gate" the dish itself was "pleasant enough". Rum Baba for dessert was lovely, their waiter "a delight", and the "glam brigade" were out in full force. When she left the music was thumping and "a saxophonist was cruising the aisles", which is our second favourite thing about this week's reviews (favourite below). Review not currently online. Even MORE seafood disappointment for Tom Doorley in the Irish Daily Mail who was trying out the newly opened Botanic House in Glasnevin, owned by the same people behind Aqua in Howth, and once again finding a "dressed crab" that wasn't. Maybe the RAI should arrange a mandatory dressed crab tutorial for the city's chefs. Perhaps then we could save other innocent diners suffering this same unnecessary fate. The starter in question - "dressed crab and local smoked salmon" was "very pleasant", but the crab came in a lemon and caper vinaigrette, when dressed crab should be a dressing-free affair - ironic. The salmon was "decent enough". He enjoyed squid rings, even if they weren't as tender as they should have been, and ironically for a seafood restaurant, the star dish was a fillet steak, which was cooked "spot on" and came with "very decent" Béarnaise and a "quite delicious" cube of confit potato chips. The clanger was the "hot shellfish native catch with bouillabaisse sauce" - no idea either - which came with overcooked seafood including a tiny lobster tail that "looked like a prawn on growth hormones", two King prawns and 22 mussels - someone in the kitchen needs a lesson on ratios. The bouillabaisse was just "an aggressively tomatoey sauce", and came with the kind of seafood tools you need to get a whole lobster out of its shell, which is our personal highlight of this week's reviews. No one knew what the cheeses on the "local, artisan, hand-crafted cheeseboard were" (SRSLY), but a crème brûlée was perfect. Not a great first outing for The Botanic House . Will be interested to see if anyone else gives it a go. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Examiner Joe McNamee was seeing what all this veganism fuss is about at 143 V in Cork, where the first impression is "wonderful" - "It is tiny, quirky, awkward ... light, bright and very welcoming". Cold-pressed juices to start were "delicious", the winner a mix of apple, ginger, lime, orange & strawberries called "Lime Yours" - but does anyone know how to make a blue juice? Just curious. Starters of hummus and guacamole with corn chips, carmelised cubes of tofu, and ‘meaty’ garlic mushrooms all impressed, as did a 'Rainbow Bowl' with more tofu, sweet potato chunks, crunchy raw peppers, red cabbage, sweetcorn, avocado, pomegranate, mixed leaves, a tahini dressing, toasted sesame seeds and chilli flakes, which did not leave it lacking flavour. The falafel in the 'Sweet Falafel Sandwich' were more "fudge-like" than the lighter, crunchier ones they prefer, but flavours were sound, although the vegan cheese got a unanimous thumbs down from everyone. A seitan Southern burger served fried chicken style worked well, and they finished with pancakes and chocolate brownies, amazed at how unlethargic they felt after so much food. Maybe there's something in this veganism. Read his review here . In The Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis finds great food at Ananda - read that here - and in the Sunday Times Ernie Whalley goes to the home of Bertha's Revenge gin, Ballyvolane House for a "chill-worthy" experience. Read that here . More next week.

