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We had the fingers crossed for a review of newly opened The Ivy this weekend, and trusty Gillian Nelis delivered in the Sunday Business Post . We've been expecting most of the critics to go into this one with their backs up (due to the fact that The Ivy of today is a long way from the London-institution it once was, and seems to be expanding at Jamie's Italian-style speed with over 30 locations currently and more in the planning - lest we mention that ivy-covered bus), but she loved it. She loved the "gorgeous onyx-topped bar", the "over the top" design with its flowery ceilings and "ultra-snazzy loos", and most importantly, the food. A starter of buffalo mozarrella with (under ripe) sliced peaches, Nocellara olives, smoked almonds, pesto and mint was "a lovely summer starter", and another of asparagus came "perfectly cooked" with "top-notch" truffle hollandaise. Truffle arancini were "crispy and delicious". Main courses sound steep with halibut on the bone in chimichurri and a grapefruit salsa costing €32.95, but GN thought it was "beautifully cooked" and "full of flavour". A 12oz ribeye came in at a staggering €33.50 with nothing but watercress on the side. Extras of "fantastic" chips and bearnaise sauce costing €4.50 each (!!) brought the total for steak and chips up to €42.50. Deep pockets needed, and she calls it "scrooge-like" to charge that much for a portion of sauce. A side of tenderstem broccoli with lemon oil and sea salt was "fine", while another of tomato and basil salad with PX dressing was "lovely". Her all-time favourite dessert of Rhum Baba (the biggest she'd ever seen) would easily have fed two, and an apple tart fine was a "solid iteration" of a classic. She thought the young staff coped admirably with how busy the place was, and ends by saying "If you prefer your food with a side order of introspection and a dollop of self-importance, you are going to hate The Ivy. If, on the other hand, you’re after some good grub, a bit of a giggle and some top people-watching, I suspect you’ll really like it." Read the full review here . In The Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was close to twerking with joy after his trip to Pi on George's Street, on the back of our tip-off a couple of weeks ago. He calls the pizzas "as good as I’ve ever tasted", and by the looks of Instagram over the past few weeks it seems like most of the city agrees with him. Poor Pi are having a bit of a rubbish weekend with a chimney issue forcing them to close all day Saturday (back open today), so hopefully this perked them up. He calls all three pizzas that they tried "glorious" - a 'Margharita' was "textbook", a 'Salsiccia' had Gubbeen Chorizo "softened by the milky richness of the Toonsbridge cheese" and livened up with chillis, and high praise for the 'Zuccha' which "made me re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about courgettes, their light subtly bitter flesh rounded out by the Salsa Verde and the ever so slightly funky Ricotta." He says that Pi nails the key to great pizza - bounce - and also managed to avoid the all too common burnt base. He thought dessert of vanilla ice cream with olive oil was "genius", even if the ice-cream could be made creamier and more vanilla-y, and was impressed by the craft beer selection, but thought they could do with a wine fridge as the Rioja was warm to be point of being "like soup". He calls Pi "an informal but carefully conceived and wonderfully executed pizzeria", and gives the food 9/10. It's going to be hard to de-throne this one we think. Read his review here . Read ours here . In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary is on flying form when describing the setting in which she found "probably the best street food I’ve eaten in Dublin", at Vietnom , in the back of the Glimmer Man pub in Stoneybatter. She suggests the 'beer garden' might be more accurately described as a 'beer yard', with the dominant form of plant life being tobacco, under a plastic roof that "no amount of Mayfair instagram filtering could massage into something beautiful". There are boxes of timber under seats, "as if someone's stockpiling builders' offcuts for the fires to ward off the zombie apocalypse". It was mainly provenance which drew her to the vegetarian Vietnamese food truck, the fact that they grow some of their own vegetables, and order others from every provenance lover's fav - McNally Family Farm . The meat-free banh mi were "a pleasure rather than a penance", with honeyed mushrooms, crispy peanut shallots and pickled vegetables in "great" sourdough bread. A tostada came with "excellent" crispy potatoes and "sweet and juicy" rainbow chard. The clincher was the organic summer roll - a fresh green cabbage leaf wrapped around carrot miso, paneer and a mild, sweet kimchi: "It’s a texture and flavour bonanza and probably the best street food I’ve eaten in Dublin." Big words, and echo Katy McGuinness' review from a few months ago where she also praised the "vibrant fresh flavours" and "feel-good food". Read Catherine Cleary's review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was revisiting Luna , with the fear that new head chef Vish Sumputh (who recently moved from Chapter One ) might have messed with (or even removed) his favourite spaghetti and truffles. Imagine the carnage. Luckily it was still on the menu, and was miraculously better than before, with even more truffle - praise the lord. The general theme of the review is one of immense satisfaction, with Tom saying "there's nowhere quite like Luna", and although he does admit it's expensive, "it keeps drawing me back". Beef carpaccio was "melt in the mouth" and came with charred white turnips and pickled quail eggs, and a watercress risotto with snails, broad beans and capers had a texture that was "in true Italian fashion, between solidity and soup", and was "quite possibly the best" he's had in Dublin. While he thought the truffle spaghetti was well worth €30 a plate, a ragu bolognese with agnolotti was "fabulously intense" but too salty, "approaching levels of salinity found in the Dead Sea." With no desserts mentioned, the bill for two came to €160 which he admits is steep, but says that with Luna "you go knowing that it will be dear, but you also know that the cooking will be all about great raw materials that are handled with confidence born of experience." He recommends the pre-theatre menu, which at three courses for €30 is significantly more affordable. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness was at Ard Bia at Nimmos in Galway, where she found the lunchtime offering "simple, generous and executed with heart as well as skill". Summer pea, spinach and mint soup with toasted seeds and homemade soup was ridiculous value at €2.50 for a generous half-portion, and Atlantic fishcakes had good flavour and a nice balance between smoked and unsmoked fish. A "juicy and full of flavour" rib-eye steak burger came with garlicky wedges and crunchy slaw and was "elevated by heirloom tomatoes and plentiful sorrel aioli". Some of the desserts on display were melting in the heat (forever remembered as the summer of '18) but a chocolate fudge and ganache cake held up well, and a tart of gin and almond was lacking in gin but with pastry that's "the real deal". She ends with a plea for race-goers who book restaurant tables in Galway to please show up, as they can't afford to be burned like in previous years. And no one wants to see a reenactment of this .​ Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda's lists just keep on coming (we're guessing she's taken July off). This week it's where to find the best street food around the country. In Dublin it seems the answers lie predominantly at Irish Village Markets , in their locations at Mespil Road, UCD, Spencer Dock and Sandyford, where she recommends Kerala Kitchen 's "fabulous, fresh Indian street food", How Bao Now 's Taiwanese bao buns, and Say Fish for fish and chips. Also mentioned are Eatyard for burgers, chicken wings and smoothie bowls, Blackrock Market for 3 Leaves , Shaka Poké and Arctic Stone ice cream, and Veginity , newly opened on Dorset Street (which we're also eagerly awaiting a review of - if anywhere has Catherine Cleary written all over it...). The other hot street food spots in Dublin according to Lucinda are the earlier mentioned Vietnom in Stoneybatter, and the Spillane World Markets in the People's Park Dun Laoghaire, Merrion Square and Herbert Park. Street food in Dublin has a way to go before we can compete with the offerings in most other capital cities, but Eatyard and pop ups like Vietnom and Veginity are doing trojan work in convincing Irish people that they don't need delph and a chair with a back to enjoy eating out. The big gap in Dublin's dining scene right now is "fast, cheap, good", and that's where street food comes in. Plus if the property market keeps going the way it is, street food might be all that most people can afford soon. There's a cheery thought to end on. More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Cookes, the new 125-seater restaurant in Dundrum town centre from Chef Johnnie Cooke, opens to the public today, along with a 60-seat cocktail bar. The food is Mediterranean influenced, with dishes like Crispy Octopus a la Plancha, Lobster Pizza and Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Rib, as well as signature cocktails including a Dillisk-infused Bloody Mary. The kitchen will be led by Johnnie, alongside a team of chefs including Lee Doyle (formerly The Exchequer ) and Ros Morgan (formerly The Legal Eagle ). Cooke's will open 7 days a week and will serve breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, as well as brunch at the weekends. Johnnie Cooke is best known for owning and running Cooke’s Cafe in Castle Market for 17 years, famous for bringing Californian influenced Mediterranean food to Dublin and feeding celebrities like Bob Dylan and Naomi Campbell, before it closed in 2009. He now operates " The Restaurant by Johnnie Cooke " and the "Green & Bean Café and Bar", both in Brown Thomas . Cooke's is in the first floor space above Harvey Nichols , which was formerly occupied by the Harvey Nichols restaurant, and before that by Niall Sabongi's Rock Lobster. The Harvey Nichols restaurant closed in August 2016 after making reported losses of around €15,000 a month. The space has been vacant since. Cooke hopes that his ethos of believing in "the best ingredients (locally-sourced & organic wherever possible), clean presentation, a love of good food and a kinship attitude to feasting" will make Cooke's the one that sticks. Also look out for details soon to be announced of a summer series afternoon tea with Veuve Cliquot Rosé. Cooke's 1st Floor, Pembroke District, Dundrum Town Centre Mon - Fri 10am - 10pm. Sat - Sun 9am - 10pm. Bookings - cookesrestaurant@johnniecooke.ie Ph: (01) 2962441 www.johnniecooke.ie

The Botanic House in Glasnevin re-opened yesterday with a new seafood-focused menu, after being shut since early 2014. The owners of Aqua in Howth have taken over the lease after they saw an opportunity to bring quality seafood to Glasnevin, and have been working with the owners of the site since last year to give the beautiful building a new lease of life. Keeping with Aqua’s ethos, Botanic House will have a strong focus on classic seafood, cooked simply. The new menu features moules mariniere, crab salad with local smoked salmon and hot native shellfish with a bouillabaisse sauce, and battered fish comes with triple cooked chips - always a good sign. The ingredients they're using look good too, with organic salmon, Toonsbridge mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes amongst those listed. Desserts are pretty classic with creme brulée and apple crumble, and there's an Irish cheese board. There's a full cocktail list, including the “Bombay Botanic” and the new fit out looks cosy, particularly the armchairs by the fire. In an area where good eating options are sparse, we think The Botanic House is going to be a very welcome addition to Dublin 9, and wih the pedigree of Aqua behind it, we'd bet there'll be a critic in here before you can say crab salad. The Botanic House 26 Botanic Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 Food served Monday - Sunday 12pm - 9pm botanichouse.ie

We're all about the breakfasts this week, with pastries, breakfast sandwiches and nice looking things on toast practically jumping off our timelines. Here are five of the best looking breakfasts in town right now. 1. Yellow courgette, St Tola Goat's Cheese and Lemon Thyme Danish from Scéal Bakery In conversations about where to find the best pastries in Dublin, Scéal comes up over and over again, and this savoury danish with McNally Farm yellow courgettes, St Tola goat's cheese and lemon thyme looks perfectly seasonal and totally delicious. Find Scéal at the Stoneybatter Farmers Market every Saturday. www.scealbakery.com 2. The New BuJo Breakfast Sandwich Just when we thought BuJo couldn't get any better, they've gone and introduced a breakfast sandwich at weekends. With a toasted brioche bun from Coghlan's bakery, a Ballygarvey free-range egg, Oliver Carty's Beechwood smoked bacon, a Hampshire rare breed sausage patty, molten cheese and a choice of three sauces, we never want to hear the words "egg mcmuffin" again. They're also serving freshly squeezed orange juice and 3fe coffee. So now it's never too early for a BuJo . Only available Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 12pm. bujo.ie 3. The Fat Fox Maybe more of a brunch (but you can eat whatever you want whenever you want it), this mushroom toastie with grilled cheese, chilli aioli and spinach from The Fat Fox has enough vegetable goodness to set you up nicely for the day. Plus, look at that cheese. www.instagram.com/thefatfoxcamden 4. Mushrooms on toast from Two Boys Brew More mushrooms from Two Boys Brew , this time herby ones on sourdough toast with pea & garlic puree, a free range soft poached egg, shaved parmesan, pickled red onion, crushed hazelnuts and crème fraiche. Outstanding breakfast game. www.twoboysbrew.ie 5. This health-giving vegan cupcake from Kaph Sometimes cake is all that will do for breakfast, but instead of one of an innately unhealthy, sugar and flour packed one that will leave you starving an hour later, we'd be heading to Kaph for this vegan cardamon and almond cupcake, with a sour cherry jam filling, topped with coconut cream. They're from Wild Sage Bakery and we'd have high hopes that they taste as good as they look. www.kaph.ie

