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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We're not sure how, but it's rugby time again. Welcome to ten weeks of absent boyfriends and husbands, emotional highs and lows and very noisy pubs. But you don't have to stand in some grotty, cramped, city centre hole to get in on some social rugby action. You can actually go to civilised places instead. Ones that serve very nice food, while you're comfortably sitting down. This way, no matter what happens in the game, on some level you will have already won. Meltdown Staying central? Head to Crow Bar in Temple Bar where there's a full screen and you can order a Meltdown cheese toastie till 3pm. www.instagram.com/meltdowndublin Lemuel's in The Conrad Looking for something swankier? Head to The Conrad's cocktail bar, Lemuel's , for bar food, comfy seats and complex cocktails. www.lemuelsdublin.com Shelbourne Social Not one we were expecting to have on the list, but Dylan McGrath's new high end Ballsbridge restaurant Shelbourne Social are showing the match in their 'Loft' bar. You can order bar food including that famous hot curd bread, bao buns filled with pork belly, lemon sole or duck, and there's a wagyu beef burger which you can add freshly grated truffle or foie gras to. Cocktails are also a speciality. Super fancy match option. www.shelbournesocial.com Fallon & Byrne The posh supermarket on Exchequer Street are showing the match in their wine cellar. They're doing England Vs Ireland match day specials - ham hock and kale hash with black pudding and Guinness gravy Vs a Ploughman's platter, and they have a lot of wine down there. www.fallonandbyrne.com Urchin Comfy basement bar Urchin in the Cliff Townhouse is showing all of the matches, alongside an offer of fish and chips with a pint of Guinness or Hophouse for €22. We've also got our eye on their February cocktail specials, particularly the 'fuego de amor' - we've no idea what's in it but it looks great. clifftownhouse.ie/urchin-bar-2 Charlotte Quay Rugby with a view in Grand Canal Dock. Charlotte Quay are doing a special three-course match day lunch, or a bargainous offer of a burger and a pint of Guinness or Hophouse 13 for €12 - in case you were wondering, Guinness is the new official beer of the Six Nations, so expect to start seeing it everywhere. charlottequay.ie The Glimmerman Stoneybatter's most mentally decorated pub (be sure to look up to see Charlie Haughey and Maggie Thatcher in a bed hanging out of the ceiling) is showing all of the matches, and major bonus - Coke Lane Pizza are out the back from 4pm, serving their Neapolitan style works of art. www.cokelanepizza.com Lucky's And in case one place to get Coke Lane pizza wasn't enough, you can also get it in Lucky's , that brilliant bar in the Liberties with the great beer and the wine on tap, who are also very sensibly showing all of the Six Nations matches. Pizza from 1pm. www.facebook.com/luckysdublin MVP The super cool pub with the great cocktails on Clanbrassil Street are showing the rugby in their upstairs events space, and the even better news is that Irish street food duo Grálinn will be serving food from 6pm. Get on it. mvpdublin.com Kelly & Coopers Gastro-pub Kelly and Coopers in Blackrock (formerly Ouzo's) are showing all of the matches on their big screen in the loft. All the usual soakage like chicken wings, burgers and fish and chips, as well as the more gastro side of things with seafood linguine, halloumi salad and mussels and chips. And all the beer. kellyandcoopers.ie The Square Ball The character filled pub on Hogan Place has a very big thing going for it - Fowl Play . The live fire poultry experts cook everything on their rotisserie, charcoal grill or Texas wood-fired smoker, and the McKenna's called their chicken burger the dish of the year for 2018. Get in line. They also have one of the most impressive low/no alcohol lists we have ever see, anywhere. Just in case you want to substitute every second drink with something a bit more beneficial for your body. Just a suggestion. the-square-ball.com Know anywhere else showing the rugby that also serves great food? Let us know - info@allthefood.ie

For the main street in a capital city, O’Connell Street isn’t exactly the cultural and culinary hub of Dublin. Decent food choices are few and far between, with the main options consisting of dodgy chicken places, multiple McDonald's, and that weird pizza place beside the Savoy - who eats there? The GPO and the Spire just about overshadow the weird casinos, fast food places and corner shops that populate most of the street, and the Rubberbandits satirically pointed out that the statue of socialist Jim Larkin now looks onto the ‘totems of capitalism’ - Burger King and McDonald’s. The pinnacle of food on O’Connell Street is probably the 80c doughnuts from the Rolling Donut kiosk, and it’s hard to think of somewhere to eat when you’re trying to navigate year round tourists. But fear not, we have done the thinking for you and compiled a list of where to eat close to (but definitely not on) Dublin's main thoroughfare. Morning If you find yourself on O’Connell Street in the morning surrounded by commuters, tourists getting an early start to the day and those guys flogging city bus tours to every breathing human, go and find Tang on Abbey Street and get some buckwheat pancakes for breakfast. They’re topped with almond butter, yogurt and seasonal fruit and the bus tours don't come down this way. If you’re around on a Tuesday, Vice Coffee do a Tight Arse Tuesday deal, where all coffees are €2 between 11am and 1pm, but their coffees are top notch so just go whenever you're close by. Alternatively, if it's the weekend, you could go for a dim sum brunch in Bowls on Marlborough Street, and polish it off with one of their Macau style custard tarts. Or if you favour lunch over brunch, you can try one of their signature rice or noodle bowls. Lunchtime For a sandwich fix, head to 147 Deli on Parnell Street and straight for their weekly special - otherwise known as the best sandwich in the capital that week. In other casual carb related cravings, go to Laine My Love under the bridge on Talbot Street for one of their sandwiches for lunch, or proceed there from Connolly station in the morning for breakfast. For a sit down lunch head to The Vintage Teapot for their excellent dumplings, or take the ten minute stroll to One Society on Gardiner Street for a Croque Monsieur or brisket with salsa verde. Alternatively, they serve all day breakfast and brunch, like their full on pancakes (the ten minutes walking there will burn off the pancakes, right?). They also serve pizza in the evenings from 4pm, for those who miscalculated lunchtime. For a more dressed up lunch, try Mr. Fox on Parnell Square, the sister restaurant to  The Pig’s Ear . A three course here will set you back €28 before booze, and it's worth every penny - read our review here . Their nostalgic desserts are making quite the name for themselves, like the Super Split ice cream and the coffee iceberger. As naff as O’Connell Street is, it’s pretty easy to find good Asian food, even Steam on Westmoreland Street isn’t too far of a hike across the bridge. For some bibimbap and drinks, head to Kimchi Hophouse on Parnell Street (below), for Vietnamese Pho or Bun try Pho Viet on the same street, or for very good Sichuan cooking go to  M&L on Cathedral Street for dinner - with the added bonus of a €6 corkage charge in the last two (read our review of M&L  here ). And if you want to go all out, it's got to be Chapter One . Find someone whose birthday it is or achieve something worth celebrating, because this is an occasion place. It’s a little reminiscent of the Tiger who shall not be named but still, this fancy. It’s worth going for the Michelin-starred experience and beautifully constructed dishes, and let's face it, restaurants like this don’t usually fit into your average weekend of eating, so it will be a serious treat. For pre or post drinks, head to Wigwam for their extensive rum selection and Brazilian caipirinhas, or finish up the night in The Big Romance . The vinyl focused bar (music to our eyes - sorry) opened on Parnell Street late last year, with very cool craft beers and a sound system to beat all sound systems. Then head home with a new appreciation for what you previously thought was the most food-barren street in the city. Did we miss any of your favourite spots close to O'Connell Street? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