It's finally here. The Big Grill Festival is happening this weekend from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th August in Herbert Park. There is a lot to see (and eat), so we've put together our top picks for the weekend which might help you navigate things. The Food The restaurants pitching up at the site to cook over live fire include Clanbrassil House (famous for their in-house charcoal grill), Fowl Play (who only cook using live fire in their Hogan Place site), Smokasa, Kinara Kitchen , the Dublin Pizza Company , and Smokestak , purveyors of game-changing barbecue in London, whose main man David Carter will be cooking brisket tacos with sesame, cucumber and chilli on Friday and Saturday (do not miss them). On Thursday and Friday, Mark O’Brien from Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa will showcase Irish fish cooked using traditional fire methods. He’ll be serving Irish oysters with pickled wild garlic stems and smoked Irish trout with late summer salad and bread and butter pickles. Ramael Scully, former head chef of Nopi and owner of one of London's most talked about openings in the past year, Scully Restaurant , will be cooking smoked goat rendang on Saturday and Sunday, and Paul Flynn of The Tannery in Waterford will be there on Sunday, cooking smoked pork belly with Highbank Orchard syrup, with the help of Fingal Ferguson. John Relihan, one of the best pitmasters in Europe, will be cooking all weekend at his Mexican BBQ pop-up, Smokasa. Dishes include grilled Picanha steak, the Smokasa burger and Dirty Squash Tacos. Fowl Play , owned and run by two of the founders of The Big Grill Festival, Andy Noonan and Trev O’Shea will be cooking ‘The Bird Cage’, 6 hour fire-roasted free range chicken and game. Michelin starred chef JP McMahon from Aniar in Galway will also be there over the weeked cooking with Heineken Wild Lager, which he's paired with rib-eye steak with garlic pesto and roasted hazelnuts, and monkfish with asparagus and woodruff. Another one we definitely wouldn't want to miss is award-winning Brooklyn chef Billy Durney from Hometown BBQ , who's cooking smoked beef rib with pickles, white onion and toast on Saturday, and doing a barbequed smoked ribs demo on Sunday. Talks and Demos On Saturday, food writer and hamburger expert Nick Solares will host “The State of the Irish Hamburger” with Grainne O’Keefe, culinary director of Bujo and Tom Gleeson, owner of Bunsen . O’Keefe will also be cooking throughout the weekend with Clanbrassil House , where she's head chef, famous for their in-house charcoal grill which much of the menu is based on. On Saturday, charcutier, knife maker and one of Ireland’s most championed producers, Fingal Ferguson will give a demo on cold smoking at home, and on Sunday he's doing one on knives with Nick Solares. Also on Sunday, Jess Murphy from Kai in Galway will be cooking up the “Bucky BBQ”, smoked Buckfast goat shoulder basted breakfast rolls, and straight after that, Robin Gill's on stage with recipes from his new book 'Larder'. If you need a break from meat, DJ BBQ will be cooking Grilled Halloumi Burgers on Saturday. Jess Murphy will be cooking up her 'VeganAsFu%k' BBQ, which includes sweetcorn with Gochujang, miso roasted yellow courgette, grilled plantains, spelt naan with heirloom tomatoes and grilled peaches. Head chef of Cook’s Academy Jack O’Keefe will also be grilling cauliflower over turf and serving it with a cabbage and mint tabbouleh. Demos at the Bushcraft area over the weekend include Fire By Friction, Pit Spuds, Traditional Jerky Smoking, Pannising (using sticks to cook fish over fire) and bacon marshmallow smores by the Cupcake Bloke. And we'd be heading for the Cupcake Bloke 's stand at some stage anyway because you can't eat all that meat and not have dessert. Offside Offside, the private dining area will focus on nose-to-tail eating this year. Twenty seats are available for each sitting, with a surprise menu and curated drinks. Rama Basilio and Andy Noonan will be cooking ‘Parilla’, a four course Argentinian Asado, featuring paired wines from Mendoza. ‘A Wild Game Feast’ hosted by Nick Weston and Lucas Wooten, will use an array of locally foraged ingredients and wild game paired with wild cocktails and natural wines, and Weston will also serve the whole Dexter steer roast on the final day of the festival. Booze In terms of alcoholic beverages to wash down the feast of meat, there will be a huge range of craft beers available from Franciscan Well, Eight Degrees Brewing Co, Wicklow Wolf, and Brewtonic, to name a few, as well as cider from Dan Kelly's and Scott's Irish cider, and gin from 6 O'Clock. There will also be bands and DJs playing throughout the weekend, not that you’ll be bored with this line-up. This is definitely not a festival for light-eaters. Maybe don't have breakfast. Or dinner the night before. The Big Grill Festival Herbert Park, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Thu 16th Aug - Sun 19th Aug biggrillfestival.com