What a week for the Sunday Independent to publish an article on where to find the best pizza in the country (presumably written weeks earlier) and not mention the place that's completely dominated social media for the past 10 days - Pi . If ever there was an argument for holding something back until said newbie could be sampled, doing a swift rewrite, or the relevance of a piece that appears dated even before it's been published, this is it. No mention of Katy McGuinness' fav Sano either, which she last week declared the best pizza in Ireland (and that wasn't the first time we heard it spoken about in those terms), or another constantly talked about contender for best in the city, Dublin Pizza Company. Some solid recommendations on Lucinda's list nonetheless, with Osteria Lucio , Gaillot et Gray , Forno 500 and Cirillo's all getting a place in the top 20. The other Dublin spots which made it are Fellini's in Deansgrange, Shovelhead in Monkstown and Pizza Yard in Ranelagh. Better luck next year Pi . After Katy McGuinness ' winning meal at Sano last week she was probably due some bad luck, and she got it with the coddle pizza at The Baths at Clontarf . She calls it "a truly terrible idea" and "an awful pizza. Don't whatever you do, order this dish, not even for fun." The whole experience got off to a bad start with a request for an outside table denied (only drinks served on the terrace bizarrely), before being were shown to a table "from which every possible view of the pool or the sea is obliterated - by walls, by masonry, by a tea station, and by a huge banquette in the middle of the adjacent conservatory-type structure." Sure why would you need to see the actual sea when you have a beach hut, nautical lighting and a seaside mural in the dining room. Sure you could be on a boat. The other brunch dishes they tried fared slightly better. Eggs Benedict on a soda farl with bacon and spinach had good hollandaise but too much bacon. A lobster roll was a "serviceable iteration" but the amount of lobster felt stingy and the accompanying chips weren't crisp enough. It was the coddle pizza however that was the stomach churner: "It looks terrible - pale, the cheese barely melted, the pieces of organic bacon limp and flaccid. It looks as if it hasn't yet been in the oven. But it has." Mmmm... Desserts of an "uninspiring" knickerbocker glory and a "bland" affogato were "sweet, creamy, forgettable", and she says that "in such a magnificent location, both the décor and the food at The Baths are a disappointment." The Baths have been swimming (sorry) in controversy since they opened a few months ago over their failure to open the public swimming baths (the whole point of the project and why they were allowed to proceed in the first place) and are currently being investigated by Dublin City Council investigation for breaches to their planning permission. They've been given until September to make changes - maybe removing the coddle pizza is one of them. Read her review here . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis had a much more successful trip to The Cliff Townhouse on Stephen's Green, which she calls "good for the soul and good for the stomach". She describes head chef Sean Smith as "one of the best fish and seafood chefs in the country", and the dining room as "one of the nicest places to eat in the city". West coast scallop ceviche with lime, chilli and orange was "a well-balanced, delicate starter", while cured mackerel with rhubarb, beetroot and blue cheese was "a much more robust affair", which she loved, but would have liked a bit more blue cheese. Her main of brill was gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to eat, and came with girolles, pea purée, fresh peas and a "divine" clam and mussel sauce. Her other half's main of halibut with asapargus and hollandaise wasn't going to win any awards for creativity but was "well-cooked nonetheless". Full from the "lovely" treacle bread they'd filled on up earlier, they shared a dessert of crème caramel with "just the right amount of vanilla", rum-soaked raisins and sugared puff pastry, and she says that the pricing at The Cliff Townhouse is one of the things she likes most about it. While you can go all out with champagne, lobster and caviar, you can also eat relatively inexpensively with a fish pie for €18 or a pot of mussels for €13.90, and "given where you’ll be eating – in the centre of a city that, let’s face it, is getting jaw-droppingly expensive – that’s more than fair." Read her review here (subscription only). From the good back to the ugly, it was another shocker of a meal for Joe McNamee in The Irish Examiner , who was at Bobo Café in Cork, on the grounds of UCC. He describes the pedigree of the owners (one management, one chef) who are "seasoned operators", with the chef's food in other premises having "never been less than very good", so the consistently unseasoned, flavour-lacking food came as a surprise. Good black pudding comes with chard, poached eggs and and cherry tomatoes but is "overcooked and dry, almost a crumbling biscuit". Other components on the plate are fine but the fresh chard is "entirely unseasoned". Poached eggs on sourdough come with a "pleasing guacamole", but once again the black pudding is overcooked. Another plate of potato cakes "again lack any semblance of seasoning", and the salsa it comes with is "anaemic, devoid of depth or punch." Joe opted for Chilli Tempeh, Beans, Patatas Bravas & Beets. The tempeh and beans were well cooked with perfect texture, "but again seasoning and flavour are mysteriously absent." He could taste no chilli whatsoever, and the patatas bravas needed serious seasoning. He also thought that service needed to be addresses, "urgently", with staff not even acknowledging their arrival, offering to seat them or asking why three quarters of his meal remained uneaten. It's a pretty damning review for Bobo , but even still we were surprised to see this post within hours of it being published yesterday, saying that due to circumstance beyond their control the restaurant would be closed for the weekend but would be back with a new menu on Tuesday. It could be a coincidence, but perhaps more likely that the people in charge took their eye off the ball and this swift kick up the backside has catapulted them into fire-fighting mode. Anyone who cares enough to close a restaurant is likely to come back with something bigger and better, so we look forward to getting the verdict on the new menu (if Joe can be convinced to go back). Read his review here . In the Irish Times, Catherine Cleary 's clean-eating lifestyle continues with a trip to Grow HQ in Waterford, which she describes as sounding like "a militia encampment for barrow pushers and gnarly-knuckled folk who know how to pinch out the side shoots on a tomato plant." She doesn't review a lot of the food as she went with her two children, so the menu consists of a cheese toastie, artisan sausages on a blaa and her beet platter, which was that week's "veg hero" prepared five ways. She liked four out of the five, but suggests they "scale back the hashtag gimmick of one veg five ways and just do one luscious thing with it every day." Her favourite was the sausage-shaped fritter with spiced yoghurt, followed by a beet gazpacho that "tastes great" with the sourdough crusts she foraged from her son's plate. The offending item was a risotto "more watery than a risotto ever should be", and tasting neither of the fennel or Knockanore cheddar that it was supposed to. Desserts of gingery nutty carrot cake and a chocolate chip cookie came with "gorgeous" and "terrific" ice creams, and a beet and chocolate brownie made up for its health components with "lashings of sugar and dark, dark chocolate". She calls it "a great pitstop", but advises that "with an idea this beautiful, less is more." Read her review here . Finally, in The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley went in search of seafood in Schull, West Cork, and ended up at L'Escale fish and chips, which he says aims to be all things to all people, but is "a big, happy place" with food that "isn't bad". A seafood platter had oysters with good flavour but which could have been juicier, Dublin Bay prawns which were overchilled, causing them to lose a lot of their sweet flavour, and crab meat which was good, "if lacking a wow factor". A whole lobster was "exceptionally good", the only downside being the commerical-grade mayonnaise and "ordinary" baguette it was served with, and monkfish served in a crisp batter was so fresh it "almost mimicked the best kind of prawn". Chips were nicely crisp and wines "remarkably cheap", and he says that while parts were excellent, "with a bit more attention to detail it could have been the stuff of dreams." (Review not currently online) More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Restaurant wine lists in Dublin seem to be getting better every month, and there are now plenty of options for drinking exceptionally well around town - Piglet , Forest & Marcy , Etto and Fish Shop to name a few. But sometimes you're feeling a bit broke, want to eat ethnic food with a bottle of something decent or want to break out an extra special bottle that you just couldn't afford (or wouldn't pay for) on a restaurant wine list. That's where BYO comes in very handy. A long overused how-to-drink-great-wine cheat in the wine trade, it's something a lot of regular diners don't think about, but should. These 12 restaurants all have free or very low corkage and most importantly, good food 1. 3 Leaves 3 Leaves in Blackrock Market started as a stall, before moving into one of the market shacks, and was very quickly being talked about as some of the best Indian food in Dublin, despite being its simple surroundings. Chef Santosh Thomas and his wife Millie have been positively drowning in praise from the critics for the past few months for their take on Indian street food, and as they don't currently have an alcohol licence it's free to BYOB (dinner time only). www.3leaves.ie 2. Pho Viet Some of the best Vietnamese food in the city with excellent savoury pancakes, Pho (noodle soup) and Bun (rice vermicelli with a combination of meat, spring rolls, fresh vegetables and herbs). Corkage is €5 on wine and €1 on beer. www.phoviet.ie 3. Ku Raudo One of the better sushi places in the city, particularly when it comes to the special rolls, like the Dragon with katsu prawns, avocado, capellin roe (masago), eel & mayo sauce, or the Spider Special with deep-fried soft-shell crab, lettuce, capellin roe and Japanese mayo. Corkage is free. Read our Ku-Raudo once over here . www.facebook.com/kuraudosushidublin 4. Shouk Delicious, Middle Eastern, purse-friendly food in Drumcondra that's predominantly vegetable based (but don't panic, they do have meat). Pittas, falafel, mezze and flavour-packed salads are always on the menu as well as rotating specials, and corkage is €4 per bottle. www.facebook.com/shoukdublin 5. Musashi Musashi now has 5 locations across Dublin, and the quality doesn't seem to have been affected, with sushi aficionados frequently mentioning it as one of Dublin's top spots. A hot tip is to go mid-afternoon when they've sold out of lunchtime stock and are making it fresh. Corkage is €6 per bottle and only available in the Capel Street and Parnell Street branches. www.musashidublin.com 6. M & L Chinese One of the few places in Dublin to get authentic Sichuan food, the dumplings and fried green beans with chilli have caused many addictions to be formed over the years (raises hand). Corkage is €5 but go easy on the chilli oil if you're taking something nice. Read our M & L once over here . mlchineserestaurant.com 7. Eatokyo Sushi, gyoza, katsu curry and noodle dishes are all on the menu at Eatokyo on Wellington Quay, although a couple of critics in recent months have recommended veering towards the hot dishes over the sushi. Corkage is €8. www.eatokyo.ie 8. Rotana Café Casual Lebanese restaurant in Portobello serving charcoal-grilled kebabs, falafel sandwiches and mezze platters at very good prices. Corkage is free when you have two courses. rotanacafe.ie 9. Café Azteca Mexican food with a few Irish influences near Christ Church Cathedral, run by Mexican Hugo Camacho Romero. For the real deal try the Tacos al Pastor or the tamales filled with meat or cheese and poblano peppers. Corkage is €5. www.azteca.ie 10. Michie Sushi When it comes to sushi in Dublin, Michie is easily the grandaddy of them all, and has been serving picture perfect temaki and futomaki to the residents of Ranelagh and beyond for more than 15 years. They also do hot dishes, but the sushi is the star. Corkage is free. www.michiesushi.com 11. Pho Ta Delicious, flavour-filled Vietnamese food in Temple Bar with the friendliest staff. Try the unusual looking (but amazing tasting) steamed rice paper rolls with prawn (above), the cold beef salad or the crispy fried rice noodles with chicken or prawn. Corkage is €5. pho-ta.business.site 12. Keshk Café Casual, no-frills Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food in Ballsbridge, with all meat cooked on a charcoal grill and the lamb moussaka coming highly recommended. Corkage is free. www.keshk.ie

Since Lucky Tortoise first brought Dim Sum to Ranelagh in 2017, first in The Hill pub, then in Hobart's café, we've been waiting for them to secure a permanent site of their own, so were very happy to hear that they're almost there - great news for Dublin's 'cheap eats' scene. In the meantime the team have taken over the kitchen at Berlin D2 bringing a new " Eat With Your Hands " menu to Dame Lane, and due to "a mountain of emails", they're bringing Lucky Tortoise back for three nights next week, with a 'Lucky Tortoise Summer Party'. From Thursday 26th - Saturday 28th July they'll be serving classic Lucky Tortoise dim sum like Okonomiyaki and Prawn Siu Mai as well as new dishes that will be on the menu in their new location. They're also doing a Lucky Tortoise brunch menu on Saturday, will be trying out cocktails from their new drinks menu, and they'll have live music and DJs over the three days. If you miss the summer party, you can try the "Eat With Your Hands" menu seven days a week at Berlin D2 from 16:00 - 21:30. The new menu takes inspiration from several cuisines and includes dishes like Vietnamese mussels, Korean spiced chicken and crab and scallion sushi rolls with soy wasabi remoulade. They don't take reservations and you order at a counter, so good if you're in a hurry or just want something low fuss. You can book a spot at the Lucky Tortoise Summer Party by emailing eat@luckytortoise.co, but the Saturday brunch is no reservations. The regular bar food menu at Berlin D2 is walk in only and available seven days a week. "Eat with your hands" at Berlin D2 14-15 Dame Lane, Dublin 2 Mon - Sun 16:00 - 21:30 Lucky Tortoise Summer Party - Thu 26th - Fri 27th July, 16:00 - 21:00. Sat 28th July 12:00 - 16:00, 17:00 - 21:00 twitter.com/berlincafed2 www.luckytortoise.co

Another win for cheese fans today with the news that Dublin's recent cheese-related pop up Meltdown has opened in a permanent location in Temple Bar. The new site is located at 2 Curved Street, and has indoor seating, an outside terrace and a roof garden. As well as the original pop-up's cheese toasties and cheese boards, they're also serving breakfast, seasonal salads and ice-cream. Breakfast options include the 'Breakfast of Champs' with bacon, egg mayo, raclette, scallions, tomato and country relish (presumably on bread), avocado toast, and yoghurt with granola and berries. The new toastie menu includes the 'Mac Mama' with macaroni and cheese, bacon, scallions and Monterey Jack cheese, and the 'All the Cheese' with raclette, gruyere, cheddar, pickle and whole grain mustard. They're also serving ice cream cones with flakes and sprinkles, and sundaes with brownie, butterscotch and pecans. The Black Box, a community arts space is above the restaurant and they hope to see it used for exhibitions and events, and to raise awareness of important issues in the city. To launch the opening, Meltdown are having a 'Secret Garden Party' this Saturday from 3pm - 11pm and are promising "crazy ice cream collabs, prosecco, bags of cans and Buckfast as well as three DJ set". Tickets are €10 and can be bought here . Meltdown 2 Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Sun - Wed 8am - 7pm. Thu - Sat 8am - 9pm. www.instagram.com/meltdowndublin