Okay. We’ve made it through the awkward romantic gestures and flurry of Instagrammed steaks and chocolate desserts that was V-day mania. Once you reach that overly comfortable couple stage, eating on Valentine's is like having a second chance at Christmas or your birthday - close your eyes, hope the calories don’t count and eat and drink like it’s not a school night. Back to regular programming and appropriate portions now (who are we kidding), so we’ve picked five snacks that look particularly good this week. ‘Snacks’ have officially overtaken the amuse bouches of the dining scene, much like gravy is the new ‘jus’. 1) Gertrude’s Crispy Egg Gertrude ’s snack menu has been the talk of Instagram since it opened in December - the bacon and cabbage dumplings, the Cooleeney croquettes, and now there's a new one to have us gazing longingly at our phones - crispy egg and fried capers. Gimme. 2) Squid Slider and a glass of Bérêche Champagne from Fish shop From their snack menu on Benburb Street, Fish Shop is serving squid sliders with garlic aioli - a creation of genius. The glass of grower Champagne isn’t included in the €4.50 price but that’s a serving suggestion we are very much behind. 3) Bastible’s Cheese Doughnuts Ok, this one was technically last week (please still be on the menu) but does it still count if we’ve been thinking about Bastible 's doughnuts ever since? Filled with Gubbeen cheese, fermented celeriac and thyme, this is where the doughnut phase in Dublin should’ve evolved to. 4) Sceal’s Coolea and Kraut Bear-Claw Pastries count as snacks right? Particularly when paired with fermented food which basically cancels out cheese and pastry, yes? It’s safe to say that any morning that starts with a pastry from Scéal Bakery is going to be a good morning. 5) Fia’s Little Plate of Goats Cheese This week’s small plate at Fia has some whipped goats cheese, salt baked and pickled beetroot, pesto and hazelnut. Looks as pretty as an Instagram picture.

Kale + Coco , the people who made smoothie bowls a "thing" in Dublin, are opening their first permanent site in Stoneybatter this Friday, on Grangegorman Road Lower, near the new Technical University Dublin . Founders Jenny and Rebecca left corporate jobs in 2015 to go travelling, and launched Kale + Coco at Wellfest after they returned in 2017. After that they did a pop up in Cocu on Hatch Street, followed by a six month stint at Eatyard , and have been looking for a permanent site for the past few months. As well as their signature bowls and smoothies, which include 'The Classic Açaí', 'Tropical Popical' and 'Treat Yo' Self', they're expanding to six "nourish" bowls, including 'Peas and Love', and 'You Guac My World', with little gem lettuce, tri-colour quinoa, black beans, spicy roasted veg, corn & bean salsa, guacamole, tortilla chips and a spicy cashew lime dressing. They're also serving 8th Corner Coffee , matcha and golden lattés, vegan hot chocolate and raw desserts, and the entire menu is plant-based, so expect the vegans to flock in their numbers. Kale + Coco say they want to introduce the vegetables back into veganism, as despite the number of new openings over the past year, much of it has been fast food, as have much of the new vegan products being launched - missing the point maybe? They're also focusing on being as environmentally-friendly as possible, with compostable packaging, a glass jar deposit scheme, reusable straws, and discounts to customers bringing their own cups or containers. Kale + Coco will be doing eat in or take away, Monday - Saturday until 4pm, and the interior is very nutbutter -esque e.g. expect to see it on an instagram feed near you soon - they've even got swing seats. Kale + Coco 18 Grangegorman Lower, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Mon - Fri 07:30 - 16:00. Sat 09:00 - 16:00. www.kaleandcoco.com

Shaka Poke , the Blackrock based poke stall, will open their first fully indoor site in Stephen's Green today, on the first floor of the shopping centre. Shaka Poke founders Jamie and Dave started selling the Hawaiian seafood bowls at market stalls in 2017, before opening a permanent site in the outdoor but semi-covered Blackrock Market in early 2018. They've been looking for a city centre site for a while, but the high rent and key money was proving prohibitive, until the centre approached them to see if they were interested in moving into their 'food village' on the first floor. It seems like a shrewd move to put the centre back on the map, and we'd bet there's more in the pipeline. The menu features build your own bowls and seven 'house specials', including the 'heatwave' with ahi tuna, wakame, jalapeños, cucumber, sweetcorn and chillies, the 'off the wall' with salmon, edamame, carrot, red cabbage and mango, and three vegan options. Bowls come in two different sizes, and are €9.50 - €13 for the classic bowls, and €9.50 - €14 for the build your own. Shaka Poke in Stephen's Green will be open Monday - Sunday from 11:30 - 18:00, and there's lots of seating overlooking Grafton Street and Stephen's Green, so if you've yet to try Hawaii's most famous dish, now's your chance to get involved. Shaka Poke Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Dublin 2 Mon - Sun 11:30 - 18:00 www.shakapoke.ie

There's a real mixture of moods this week, with some critics' lunch giving them "hope for a new future", and others downtrodden by oyster bars that feel more like a chipper. In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary calls new Gardiner Street spot One Society a farm-to-table café that's a great addition to the north inner city. She flipping loved that the beef brisket on the menu was from the owner's sister's farm in Meath (music to an Irish Times critic's ears), and calls the whole place "heartening". A "not so classic Irish breakfast" sounds enormous but came with good sausages, smoked black pudding, caramelized apples ("just apple sauce but still good"), spiced beans, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms and her friend thought it was as good a breakfast as he'd had. Special mention for the Le Levain sourdough too. Desserts of brownie and crumble were bought in but good, and coffee excellent, and she calls One Society a "hope for a future which might not be as generic as the developments that surround it". And people say it's just food... Read her review here . In the Irish Independent Katy McGuinness admits to kicking herself for taking 25 years to get to Chameleon in Temple Bar. They recently did a bit of a rebrand, giving the exterior of restaurant a much-needed facelift, and for any restaurateurs getting worried about getting left behind with all of the new openings of later, this is a very clever idea - just FYI, the food needs to be good too or it doesn't work. She gives a nice bit of background on how Chameleon came about in 1994 which we'd guess most people won't know, before telling us that the bao are "perfect", their favourite being pork belly with pineapple compote, but buttermilk chicken and fish and squid "fish fingers" get honourable mentions too. Short rib of beef is "rich, tender, elegant", and a Wicklow lamb and sweet potato curry "the epitome of comfort". Also getting the love was the bami goreng (noodles), nasi goreng (rice), sambal fries (yum) and kimchi (gut health ftw), and she gives it 8/10 for food, ambience and value. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda O'Sullivan lists 12 cafés to try in "fringe locations" in Dublin, and it's a pretty cracking list. She's certainly been doing her groundwork of late. Making the cut are a lot of our favourites, including Alma , Bread 41 , Gertrude and Nutbutter , and One Society gets its second nod of the week. Also mentioned is Bowls by Kwanghi Chan just off Parnell Street, Groundstate Coffee in Dublin 8, Industry (not a fringe location but still great), Koffee + Kale just off Dorset Street, Lilliput Stores and Mooz in Stoneybatter, and The Green Bean in Dun Laoghaire. You could do a lot worse than working your way through this list. (Not currently online). In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis visited the newly revamped Ely Wine Bar on Ely Place, finding it "buzzing". The food sounds good, with some great provenance including beef from the family farm, but there were a couple of "could do better"s including some "bland" scallops and a celeriac dish that needed some crunch. She calls the burger "one of the best in town" and they loved the desserts of poached rhubarb with rhubarb jelly and ice-cream. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley gives the new Alex Findlater & Co in Limerick a proper dressing down, by comparing their Oyster & Seafood Bar to a busy chipper, replete with the sounds and smells of deep-fat fryers on overdrive. And they couldn't even produce decent chips. The food sounds almost universally disappointing, except for a "decent enough" prawn cocktail, and "excellent" battered monkfish. A crab and salmon scotch egg (with potato to dilute the fish - why? Never mind, we know the answer) came with a "masala dressing" that sounds particularly woeful, with Tom comparing it to curry power mixed with catering mayonnaise and calling it "haunting". Just what you want from a review. Cod croquettes came filled with the same mashed potato as the scotch egg, and the aforementioned fries were "anaemic looking and deficient in that essential quality of crunch". Thankfully the service from their "outstanding" waitress was charming and efficient, but he says if they're planning on rolling this concept out, which has been suggested in the media, they need to have a long hard think about what the concept is. Interestingly, Gilian Nelis loved their "Grill Room" (in the same building) so much that she put it in her " Top 10 Restaurants of 2018 ". Confusingly inconsistent. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee had what sounds like an extremely frustrating meal at Greene's in Cork - it kind of sounds like he just wants to go in and sort it out himself. He'd heard they were targeting a Michelin star, but it doesn't sound like it's in reach based on this experience. Bad start when their confirmed window table wasn't available and no apology was offered in its place. Breads were "pleasing but unremarkable", and three amuse bouches (all meat) were "mildly pleasing at best". Spare a thought for his poor wife (a pescatarian) who had to settle for an "uninspiring" tomato-based soup. Starters were better, with celeriac and Ballyhoura mushroom cigars, and Goatsbridge trout two ways (pate and cured) "delicate, precise affairs", but more issues when the sommelier didn't know one of the wines on the list, and it ended up being a big fat disappointment. Even MORE disappointment that the only non-meat dish on the menu was a veggie risotto, so his wife ordered fish without the bacon it was supposed to come with, and they accidentally took the smoked sausage out of Joe's fish dish too. God it's exhausting even recounting this, imagine being there. He makes the valid point that faults like these are more pronounced when the food is this expensive, and you can read the full postmortem here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley was at Dalkey neighbourhood bistro De Ville's , where he found proper bistro food well-presented, and seemed happy to overlook some kitchen niggles due to the crackling atmosphere. Read that here . More next week.