Vurgerface , the vegan burger pop up from graphic designer turned chef Sarah Boland, has taken Stoneybatter and the Dublin vegan community by storm since popping up last month in The Belfry 's beer garden, but their time is up so this is your last weekend to try a 'Classic John' or a 'Hot Chick' until they find a new home. Rarely has a vegan opening caused such a stir on our social accounts, but every other day we seem to be coming face to screen with happy vegans proclaiming that Vurgerface is " unreal ", " insane " and " next level ". Sarah decided to set up Vurgerface after going travelling and feeling like there was a gap in the Irish market for quality, plant-based street food. As a Stoneybatter local she drank in newly renovated The Belfry , and the guys there were looking to bring in rotating pop ups. Vurgerface is the first, but there will be a new one each month. After this weekend Vurgerface is going on the hunt for a permanent home in the city centre, and Sarah said she's confident they will find a good spot despite the city's current rental situation. For the sake of vegans across the city (and Vurgerface judging by some of the devastated people on their Instagram page) we hope it's soon. Vurgerface will be at The Belfry every day until Monday (opening hours below), and you can check out the menu here . *Edit: Since this article was published Vurgerface have been asked to stay on at the Belfry for another week until Sunday 26th August, and will continue to pop up afterwards, rotating with other vendors. They are also in talks to do something similar on the southside. That should cheer up all of those devastated vegan burger lovers. Vurgerface @ The Belfry 37 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Thu - Fri 17:00 - 22:30. Sat 16:00 - 22:30. Sun 16:00 - 22:00. Mon 17:00 - 22:00. Ph:+353838011001 www.facebook.com/TheBelfryStoneybatter

Lil Portie , the Caribbean kitchen that's been popping up across the city since June, is moving into a permanent space from September. Nick Reynolds, the guy behind Lil Portie, popped up in TwoFifty Square in Rathmines in July, and it went so well that he's moving in permanently in the evenings. With the city's current rental crisis we think this sounds like a very smart move for all concerned. Nick was born in Ireland but is of Jamaican descent (his granny carried around litres of scotch bonnet hot sauce), and his food also has a Latin American twist after spending six years in South America. Dishes on the menu over the summer included shredded jack fruit tacos, jerk prawn and chorizo gumbo, and roast okra stuffed sweet plantain. They were also serving dessert of caramelised plantain with lime and coconut crumble, and vegans are always catered for. Nick wants to serve foods that aren't commonly found in Dublin, like akcee, plantain, okra, chow chow and gungo peas, and plans to keep dishes that have proved popular since starting up, like Jamaican rice & peas, plantain nachos, and jerk basted pork ribs, as well dishes for the colder weather, like goat curry and oxtail stew. When asked about his plans for the new site he said, "I’ve been experimenting with the menu and how it all ties into the history of the Jamaicans and the Caribbeans, from the pre-Colombian indigenous tribes (arwarkas) who revered the deity Yúcahu (the god of cassava), right up to the end of the British empire." That's some heavy kitchen research. Lil Portie at TwoFifty Square hopes to start soft-launching by the end of August, and open three nights a week from mid-September, increasing to four from October. You can sign up to their mailing list for updates, or stay right here and we'll give you all the deets. lilportie.com