There were a record two declarations of where to find the best pizza in Ireland this week. One from us for the brilliant Pi which recently opened on George's Street, and the other from Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent , for Sano Pizza in Temple Bar, which seems to be climbing the cool charts at the moment. She thought the pizzas were "quite simply the best I have eaten in Ireland: chewy, generous, blistered, full of flavour, gorgeous," particularly the 'Sapori del Sud' with fennel sausage, nduja and friarielli (Italian broccoli). Starters of antipasto, artichokes and sunblushed tomatoes were good, but cherry tomatoes with basil and EVOO lacked flavour, and dessert of berry tart and ice cream was barely passable. A carafe of merlot was "more than pleasant" and she calls Sano "really, really cheap", with pizza ranging from €6-9, and "really, really good". She find the smiley staff "a delight", and ends by saying, "I don't know how they make food this good for these prices but I am delighted that they do." She gives it 9/10 for food and 10/10 for value. The battle of the pizza places continues. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary was revisiting an old classic at Pearl Brasserie , which she calls "a gem". She describes how she came upon a recommendation for it via human conversation, as opposed to social media trawling (doesn't that sound lovely), and says the basement restaurant is "full of nooks and crannies", with several tables "set into upholstered vaults not much bigger than MRI machines, padding on their curved ceilings to prevent post-dessert concussion". The menu is a mix of the expected and the not so expected. Lamb shoulder with couscous, spring onions, yellow raisins and a spicy jus is luscious and a mix of "lightness and heft", and a crab meat tian with cucumber and gazpacho is "pure Mediterranean holiday in food form". Salmon is "light and deftly done", with crisp skin, dashi, spinach, cucumber and clumps of spicy tofu that look and taste like tempura oysters. More fish, this time sea bream, was "expertly cooked" and served with a subtle cardamom puree and yellow "heritage” carrots "that look great but aren’t particularly carroty". A chocolate and hazelnut tartlet is one of her favourite things; enough "to satisfy a sweet tooth craving without sending you slumped into the territory of too much". They finished with a "perfect espresso" and petit fours which included a pistachio financier the size of a swollen button - "another sign of a talented pastry section." She says that Pearl Brasserie is "well worth a revisit", and is "heart warming without the coronary when the bill arrives". The bill for two with one glass of wine came to €76.50, but we can't help thinking this could easily have gone up to coronary status if there was more alcohol consumed. In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was craving steak, and after a twitter request for recommendations (none of those old-fashioned human conversations over here thanks very much) she ended up at The Chophouse . They were eyeing up the côte de bœuf so went light on starters with Carlingford oysters in a "very-good" Thai style sauce, and salmon cured in Hendricks gin and grapefruit, with fennel and grapefruit salad, pickled cucumber and a "punchy" wasabi aioli. She praises the "top-notch" seedy brown bread, which she recommends ordering a day in advance to take home. The côte de bœuf, (a kilo of it for €70), came with garlicky green beans (which had a "pleasing crunch"), chips (crispy), onion marmalade and pots of béarnaise, pepper sauce and garlic butter (all "perfectly made"). The meat itself, which had been dry-aged for at least 35 days, was "more than a generous portion" and there was "no doubting the quality", but she thought it should have been let rest for longer before leaving the kitchen. Regardless, it was "truly delicious". Despite being stuffed with half a kilo of meat each, they tried one dessert (reviewer's duty), and the chocolate and praline tart with coffee ice cream was "so light and tasty" that they left nothing behind. She thought the bill of €160.50 was "more than fair" considering "that really wonderful beef, the top-drawer dessert and the excellent service". Read her review here (subscription only). In the Sunday Independent, it's another list from Lucinda - this time Ireland's best dining destinations. There's loads of fodder for a foodie weekend away, including Cork's Ichigo Ichie , Mews and the newly opened Restaurant Chestnut , Nevin Maguire's MacNean House in Cavan, and the Michelin-starred Wild Honey Inn in Clare, but seven of the twenty are in Dublin, so loads if you're staying put too. In Dublin she recommends Chapter One , where Ross Lewis showcases the "very finest of what Ireland has to offer", Etto which "impresses even top chefs who can't get enough of its casual Italian grub", and Glovers Alley , whose "French-style food deserves Michelin recognition". Also included on the list are Heron & Grey , the "tiny oasis in Blackrock market" which is "almost as famous for the difficulty in getting a table as it is for the Michelin star which launched them into an exclusive stratosphere", Pickle for its "great North Indian food that you won't find elsewhere", and Ireland's only two-star Michelin Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud , which she says should be on any foodie's checklist. The "little city jewel" that is The Greenhouse also gets a nod, with LOS saying the one Michelin-star restaurant should have two. (Article not currently online.) In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was in Dingle, one of his "favourite places to eat fish". He recommends the Reel takeaway for proper chips and crispy batter, or Out of the Blue if you're feeling posh, like he was. He praises the restaurant's opening gambit of "No Chips, Nothing Frozen, Always Fresh or Alive… if there is no fish available we don’t open!", and describes it as "filled with happy diners (as always)". Fried plaice with tomato and anchovy salsa was "perfectly cooked with the bright fresh flavours from the salsa", steamed mussels in a tomato compote had "ripe sweet tomatoes" and a "good use of herbs", and flash fried squid with chilli, ginger and coriander was a "virtually perfect starter fish course". The only snag came when his wild salmon was delivered cooked through rather than flash fried as requested, but it was whipped away and replaced with a perfectly rendered version "that allowed this most glorious of fish to properly show off its oily-sweet deliciousness - backed up nicely by sweetly caramelised onions, herbed new potatoes and a light buttery-citrus hollandaise." They finished with a "good" Baileys chocolate mousse and a "textbook Île Flottante", and he advises getting down to Kerry before the weather breaks (might have missed the boat on that one). Read his review here . Finally in the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley managed to bag a table at the aforementioned Ichigo Ichie , the Japanese fine-dining restaurant from Takashi Miyasaki and Cork's dining destination of the moment. It's had nothing but praise from the critics who've visited so far, and nothing changes with Tom's visit. He says that the problem with reviewing Ichigo Ichie is 1) he's no expert on Japanese food, and 2) he can't do justice to the meal within the allotted space, but he gives it a go anyway. Highlights of the extensive tasting menu included some meaty slices of Faroe Island prawn with yam, cucumber, and a "profoundly savoury but faintly sweet barley ko-ji miso". Plum tomato, sun-dried tomato and porcini mushrooms in a clear bonito (tuna) broth with Japanese parsley was a "rather fabulous exercise" in umami, and a dashi egg custard with "meltingly tender" chicken thigh was "a deeply comforting, slippery, very savoury experience". The only dish that didn't work for him was the "rice, corn, eel, sansho pepper", which he calls "good" and "beautifully presented", but he wasn't a fan of sweetness meeting fishiness. A pre-dessert of watermelon mousse was "brilliantly flavoured", "creamy, light, intruiging", and he says the bill of €225 for two was "worth every cent". Get booking your train tickets. (Review not currently online) More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Natural wine lovers of Dublin rejoice, the city finally has a dedicated natural wine bar and shop, which also sells cheese and meat. Set up by the guys behind Meet Me In The Morning , Brian O’Caoimh and Kevin Powell, Loose Canon Cheese and Wine is a passion project that's long been in the works, and finally came to light with the securing of a prime location in George's Steet Arcade that faces onto Drury Street. Loose Canon will have around 50 rotating wines on the shelf and six available by the glass at any one time (although for the moment they won't be pouring until 17:30), and you'll also be able to open anything off the shelf for a small corkage fee (which should be in the region of €10). They're also serving cheese and charcuterie boards if you want something to eat alongside your glass of cloudy prosecco or chilled red. Cheeses are predominantly Irish and always seasonal, and meats have been sourced from Gubbeen, The Wooded Pig and Broughgammon Farm. There are no seats for the time being, but you can perch at a counter and feel very European while you watch people watch out onto Drury Street. Loose Canon Cheese and Wine will open seven days a week from 10:30am until 10pm, Wednesday to Monday. Tuesdays they'll close early so that they have a night off. One of the biggest draws about this place is going to be for the trade who are always looking for somewhere to go on Sunday and Monday nights when they're off, so expect it to be heaving with restaurant and bar staff then, but we're expecting it to be heaving most nights. If you've ever wanted to know more about what exactly natural wine is and why it has such a cult following around the world, you're likely to get it after a night in here. Loose Canon Cheese and Wine 29 Drury Street Wed - Mon 10:30 - 22:00. Tues 10:30 - TBC. www.instagram.com/loosecanoncheeseandwine

Yes we're all a bit anxious that the sun's still shining. The grass looks like hay, we've had to hide the hosepipes and the washing machine's been on nonstop cycles because a) we don't have enough clothes for this heat and b) it's great drying weather. On the positive side, it's a perfect time to go out to eat and pretend you're on holidays, so with that in mind here are five things we want to eat this week that have summer written all over them. 1. Honey Honey's overnight oats What we want in this heat is a good cold breakfast, and these overnight oats with chia seeds, apple, coconut, almonds and raspberries followed by a long walk on Portmarnock beach sounds like a perfect start to the day - or even better, grab them to go and eat them on the beach. www.facebook.com/pg/honeyhoneycafe 2. Gazpacho at Urbanity Coffee Irish people aren't really used to the idea of cold soup, but this could be the summer we make gazpacho happen. This herby version from Urbanity Coffee made using vegetables from McNally farm in North Dublin looks like the perfect introduction. urbanitycoffee.ie 3. The ultimate summer salad from The Woollen Mills This salad of grilled peach, Kearney blue cheese, roasted hazelnuts, pickled red onion and baby gem lettuce looks like an inspired combination. thewoollenmills.com 4. Grilled Octopus at Osteria Lucio Quite literally haven't stopped thinking about this since it popped into our feed. Daily day-dreaming about sitting on the terrace outside Osteria Lucio with a cold glass of white wine and this grilled octopus with artichoke, farro, olives and herbs. osterialucio.com 5. This perfectly seasonal dessert from One Pico Pistachio financier, white chocolate namelaka (like a firm ganache), raspberry sorbet and fresh raspberries. We feel cooler already. www.onepico.com