It's a full run of new openings this week, with mostly wins, a couple of misses, and a major difference of opinion on one of Dublin's most talked about new restaurants. In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary boldly declares that newly opened Italian Grano in Stoneybatter does the best early bird in Dublin and gives it 9/10 (no arguments from us - read our review here ). She brought a "self-respecting Italian" along for verification purposes, and it all got the authenticity thumbs up. Cured meat from Puglia, Capocollo, was "utterly gorgeous", burrata was "a blister of deliciousness", and so was the frisella di farro - "you taste it and happiness happens". Pasta for mains was "comfort cooking". Scialatelli with anchovies, capers, pine nuts and breadcrumbs was "hearty", and pumpkin gnocchi with cream and fresh black truffle was "satisfyingly dense". Desserts of tiramisu, panna cotta and chocolate salami (much better than it sounds) all pleased the table too and she calls it "Terrific hand-made, home-cooked Italian food without shortcuts". We were actually in Grano the same night as CC and she and her buddies seemed to be having a roaring time. Just a shame that once again they didn't partake in Roberto's very special, and very well-priced wine list. More fool you guys. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams reviews Variety Jones , comparing 'experience' restaurants "with posh toilets, multimillion-euro budgets and boring or terrible food" (he names The Ivy and Café en Seine in case you're scratching your head) with "funky chef-run spaces where the food is the star — places like Variety Jones." No surprises, he loved it, but does issue a word of warning that you'll need a "very open mind" to partake in the 'natural' wine list - the rule of thumb with natural wines is, the younger you are, the less this will be a issue. A Flaggy Shore oyster with Vietnamese dressing and rye bread topped with goat cheese curds and trout caviar both "popped", and the chicken liver parfait had a "lovely lightness of touch" with contrasts from fried and pickled onions. The comté ravioli with mushrooms "raised the meal to another level", and a shared main of hearth-roasted brill kept it there. The only mild complaint was with a wine pairing for the pasta which it doesn't sound like they loved. An apple sponge cake came with a "star element" of brown butter custard, and he calls it "outstanding cooking", saying "do please visit as this is the kind of restaurant that deserves to thrive." Read his review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley reviews Gertrude , which opened just before Christmas on Pearse Street. He left very impressed, but we have to take issue with reviewing somewhere on the basis of two courses (three if you count nicking some of a neighbouring diner's dessert). Isn't the non-binding rule two people, three courses? Luckily for Gertrude the two dishes in question were A-rated, as was the manzanilla by the glass, which he calls "an indication that you are in a place that cares about wine and food" - agreed. Bacon and cabbage dumplings were "first rate", with the riff on a traditional Irish dish "inspired", a Tonkatsu pork sandwich was "rather lovely", and his neighbour's apple fritters were more like doughnuts and therefore "misleadingly flagged" but "fine", and that's all you're getting in terms of opinions on the food. He does say he wants to go back, so maybe we'll get the other half at a later stage, but in the meantime we did a lengthier dive into the menu at Gertrude which you can read here . (Review not currently online). In the Irish Independent , it's another disappointing review for Bowls from Katy McGuinness, albeit with the benefit of the doubt that things can get better. She blames owner Kwanghi Chan's absence for the underwhelming food that included an aubergine noodles bowl whose main vegetable was "a sludgy, watery mess", and came in broth which lacked flavour and with "fridge-cold broccoli". A beef brisket rice bowl was similarly bland and disappointing, and chicken and chive potstickers were "heavy, solid and lacking in flavour". The macau-style custard tarts were "pleasant" and she says that bearing in mind other reports (presumably including but not limited to being listed in this year's McKenna's Top 100 Restaurants in Ireland), what's missing in Bowls is rigour, and that Kwanghi himself should be there day in day out making sure that execution is up to scratch. She generously says that she has no doubt it can be consistently excellent if this happens, but for now gives the food 6/10. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda O'Sullivan was visiting recently opened Gigi in Ranelagh. We've heard little or nothing about it, which is surprising considering owner Giorgio Casari used to own The Unicorn , host to many visiting celebs and "legendary" long lunches during the Celtic Tiger era. They ordered pâté and an antipasti selection to start, but the latter was so huge and "splendiferous" that they cancelled the pâté. There's also an insinuation that he might have give them more than what's usually included, which makes no sense to us, as the critic ends up reviewing something the diner won't get. They liked their pasta with mussels and sliced, rare, picanha steak for mains, as well as the vibe and the Vermentino, and finished with a "luscious" tiramisu. She advises taking "your love" there for Valentine's Day to soak up the Italian charm, and if that too obvious and cringe for you we've put together an alternative list of choices here . (Review not currently online) In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis went to newly opened Lily's in Wicklow for Sunday lunch, and calls it the type of place she'd love to have at the bottom of her street - "Friendly, unpretentious and welcoming, but offering some really great food". Special mention for the homemade Guinness and olive breads, and the smoked salmon tartare with cucumber, avocado and dill. Read her review here . And in the Sunday Times Ernie Whalley's sounding particularly curmudgeonly in his review of Variety Jones - the first negative one they'd had. All seven national critics have now been in, the first six slinging praise all over the shop, so we're not sure what happened, but we're guessing it started with the natural wine list (see earlier comment) and went downhill from there. Read that here . More next week.

Chez Max , the French bistro with two city centre locations has closed its Baggot Street site. The restaurant announced the news on its Facebook page , saying that the team were "very sad" that the restaurant would be closing, but that the Palace Street site near Dublin Castle would remain open. Twelve months ago, the building that houses Chez Max was put on the market for €2.1 million. The annual reported rent was €90,000, but the estate agent advised there was “significant reversionary potential”. It was reported to be in "very good condition throughout". The café and shop above the Baggot Street restaurant will stay open for a few more weeks, and details for the remaining Palace Place site can be found here .