It's safe to say there's never been a better time to be vegan in Dublin. Every week there seems to be a new vegan pop up or permanent spot opening ( Veginity , The Garden of Vegan , The Electric Vegan and Vurger Face in the past few months alone), and now there's a whole vegan events series coming up with places like Ananda and The Shelbourne hosting events and dinners to show off their plant-based cooking skills. The ' Chef-Led Vegan Culinary Events Series ' is being organised by husband and wife Scott and Sivan Renwick from Vegan in Ireland , who run vegan based food tours of Dublin, and have been vegan for 10 years. It kicks off next Tuesday 21st August at Ananda with a demonstration and tasting by head chef Karan Mittal, followed by a four-course dinner (guests can take part in one or both). On Sunday 16th September, Chef Kwong Yew Liew from Kyoto will be giving a masterclass in vegan sushi, followed by a four-course dinner, and on Sunday 30th September there's a vegan cheese and wine tasting at Hugo's . Who says vegans have no fun? On Tuesday 23rd October, the Executive chef from The Shelbourne , Gary Hughes will give a talk and demo on making vegan treats, with a vegan afternoon tea afterwards, and on Tuesday 6th November you can learn how to make vegan cocktails and finger foods at Bow Lane so you're all set for your next vegan getogether. With the number of vegans in Dublin (and Ireland) growing month on month, we're expecting these to be sell outs, and of course non-vegans who are just interested in eating more plant-based foods are also welcome. The only people who might not be happy about this new events series are Bord Bia who are desperately trying to figure out a way to reverse veganism . Best of luck with that guys. You can get full details of the events and how to book here . Vegan in Ireland Culinary Events Series Various dates Aug - Nov 2018 veganinireland.com/irelands-chefs-are-going-vegan-vegan-in-ireland-culinary-event-series

We've been #blessed this week with not one but two reviews of newly opened The Ivy on Dawson Street, and they're more different than an exclusive celebrity haunt and a rapidly expanding restaurant chain. The precursor to today's reviews was a tweet from Tom Doorley on Friday telling all and sundry that The Ivy had blocked The Daily Mail's photographer from taking the customary "waitress holds plates and smiles at camera" shot, or even a shot of the sign outside. Precious much? Lucky for them Tom had already filed his copy, although he did later admit he might have been too kind... He loved the theatre of The Ivy, with its "riot of botanical design" and elaborate rituals of setting fire to desserts, and overall seemed impressed with the food. His daughter loved her crispy duck salad, his tuna carpaccio was faultless, and a roast salmon fillet was cooked perfectly - "a revival of how things used to be done" - despite the accompaniment of unseasonal asparagus. The one item on the menu that's had us scratching our heads since The Ivy opened is the Flatiron chicken, which sounds like a dried up leathery definition of "wrong", but Tom's was moist and came with an "intense lemony jus", and "good very buttery mashed potato" (evidently a different chef cooked Leslie's). A chocolate bombe for dessert melted when hot salted caramel was poured over it (more of that theatre we always look for when dining out), and was "no hardship to eat", and he says the service was good but slower than is acceptable in a place like this. To the other side of the coin, in a review which couldn't be more different to Tom's, Leslie Williams in the Irish Examiner describes a "seriously underperforming kitchen", with "overcooked" scallops and slow-cooked lamb shoulder "devoid of moisture". The same flatiron chicken "had crispy skin but utterly dried out flesh", and he gave up chewing halfway through. A steak tartare with Dubliner whiskey and tabasco seemed to taste purely of English mustard, some of the meat had become "cooked" from the citrus, and there was no discernible taste of whiskey or tabasco. Chips were among the worst he'd tasted in years - "flaccid, soggy, inedible, and suspiciously evenly cut" - and while things picked up with his dessert of Apple Tarte Fine, they soared downwards again with a Strawberry Ice Cream Sundae - "under-ripe strawberries, dull vanilla ice cream, meringue so dense you could break your teeth and hard-tack shortbread without a hint of butter". Yum. A couple of things to consider here. 1) Tom Doorley was recognised, as was Gillian Nelis a few weeks previously, who also had a thoroughly delightful experience . Presumably Leslie William's wasn't, which brings back memories of Ruth Reichl's infamous double review of Le Cirque in The New York Times. 