Just when you thought you'd seen the last of them, they're back. Catherine Cleary is critic six of the featured seven to visit the scary Norwegian crabs at Sole . After four other reviews ranging from lukewarm to complete annihilation (and a single gushing endorsement from Lucinda O'Sullivan ), we can only imagine their faces when the ice queen herself walked in - batten down the hatches and say your prayers territory - but she was surprisingly nice about the expensive, imported seafood. She describes the menu's opening essay about Ireland having some of the best seafood in the world as "all that fish-frottaging stuff that small places like the Fish Shops on Queen St and Benburb St and the Klaw mini empire have been doing for a while now but dressed up in a posh room", before turning the page to see Mediterranean-farmed sea bass as one of the menu's main dishes. Strike one. She calls their self-titled inclusion of “unique flavours from global waters” a "having-your-cake-and-eating-it approach to food from the sea." Despite this she enjoyed two "terrific dishes", even if the standard did go through "more dips than a night ferry in a storm." Fat, juicy, tiger prawns had been expertly charred and tasted like they'd come off a beach barbecue, and a whole brill roasted in butter was the star of the night, its flesh "virtually confited, pulling away from its spiney web of bone sweet and juicy as good chicken." Lobster cakes (below) had nice lobster meat but too much dill, and a half lobster was one of the smallest she'd ever seen in a restaurant. Seabass was "expertly fried" with crisp skin and came with tempura oysters ("the nicest mouthfuls on the plate") and blue potatoes ("which look good but taste about as special as supermarket roosters"). A side of broccoli and black garlic was bitter, with a "mushroomy honk that someone at the table likens to licking a mouldy shower wall." Yum. She ends by saying that "Sole is an encouraging sign that one of our best raw ingredients is finally being given pride of place", and that she hopes they'll get into the swing of things. Can't help thinking it could have been a lot worse. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness was at Fowl Play , the open-fire barbecue joint at the back of The Square Ball pub on Hogan Street which always seems to be filled with rugby players . Run by Trev O'Shea and Andy Noonan, the guys behind the Big Grill Festival , and billed as Dublin's "only dedicated live fire chicken joint", we feel like this one's been creeping up lately, with more and more people talking about it. Katy describes how the kitchen cooks over natural charcoal and Irish oak using a wood-fired rotisserie and a smoker brought from Houston, Texas, with no gas or electricity - we're already interested. Bar snacks are "fun", with padron peppers grilled over charcoal and flavoured with preserved lemon and sea salt - "I could eat them all night". Croquetas wth smoked chicken and chorizo are "tasty" and they loved the fried pickles (frickles). Filipino-style pork belly is "sweet, sticky and delicious". After being dissuaded from ordering "way too much" by the server - know the feeling - they went for the chicken burger and the pitmaster's platter. The burger made with boneless, free-range thighs, tomato, lettuce and Alabama white BBQ sauce on a toasted brioche bun is "fantastic, confirming that the humble thigh is really the best, most flavoursome bit of the bird". Two flavours of chicken wings on the platter tasted great but they'd have liked crispier skin, and rotisserie chicken had good flavour but was dry. A smoked turkey dog "doesn't have a whole lot to say for itself". Sides of tenderstem broccoli with sesame seeds and slaw with crushed peanuts and a lemon yoghurt dressing are "fresh and vibrant", but fries in a house rub are "flaccid" and didn't need the "over-powering" seasoning. She calls it "a fun, unpretentious venue with food to match", and gives the food, ambience and value 8/10. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley had the only occupied table at newly opened Everett's in Waterford one Saturday afternoon, which he found "shocking when you consider what type of food is being served here." He describes the calibre of people that chef Peter Everett has worked for ( Ross Lewis , Graham Neville , Michael Quinn ), saying that pedigrees don't come much better. The still warm bread made it clear that "this is what you might call a destination restaurant", with an "ethereal baguette" and a dark, treacly, nutty soda bread that "you could live on". A starter of rillettes were "silkily smooth" and "gloriously concentrated", enhanced by the earthiness of baby beetroot and the sharpness of cherries. A dish of cod with a prawn and brandy bisque was "beyond my ken in terms of how perfect it was", fish "cooked to the nanosecond of just-doneness" sitting in "the most concentrated, rich bisque imaginable". Slow cooked lamb neck with a mint and mustard crumb, "impeccable" boulangère potatoes, garlic, broad beans and wilted lettuce was "pure Gallic indulgence". An Irish cheeseboard was in "excellent condition" and included the Wexford take on Époisses, Humming Bark , and a "blissfully beautiful and simple dessert" with a purée of fresh peach, burnt butter sponge and a "hauntingly exotic" elderflower sorbet was "the best pudding I've had this year". He calls Everett's "a gem", and advises beating a path to its door, echoing Lucinda O'Sullivan's review a few week's ago. (Review not currently online) In The Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was praising the "cool classics" at Michelin-starred The Lady Helen in Mount Juliet Hotel, Kilkenny. They delved into the nine-course surprise tasting menu, which she thought had the balance "just right" between light and rich dishes. King crab and mussels in a rockfish sauce had "pleasingly garlicky dots of rouille", and foie gras had been liquidised and served in gel spheres for a "contemporary take on a classically flavoured dish". The dishes of the night were turbot with baby gem, peas and Alsace bacon, and a "gorgeous" plate of Anjou squab pigeon with almonds, a "deeply-flavoured" jus, hen of the woods and York cabbage, which was "full of flavour". Desserts of banana, tonka bean and calamansi (is it just us or is calamansi the ingredient of the moment - third time seeing it this week), and a richer tiramisu-style affair with a "fantastic" coffee ice cream rounded off the meal. She calls it a tribute to chef John Kelly's dish selection that they managed to finish it all, and that while they were full they weren't uncomfortably so. It certainly sounds like she enjoyed it, but there's a fair amount of qualifying that restaurants must be cognisant of its customer base, and that The Lady Helen will always have a more classical offering than somewhere like The Greenhouse (just in case you were getting too excited), but she does say that the kitchen is doing "some interesting things here that are adding a more contemporary note". Read her review here (subscription only). In The Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee (who moonlights as a soccer mom/bottle washer) was glad to escape his household duties with a trip to The Square Table in Blarney, Cork, which he says tends to surprise first time diners. He calls it “elemental in its low-budget decorative simplicity” and “a sweet if unremarkable little space”, but with “deeply flavoursome dishes, that make for very pleasurable eating”. Crispy egg with hollandaise and Ballyhoura mushrooms was “an old school comforter of the first order”, and roast monkfish with crab tortellini, coconut milk, chilli and pak choi was “light and bright” with “al dente parcels of sweet, fresh crabmeat”. An Angus aged Rib Eye was a “gorgeous slab of charred beef, rare pink in the middle”, with chips that were more like girders, too big to deliver “crispy chip-ness” but delicious dipped in Béarnaise sauce - to be fair, is anything not delicious dipped in Béarnaise sauce? Potato gnocchi with ‘metallic’ local spinach (not sure how appealing that sounds) and a fudge-y Coolea cheese sauce (better) was wonderfully satisfying, and desserts of chocolate brownies (excellent), salted caramel ice-cream (good) and rhubarb with buttermilk foam and crunchy speculoos (sound - a spiced dutch biscuit) all went down well. He ends with a bit about the twins Martina (chef) and Patricia (front of house) who own and run The Square Table , talking about Martina's "stellar" CV, and the fact that ex-bosses Ross Lewis (Chapter One) and Graham Neville (Dax, Restaurant Forty-One) travelled down for the opening night several years ago, such is the esteem they hold her in (interesting that both Martina and Peter Everett are of the same progeny). He calls the food "simple, unpretentious", with "superbly-sourced produce, cannily rendered with sound technique", and debates legging it after some tourists who looked at the menu and walked on to tell them what a mistake they're making. Read his review here . In The Sunday Independent, Lucinda 's summer of lists just keeps on giving, this time with the country's top 20 gastropubs. We were a bit surprised to see neither RAI winner of best gastro pub in Dublin and Ireland, The Legal Eagle , or Michelin-recommended The Old Spot on there. Instead she names The Bull & Castle , Davy Byrnes and the Queen's Bar and Steak Room as the best spots in the capital for pub grub. The Bull & Castle is a "retro-hip" (answers on a postcard) gastro pub, with "great beef cooked to perfection" and a "fabulous wine list", while the Queen's Bar and Steak Room is "a great spot for al fresco eats" in Dalkey, where she advises people to "sit back and watch the comings and goings of the rock stars and arty types who inhabit the village". Not sure Bono spends his days walking up and down Castle Street but you never know. She calls Davy Byrne's a "legendary literary pub" with a "touch of class", which serves pheasant in season and is a "must-visit for tourists following the path of Joyce's Ulysses". She also praises its "gorgeous art-deco-style", "great food" and "tonnes of character." For our money, as well as the ones mentioned earlier, we'd have added L. Mulligan Grocer , The Exchequer and The Chophouse to that list. Let us know where else we've missed. More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Everyone who's anyone is talking about how Dublin is at 'peak restaurant', and how we can't handle any more openings. They're right in that there is a chronic chef crisis , and a general lack of hospitality staff across the board, but like any city it's survival of the fittest, and more (good) openings will only lead to better food across the board as places have to up their game. Four new restaurants have opened in the past week alone (two vegan - a trend that's not going away) and we like the look of all of them. Pi Pi opened on George's Street yesterday with a day of free pizza and suggested donations to the Peter McVerry Trust in lieu of cash (which they also matched). Pizzas are Neopolitan style (puffed up and blistered) and cooked in a traditional wood-burning oven made by cult-oven maker Stefano Ferrano , whose handiwork can be found in some of New York's most highly-rated pizzerias. The man behind Pi is Laois man Reg White, who used to be an auctioneer before jacking it in to do a three-month course at Ballymaloe. Since then he's worked in restaurants in Ireland and the states, and was a tutor at the Dublin Cookery School. He says he's intent on making Pi the best pizza in Dublin. We've got a good feeling about this one. Pi 10 South Great George's Street www.pipizzas.ie Veginity Vegans of Dublin (and probably readers of this website) won't need an introduction to Mark Senn, the man who officially made vegan food sexy. Between the cauliflower wings (so much better than you can imagine) and the vish and chips (likewise), vegans (and non-vegans) have been rocking up to his stand at Eatyard, and previously his food truck in Portobello to get their plant-based fix for the past few years. They were on the hunt for a permanent location for a while, and ended up finding one just north of the city centre on Dorset Street. These guys really know flavour and the new menu features dishes like beetroot kibbeh with pineapple bulgur sriracha salsa and confit aioli, and XO king oyster mushrooms with fermented choi sum, kimchi and marinated shimeji. Who would miss meat? Veginity 101 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin www.veginity.com Stella Diner The latest in the Press Up empire, this US style diner looks fun with free refills on coffee, all day buttermilk pancakes and cocktails with bacon. Typically no expense has been spared with the fit out and seating is in leather booths or at the counter. The menu has a whole section for breakfast sandwiches and another for pancakes, as well as hot dogs, burgers and meatloaf, and the dessert counter serves everything you'd expect from a diner, with apple, blueberry, key lime and Mississippi mud pies. Read more about Stella Diner here . Stella Diner 211 Rathmines Road, Dublin 6 stelladiner.ie The Garden of Vegan Musician Sharon Shannon's Garden of Vegan food truck has been appearing at festivals since 2006, but earlier this year they started a campaign to raise €30,000 for a permanent site in Ranelagh. They opened at the weekend and the vegans of Dublin have been flooding in to try the 'Burger with Attitude' and the fiery vegetable hot pot. The cartoon vegetables which cover the walls (inside and out) make it look more like a children's play centre instead of a health food café in Ranelagh, but the food is getting great reports in vegan groups on Facebook. We've recently found out that there are two more vegan restaurants due to open in the coming months, so if you're wondering why the sudden movement to plant-based eating you'll soon have plenty of options to get involved. In the meantime here's a good list to get started with. The Garden of Vegan 51 Elmwood Ave Lower, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 www.thegardenofvegan.ie

There’s a general feeling of dissatisfaction amongst the reviews this week, with even the mainly positive ones having plenty to nit-pick about. From “ill-conceived” dishes to servers “stressed to the point of exhaustion”, there appears to be room for improvement across the board. Maybe the unusually good weather has been throwing a few kitchens off focus, or maybe it's a result of the city's chronic chef shortage . The most disappointed of the lot was Tom Doorley , who was at newly revamped gastropub Doyle's Corner in Phibsborough for the Irish Daily Mail. From the slates, wooden boards and "awful little saucepans" in place of plates and bowls, to the lamb dish that made him repeatedly ask "why?", it's clear why he calls the experience "a gastro pain". Ham hock and Gubbeen croquettes didn't taste of Gubbeen, the lamb breast in question was cooked poorly and served with the inexplicable accompaniments of prune and orange, and pork belly was "tough" with an over-reduced jus and "toffee apple" that could have been a dessert. Thankfully the mash was "good gastropub stuff". Oxtail lasagne "wasn't bad" (high praise) but he felt the tomato sauce had been rushed. Pannacotta came in a jar (why?) and was "passable", and while he was relieved that a passion fruit cheesecake came in an actual bowl instead of on a wooden board, it was too sweet. A final cheeseboard was in good condition and the best part of the meal, and he calls the service "utterly charming". Can't see him racing back. (Review not currently online) Things were going better for Katy McGuinness who's been biding her time before paying Glovers Alley a visit for the Irish Independent . After a recap of the “clumsy” launch and “Irish begrudgery” that followed, she details the seven-course tasting menu. Snacks were “gorgeous”, particularly the crisp chicken skin topped with taramasalata, “a brilliant explosion of texture and flavour”, a Parmesan and black olive bread roll was “deeply savoury and quite excellent”, and the smoked cheddar dumplings were “punchy and original”. Less impressive was the beef tartare which was “curiously lacking in flavour”, and a dish of scallop, pig’s head, onion bhaji, curry and coriander which was “ill-conceived”. A pre-dessert of grapefruit granita with sheep’s yoghurt was delicate and restrained, and they finished with “the prettiest tart” of strawberries, lime leaf, olive oil, Thai basil and meringue, followed by “delightful” petit fours. She calls the experience “good in parts”, and ponders whether the problem is in the attempts to be international when Irish food is finally discovering a sense of pride in place, but she does think that Andy McFadden is adding something different to the city’s restaurant scene. Read her review here . Read our take on Glovers Alley here . To take a slight break from the room-to-improve brigade, Leslie Williams didn't have much to criticise after visiting Sandymount burger destination BuJo . He calls the standard, chargrilled burger a "rather joyously simple affair", with the meat "beefy and juicy with just enough texture" and balanced, well-judged fillings. A summer special with Tipperary Brie, charred baby gem lettuce, beechwood smoked rare breed bacon, Sriracha Mayonnaise, and Piquanté cherry peppers was "arguably even better", and chips were "decently crispy", if not outstandingly so. He also enjoyed the panko pickles but thought they could use a lighter crumb. He praises the "grown-up drinks list", featuring a beer pairing for the burger special with a "smoky bacon flavour", and their "quality wine on tap". He calls the staff cheery, the atmosphere enjoyable and the burgers excellent, and says every suburb should have a BuJo . Read his review here . And now to resume normal service, Catherine Cleary in The Times risked the wrath of South Dublin by suggesting that suburban stalwart Cavistons could do with a refresh. She seems to find it quite unexciting, remarking that sardines didn't come with samphire or sourdough (more first world problems), and instead simply with lemon and salt. Smoked salmon is "soft and sweet rather than the oily shoe leather this once-rare treat has become in the hands of the supermarkets and sandwich bars", and pea shoots "taste properly of peas". Seared scallops didn't live up the the caramelised edges she was expecting, and came in a white wine and cream sauce topped with an edible flower (which tasted like a flower). Tuna however was "luscious", marinated and seared so "its centre is still vivid, retaining the soft texture and flavour that makes cooking tuna till it turns putty brown all the way through such a food crime." Overall she enjoys visiting somewhere with a long history of getting fish right, but thinks "a younger shoal of chefs is nibbling at Cavistons unique selling point" (presumably she's thinking about Niall Sabongi's Klaw restaurants and Gaz Smith's Michael's in that mix) and suggests that they could do with a shake up - not that the locals will probably thank her for that sentiment. Read her review here . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis is impressed at the lighter options at Saba Clarendon Street for those looking for balance in their diet. A starter of smoked trout mieng kam is "a gorgeous mix of Goatsbridge smoked trout from Kilkenny chopped up very finely, then served with shredded roasted coconut, peanuts, ginger, shallots, lime and chilli", bound with tamarind paste, palm sugar sauce and served on betel leaves. She calls it a "perfect summer starter", and it's gone onto our "must-eat" list. The balance came with Vietnamese spring rolls which she found too heavy but her guest loved, and beef phad prik sod was "a generous portion of tender meat and nicely crunchy vegetables." A green curry with monkfish was another bum note, with a sauce that was "bang-on" but fish that was "rubbery and unpleasant". A dessert of strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake was "summery and delicious", with excellent lemon sorbet, but caramelised pineapple with cinnamon and star anise was let down by the "over-sweet" syrup it was served in. Service was "fantastic" and she praises Saba's ability to adapt over time, even if it sounds like it was 50/50 on the food. Read her review here (subscription only). Finally, in the Sunday Independent, it's another of Lucinda 's lists, this time 20 great places to eat seafood, four of which are in Dublin. Unsurprisingly she mentions everyone's favourite two places for seafood in the city right now, Klaw Seafood Café and Michael's . Cavistons noticeably doesn't get a mention - maybe CC is right about that shoal of younger chefs. She calls Michael's "a mecca for foodies, who clamour for tables to devour great big plates of crustaceans including giant lobster claws, prawns and lobster, which come directly from small independent fishermen in Howth." She also praises the Klaw group of restaurants, particularly the Seafood Café whose owner Niall Sabongi, "has taken centre stage in the Dublin seafood scene with his cool, casual, fish-shack-style restaurants." Sole on South William Street also gets a mention for their "great seafood, service and style", and Aqua in Howth for their award-winning seafood and "spectacular views". That should be enough to satisfy your seafood cravings throughout the summer. More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