Ah Valentine’s Day. The romance, the Tesco flowers, the discount chocolates on the 15th that follow like a walk of shame the morning after... We're just gonna put it out there, Valentine’s Day is a really substandard day to go out with a loved one. Literally every other existing couple will be out, clogging up public spaces with over the top displays of affection and couple selfies on the Ha’Penny Bridge. If you insist on going out on the 14th, here are some places that aren’t the quintessential date spots - more places to go to avoid every other gag-inducing couple in Dublin, whether you're with your significant other, sparking the flames of a bromance or substituting the traditional day with Galentine's. Or just do yourselves a favour and go out on the 15th. Fish Shop on Benburb Street Sit at the bar in Fish Shop for a more romanticized version of fish and chips with a side of very delicious wine. The bar seats in Benburb Street mean that it won’t be as easy to stare into your loved one’s eyes all night, and let you focus on the person who really deserves your attention, the one pouring you wine. fish-shop.ie Assassination Custard If you want to avoid the masses and are actually planning a V-date earlier in the day, go here (it's lunch only). And if you haven’t been before, prepare to scold yourself for not coming any sooner. Eating at this corner café off Kevin Street feels like you’re in on a secret and the food is top notch. It’s BYOB, cash only and won't bleed your bank account dry. Sharing one of two tables is the norm, so it's guaranteed that goopy hand holding will be kept to a minimum. www.facebook.com/assassinationcustard Lucky Tortoise The dim sum spot on Aungier Street is way too cool for public displays of affection, and for €20 a head you get the full dim sum tasting menu, so perfect if you want to take someone out but don't want to forgo eating for the rest of the month. The fluffy bao buns are reason to go alone. www.luckytortoise.co Token Okay, the hipster arcade bar in Smithfield might be cramped with couples hogging the two-player Mario Kart, but this is a good place for a platonic friend date where you won't have to worry about how bad you are at Tetris. You can also avail of their Cheapskate deal, which includes a main, a side, a drink and 10 tokens for €20.95, without the fear of being judged. tokendublin.ie The Cupcake Bloke If you’re not up for a big night out (no shame) or single, fill the void of a relationship with half a dozen Valentine's themed cupcakes from The Cupcake Bloke ... or else give them to a loved one, we guess. Their cupcake aptly named ‘My Last Rolo’ really hits the feels, and their bouquet-like rose and champagne cupcakes are infinitely better than any other non-edible flower alternative. thecupcakebloke.com The Seafood Cafe Temple Bar might be a quarantine zone for touristic Valentine’s affection, but the Seafood Cafe can offer some respite from the overly hyped date night. Also, if getting lobster isn’t a usual option for you and your other half, why not splash out now, under the peer pressure of ‘the most romantic night of the year’. www.allthefood.ie/klaw-seafood-cafe Grano The new pasta bar in Stoneybatter serving Italian ingredients and house-made pasta is perfect for that hit of carbs and cheese without the paralysing portion sizes, unless you order a lot of courses - no judgment here. www.allthefood.ie/review-grano 777 Go for some tacos and if the date isn’t going as planned...stay for the margaritas. Whether you’re going with a significant other, on a bro date or with a gang of the girlos, you could do a lot worse than planning it around the margs and tacos in 777 . www.allthefood.ie/review-777 Loose Canon A good place to be reunited with cheese and wine, especially if you’ve been on Dry January. If you’re not someone who’s wine savvy, the cheese and natural wine fanatics at Loose Canon are very obliging at helping you around the menu, and it's a great place if you want to go ‘out’ but not ‘out out’. www.allthefood.ie/single-post/2018/07/11/Loose-Canon-Cheese-Wine-opens-on-Drury-Street Cliff Townhouse The Oyster Bar and Urchin Bar at the Cliff Townhouse will be serving their “Share the Love” seafood platter with crab claws, oysters, mussels and lobster, plus two glasses of bubbles, for €59 for the whole month of February, with €5 from each one going to Focus Ireland . Perfect if you want to celebrate the greeting card holiday but avoid the masses by going out on any day other than the 14th. clifftownhouse.ie

We've been getting requests for this one for a while, and as we're not members of the dog owner club, we thought we'd enlist Taurean Coughlan from Two Boys Brew / TAUR.ie , parent to Milo the beagle and Dublin coffee shop expert (and owner) to put it together for us. There really is nothing better than finding a new place in the city to grab a coffee, a spot of brunch or to just hang out with your friends. With the proliferation of new places opening up in Dublin at the moment, it’s hard not to find somewhere you’ve never tried. But what happens when like us two boys, you get yourself a new puppy and you’re left wondering where can we go now? Since Milo’s arrival, it’s been great to have been welcomed into so many of the places we love to visit, with the little lady. Below is just a small selection of some of the places we like to hit up during our days off and whether your fury friend is small, big or gigantic – you can be rest assured you’ll all be looked after extremely well. 1. Two Boys Brew Of course, she loves a trip to TBB to say hello to the team and chill while we grab a bite to eat. For the best part of putting down roots in Phibsborough, we have been dog friendly and it’s been great. We have so many customers who love to take their pup with them when going for a coffee or food and we love to see them! 2. Lilliput Stores Living in Stoneybatter, the Lilliput Stores is a godsend to those who love their food in this part of the city. Early morning walks with Milo usually begin with a trip there to grab a coffee and a small treat sometimes. These guys use Ariosa Coffee who are a wonderful roastery based in Ashbourne, Co. Meath. Their coffee packs a real punch and is just the thing needed before heading to the Phoenix Park for that long walk. As well a full deli offering, the store stocks everything from breads, cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables and the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar you’ll find. 3. The Fumbally Milo sure likes to walk, so it’s not unusual for us to make our way over to the other side of the city most weekends. The Fumbally is a perfect spot for us to visit as it’s so big that you can grab yourself a space in the corner and be confident that you’re not going to annoy anyone too close to you. We like to grab some coffees and lunch while Milo takes a well-deserved nap on one of the comfy sofas. That nap mightn’t last long, so we enjoy it while we can. 4. Proper Order Coffee Co. Proper Order Coffee Co . are just down the road from where we live in Smithfield so we visit them a few times a week. Milo’s been visiting Niall, Ali and the team there since she was tiny and it’s just a lovely place to relax during your morning coffee. They do a really nice selection of pastries and breads from Bread 41 throughout the week and don’t be surprised to see Milo nibbling away on a bit of a morning bun – she’s got a bit of a sweet tooth like her dads. 5. Two Pups Coffee Milo and I have spent many a morning in Two Pups over the last year and it’s great to visit during the week with your dog. We usually grab a seat by the window where Milo does some people watching down Francis St. while I try and sneak a bite of their Avo Toast (with that insanely delicious garlic peanut butter). They serve great coffee from a range of top roasters and make sure to grab one of their brownies – they’re so good. 6. Love Supreme Owners Ken and Katie have two gorgeous dogs of their own so naturally Love Supreme is a brilliant place for other dog owners. The team there are always lovely and they’ve got a great selection of sausage rolls, breakfast pies and cakes to tempt you while you order your coffee at the bar. Everything is made onsite and using the best quality ingredients available so definitely one to check out. 7. Meet Me In The Morning We’ve been massive fans of MMIM since the beginning and with Reference Coffee now part of the mix, we’re so glad we’re still able to visit and bring Milo along. Brian, Kevin and their team have created a wonderful space that serves insanely delicious food and their coffee is kept varied and international meaning you get to try a new roaster during each visit most times. 8. The Belfry I love The Belfry and thankfully it’s one of our locals. Since reopening, it’s become a real hotspot for locals and visitors alike who love the cosy space, its great drinks menu and the various food trucks that visit throughout the week. Whether its vegan burgers, pizza or falafel; you can grab yourself some food, a drink and relax with your fury friend in a really relaxing space. 9. 3fe (including Daniel) When we moved back to Dublin from Melbourne, 3fe was one of our regular destinations as it really reminded us of our favourite Melbourne cafes. The coffee, the space and the wonderful hustle and bustle is everything we love so it’s amazing to be able to visit them with Milo. While we don’t get to visit them as much as we like these days, we do visit Daniel often where the team there look after Milo with treats so we can take a minute to really enjoy our coffees and pastries. 10. Ariosa (not Dublin but a short train ride away) We love to bring Milo to Kevin’s family home just outside Drogheda as much as we can, where she gets to play with his brother's dog Alfie. Both of them run the legs off themselves, and once its nap time we’re in the car down the road to visit Ariosa for a coffee and a piece of cake. Having grown up in Drogheda, speciality coffee shops were few and far between, so it’s now amazing to have somewhere like Ariosa right in the middle of town. And….. The Fat Fox! Since her first trip to meet Claire, Rob and Jack nearly a year ago, Milo’s visited The Fat Fox quite a bit - each time a little bigger. They’re all mad about dogs so it was a wonderful spot to bring her during our walks around the city as she was showered with cuddles and kisses. It was sad to see these guys having to close on Camden Row last year but be assured that they're working so hard to get those doors re-opened and will be back with a bang in a fantastic new location soon. We can’t wait!