2) The menu is so extensive (almost 50 items on the all day dining menu alone) that there must be hits and misses, so to review it based on just one visit and two people dining leaves room for wild swings in experience. We imagine this is not the last we'll see of the The Ivy in the critic's reviews, so we'll wait to see who's team Tom and who's team Leslie. Read the latter's review here . Pizza was the other big topic of conversation this week. Ernie Whalley in The Sunday Times self-sacrificingly went to five pizza restaurants to find the best margherita in Dublin. We couldn't possibly tell you the outcome (for reasons explained here ) but if you want to find out you can do so here (or just hover over the link). Lucinda O'Sullivan in The Sunday Independent was also in the mood for pizza, and tried a lot of the menu (but not actually much pizza) at Pizza Yard in Ranelagh. She calls it a "hot and hip" place in the equally "hot and hip Ranelagh", and things got off to a great start when the "pro" in charge seated them away from all those pesky families with children at a "great window table". The Wild Atlantic pizza with lobster sauce, mozzarella, smoked salmon, avocado, sweet red onion, chives, capers, and toasted sesame seed and honey mustard sauce sounds like a complete mess, but she assures us it's "a winner". For mains, pan-fried rose veal with proscuitto, sage and garlic was also "a winner", and a seafood linguine with prawns, calamari and parmesan (giving the middle finger to the no cheese with fish rule ) was perfectly al dente with a good tomato sauce. Desserts were deep-fried pizza fingers with honey, chocolate and fruit, and chocolate mousse, but she leaves us in suspense as to how they tasted, with the exception of the "lovely strawberries" on the mousse. She says service was "excellent and friendly", and seems totally delighted with the trip. (Review not currently online). In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness was trying out dinner in The Fumbally , more known for its fresh, seasonal breakfasts and lunches. One of our all time favourite things to read in a review is "we ordered everything on the menu" (how else can you do it justice?), and Katy came through. Despite practically everything arriving at the same time and the fact that the table wasn't big enough to hold it all, she thought it was "a beautifully balanced meal that I'd defy anyone not to enjoy". High points included "heroin bread" (otherwise known as Le Levain ) with fennel butter, a smoked Gubbeen melt - "a cheesy potato-y version of arancini" - and Porco Tonnato, a version of vitello tonnato with shaved porchetta instead of veal, topped with tuna sauce and capers. Green beans came with labneh and a Lebanese chilli oil, and McNally Farm roast potaoes came with lovage aioli - "a fine accompaniment for the organic spuds". Dessert was "the pavlova of your dreams" - "chewy, with a hint of burnt sugar, strawberries and toasted hazelnuts". She describes the dishes as "healthy-tasting without being in any way punitive", and "exactly how we all want to eat at the moment, making the best of local and seasonal ingredients but not being so hamstrung by locavorism that the kitchen can't use lemons and olive oil and pomegranate when they bring something to the flavour party". Read her review here . Finally for the reviews we can pass comment on, Catherine Cleary in The Irish Times went by train, bus, boat and taxi to Inis Meáin off the coast of Galway to find "exquisitely-sourced food thoughtfully and calmly cooked" at the Inis Meáin Restaurant and Suites . She gives it a hard to beat 9.5/10 and says the restaurant has the "world's best view". Sold. She describes her first bite of raw Inis Meáin scallop with toasted hazelnuts, finely diced chives and pansies as "a statement of intent: you will be tethered to this land and seascape in the simplest and most delicious way possible." A "perfect" lobster tail followed, then beetroot carpaccio with a "ballad-worthy" crème fraîche, then crispy turbot with "flesh white as seafoam". A finale of stewed apricots came with "extraordinary ice cream" made from their lemon verbena patch. She ends by saying that "at the risk of gushing like a blow hole I love every moment of our meal in the Inis Meáin Restaurant. Elements of earth and ocean sounds like a marketing cliche but that’s what’s here." She calls it "a memorably beautiful meal", and we're probably not the only ones thinking about a road trip right now. Read her review here . In case you're interested, Gillian Nelis in the Sunday Business Post reviews Harte's of Kildare and finds it a "gastropub less ordinary with a genuine grá for local produce". You can get the full uncensored content here (subscription only). More next week.