The Stella Diner opened yesterday in Rathmines next door to The Stella Cinema , promising to bring a "taste of Manhattan" to Rathmines village. Both are owned by Press Up Entertainment (Roberta's, Sophie's, Wowburger), who also plan to open an Asian restaurant on Pleasants St, an upmarket bar and restaurant in the former Residence building on Stephen's Green and a hotel in Ranelagh this year. The all-day menu features buttermilk pancakes, corned beef hash with home fries and meatloaf with gravy and mash, as well as a dessert counter with apple, key lime and Mississippi mud pies, and free refills on filter coffee. Sounds like Stateside holidays - here's hoping Stella does a better job than most highway diners. Cocktails are inspired by their neighbour next door with names like "There's something about Bloody Mary", "Clockwork Banana" and "O bacon where art thou", with bourbon, bitters and bacon. Wine is from Press Up owner Paddy McKillen's vineyard Château la Coste in Provence As usual with Press Up, the fit out looks pretty special. The exterior facade and doors are an original feature, and still has the name of its first tenants engraved above the door - Bank of Ireland. Seating is in leather booths or at the counter. The Stella Diner opens seven days a week from 8am - 10pm. Reservations are only taken for groups of six or more. The Stella Diner 211 Rathmines Road, Dublin 6 Ph: 01 4967063 stelladiner.ie

Provenance seems to be the theme this week, with almost every restaurant praised for their Irish lobster, Connemara mussels or free-range, Irish chicken. In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary was in Green Man Wines in Terenure trying out ex- Fia head chef Keith Coleman's new menu, who's currently there doing a residency. She gives it 9.5/10, and the descriptions of the dishes sent us into a mild panic that we wouldn't get there before said residency ends (no date as of yet). They ate smoked Lough Neagh eel with pickled turnip, butter and mustard on charred Scéal bread ("like the perfect Croque Monsieur ... oozy and comforting"), charred Wye Valley asparagus "laced with skin grafts of Gubbeen lardo" and marigold petals, and slices of Goatsbridge trout with juniper and a crème fraîche "thick and silky as expensive face cream." Onglet with quartered white turnips is "spectacular", with meat "cooked so briefly it hasn’t tightened to sinew and yet it’s not so underdone that its organ honk hits you", and they finished with woodruff custard, rhubarb, strawberries, buckwheat groats and shortbread made with savoury (a herb with a flavour somewhere between thyme and rosemary). She calls it a place to bring wine and food lovers together, with "plates of brilliantly creative food in a casual friendly place." If you're wondering what she drank in the wine shop/bar with possibly the best wine list and the best value in the city (€8 corkage on everything so the more expensive the bottle the better the value), the answer is an elderflower spritz. If you go (and you should) don't make the same mistake. Put yourself in the hands of the ultra-knowledgeable, ultra-lovely staff and have the full Green Man experience. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness is praising the premium fried chicken (free-range and Irish) at Mad Egg just off Camden Street. After apologising profusely for her use of the word "moist", she describes how the chicken is brined in tea to tenderise it, then dipped in buttermilk and fried in rapeseed oil, ending up "impeccably moist (sorry) and flavoursome within, and properly crisp on the outside." Her Heart Breaker chicken sandwich is doused in 'dripping cheese, house hot sauce and pickles', which somewhat obliterates how good the fried chicken is, so she suggests sticking to the more subtle OG, with lemon and herb mayonnaise, lettuce and pickles. Chicken salt fries are "excellent", but mac and cheese with candied bacon and charred corn with jalapeno butter are both lacking in flavour, and on a menu as short as this "there's no room for duds". A dessert of DIY cheesecake is "quite good", with a selection of toppings to choose from, and remind her of thrown together ice-cream cakes at children's birthday parties. She ends by saying she very much likes what Mad Egg is about: "At a time when the future of middle- market restaurants is under threat, it's down to places in the fast casual sector such as Mad Egg to up the ante in terms of sourcing and provenance." Read her review here . More provenance praising from Lucinda O'Sullivan in the Sunday Independent, who was enjoying Irish lobster at China Sichuan in Sandyford. It came in a ginger and scallion sauce on a bed of egg noodles and she calls it "absolutely superb", allowing the flavours of the lobster to "sing through". Her and her husband also enjoyed soft-shell crab with toasted almonds and chilli flakes, aromatic duck with pancakes, and haozan beef, which consisted of "tender, succulent pieces of mature rib-eye" pan-fried and coated in a powerful teriyaki and sake sauce. She also praised the Chinese 'turnip cake' pieces, which were "mouthwatering, light, sweet". They skipped dessert, and for anyone thinking of going, she recommends ordering a variety of small dishes with one whole fish main and creating your own tasting menu, which would be "very hard to beat". (Review not currently online). In The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley is the latest critic to give 3 Leaves in Blackrock a storming review (is there anyone who hasn't?) calling the food "spectacularly good", "multi-layered" and outstanding value, with lunch for two coming to €20. For that princely sum they ate Dal Masala - mildly spiced lentils topped with "divinely savoury" gram flour puffs, mixed veggie - a salty, spicy combination of vegetables including aubergine and potato, and an "unusual" chicken lazeez - "strikingly fragrant" chicken cooked in cream with spices that included the source of a "haunting perfume", Sandalwood. Beef do raza had perfectly tender meat in a "rich, spicy, earthy sauce" with caramelised onion and "pretty, multi-coloured basmatic pilaf rice", and he says that a meal of this quality with a bill of €20 was "stupefying". He says that the essence of 3 Leaves is to do things from scratch, and that "this kind of vision and application, coupled with such democratic prices, is still a rarity and needs to be celebrated." (Review not currently online) In The Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis finds the Middle Eastern menu at Hey Donna a "delight", with a "bright and buzzy" room, "friendly and efficient" staff and an interesting drinks menu. Hummus was "great", while baba ghanoush was "nicely smokey but a tiny bit underseasoned" (which incidentally is exactly what Catherine Cleary said when she reviewed it last November). She really likes the word "dunk", and used it four times throughout the review when talking about the "dunkable" grilled flatbread, and the "lovely" whipped feta and garlic toum - which she advises avoiding if you have an early meeting the next morning - "the most garlicky garlic sauce ever created". A Berber-spiced “chicken nugget” with cumin and coffee mayo was "really gorgeous", and seared lamb’s liver was a "triumph: perfectly cooked and full of flavour, this is the dish to change the mind of the liver-phobe in your life." The only thing that didn't hit the spot was the butter lettuce with whipped avocado, a nut and seed crumb and calamansi vinegar which was "only okay". The single dessert option of chocolate and miso mousse was one of the nicest she's had in ages, "small but extremely satisfying" and topped with a pistachio crumb, pomegranate seeds, slivers of roasted coconut and raspberry and rose mousse. It's also vegan , using chickpea water to create an "incredible creaminess". She ends with a plea to founder Joe Macken to open a few more Hey Donna 's around the city. Read her review here (subscription only). Finally, in Cork Joe McNamee was checking out The Oyster Tavern , which is looking very shiny and new after last year's revamp, and after an initial food offering which "stumbled", he was hoping that since the recruitment of ex- Fenn's Quay proprietor Kate Lawlor, things would have improved. Unfortunately for Joe she was on holidays, and it seems to have affected what came out of the kitchen. A trio of ‘old school’ starters contained prawn cocktail with "surprisingly bland prawns", unremarkable Golden Fried Scampi and spiced beef carpaccio which tasted solely of sugar and cloves. A main of baked lemon sole was "tasty" and "perfectly-cooked", but came with chive mash which "founders on the tired remnants of last year’s potato harvest", while an "excellent" 10oz Ribeye on the Bone was "savoury meat with decent ‘chew’", accompanied by crispy chips, juicy mushrooms and a whiskey jus. A rhubarb crumble for dessert was "overly sweet", and he feels that the cheaper end of the wine list could use some imagination. He wonders at the kitchen’s place in the grand scheme of things, "quite obviously second in line after the bar/beverages side of the operation", and thinks the menu reads as if assembled by committee. He ends by saying he would like to see Lawlor given free rein to make her more usual "wholesome, tasty dishes made from excellent produce." More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Anyone who thinks veganism is a fad is "a dinosaur, living in denial", according to London chef-restaurateur Alexis Gauthier, who's just announced that his fine-dining restaurant Gauthier Soho is to go fully vegan within the next two years. Citing an impending "global environmental catastrophe", and the fact that restaurants need to set an example, it's a bold move, and one that further cements the growth in plant-based eating across the western world. Dublin tends to follow trends that happen in London (which tends to follow New York), so expect vegan dining options here to grow rapidly over the next 12 months, but there are already some brilliant places to eat plant-based food. While going full-time V might be too restrictive for most of us, sometimes you might just want to up your veggie intake or give your stomach a break from processing meat and dairy, so whether you're vegan or just vegan-curious, here are 12 of the best places in Dublin to eat plant-based food without losing out on flavour... 1. Veginity / Vish Shop If you haven't tried Australian Mark Senn's vegan food before, either at their old veginity food truck in Portobello or from ' Vish Shop ' at Eatyard , you need to sort that out. The vish and chips, made from cassava and seaweed, is the best fish substitution we've had, and the cauliflower 'wings' are a game changer, giving chicken a serious run for its money. They're in the process of opening a permanent site on Dorset Street, just north of the city, and we'll be first in the queue. 2. Shouk Delicious Middle Eastern, purse-friendly food in Drumcondra that's predominantly vegan, with pittas, falafel, mezze and flavour-packed salads. It's BYO too (€4 per bottle) so you can bring along your favourite vegan-friendly wine. www.facebook.com/shoukdublin 3. Pho Viet Some of the best Vietnamese food in the city with a whole page on the menu dedicated to vegan and vegetarian dishes. Try the savoury pancake filled with bean sprouts, carrots, onions and peppers with their homemade dipping sauce, or the vegetarian bun (noodle bowl) with spring rolls. www.phoviet.ie 4. Fallon & Byrne The dining room above the high end food hall recently introduced a vegan-friendly menu , with dishes like roasted globe of artichoke with tomato pesto and pine nuts, and chocolate and peanut parfait. Plenty of vegan friendly wines too. www.fallonandbyrne.com 5. Sova Vegan Butcher One of the go-to's for vegan's in Dublin for the past few years, Barto Sova's ever changing menu at Sova Vegan Butcher  includes things like mac n' cheese, seaweed chowder with samphire and strawberry and cashew nut cheesecake. www.facebook.com/SovaVeganButcher 6. Vietnom Vegetarian/vegan Vietnamese food with touches of Mexican, like Saigon tostadas and bánh mì with honey-basted mushrooms, peanuts and shallots. Find them in a food truck at the back of The Glimmerman pub in Stoneybatter from Thursday to Sunday. vietnom.ie 7. Cornucopia Probably the place most people thing of when you say "vegetarian restaurant", Cornucopia has been feeding Dublin's vegetarian and vegan population for over 30 years. Soups, salads, stews and enchiladas with vegan cheese can usually be found at the counter and portions are generous. www.cornucopia.ie 8. Brother Hubbard One of Dublin's most interesting places to grab breakfast or lunch, you always find vibrant, flavourful vegan salads and sandwiches, and they've organised several vegan supper clubs over the past year. Sign up to their mailing list to get news about the next one. brotherhubbard.ie 9. Happy Food by Yoga Hub A vegan destination since it opened on Camden Place a few years ago, Happy Food now have a second location in Castleknock, and serve up vegan burgers, pad thai and tofu ribs (apparently much better than they sound). A yoga class beforehand will take your health-related zen to a new level. 10. Peploe's The swanky bistro opposite Stephen's Green is more known for long business lunches than a focus on sustainable eating, but recently introduced a vegan menu , and it looks good, with dishes like roasted cauliflower with satay chili dressing and miso-glazed aubergine. www.peploes.com 11. Chameleon Long-standing Temple Bar restaurant serving Indonesian food tapas style in various 'Rijst Tafel', with a vegetarian/vegan option that sounds almost better than the meat. Balinese yellow curry, sesame fried vegetables and Bami Goreng are some of the herb and spice-packed dishes on Chameleon 's menu. www.chameleonrestaurant.com 12. Umi Falafel Falafel, mezze plates and salads on Dame Street. A visiting vegan from New York recently told us she visited here twice on her trip to Dublin and thought it was the best Middle Eastern food she's had outside of the Middle East. Nuff said. umifalafel.ie

Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times wins the prize for most arresting review title of the week, calling Five Guys on George's Street "My worst ever meal as a restaurant reviewer". If that's not punchy enough to make you dive in, nothing is. Bizarrely she opted for the veggie sandwich (so over this healthy living schtick - although it has provided for entertaining content on this occasion) and lived to regret it. It sounds utterly gross, with CC saying two bites was all she could manage before her gag reflex kicked in, and comparing it to the veggie burger from the country chipper, with all the toppings but no burger. We've seen pictures and it truly looks like a disgusting afterthought of a dish. Her teenager's beef burger was "fine", but the cheese had the "consistency and flavour of molten Barbie doll", chips were crisp but over-salted, and a milkshake was "cloyingly sweet". Between all of this and the filthy table covered in the remnants of other people's lunch, she calls it "the most dismal dining table in the history of this column." Read her review here . Get better burgers here and here . With that one hard to follow, we're going to the other end of the spectrum with Tom Doorley 's review of Glovers Alley in the Irish Daily Mail, where he thought €100 a head for lunch was worth every penny. (We also thought it was value for money everything considered - read our Once Over here . ) He admits to hoping to hate GA after all their pre-opening noise, but calls his lunch "brilliant", and describes McFadden's cooking as having "small explosions of startlingly pure and assertive flavours forming a kind of minefield of delight with all of the other elements on the plate." Highlights included a starter of asparagus, button mushroom, mustard and aged Belper Knoll (Swiss cheese - below) and a main of suckling pig belly and confit with crisp slices of turnip, essence of chorizo (no idea) and Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar. He finished with Aoife Noonan's citrus soufflé topped with chocolate ganache (which seems to be reaching celebrity status based on the number of people who've been sending us pictures of it). The soufflé was so light he wondered if it was going to float away, and he claims he broke the habit of a lifetime by exclaiming "wow" in the middle of the restaurant. With wine and service the bill for two came to just over €200 and he thought it was worth every cent. (Review not currently online) Over on the canal in Portobello, Leslie Williams had a similarly lovely time at Locks , where he was trying out the wares of new head chef Chris Maguire. He ate from the very good value market menu along with a few extras, including the homemade bread with sea trout and dulse butter, which his guest found so intense as to be almost crude - clearly this person is insane as it's one of the most incredible things we've ever tasted . Textures and flavours in a mackerel tartare were in lovely harmony, and a dish of "crisp and pungent" asparagus, smoked lardo, black garlic sauce, girolles and grated cured egg (below) also hit the spot. A veggie main of grilled potato, soft eggs, beech mushrooms and gorgonzola had a lovely mix of flavours, and the other main of cod had "perfect translucence" and worked well with smoked bacon, wilted baby gem lettuce and buttermilk sauce. Desserts of chocolate ganache with banana milk ice cream, hazelnut praline crumbs and caramelised banana (above), and a strawberry fool topped with strawberry granita above a fluffy creamy mousse and preserved strawberries both look and sound delicious, and he praised the Portugese-focused wine list "packed with gems". Read his review here . In The Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan is proclaiming that Ananda in Dundrum's tasting menu is "the biz". She calls head chef Karan Mittal's food a "culinary experience with a difference." Filled with words like "explosion", "heavenly", "amazing" and "exquisite", we're left in no doubt what she thinks of "superstar-in-waiting" Mittal's cooking - he of the "TV looks and charm". Highlights included a Kashmiri morel mushroom, thinly-sliced tandoori-smoked Barbary duck, a sorbet made from aged-black limes, and a main of jhinja neelgiri (prawn two ways) on a bed of wild garlic, coconut and curry leaf emulsion. It does sound pretty fantastic from start to finish. Dessert consisted of chocolate and cherries in the form of Kirsch kulfi pops, and she says Ananda is a real treat that won't break the bank. (Review not currently online) Down to Cork and back on our road-trip buzz, Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent was sending us into a glazed stupor with her description of the (solely locally sourced) food at Mews . From whipped monkfish liver and wild fennel in a boat of kombu to oyster mushroom with roasted yeast and sycamore, the whole thing sounds like a lovely dream. Carpaccio of langoustine on a buttermilk crumpet with coriander and wasabi (above) looks and sounds almost too good to be real, and brown crab on boxty was complimented by anise-scented sweet cicely and Cape Clear chili (below). The fact that everything is sourced from West Cork just adds to the magical feel of it all. Everything sounds worth driving to Baltimore for (like next weekend good), but we're seriously taken with the idea of creamy Mileens cheese on tayberries, and one of our favourite ever cheeses, mature Coolea, turned into a ganache-type filling and placed inside crisp pastry. OMG. They finished with a granita of dill and wild sorrel and textures of local milk, gorse honey and pine. She ends by saying that she hopes the Michelin inspectors make it this far south, so she'll be happy to find out they have paid Mews a visit in the past few weeks . Watch this space. Read her review here . Another reason to head south is Takashi Miyazaki's recently opened Ichigo Ichie , which Gillian Nelis in The Sunday Business Pos t is also touting as a Michelin-star contender (and the inspectors recently visited here too - sounds like some trip to Cork). She says there's not much point in trying to describe all of the dishes they had as the menu will change frequently, but it sounds very similar to what Catherine Cleary & Lucinda O'Sullivan had when they visited , which might be good news if you're dreaming of blow-torched scallop and savoury custard with chicken thigh. Luckily for Gillian (and us), her husband visits Japan regularly so we get a rundown of what's typically involved in a kaiseki ryori (multi-course Japanese meal), including the showcasing of different cooking techniques, seasonal crockery and local produce. Like the reviewers before her, she's totally impressed with the breath and depth of flavour and skill in the sequence of dishes coming out of the kitchen, which included "the finest piece of nigiri we'd ever tasted" and "divine slices of ox tongue served with a creamy wild garlic dip" She was less impressed with the lack of detail on the website and the inability to get anyone to answer the phone, but she calls it a "must-visit for anyone interested in the continuing evolution of Irish food." Read her review here (subscription only). More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

The Irish descended on Barcelona yesterday for the launch of chef JP McMahon’s Food On The Edge 2018 , the two day food symposium which has taken place in Galway for the past four years, and attracts food obsessives from around the world. With talks given predominantly by chefs, and the audience mostly consisting of them too, this is one for the serious food geeks (*waves*) who want to debate, discuss and listen to deep and far-reaching conversations about our food systems, the current state of the planet, and the impact chefs can have on every aspect of the global food chain. Also at the launch were fellow (and legendary) Spanish chefs Albert Adrià (of the el Barri group and brother of the infamous Ferran), Quique Dacosta (of three Michelin-starred Quique Dacosta ​ in Dénia Alicante), and Eduard Xatruch (of two Michelin-starred Disfrutar ​ in Barcelona). They each prepared a canapé that was served at the launch, including crispy seaweed envelopes, tarte of foie gras & corn, and dehydrated tomato slices filled with an unspeakably lovely cream filling. The launch took place in Adria's Mexican restaurant Hoja Santa , and when asked why they chose to hold the launch of an Irish festival in another country, JP said that to get the Irish to take notice of anything you have to get out of Ireland. He also talked about how one of the key aims of the festival is to show off Irish produce to a global audience. Food On The Edge has become internationally recognised over the past few years, attracting chefs from across the globe to give 15 minute talks. Previous speakers have included Massimo Bottura , Magnus Nilsson , Anna Ros , Elena Arzak and Albert Adriá , and this year's line up includes Enrique Olvera from Mexico's Pujol , Skye Gyngell from Spring in London, and Leonor Espinosa from Colombia's ' Leo ', who was voted best female chef in Latin America last year. You can see the speakers confirmed so far here . If you’re wondering if this is an event for you, ask yourself these questions: Do you get abnormally excited when a new season of Chef’s Table comes out? Do you plan holidays based on where you want to eat? Do you obsessively read All The Food because of your deeply felt desire to know the best places to eat? If the answer to these is yes, we advise taking time off work, road-tripping to Galway and spending two days completely geeking out around some of the biggest legends in food. Early-bird tickets for Food On The Edge are on sale now for €300 (€250 for students) which includes all talks, lunch on both days and entry to the closing party on Tuesday night. You can get tickets here . Food On The Edge Mon 22nd & Tue 23rd October 2018 Bailey Allen Hall, National University Galway foodontheedge.ie

It's safe to say the Irish people have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Taste of Dublin - each festival seems to be preceded and followed by complaints about the ticket price, the freebies on offer, the cost of food and drink, but sure where else would you be on a (hopefully) sunny weekend in June. To be fair, when the weather is with us, the atmosphere in the Iveagh Gardens is hard to beat, and while you could easily run up a sizeable bill on food and drink, as long as you spend it in the right places you're less likely to have post-festival regrets. So with that in mind, this is how and where we'd be spending our festival. Restaurants The restaurant line-up is a mixed bag, but for our money we'd be heading to Glovers Alley for some fine dining fare on the relatively cheap (smoked cheddar dumplings for the win), China Sichuan (for proper Sichuan food, and because Sandyford counts as destination dining for most Dubs), King Sitric for rock oysters and Pickle for some of the most interesting Indian food in Dublin right now. We'd also stop by Nutbutter for one of their brightly coloured, nutrient packed creations, to make us feel better about our gorging, and Veginity because Mark Senn is a genius when it comes to meat free food. WARNING: They are not serving Vish & Chips, but we bet the plantain tostones are just as good. See all the menus here . Talks There are loads of people speaking at the Neff Producer's Table over the four days. We'd be lining up for Irish soy sauce producer and Japanese food afficiando Fiona Uyema at 14:00 on Thursday and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall at 15:30 on Friday, who's likely to talk about his petition to get the UK government doing more to tackle national obesity rates, and his ongoing campaign to make WH Smith get rid of junk food at the till. On Saturday we'd be there at 20:00 to see the guys from Airfield , which has to be one of the most important places in the country right now for connecting people (especially children) with where their food comes from, and on Sunday at 14:00 we'd be attempting to bag a front row seat for superstar Irish chef in London Robin Gill , who we're not so secretly hoping has plans to return home in the not too distant future. We'd also be interested in hearing Andy McFadden and Phil Roe talk about how the first few months at Glovers Alley have gone, and Nutbutter 's take on the rise of veganism, both on Sunday. You can see the full four day line-up here . Cooking Demonstrations These are happening pretty much every hour on all four days, but on Thursday we'd probably head for Ananda 's head chef Karan Mittal at 19:30, or Paul Kelly, Executive Pastry Chef at The Merrion , who's on straight after at 20:30. On Friday we'd happily queue to see Gordon Ramsay protegé and another member of ' The Murphia ' Anna Haugh , who's due on at 14:30, and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall who's on after her at 15:30. On Saturday, if you're a Great British Bake Off fan you won't want to miss the 2016 winner, Candice Brown , her of the many coloured lipsticks. She's on twice, at 14:30 and 20:30. We'd also be interested in seeing Chapter One 's Ross Lewis and his head pastry chef Darren Hogarty who are on at 18:30. On Sunday, the hot seats are for Robin Gill at 13:30, and the Glovers Alley double bill with pastry chef extraordinare Aoife Noonan up at 14:30, and the executive and head chefs, Andy and Phil, on stage as a duo at 18:30. The Merrion's Executive Head Chef Ed Cooney also takes to the stage at 19:30. See the full line-up of cooking demos here . There's also The Market where we'd be picking up some kitchen staples from Asia Market , some crazy (delicious) flavoured popcorn from Joe & Seph's , proper Irish cider from Longueville House , and something sweet from The Cupcake Bloke , who's recently opened his first bakery in Rialto, Dublin 8. You can also take part in cocktail masterclasses , and watch the Irish final of the World Class Bartender of the Year Awards, and there are wine experiences from O'Briens and Wines of Rioja. The Exchequer are popping up with food, beer and cocktails too, and there's live music all weekend - you can see who's on here . Taste of Dublin is on from Thursday 14th - Sunday 17th June. There are two sessions per day: 12:00 - 16:00 and 17:00 - 21:30/22:30. Tickets cost between €17.50 for Thursday daytime and a pretty punchy €29.50 for Friday and Saturday nights - probably not where the smart money is but they have you over a barrel if that's the only time you can go. You get get tickets here . dublin.tastefestivals.com