Met Éireann had us bracing us for winter like Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. Bread quivered in its packaging on supermarket shelves, wine bottles rattled, students and workers alike anticipated a solid three days off once again. So when the big freeze never came, it was a bit of a let down. The country didn’t shut down, the heating bill stayed up and it’s still feckin cold outside, but the bread and wines stocks are safe for now. Still suffering from snowy PTSD after not stockpiling food properly last year, here are some dishes that we want to have in our ice bunker for the next winter outbreak, which should be coming any week now. 1. Beef Brisket Ramen from the Ramen Bar Now that there’s no sign of a weather traffic-light warning, it’s safe to go outside and find warm, comforting bowls of ramen, like this beef brisket bowl from The Ramen Bar on South William Street. www.allthefood.ie/the-ramen-bar 2. Cauliflower Wings in Vish Shop If you missed these in Eatyard, you have a second chance ever since Vish Shop opened on Dorset street. These cauliflower wings are pretty impressive and while they might not be directly related to their meaty cousin, they definitely hit the satisfaction spot. www.facebook.com/Vish.Shop 3. Craft's Peanut Butter Tart This peanut butter tart with salted peanut praline and rhubarb jam from neighbourhood favourite Craft in Harold's Cross, is perfect for putting on those extra layers of insulation to keep the cold away. www.allthefood.ie/craft 4. Barolo Risotto with Gorgonzola, Walnuts and Radicchio from Crudo Crudo at Dunne & Crescenzi in Sandymount, is making risotto sexy again. Barolo and arborio rice is the alcohol-carb marriage we didn’t know we needed. www.dunneandcrescenzi.com 5. Any Meltdown Toastie And in a glorious return for those who were on the Veganuary path for the last month (or for those returning from Dry January - they’re open late) ... welcome back to real life. We’d like to direct you towards any cheese filled toastie from Meltdown in Temple Bar. www.facebook.com/meltdowndub

Cotto , Stoneybatter's go-to spot for pizza and brunch, has closed today after three years in business. Owners Conor Higgins and Amie Costello, who also own café Oxmantown , which has two branches in Dublin 7, have told followers that the building has been sold, and despite hoping for their tenancy to continue, they received very short notice that it wouldn't be possible. Cotto opened in January 2016 to very positive reviews, and initially built up a business for sandwiches by day and pizza by night. The introduction of weekend brunch proved to be just as popular, and they had a very loyal following in the community as one of Stoneybatter's best places to eat . Writing on Instagram they said, "We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every customer who has made Cotto an overwhelming success for our little family over the last 3 years. We would also like to thank our amazing team in the kitchen and front of house who made it all possible. Thanks to our neighbours, friends and family for all of your support. We are heartbroken and we will be taking some time to pick up the pieces. But we hope to be back in action again soon, so watch this space... 🖤. Love, Conor, Amie, Ruby and Elliot."

The poor Shelbourne Social heads aren't having the best weekend. They've already had two ropey reviews from Lucinda and Gillian , and this weekend they've had another two, from Catherine and Katy. After an estimated €2 million investment, this isn't really what you were hoping for. In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary calls it a "deep dive into Tiger 2.0" and compares it to a Mercedes showroom. Like the other reviewers she thought the lengthy menu needed a sat nav, and seems a bit put out by the all-male staff, who pronounced each dish brought to the table as "brilliant" or "amazing" - sounds a bit carry-on-esque - but it wasn't all bad. The hot curd bread we've been lusting after was "fiendishly delicious", but a bowl of egg, artichoke crisps and trout roe that the chef sent out with it would have been nice were it warm, but it was cold, and presumably meant to be that way - no one sends mistakenly cold food out to Catherine Cleary. She liked a plate of wild forest mushrooms with Tete de Moine cheese, and pork belly with baby squid and blackened Jerusalem artichoke was the dish of the night, but scallops in a gluey almond cream were "a curious mess", and a crispy rice hot pot came with "wonderful" prawns, and "good" softshell crab, but after a corn mole was poured over it by McGrath himself, ended as "a hot mess ... a tepid soup" - nightmare. She describes her dessert of soft serve, smoked banana ice-cream with miso caramel as "a car crash" and "nobody's idea of a good time", and says that while there are "true flashes of brilliant cooking ... the swerves from delicious to disaster feel dizzying." This all added up to a score of 6.5/10, and you can read the full autopsy here . More bad news in the Irish Independent , with Katy McGuinness calling the Ballsbridge boyo's club over-wrought, over-chummy and over-lit. Even before getting there she found the restaurant's website "migraine-inducing", singling out the random, pulsating graphics in the auto-play video - how had we not noticed this?? Join the Tupac party here . She felt they were pushed upstairs for a cocktail (gotta love the up-sell), before coming down to attempt to make sense of a menu "desperate to be different". Major cringe when reading that the waiter attempted to memorise their order rather than partaking in the inconvenience of writing it down, which ended up in one dish not arriving, and two interruptions to double check the order. Pre-school stuff people. She also thought the hot curd bread was "delicious", but Dexter beef tartare had too much going on, and burrata with truffle sauce was "woefully over-chilled". Sirloin on the bone lacked flavour, and she felt that the food was becoming indistinguishable, with eating starting to feel like a chore. Ouch. Wild forest mushrooms with Madeira and pickled pistachio was "bland", potato purée with gribiche-dressed beans and egg yolk "weird", and hazelnut chocolate meringue "dull", but the chef sent out a complimentary bowl of that car crash smoked banana ice-cream, which they actually found "delightful", calling it the high point of the meal. Different chef? Different tastes? She gives the food, ambience and value 5/10, and makes it four disappointing reviews out of four for McGrath. Read it here . It's a much better weekend for Variety Jones , who can now add Lucinda O'Sullivan to their growing number of super fans, which appears to include 99% of the people who have eaten there. There are not one but two digs at Press Up this week (more on that later), with Lucinda declaring herself sick of "the faceless, formulaic format of Instagram-perfect spectacular decor matched with food that is 'middling'" - aren't we all Lucinda - and calls Variety Jones, with its "edgy up-and-coming location" a joy to visit. She calls everything "classically cool and delicious", including "sublime" foie gras and chicken liver paté, and everyone's favourite blackened cauliflower which was "gloriously enhanced" with burnt yeast, sea trout, brown butter and salmon roe (above). A sharing main of sole was again "sublime", and despite the €50 price tag she calls it "the bargain of the year". Treacly Jamaica cake for dessert was "indulgent" and the wine "delicious", and she ends by saying: "Go now. Soon you won't be able to bag a table here for love nor money." With talk of them currently being booked out weeks in advance we'd say she's probably right on that one. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley reviews Bowls , Kwanghi Chan's new Asian rice and noodle bowl joint just off Parnell Street. The headline of "Lick your bowl clean" sounds like it's going to be a home run, but he's actually pretty critical, calling the dumplings "too doughy to write home about", but Asian chicken broth was "very good", and the wok-fried prawns with XO sauce and real depth of flavour the best thing they ate. A char siu pork rice bowl was "pretty good" and "remarkable value" at €9.95 for the amount of food, but a BBQ pork bowl was "dry, tame and timid", with the highlight being the miso roasted aubergine. A Portugese-style custard tart for €2.80 was good (although he does compare it to Lidl's which are 3 for €2 - bit unfair?), and he says it feels like a chain but without the wow-factor needed to make it work. (Review not currently online) In the Sunday Business Post Gillian Nelis gives another thumbs up to the food at the newly reopened Café en Seine . Despite some slightly lacking service and cramped tables the food impressed across the board, with highlights including warm crab rolls, pappardelle with walnut, chestnut mushrooms and an egg cooked in brown butter, and black pudding sausage rolls. The only disappointment was a chocolate and raspberry ice cream sandwich for dessert which was "unmemorable", and she ends by saying: "It goes to show that it’s far from impossible to marry good food with swanky decor, a task that seems to be beyond many others in the capital at the minute." Meow (and also, well said). Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee was dragging out the festive season at Blackrock Castle Café , who still had their lights up and brussel sprouts on the menu in late January. Respect. Overall it sounds liked a solid B - very good, but could do better. A pork wellington with mushroom duxelle was tender and well-cooked, but came with weary potatoes - "top drawer" sautéed sprouts went some way to make up for it. Marinated chicken with stuffing was "very decent", but came with under roasted veg and disappointing red cabbage. A gamekeeper’s pie with venison, pheasant and wild boar had "thumping unami notes" but overwhelmed the non-wintry sounding ‘winter greens’ of sprouting broccoli and mangetout, and the dish of the night was a seafood pie, "a savoury-sweet prawn bisque with a lid of potato and kale galette". Service was very good and the venue "a delight", and he gives it 7.5/10. Read his review here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley visits Green Man Wines in Terenure, which reminds him of those wine bars in rural France with simple, well-cooked food and good wine. If only every neighbourhood had one. Read that here . More next week.