Our timeline seems to be filled with nothing but epic looking desserts at the moment. From the ultimate puff pastry to the next big trend in desserts, here are 5 things we'd go out of our way to eat this week... 1. This Work of Art at The Greenhouse We're not sure we could even bring ourselves to eat this raspberry, peach and pistachio sablé breton from the lunch menu at The Greenhouse . We might just sit and gaze and it for a while... (and take 25 different photos for Instagram, obvs). www.thegreenhouserestaurant.ie 2. Aoife Noonan's Latest Masterpiece at Glovers Alley Another work of pastry art from dessert chef of the moment Aoife Noonan in Glovers Alley . Raspberry, lemon verbena and caramelised puff pastry (how did we not know this was a thing?) with mango lime sorbet and fresh raspberries. We think they should open a little pastry cart in Stephen's Green. gloversalley.ie 3. This Dressed up Chocolate Mousse from Hey Donna There's only one dessert on the menu at Hey Donna so they had to make it a good one. This chocolate and miso mousse with mandarin and ginger yoghurt, spiced hazelnuts and mandarin oil looks like a great way to finish off a Middle Eastern spread. Plus miso in desserts is going to be the next big trend (for good reason). You heard it here first. www.heydonna.ie 4. The Cupcake Bloke's Homemade Mikados We're not sure a bakery has ever been met with as much anticipation as the first bricks and mortar opening from The Cupcake Bloke in Rialto, and the 'bloke' in question, Graham, seems to be specialising in nostalgia lately with the creation of these homemade mikados. They look exactly like the originals but bigger and better, and we wouldn't feel anywhere near as bad about ourselves after eating one (or two - I mean if we're making a trip to Rialto). www.thecupcakebloke.com 5. The DIY Cheesecake from Mad Egg Two mentions in one week for the only dessert on the menu at Mad Egg , but we love this hot mess of a cheesecake that you can customise with chocolate sauce, nuts, oreos and caramel. Katy McGuinness said it reminded her of ice-cream cakes that she used to throw together for her children's birthday parties, which is an excellent endorsement if you ask us. www.madegg.ie

Mad Egg , the premium fried chicken shop which has been flooding Instagram since it opened just 15 weeks ago (feels like longer), has opened a second site on Millennium Walkway behind the Jervis Shopping Centre. The menu is the same as the Charlotte Way branch, with the addition of new chicken tenders with salsa, guacamole and citrus sour cream, which will also shortly be added to the Charlotte Way menu. The guys behind Mad Egg , Conor Sheridan and Stephen O'Reilly, found the current property market challenging to say the least, but the success of the first Mad Egg meant that landlords were more willing to talk to them - so much so that a third site is on the cards before Christmas, with two more central sites currently in contention. They hope to expand into the suburbs after that. Mad Egg's schtick centres around the provenance and quality of their chicken, which impressed Katy McGuinness when she reviewed them in June. It's bred for them by John Smith in Navan, who was the first certified free-range chicken farmer in Ireland in the 1970's. The chicken is tea-brined for 48 hours before being double dipped in spiked buttermilk and their in-house seasoned coating. The buns were created for them by Coghlan's Bakery , who also make the burger buns for BuJo . The menu is simple, consisting of five chicken burgers with various toppings, a veggie burger with a cauliflower, sweetcorn and shallot fritter patty (which sounds a lot better than that hideous sounding veggie sandwich from Five Guys ), four versions of chicken tenders, sides and their much-loved-by-Instagram DIY cheesecake, which, you guessed it, you decorate yourself from a variety of toppings. Beer is king on the drinks list with a variety of craft beers in can and bottle, and the soon to be introduced "Mad Yoke" house brew, which is being specially made in conjunction with Hope Beer in North Dublin. It's a blonde ale which they say works great with the food. They also have wine if beer's not your thing. Stephen from Mad Eg g says that luckily they haven't been affected too much by the current chef shortage in the city, and have moved some staff around to make things work, but that might be a different situation as the brand expands. Mad Egg is now open, seven days a week for lunch and dinner. There's ample outdoor seating so if you want to make the most of it get there before this freak Irish summer disappears. Mad Egg 6 Jervis House, Millennium Walkway, Dublin 1 Mon - Wed 12:00 - 21:30. Thu - Fri 12:00 - 22:30. Sat 13:00 - 22:30. Sun 13:00 - 21:00. 01 872 6728 www.madegg.ie