A resoundingly successful week for eating out, with once again all the critics having meals worth recommending. Unfortunately the same can't be said for us, who had to go out to eat three times last week to find one restaurant worth writing about. That's coming tomorrow. Top of the pile in Dublin this week was The Greenhouse , where Catherine Cleary enjoyed yet another alcohol-light lunch. The lack of wine didn't detract from the experience, and she gave it 9.5/10, saying it's "still the best lunch in Dublin". As usual, it's a great read, with head chef Mickael Viljanen described as "paler than a submariner on shore leave", and this description of the demise of French style dining in Dublin: "Bistronomie was on the march and acres of table cloths were warehoused. Poshness was reborn with a clutch of dandelion leaves and a glass of natural wine murky as cider." The pastry on a miniature asparagus tart was so crisp it "almost evaporates in the mouth", a courgette roasted in seaweed with a maple seaweed sauce and bergamot yoghurt is "astonishing", and white asparagus "chunky as a baby’s arms" with a raw egg yolk, black garlic and girolles is described as "minerality meets creamy food hug". There wasn't a disappointing dish, and her well travelled dining companion thought the food rested between two and three michelin stars (they currently have one and it took them three years to get it, much to the outrage of many, including Guardian food critic Marina O'Loughlin ). She ends by saying The Greenhouse has long been the city's best lunch, and it keeps getting better. Read her review here . Another team who must be feeling happy with themselves this weekend is the one in The Old Spot , who Tom Doorley reviews in The Irish Daily Mail. A buzz has been quietly building about the Michelin recommended gastro pub on Bath Avenue over the past few months, and it seems to have only increased with the hiring of Denise McBrien (ex- Pichet and Old Street ), now running front of house. Tom usually doesn't like gastro pubs but calls The Old Spot an "exception", praising the quality and work that goes into head chef Fiachra Kenny's food, including slow-cooked octopus, nduja, homemade pappardelle and black olive tapanade, which was "bloody good", and slow-cooked smoked pork shoulder, sausage roll, cabbage celeriac and mustard, which was "a dish to conjure with". Prawn pil pil (which we were eyeing up a few weeks ago ) was "delicious", and he felt €30 for a 10oz dry-aged rib eye was justified, with its proper chips and "pulse-quickeningly lovely" bone marrow jus. He calls the cooking solid and well-grounded, and the service quiet and efficient. Go team Old Spot. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness is the second critic to get to the much hyped Restaurant Chesnut in Ballydehob, Cork, from chef Rob Krawczyk, after Joe McNamee got straight in on opening night (impressive). Katy is equally enamoured with the tiny 18-seater restaurant in the middle of rural Cork, calling the spelt sourdough with smoked butter sprinkled with sea salt and flecked with gold "an event in of itself", with the chewy crust of the bread and the flavour of the butter "immense". All of the dishes seem to have a lot going on - one example being charred asparagus with potato, yoghurt, 'edible earth' made from mushrooms, trout roe, nasturtium, and other secret ingredients - but she assures us there's a "felicitous harmony" to the way they come together. Same goes for "impeccable" scallops infused with citrus and ginger, cauliflower purée and apple. We have no idea what cylinders of compressed rhubarb rolled in anti-humidity sugar are (an interlude before the mains), but would like to find out, and brill with mussels and ham fat in lemon butter with slender-stemmed broccoli was the dish of the night. Dessert of sabayon formed an "etheral cloud", over the "apple-iest" apple and oats (above), and she has a slight quibble about having two sweet courses as part of the tasting course rather than a cheese course, but as they're still finding their feet we could see that changing after this review. She describes the portions as "nicely judged" and the meal "beautifully paced". That's two out of two for Rob and team. (Review not currently online). In The Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee is on a quest for burgers in Cork, after a friend proclaimed he was done with all that "Michelin Palaver", and wanted him to review something "everybody eats". He starts at Bunsen , where he found the meat to be superior but it left him feeling "processed". Better was Son of a Bun which was upbeat with "good, flavoursome meat" and a better range of craft beers and ciders than many upmarket restaurants. The star of the review though, the burger awarded a rarely seen 9.9/10, was the one from Woodside Farm , who've been selling their incredible, small production pork and beef at farmers' markets in Cork for over a decade, and who have now branched out into hot food. Their beef burger served in a pillowy Pana bun, with their own crispy bacon, Ballinrostig gouda cheese, tomato, lettuce and their secret burger sauce was "impossibly rich in umami flavours, succulent, tender but with perfect ‘bite’". He calls it "the finest burger I have ever purchased." Between this, Restaurant Chesnut and Ichigo Ichie there are so many reasons to organise a Cork roadtrip these days. Read his review here . More success in The Sunday Business Post , where Gillian Nelis was at Eastern Seaboard in her hometown of Drogheda, having "possibly the best steak I’ve ever eaten in this country". The 65 day salt-aged ribeye from Peter Hannan came with skin-on chips, onion rings, anchovy butter and a salad of butter lettuce with a mustard vinaigrette, and she said she could still taste it a week later. The vegans must be hating this week's reviews. Her companion's fillet steak with the same accompaniments was just as good, and a generous portion of chicken wings and "perfectly made" potstickers were polished off before the meat arrived. We're stuffed just thinking about it. A Japanese cheesecake with yuzu cream was "as fluffy as the fluffiest teddy you had as a child", and a Black Forest pavlova (below) looked so good that the next table immediately ordered it too. She calls it "indulgent but oh so delicious", and while we reckon we'd struggle to get up after that much food, it does all sound excellent. Read her review here . Finally in The Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan is at Everett's in Waterford, the new opening from ex- Restaurant Forty One and Chapter One alumnus, not to mention former Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year, Peter Everett. She calls the three course lunch for €25 "fantastic value", especially as the options are not far off the dinner menu, and thinks that dinner for €40 also sounds excellent, whilst having a dig at the "young bucks" "setting themselves up with tasting menus running from €65". Wonder who that could refer to... In house baked breads were "superb" and "divine", fresh crab in a tomato jus with balsamic and rocket was "feather-light", and dressed baby violet artichokes with wild garlic purée and roasted discs of red pepper were simple but superb. An "elegant" fillet of cod came with an nduja crust (below), onion purée, purple broccoli and a sherry sauce (yes please), and braised short rib of beef with parsnip purée, knotted spring onions and bearnaise was "exquisite" and "richly-flavoured". They ended with "the most fantastic" brown sugar tart with Bramley apple ice-cream, and a really interesting sounding cheese plate, with bluebell falls goat's cheese drizzled in honey, a pungent, semi-soft Hummingbark, and Crozier Blue with pressed fig and nut cake. It really does sound like incredible value for €25, and more potential road trip material. (Review not currently online) More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

There is some serious seafood to be had in Dublin at the moment, and with this banging weather due to continue until the weekend, there are few excuses to stop you going out in search of it. From the simplest anchovies on toast to a full on barbequed feast, here's what we're craving this week 1. Klaw 's Summer BBQ Seafood Platter Oysters, scallops, prawns, crab and squid fired on the barbeque then onto your plate. There's nothing we'd rather be eating in this weather. Available in The Seafood Café and Klaw Poké . klaw.ie 2. Afternoon Sea at Cliff Townhouse We're officially sick of sugar-laden, nausea-inducing, pink and yellow spattered afternoon teas. The 'Afternoon Sea' from Cliff Townhouse looks and sounds much more appealing, with potted monkfish, lobster, crab claws, mussels, oysters and smoked salmon, and instead of tea, a cup of lobster bisque. €38 per person or €50 with a glass of Champagne. clifftownhouse.ie 3. Anchoas de L'Escala from Las Tapas de Lola Sometimes the simple things are the best, and these Costa Brava anchovies, currently on at Las Tapas de Lola , paired with a glass of fino, look like the perfect aperitif for a sunny evening. lastapasdelola.com 4. The freshest Dublin seafood at Michael's Chef/owner Gaz Smith only took over Michael's a year ago but has firmly cemented it as one of the best places in Dublin to get fresh seafood. He's often out with the fishermen in the morning before bringing his haul back to Mount Merrion for lunch, and it doesn't get more local than this plate of butter roasted Howth Bay lobster, Clogherhead prawns and Lambay Island crab claws, served with charred lemon and chive butter. *looks for car keys* www.michaels.ie 5. The New Seafood Bento Box from Bonsai Bar There seems to be a bit of a buzz about Dylan McGrath of late, the long-standing Dublin chef who's in charge of the kitchens in Taste at Rustic , Rustic Stone , and the recently opened Bonsai Bar (all on different floors of the same building). After the food at Bonsai Bar getting a firm thumbs up from the Sunday Business Post's Gillian Nelis a few weeks ago, they've just launched their new Bonsai Bentos, with a choice of meat, fish or vegetables for €18. We're eyeing up the fish one, with roast salmon, tuna sashimi and miso soup with cockles and shimeji (a type of mushroom). www.thebonsaibar.com

It's a bit of a case of the good, the bad and the ugly this weekend, but we'll start and end with the good. In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams finally got around to eating at Richmond , after 18 months of haranguing by a friend, and managed to bag the best table in the house (table 13) with a view of the "exotica outside and the bustle inside". He ate from the early bird menu which sounds like brilliant value considering the quality, at €29 for three courses. Standouts included a fennel and raisin bread with curry butter (eh, yum), a Dexter beef tartare with capers, pickles, a quail's egg and some deep fried tempura ox tongue - he assures us it was the best part - and pea dumplings with slaw, parmesan crisps and a "mood-enhancing" hazelnut sauce. A cheese course of Milleens was too immature for their liking, but a chocolate fondant was "perfect", oozing "liquid, dark joy all over the garriguette strawberries", and a "picture perfect" meringue was filled with a "gorgeous apple and red wine chutney", even if it did overwhelm the meringue. He calls Richmond a "joy of a restaurant", with "good ingredients, perfectly pitched classical touches and masterful saucing." We'd say they're pretty happy with this one. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was back at an old favourite, La Cave on South Anne Street, which he hadn't planned on reviewing, but it was so good that he felt he had to share it with us. After a trip down memory lane (where he tells us that The Trocadero is the oldest restaurant in the city centre and Bewleys on Grafton Street did a mean chicken croquette in his youth), he comes back to the present day in La Cave , describing the "perfect" oysters and Chablis, the crab and Gruyère tart (which didn't have homemade pastry but did have lots of sweet crab meat and sweet and salty melted cheese), and the garlic and parsley butter snails which were "a touch of decadence". A venison casserole was "immensely tender" in a "rich sauce singing of garlic and red wine", and he says you'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to ordering wine in this "womb-like French restaurant". (Review not currently online). Someone else who was reliving their childhood, this time over beef-dripping toast, was Katy McGuinness at Pichet . After overcoming the fear that a car from the St Andrew's Street carpark was going to come crashing through the window every time headlights appeared, she enjoyed seasonal asparagus with a brown butter egg yolk, crispy boneless chicken wings, and truffle pecorino. Beef tartare came with quail eggs (so hot right now), radish and micro-herbs, and beef-dripping toast full of taste and texture, which brought her back to the fried bread her father made when she was a child. Short rib with salt-baked celeriac was the winneing mains, and came with ox tongue (this week is all about tongue and tartare) and a walnut mushroom duxelles, making it "rich and deeply satisfying." Lamb rump was nicely cooked but the dish was underpowered and lacking in salsa verde, and a confit of squid, chorizo, basil, tomato and chickpeas which came with a dish of salmon was "woefully insipid". Desserts of muscovado crème brûlée and banoffee were both enjoyable, and she ends by saying that Pichet is "one of those restaurants that can be all things to all people ... If that means that the food pleases rather than thrills, then so be it." Read her review here . Now to break up the joy momentarily, because over in Monkstown, there was a very unhappy camper in the form of The Sunday Business Post 's Gillian Nelis, who was having a bit of a 'mare in Bresson . After getting a spate of great reviews straight after opening, we don't think anyone was expecting this one. Whilst starters of Roquefort and pear salad, and devilled lambs' kidneys were great, what followed wasn't. A chargrilled, salt-baked celeriac, with hazelnut dukkah, cocoa bean cassoulet, salsa verde and swiss chard featured under-cooked celeriac, a salsa so salty it induced wincing, no discernible dukkah, and an undercooked cassoulet that included unpleasant bits of bitter, preserved lemon. Disaster with a capital D. A fish special of plaice was "so undercooked it should never have made it out of the kitchen", and a side of choucroute was tasty, but another of dressed salad leaves was "outrageously overpriced" at €4.50. Desserts were a mixed bag with a crème brûlée small but tasty, and a tarte tatin disappointing, with "undercooked lumps of apple and a soggy pastry bottom". She says she's at a loss to what has happened here since opening, and so are we. Has Head Chef and owner Temple Garner taken his eye off the ball? Was there a new chef in the kitchen that's just not up to the task? Or did a staff shortage on the night lead to a series of unfortunate events? We're really feeling for the city's chefs and restaurateurs at the moment, with chef shortages at an all time high, and wonder how many bad meals are connected to this growing problem. Maybe this was just a bad night for Bresson and normal service will resume shortly, or maybe there's something there that needs to be fixed. Either way it doesn't sound like they'll be getting a second visit from Gillian. Read her review here (subscription only). This week sees another round up from Lucinda O'Sullivan in The Sunday Independent, this time featuring the country's 20 Best Coastal Hotspots. As we're all about Dublin food we'll just tell you about the two Dublin spots mentioned - the Clontarf Baths and Happy Out on Bull Wall, also in Clontarf. We're surprised that nowhere else in Dublin was mentioned considering the entire county hugs the coast, but we'll put our own, more comprehensive list together soon. She recommends coffees and toasties on the deck at Happy Out , and cocktails, seafood and knickerbocker glories at The Baths . She doesn't recommend a swim, because despite that being the whole point of the place you can't actually do that . (Review not currently online) Finally, we're ending on a high note with Catherine Cleary's trip to Dooks Fine Foods in Tipperary for the Irish Times . Chef Richard Gleeson trained at Ballymaloe and worked under Yotam Ottolenghi, so she was expecting big things, and wasn't disappointed. She calls the place "revolutionary", and the first plate sounds pretty special - brill carpaccio dressed with a jade-green parsley oil, lemon zest and house “ricotta”, with a pickled rhubarb accompaniment which brought "a clarity to the fish flavour like spears of sunlight through water" - phrase of the week right there. Aubergine focaccia also sounds impressive, with toasted seeds, more ricotta and olive oil. Muttony lamb for mains came with rainbow chard so buttery she reckoned she could eat a plate of it, and the veggie option of parchment-thin sliced celeriac filled with mushrooms, parmesan-and-hazelnut aioli, cauliflower and chard, in a fennel sauce had them licking their plates. They finished with a chocolate, coffee, mascarpone layer cake and she compares it to Ox in Belfast and Mews in Baltimore, which is praise of the highest order. Read her review here . More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

The cute seaside town of Portmarnock has never exactly been a culinary destination, and despite being in a pretty idyllic location near the beach, it's never had a café worth travelling for. So we were excited to spot Honey Honey , recently opened on the main street, which looks like it belongs in the Laine my Love / Love Love Supreme / Two Boys Brew category of cafés. Opened by Laura Weldon, a Portmarnock local, in April after a year long search for a site (finally getting lucky with the closure of The Wooden Spoon ) it's a serious injection of life in an otherwise sleepy strip of shops. The menu is short and simple, with breakfast options like homemade almond butter on tartine sourdough with raspberry chia jam, boiled eggs and toast, and overnight oats, and midweek lunch consisting of three sandwich options, with ingredients like honey-baked ham and Toonsbridge mozzarella (a current obsession of ours). The weekend brunch menu is slightly different, and includes four different types of sausage rolls. They also have pastries on the counter (not fresh unfortunately but hopefully this will change once they settle in - god knows the north side could use some Sceál or something similar), energy balls and other homemade cakes, and coffee is from Kildare roasters Baobab . The space itself is bright and comfortable, staff couldn't be nicer, and there's a real local feel about it, with used coffee grinds being given out for compost and customers joking about splitting the resulting crop with them (such a lovely idea). This coastal stretch of Dublin has been quite barren for the past few years when it comes to modern, interesting cafés with good food, so we think Honey Honey is going to be rammed once word gets out beyond Portmarnock. Honey Honey Strand Road, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8:00 - 16:00. Sat 09:00 - 17:00. Sun 10:00 - 15:00. www.facebook.com/honeyhoneycafe