Tiller + Grain, a new café from ex- Ottolenghi chef Clair Dowling, opens on South Frederick Street today, with slow cooked meats, whole baked fish and lots of salads. Dowling, who previously worked as a surveyor before chucking it in to become a chef, spent the last five years in London working for Ottolenghi, Richard Corrigan and Spring by Skye Gynell . She moved home to Dublin six months ago and managed to secure a city centre site in record time. The name comes from the people who farm the land and what they reap from it, and all of the food is Irish where possible, including all meats and seasonal fruits and vegetables. The menu will change depending on the time of year, but in Winter breakfast will include blood orange and cardomom porridge, apple and vanilla overnight oats and Bread Nation pastries, and lunch will have hot dishes including slow-cooked ox shin, whole poached salmon and borlotti bean curry, as well as salads like farro, olives, tarragon, radicchio and preserved lemon, and roasted onion and butternut squash with mint and herb yoghurt, nigella seeds and pickled chillies. They're also doing sandwiches like slow-cooked pork with kewpie mayo and pickled cucumber, and slow-cooked lamb with harissa mayo and pickled red onions, both on Bread Nation sourdough. All of their packaging is compostible and they're taking a hard line with suppliers to avoid the use of any single use plastic. Coffee is coming in cans from Imbibe , all delivery containers are returned to be reused, and much of it is coming in glass or paper. To ensure that remains the case they have no waste bin, only recycling and composting. There's also a discount for keep cup users and a drinking water tap for people to fill their own containers. Dowling says she wants to serve "feel-good food" that nourishes people and makes them feel great, and is always looking for ways to get more nutrition into dishes. Once up and running they plan to expand to an early evening take away service, for people wanting to bring dinner home with them. Tiller + Grain is open from Monday to Saturday from 07:30. Closing times currently TBC. Tiller + Grain 23 Frederick Street South, Dublin 2 Mon - Sat 07:30 - TBC. tillerandgrain.ie