We knew this couldn't last forever didn't we? It's been an interesting week for All The Food , as two newspapers have "politely" requested we no longer feature their reviews. So unfortunately there won't be much more of Gillian Nelis or Ernie Whalley around these parts (although it should be noted that the critics in question had nothing to do with it). So then there were five... In The Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness had a mixed experience at newly-opened vegan restaurant Veginity on Dorset Street, which we thought Catherine Cleary would beat everyone else to. She says her review was between that and another recent vegan opening, until a friend visited the latter and sent her a picture of the "rank" nachos. If you read this site regularly you'll be able to make an educated guess about where that was. Back to Veginity, she liked the vibe, the pleasant staff and the comfortable chairs, but found the acoustics "terrible", particularly with the shrieking diner at the next table. Home-baked ciabatta with fermented coconut cream cheese and a mint and coriander chermoula was "pleasant", while beetroot kibbeh tasted of "nothing much", but did come with pineapple bulgur, sriracha salsa and confit garlic aioli that was "standout good". Her favourite main was XO king oyster mushrooms with fermented choi sum, kimchi Chinese cabbage and marinated shimeji. Another of miso aubergine came with delicious noodles but "slimey and unappealing" tofu, and her least favourite was a Kentucky-fried Kiev waffle with chicken nugget shapes of soy protein, mushroom gravy, confit peppers, banana shallots, red cabbage slaw and caramelised apricots. Too much on one plate according to Katy, and she never wants to see those nuggets again - "vegan's deserve better". Desserts were a "good" brûlée citron cheesecake and a chocolate based creation that she calls a "hideous disaster" - no mincing of words over here. Overall she says "the food is not awful - and there are some spectacularly good elements", but she thinks it could be better. We've always loved Mark Senn's food so think this might just be a case of needing a few months to settle in. It certainly seems to be getting good reviews from the vegans. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was dining with the "well-upholstered, moneyed, older folk" at Peploe's on Stephen's Green. After mixed experiences in the past, it was positive reports about new head chef Graeme Dodrill, who'd recently been persuaded to come home from Dubai, which convinced him to go back. As a table of four they tried a good subsection of the menu, including "delightfully raw and moist" seared tuna, devilled kidneys "worthy of a very grand Edwardian country house party", a "dense, intense" foie gras terrine, and "very tender" grilled octopus. The Peploe's stalwart of spaghettini with monkfish, Dublin Bay prawns, chilli and tomato had been "brought to a new level ... 24 carat bistro cooking", while plump scallops with Comté cheese and creamy spinach was "as good as it sounds". His fellow diner's soufflé was so good he didn't get a taste, a crème brûlée was "silky" and "vanilla-scented", and he says "there's no doubt that Peploe's has upped its game". (Review not currently online) In The Irish Times Catherine Cleary was eating food grown a few metres away at Enniscoe House in Mayo, which looks and sounds like the most delightful country escape, and which she calls "a reminder of things almost lost, now surviving in quiet corners of Ireland." Swoon... She went hoping to taste "this summer of summers" in the food, and found it in a carrot and cumin soup, and the green salad that accompanied a chorizo and black olive quiche and a red pepper and anchovy tart - "the simplest gathering of tasty things on filo pastry". The best main was salmon with a lemon cream and "the best potatoes I’ve had outside of my Dad’s home-grown new season Queens", along with fresh broadbeans and "duff" watery cauliflower which should have been roasted. Summer fruits with baby meringue for dessert was a "tumble of gooseberries, red black and white currants all bursting with sweet tang and a beige meringue chewy in the middle," and should be given a glass case in a museum of food memories. She says that places like Enniscoe House , where cooks started with the question “what’s good or plentiful today?”, is where delicious things begin. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan returns to reviewing with a trip to the much-fêted Mews in Baltimore, where the service was so lovely she almost burst into tears of joy - it should be noted this emotive outburst came off the back of three awful service experiences in a row at the hands of "smart-ass gobshites in hotels". Mews is easily in the "top 5 Irish restaurants we want to eat in" and unsurprisingly they managed to leave Lucinda mesmerised like everyone else who's walked through the door, with their "Nordic-style" foraging, fermenting and drying. We recently heard that the furthest away ingredient on the menu is Gubbeen cheese, at a whole 36km - that's some serious "eat local" credentials. She describes it as "Noma-style", with the head chef describing each dish at the table, and it sounds like a love letter to what Cork's produce - crispy Irish kelp, wild fennel emulsion, wood sorrel, sycamore sap, wild garlic, yeast emulsion, mackerel, rhubarb compote, mussels, lamb, ice cream made from Gloun Cross milk. She calls it a "truly delightful experience", and if you didn't want to visit before you will after reading this. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee is on holidays in France reviewing Michelin-starred La Table Saint Crescent in Narbonne. He praises the "excellent" €20 children's menu (not something we've seen in a Michelin-starred restaurant before, maybe because most of the ones here actively discourage children being brought in with claims about inadequate insurance or the inability to cater for them), and he says he would have happily eaten their buttery mash, "delicious" chunks of chicken with the skin still attached, and deep-fried polenta chips in any of the other bistros they visited. The adult set lunch comprised of a starter of sauteed mushroom and Faugeres onions in a "robust" comte sauce, topped with a barely poached and egg white foam, and had "rich, complex flavours delivered with a lightness appropriate". Sea Bream had flavours of the "soupy, salty Med" and came with roasted summer veg in a rich fish-head soup with sauce vierge. Dessert of choux pastry with "bracingly bitter" angelica ice cream, vanilla cream, strawberries and fig sauce was "pleasant, sweet but hardly earth shattering." He calls it a lovely lunch with "sound cooking" and "good flavours", but says he could name ten non-starred Irish restaurants producing better food, with "vastly more innovative cooking of infinitely superior local ingredients." It begs the question of whether a restaurant can be accurately judged on the basis of a single set lunch, but equally should standards waver when trying to fill in the gaps between dinner services? We can think of plenty of restaurants where the standard between lunch and dinner, or set and à la carte wavers dizzyingly (not to mention those partaking in the voucher culture and the often reduced-quality offering associated with that). It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect an award-winning restaurant's standards to be at the same level at every time of the day, but when that's not the case, which should they be judged on? Their best or their worst? Read his review here . For public interest's sake we'll tell you that Gillian Nelis in the Sunday Business Post reviews The Ledbury in London, (read that here ) and Ernie Whalley in the Sunday Times reviews live-fire experts Fowl Play in the Square Ball Pub (read that here ), but that's all we could possibly say on the matter. Pics below for reference but NOT A WORD MORE. More next week.

Beatyard is back in Dun Laoghaire harbour this weekend with headline acts including The Jacksons, Le Boom and Daniel Avery, as well as talks, exhibitions and boat parties, but most importantly, loads of great food and drink. Eatyard ', the food festival within the festival, will host food stalls, demos, tastings and pop-up bars, including a pizza and prosecco bar from the Big Blue Bus. A dedicated cheese and wine bar will hold tastings all weekend, Brewtonic will be serving their own Dublin-brewed craft beers, and Hollow and Fentimans will have a bar in the Banter and Shaw space. Jameson are back with their whiskey bar, and Beefeater Gin and Fever Tree Tonic are also pitching up stalls. Seedlip non-alcoholic spirits will be there too in case you feel tipsy just listening to that line up. Food stalls throughout the weekend will include Corleggy cheese , The Wooden Pig Charcuterie , How Bao Now , Jaru , Box Burger and Camerino Bakery . Coffee will supplied by Cloud Picker . Along with their crisps and cans pairings, Eatyard will hold their “ Crisp Sambo Championship ” on Sunday at 3pm, with the winner crowned from six finalists. Judith and Susan Boyle, of Two Sisters Brewing , will host a tasting and talk about Champagne on Sunday at 5pm, and Quintessential Wines will give a talk on natural wines on Saturday at 3.30pm, both on the Eatyard Stage. There's also a "debunking wine” talk and tasting from Wines Direct on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm on the Eatyard stage, and a “Wine + Cheese, Do’s, Don’ts, Maybes” talk and tasting from Wicklow Way Wines , the people behind the Irish fruit wines ‘Móinéir’, which everyone who's anyone seems to be drinking at the moment. There's loads more happening over the three days, with talks in the 'Banteryard' including a discussion Irish food culture with the guys behind the " With Relish " podcast, a 'Kidsyard' with balloon modelling and an Imaginosity area, and of course tonnes of live music. Now all we need is the summer to come out of hiding. Beatyard Fri 3rd - Sun 5th August Dun Laoghaire Harbour (Old Stena Ferry Terminal) Fri 16:00 - 22:30. Sat - Sun 12:00 - 22:30. Tickets - Children 0-2 free, under-15s €5 per day, Adults €59 per day, €150 for the weekend www.the-beatyard.com