It feels somewhat trivial to be obsessing over food after the past few history-making days, but repealers still need to eat, so on we go. In The Irish Times this week, Catherine Cleary was trying an enchilada cooking class at Picado , the Mexican food shop on Richmond Street. She laments the proliferation of Tex-Mex in Ireland (we'll refrain from mentioning one particularly offensive burrito chain) as opposed to what they actually eat in Mexico, and if you want further elaboration on Mexican Vs Tex-Mex, this podcast episode is brilliant. She loved the vegetarian tamal (which we presume is the same as a tamale), the poblano pepper stuffed with squash and hibiscus flowers, the Oaxacan black bean sauce and the chilli and chocolate torte. We’re a long way from cheesy nachos and chicken fajitas. She thought it was a brilliant night, and describes Lily as “an inspiring cook and storyteller whose love for real Mexican food makes for a delicious education.” Read her review here . In The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley is rhapsodising over the fresh Irish seafood at Niall Sabongi’s Klaw Seafood Café , where he found eating Dublin Bay Prawns with his hands “deliciously liberating”. More Dublin Bay Prawns with exotic mushrooms on toast were “simplicity itself” and “really worked”, and fish (hake) and chips had “shatteringly crisp batter encasing moist fish cooked perfectly, crisp skinny chips and proper tartare sauce that most definitely didn’t come out of a jar.” He ends by saying that although restaurant critics tend to always go in search of the new, he’s finally learning to resist the urge to run straight in after a place opens, saying that “many first-nighters or first-weekers are not even remotely interested in what the food is like”. We're not sure if that’s a jibe at the city’s press or diners. In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness is the first critic to get to Barrows Keep in Graiguenamanagh, Kilkenny. Opened 7 months ago by Stephen McArdle and Morgan Vanderkammer (former chef/owner and sommelier - respectively - at Stanley’s in Dublin), this is one we've had high hopes for, so have been impatiently awaiting the first review. Katy thought the food was “top notch”, particularly the smoked potato soup with beef daube and wild garlic, and the Kilmore Quay crab salad with Goatsbridge trout caviar, sweetcorn, whipped avocado and croutons, which she calls “a visual delight and a textbook exercise in balance and texture.” She also liked the beef and pork sausages which were “properly meaty”, “smoked and delicious”. She was unimpressed with desserts but praised sommelier Morgan Vanderkammer’s intriguing wine list full of natural and biodynamic wines, and wished that they weren’t driving so they could have explored it more. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner Joe McNamee is at House restaurant at The Cliff House , having a similarly magical time to Gillian Nelis a few weeks ago . The descriptions of the four amuse-bouches alone is enough to have us booking ourselves in for a night. Beetroot and creamed cheese meringue; seaweed and fennel dashi; baby potato baked in edible clay with three-cornered leek mayonnaise; shallot panna cotta with a ‘caviar’ of tapioca ‘pearls’, dried potato croutons and hazelnut. We're not even onto the starters yet. His other half's (who we're still calling 'The Cat's Pyjamas') starter of Bantry Bay Organic Salmon, Pickled Vegetables, Codium (a type of seaweed), Black Toast, Salmon Ice Cream and Smoke, which was unveiled by the lifting of a cloche, made her gasp and whimper apparently, and Joe called the assemblage "breathtakingly gorgeous". Everything sounds next-level culinary genius territory, and we recommend reading the whole article just to get an idea of the compositions and combinations coming out of this kitchen. We're currently obsessing over the Atlantic Halibut topped with a melting sliver of waygu ‘lardo’, and the Roman style gnocchi fried in lamb fat. Read his review here . In The Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis is enjoying the sea views and the seafood at Spillane's in Dingle, which she tells us has been there in some form for over a century. Locally caught crab claws with marie rose sauce and brown bread were "fresh as a daisy", salt and pepper calamari were "cooked beautifully" and the hake club burger was "brilliant". Her dessert of rhubarb crumble took her back to childhood days, even if it was a bit heavy on the topping, and she ends by saying the meal had been "incredibly tasty, more than generous in size, and served with real friendliness". Read her review here (subscription only). Finally in the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan does another round-up, this time of the country's 20 best terraces - another one to file away for those two weeks of summer we're due any day now. Making the list in Dublin are Angelina's , Bresson , The Dylan Hotel , Nightmarket , Radisson St Helen's , Suesey Street , The Garden Room in The Merrion and Whelehan's Wines . Expect a few more of these sunshine-dependent lists over the coming weeks, and expect to not actually be able to get into any of them if the sun does come out. Best bet for getting a table is probably in winter under a heater. (Article not currently online but should be up on Lucinda's site in the next week or so.) More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

From new season asparagus to black garlic miso covered burgers, here's what's looking good this week. 1. Grilled asparagus, poached egg dressing, lardo & buckwheat from Bastible So many things we love on one plate, and we bet that Louro from Rafael Palacios is a banging match. www.bastible.com 2. This mushroom, roasted artichoke, lemon and parmesan pappardelle from Angelina's While we wait patiently for summer temperatures to kick in, this pasta looks like the perfect bridge between the seasons. And it has the right amount of cheese on it. angelinas.ie 3. This month's special burger from BuJo Chef Gráinne O'Keeffe's latest creation comes with Irish portobello musrooms, Fingal Ferguson 's smoked cheese and Kwanghi Chan 's black garlic miso mayo, and it's all we can think about. bujo.ie 4. This plate of health from Eathos We think this spinach waffle, grilled asparagus, raw beans, homemade labneh, za'atar avocado and dukkah from Eathos would just about cancel out our BuJo burger. eathosdublin.com 5. This in season, perfectly ripe mound of La Tur from Fallon & Byrne This beautiful piece of work is a blend of cow's, sheep's and goat's milk. It's Italian, has the texture of triple cream and it's in season. So go and get some. And have it with Champagne. www.fallonandbyrne.com

It seems like nearly everyone had a craving for Japanese food this week, with Gillian Nelis at Bonsai Bar , Leslie Williams at EaTokyo , and Catherine Cleary and Lucinda O'Sullivan beating a path to Ichigo Ichie in Cork, the new, hugely anticipated fine dining restaurant from Takashi Miyazaki . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was so impressed with the bar menu at Dylan McGrath's Bonsai Bar that seconds were ordered of the crunchy shiitake mushrooms with spiced nori crackers, and the salmon sashimi with avocado purée and bonito, which she calls some of the best sashimi she's had in Dublin. Only beating the sashimi was the yellowfin tuna served on a kimchi croquette and topped with a cured egg yolk, which looks and sounds so delicious that Bonsai Bar has rocketed to the top of our must-try list. She calls the food "boundary-pushing", and says that McGrath is "a chef who shows no signs of losing his ability to surprise and delight." Read her review here . (Subscription only) In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was at Eatokyo on Wellington Quay, where despite the sushi rice needing work when it comes to texture and seasoning, he had a "hugely enjoyable meal". A tempura selection was "about perfect", prawn, garlic and chive gyoza were "excellent", and despite the rice issues he says the sushi is "better than most of what is available in Dublin." His favourite dish was the Schichimi Duck, which had been de-boned and deep fried until crispy with sweet-sour flavours. Although he emphasises twice that the sushi is "perfectly good", he basically advises giving it a miss and focusing on the gyoza, noodles and meat dishes instead. Read his review here . Both Catherine Cleary and Lucinda O'Sullivan were at Ichigo Ichie in Cork, both clearly hoping to be first in with a review. We wonder on a scale of 1-10 how secretly (or openly) raging they are when this happens. Both were suitably impressed, but CC more so, calling it "invigorating, a reminder of how magic food can be in the hands of a dreamer, a craftsperson and a flavour poet." She ate her 12 courses solo at the chef's counter, and describes a meal that sounds more like a hypnotic performance, with other-worldly ingredients being conjured from every corner, like powdered whiting, cured onsen egg, ninja radish and salted cherry blossom. "Wood, glass and ceramic containers make the process as beautiful as the plate." She gives it 9.5/10. Read her review here . Lucinda had a few bones to pick, mostly with what she calls the "over-zealous lead-up", being warned that lateness equals missing courses, and having to agree to "officious and daunting" terms when booking. Despite this, once getting there she found the staff "delightful", and the delicately flavoured food "artfully presented". Her favourite dish was Hassun (above right), a selection from land and sea, including smoky Thornhill duck with spring onion, gizzard, hay and leek, eel wrapped in wakame and cucumber ribbons topped with salmon roe and sansho pepper vinegar, and a cube of "bland" asparagus tofu, cured onsen egg yolk, whiting powder and salted cherry blossom. Flavour overload. She felt it began to get a bit samey towards the end, but still calls it a "once in a lifetime" experience. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness was just west of Japan at Vietnom in Stoneybatter, the Vietnamese food truck at the back of The Glimmerman pub. She describes the food as "Asian fusion with touches of Mexican" which sounds so wrong but by the end of it we're convinced. Her and her companions tried all four dishes on the vegetarian menu, including Saigon tostadas with an organic red cabbage slaw, scallions, chillies, pickled red onions, sesame seeds and a zingy lime dressing which was "utterly delicious", and a sesame broccoli noodle salad with carrot pickles, peanuts and a ginger chilli dressing, that "had well-balanced heat and texture". They also enjoyed a couple of bánh mì, one with "meatily satisfying honey-basted mushrooms," a peanut shallot crust, McNally Farm leaves and an organic fried egg, the other with teriyaki paneer, sriracha aioli and "more of those epically good leaves." She describes it as "vibrant fresh flavours, feel-good food and no pretension." Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was at Enoteca della Langhe in the Italian Quarter, gazing lovingly at their personally imported Italian wine list. He had the intensely creamy burrata which he calls one of the best he's tasted in Ireland (noted), and the contrast with the sweet and sour vegetables "delightful. Simple food done well." He wasn't feeling the bresaola, which came with an unspeakable amount of flaked almonds, but the two pastas were "first rate". Tonnarelli alla Norcina (spaghetti like pasta with spicy sausage, truffle and pecorino) was "a triumph ... the very definition of savoury, rich, creamy...", and Ravioli Asiago e porcini were served simply with just-cooked datterini tomatoes and asparagus. They couldn't fit in dessert but lingered over a very good value bottle of Nebbiolo Langhe for €33. (Review not currently online) More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Glovers Alley , Andy McFadden's fine dining restaurant in The Fitzwilliam Hotel , have announced that from July, they're opening up their kitchen on the first Friday of the month for an interactive cooking and eating experience. Costing €145 per person, it involves three hours in the kitchen with Andy and his team, a four-course lunch with Champagne and wine pairings, and a goodie bag to take home, including bread made that morning. The regular three-course lunch is €45, and the six-course €60, both without wine, so we think this sounds like pretty decent value if you want a more immersive experience alongside your food. During the three hours in the kitchen, participants will bake bread, learn techniques for butchering meat, preparing fish and making desserts, and will try dishes made by the kitchen team throughout the morning. Lunch starts at 12pm with Champagne, followed by four courses with wine pairings. You'll also get all the usual extras - bread, snacks, and a pre-dessert. The full experience is limited to four people per session, but you can bring a guest for the lunch part for €95. To book, contact Glovers Alley on 01 2440733 or email info@gloversalley.com. Glovers Alley The Fitzwilliam Hotel St Stephen's Green Dublin 2 Ph: 01 2440733 gloversalley.ie

Beef & Lobster opens in Malahide today, the second site for Oliver Dunne's steak and seafood spot, and his second restaurant in Malahide, with long-standing Bon Appetit around the corner. Like Beef & Lobster 's Temple Bar location, the short menu focuses on burgers, steak, lobster and prawns, with sauces, sides and a few starters. The house speciality of surf n' turf comes with an 8oz fillet steak and either garlic butter king prawns for €29.95 or half a lobster for €42. It's been a busy year for Dunne, with his restaurant group also taking over O'Connell's in Donnybrook in February. The second outpost of Beef & Lobster will be his fifth restaurant in Dublin Beef & Lobster will open for dinner from Tuesday - Sunday, and we expect brunch will follow if they think the demand is there. Online booking isn't available yet, but reservations can be made by phone or email. Beef & Lobster 9 Townyard Lane, Malahide, Co. Dublin Ph: +353 1 531 2900 beefandlobster.ie

Bay has been keeping Clontarf residents fed and happy for the past 15 years, with sister restaurant Fishbone opening in 2016, and they've just added a third business to the fold - Fishtalk , a wine bar above Fishbone serving small plates and wine on tap, with incredible views out over Bull Island. The menu is designed for sharing, and has plenty of seafood, but also meat and veggie options. We particularly like the sound of the kimchi oysters, the lobster and crayfish in a lemon and herb dressing on sourdough, and the brisket with fennel slaw. There are 8 wines on tap from WineLab served by the glass and carafe, including prosecco, albariño, picpoul, gamay and tempranillo, all poured from a copper wall behind the bar. There's also a full cocktail and spirits list, as well as some craft beers Fishtalk is open Monday - Sunday from 5pm, with limited availability on Fridays and Saturdays as they use the tables for Fishbone diners. High tables and bar seating will still be available for Fishtalk guests. They've made a little video about the opening which you can watch below.