This week's winners are undoubtedly Variety Jones and Bowls by Kwanghi Chan , who not only got stonking write ups this weekend in the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner, but also made it onto the McKenna's "Best Restaurants in Ireland 2019" list - no small feat after only opening last month. However, it hasn't been such a good week for others. In the Irish Independent, Katy McGuinness gives the food at Variety Jones 9/10, calling it "nigh on perfect". That's four achingly positive reviews so far for Keelan Higgs and team, and we have it on authority that the other three critics featured here have also been in, so there's more to come. Despite arriving in a grump as they had no record of her reservation (major oopsy), the situation was quickly rescued by charming staff and "impeccable" food. Grilled cauliflower with burnt yeast, trout, brown butter and fish roe was "so full of flavour that we plead for spoons for the sauce" (been there, done that ), and comté ravioli with hearth roasted and pickled mushrooms was "exquisite". They loved the whole sole grilled on the hearth, and the warm potato and eel salad - "beyond in terms of flavour". She calls cavolo nero grilled over ashes "a revelation" and "utterly delicious", and a cheese plate and dessert of Jamaica cake were "excellent" and "just right". They thought the wine list was cleverly curated, and her only gripe was the sparse room with nowhere to hang her coat, but she calls the food "outstanding". (Review not currently online but should be soon here ). In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan goes no holds barred, declaring Dylan McGrath's Shelbourne Social "fur coat and no knickers". It's not quite as bad as Gillian Nelis' one a few week's ago, but they certainly won't be celebrating it with a bottle of champagne. She says that due to her slating of Fade Street Social in November, she wasn't expecting the red carpet to be rolled out when she rocked up on their first night open, but McGrath is a professional and gave her a warm welcome - not sure that will be the case next time. She sounds unimpressed that the foie gras with the hot curd bread was just a grating over the top, and her friend's crab dish had too much rice mixed in which she says felt like padding. She was irritated at how many mains were for two or four people, but settled on a crispy rice pot with prawns, soft-shell crab, corn and mole which was "tasty enough", while her friend enjoyed her wild forest mushrooms with madeira, pickled pistachios and Tete de Moine cheese. The service was excellent but they found the menu too complicated and the food over-priced - special mention for the €160 shortrib. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams visited newly opened Bowls by Kwanghi Chan just off Parnell Street in Dublin's China town, and says if he had a spare million he'd set up a chain of them. They loved the dim sum, which included "excellent" chicken and scallion pot stickers, and "lovely" shrimp dumplings, while crispy prawns with XO sauce and Chinese sherry (eh, yum) had "excellent contrasting flavours and textures". They found the baked char siu buns the least interesting, with a "rather light" filling of pork. They were big fans of both the rice and noodle bowls, with the 5 spice pulled brisket "rich and satisfying", and the BBQ rubbed pork and aubergine having a "gorgeous smoky character". The best had soy and rice wine chicken thighs with kimchi, pickled enoki mushrooms, chilli sauce and mixed seeds with wheat noodles and chicken broth, and he says it's this he'll be going back for. They finished with custard tarts, "enough of a reason to visit on their own", and he says Bowls is "warmly recommended". Read his review here . In the Irish Daily Mail Tom Doorley gives the restaurant in the newly reopened Cafe en Seine a big thumbs up. It's had a mixed response, with Lucinda O'Sullivan calling the food "insanely good" and Leslie Williams finding it all a bit underwhelming, but Tom's with Lucinda. He calls the menu "delightful" with "first rate execution" in an environment that feels decadent. For someone with a "notoriously small appetite" they got through a hella lot of food, including "gloriously savoury duck wings", scallops with merguez sausage - "explosions of layered flavour" - and a "deeply comforting" Jerusalem artichoke, spinach, cream and cheese dip with housemade tortilla chips. Tuna sashimi with watermelon and ponzu was melt in the mouth, but he didn't appreciate the dark dish it came served on, which made it "unattractive to look at". And after all that they stormed into a côte de bœuf, which was immaculately cooked, "bloody and minerally inside" - not sure how appetising a description that is - and worth the €70 price tag apparently, even if the chips it came with were "undistinguished". €4 million well spent it seems. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary must have needed an antidote to all the "new" of late, as she kicks it right back with a visit to The Cedar Tree on St. Andrew's Street. She starts with a really lovely story about a friend of a friend who was also at dinner, who's living in direct provision and making the best of a less than ideal situation, and it's worth a read. Generally she liked the food, but nothing seemed to wow, and she gives it 7/10. Hummus was creamy and tabbouleh the real deal ("almost entirely green"), and a chicken kafta sausage with spiced potato cubes was "the best kind of chicken and chips". A chicken shawarma was "generously portioned", and falafel were "nutty and tasty", with the only let down being a tomato salad where the tomatoes tasted old. Assorted baklava to finish were more nutty than sweet, and she says The Cedar Tree feels as old as the hills in the mosaics on the walls, "where little has changed over the years. And these days that feels like no bad thing." Read her review here . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis marvels at the value to be found in the €20 dim sum menu at Lucky Tortoise . High points included "delicious" Okonomiyaki, char siu buns and kimchi and peanut slaw. She says that LT's Thom Lawson joins a group of independent operators going their own way and providing, good, fairly priced food in chandelier-free premises. Amen to that. Read her review here . No review in the Sunday Times today as it's the annual McKenna's "100 Best Restaurants in Ireland 2019". There are 32 restaurants in Dublin and you can see the full list here , but new additions include Variety Jones (just one month after opening), Overends Kitchen at Airfield , Bowls by Kwanghi Chan , Fowl Play , Host , Locks , One Pico , The Seafood Café , Shouk , Two Boys Brew and Uno Mas . Dropped from last year's list to make room for the newbies are Amuse, Brother Hubbard, Ely Wine Bar, Fish Shop, Heron & Grey (closed and reopening as Liath in March), Hey Donna (closed), Hugo's, Klaw, L. Mulligan Grocer, O'Connell's, Osteria Lucio, Storyboard and The Winding Stair. Get all the details here . More next week.

In January we tend to get wrapped up in ourselves. Physically, because it’s cold and you want to put that Christmas scarf to good use, and mentally, because January is a time of reflection, or really just a time for comparing ourselves to others, pledging a career change and wishing we could move house. To make ourselves feel more positive this month, we put a shout out for people and places in the food and drink industry in Dublin that give back to their communities and set an example for all of us, so if we're going to compare ourselves to anyone during this blue month, it's going to be them. Passion 4 Food The Turkish kebab shop with branches on Clanbrassil Street and Camden Street has acquired something of a cult following, and last summer started an initiative to provide free meals to the homeless on Mondays and Tuesdays. They also provide meals for volunteers who feed the homeless in the city centre, as well as bringing food to sick children and their parents at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin. www.passionforfoodtakeaway.com Food For Thought Chef Daniel Hannigan (currently at Richmond ) has been running Food For Thought pop-up dinners for the past year to raise money for mental health charity 3ts , and he's managed to rope in some of the best chefs in the city to work for free. They've raised €12,000 so far and it doesn't look like he's stopping any time soon. Their next event, a dinner in L'Ecrivain on February 3rd, sold out in minutes. www.instagram.com/foodforthought__17 Imbibe Coffee Roasters Imbibe in Dublin 8 donate 1% of their sales to Women's Aid , an organisation that works to end domestic violence against women and children. They've provided staff and free coffee for Food For Thought events, with the proceeds going to suicide prevention and mental health charities, and they've recently launched "coffee in cans" for their wholesale customers, collecting, cleaning and refilling them when they're done, making the whole process zero waste. ​imbibe.ie One Society Café The Gardiner Street café has been running their ‘Caffeinate and We Donate’’ initiative since they opened in November, where they donate 10c from every cup of tea and coffee sold to Temple Street Children’s Hospital. www.onesociety.ie Stampify Stampify is a scheme where users are able to donate meals to charity by completing a Stampify loyalty card in participating restaurants and cafés, which include Dublin Barista School , Third Space , Meltdown and the newly opened Flax & Beets . For every completed card, the restaurant and café partners make a donation to Stampify’s affiliated charity, Mary’s Meals , which provides enough funding to feed a child for a week in their place of education. stampify.ie Third Space Social business venture and café Third Space run monthly ‘Square Meals’ dinners on the last Friday of the month, where diners pay what they think the meal was worth, and all proceeds go to that month's charity. They provide the food for free and staff volunteer their time. thirdspace.ie Nick's Coffee Nick's in Ranelagh offers free coffee to over 65’s, and only charge nurses and emergency service staff €1 for coffee. They also gave €1 teas and coffees to all women on last year's International Women's Day. www.facebook.com/NicksCoffeeCompanyLtd/ Bang Bang Bang Bang in Phibsborough is the local shop every community should have. They're a real community hub in the area, and are constantly raising money for charity, including the Peter McVerry Trust, the Irish Traveler Movement, Together for Yes, The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Inner City Helping Homeless. They sell t-shirts for asylum seeks, give out free dignity packs for the homeless, and with the help of the local community, collected and delivered Christmas presents for 82 children in the Direct Provision Centre in Clondalkin last December. Heroes. Check out this lovely video about them from The People We Meet . bangbang.ie Skinny Batch This Rush café provides free porridge and fresh fruit to children up to 18 from 8 - 9am on school mornings. No questions asked and it’s BYOC - bring your own container. skinnybatch.com BuJo Since it opened in late 2017, Bujo in Sandymount has been helping out the community at every opportunity possible. From giving food to the Capuchin Day Centre and other charities, donating prizes for local events, and helping to physically clean up the area, the work that Bujo has done and continues to do to help the surrounding community is endless. They're also an amazing example of how to operate a sustainable restaurant, with all of their packaging compostible, and their electricity coming from renewable sources generated from composted waste. So they're basically making the world a better place for all of us. ​bujo.ie Inner City Helping Homeless Multiple cafes and restaurants around town have been working to raise money for Inner City Helping Homeless . Two Boys Brew organised a collection at the café for ICHH in the run up to Christmas, with food, clothing and personal hygiene products being donated by the surrounding community. Plans are underway for another collection, details of which will be communicated through their social media. Wishbone on Montague Street donated a day’s worth of profits to ICHH last December, for the second year in a row, and on Black Friday last November, Fire on Dawson Street donated 10% of all online gift voucher sales to ICHH. So there are a few reasons to feel more positive during these cold, dark January days. Know any other food or drink businesses doing nice things? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

Ah Sunday. The day of rest. Or for many of us, the day of eating and drinking everything around you in order to forget that you have to go to work again tomorrow. To add insult to injury, Sunday is notoriously bad for finding somewhere good to eat, as many sensible restaurateurs and chefs shut up shop due to also having families and friends that they like to spend time with, but every week we field desperate instagram messages from people (many of whom are restaurateurs and chefs come to think of it) wandering hopelessly around town not knowing which door to knock on. So consider your problems solved. 1. Grano Neighbourhood restaurant Grano has dived into our favourite restaurants in Dublin this week (read our full review here ), and we're struggling to think of a better end to the week than stuffed artichokes, spicy nduja and guanciale pasta. www.grano.ie 2. Mad Egg Mad Egg have perfected their fried chicken, and the fact that it's Irish and free-range makes us very happy. The Charlotte Way branch is also a perfect stop off on the way to see a movie in The Stella to really round Sunday off in style. www.allthefood.ie/mad-egg 3. Wilde 1930's-style Wilde at The Westbury is a great spot if you're after fine dining, or have someone to impress. Steak and seafood reign supreme, and any excuse to go for a cocktail in The Sidecar works for us. www.allthefood.ie/wilde 4. Klaw Niall Sabongi's Temple Bar seafood shack Klaw is a consistenty dependable place for fresh seafood in the city. He's also been known to get the blow torch out which we imagine is handy for keeping warm on those cold winter nights. www.allthefood.ie/klaw 5. The Saddle Room A few months ago Catherine Cleary called The Saddle Room in The Shelbourne "Dublin's best Sunday-night dining secret" - if that's not testimonial enough nothing is. The room is complete with super swanky golden booths and the menu is big on Irish produce, with different seasonal ingredients championed throughout the year. www.allthefood.ie/the-saddle-room 6. Old Town Chinese Authentic Sichuan cooking on Capel Street, where most of the clientele are Chinese. Dumplings are a must, but follow the chef's recommendations if you want the real deal. www.allthefood.ie/old-town-chinese 7. Peploe's Peploe's has gotten a new lease of life since chef Graeme Dodril took over the kitchen last year. What was previously seen as a den for business meetings and ladies who lunch, is now being talked about as somewhere that's seriously upped its game. Classic bistro cooking with lots of Irish seafood and meat. www.allthefood.ie/peploes 8. Pho Ta This lovely Vietnamese in Temple Bar does really tasty food at really cheap prices, and with €5 corkage you can keep the weekend going right up until 10pm when they'll kick you out. www.allthefood.ie/pho-ta 9. Osteria Lucio Another Italian favourite of ours, Osteria Lucio uses the best ingredients in their simply prepared but totally delicious dishes. Staff are lovely and the wine list is ace. Read our review here . www.allthefood.ie/osteria-lucio 10. Bunsen Everyone's favourite straight-up burger joint is open seven days a week, and with four Dublin locations (and more in the works) there's bound to be at least one you can get to. www.bunsen.ie 11. Sano An often-mentioned contender in the "best pizza in Dublin" debate, Sano 's pizzas are typically Neapolitan in style and extremely cheap, priced at €6 - €12. A good option for when you overspent on Friday and Saturday. www.allthefood.ie/sano 12. The Woollen Mills The menu at The Woollen Mills is a real crowd-pleaser so good if you have fussy eaters in tow or just can't decide what you want. There's everything from butternut squash bahji to whiskey and marmalade bacon ribs to Dublin coddle, and Elaine Murphy and Co are the original Irish food champions. www.allthefood.ie/the-woollen-mills 13. Rosa Madre A great Sunday night seafood option, owner Luca takes a lot of pride in sourcing the freshest fish for his Temple Bar restaurant. Pasta is excellent and there's an extensive wine list. www.allthefood.ie/rosa-madre 14. Dillinger's American inspired Dillinger's in Ranelagh has all of your Sunday soakage, like burgers, BBQ ribs and chicken wings. The nachos are legendary and they also do their sister restaurant 777 's famous margaritas. Bring it on. www.allthefood.ie/dillingers 15. Manifesto When you ask Italians where they go for real Italian food in Dublin, Manifesto comes up again and again. Owner Lucio's pizzas have won gold at the Pizza World Championships and he has a stellar Italian wine selection upstairs that not many people seem to know about. www.allthefood.ie/manifesto Where's your favourite Sunday night spot? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.

Flax and Beets , a new café focusing on "functional food" has opened in the Powerscourt Centre . Qualified personal trainer Jessica Nolan says she was getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to get a salad in Dublin and know exactly what was in it in terms of nutrition and energy, as well as seeing fake health claims, or dishes held up as healthy when in reality they're not, so she decided to open her own café to fill the gap. The menu was created by nutritional therapist and 'medicinal chef' Rachel Graham, and full ingredient details as well as the nutritional information for each one is provided. At present there are three salads to pick from, two with chicken and one vegan, as well as raw desserts like almond butter cups and cheesecake, and cold pressed juices. The entire menu is sugar free and they don't have any on site, so if you want some for your coffee it's BYOS. They cater for vegans, coeliacs and anyone on a raw food diet (wonder if that'll be the next trend after veganism), and they say they're hoping to educate their customers about why health food ingredients like kale are actually good for them. They also want to show people that nutritious food doesn't have to be "bland and boring". We particularly like that the salads come in glass jars (high fives for cutting down on plastic) and if you bring it back you'll get 50c off your next salad. Win win. They're also planning events including fitness classes, yoga brunches, nutrition talks and cooking demos, so if that sounds interesting keep an eye on their social media for more details. Flax and Beets 2nd Floor, Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2 Mon – Wed 10:00 - 18:00, Thu 10:00 - 20:00. Fri 10:00 - 18:00. Sat 09:00 – 18:00. Sun 12:00 – 18:00. www.instagram.com/flax_and_beets

We will soon be leaving the January blues and entering the fangirlisation of seasonal produce. Purple sprouting broccoli, wild garlic and asparagus will be all the rage in the coming months, and the hot produce of the moment is the humble (brag) blood orange. More appealing than a grapefruit (pun intended) and more instagrammable than an orange, we are big fans. Gram at the ready, here are 5 blood orange dishes we’d like to eat this week. 1. Sceal Bakery's Blood Orange Danish Worth dragging yourself out of bed and trekking across town for one, no one makes pastries quite like Scéal. You can find them at the new Naomh Olaf Farmers Market on Fridays in Stillorgan, as well as at the Stoneybatter Market at Pender’s Yard on Saturdays...double the pastry coverage. www.scealbakery.com 2. Tang’s Blood Orange Fever Tang has gone so far as to populate multiple dishes on their menu with blood oranges, making sure that you reach your seasonal fruit quota. You can find fresh blood orange on their granola, salad bowls and buckwheat pancakes. Breakfast, lunch and dinner sorted. www.tang.ie 3. Blood Orange Choux Buns from Chapter One Blood orange does fine dining with Chapter One ’s next petit four. The choux buns are topped with a blood orange zest cookie and filled with blood orange jam and a barley and buttermilk cream... *looks in wardrobe for fanciest outfit* www.chapteronerestaurant.com 4. Gralinn’s Cocoa Custard with Blood Orange Marmalade and Sesame Crunch A posh jaffa cake in a bowl, this is definitely not like the jar of marmalade you’ve forgotten about in the back of your cupboard. You can find this dessert at MVP where Grálinn are currently doing a residency, and maybe if we're lucky, at their first supper club next week at Elmhurst Cottage Farm. www.facebook.com/GralinnLtd 5. Five Points' Blood Orange Breakfast Bowl So we may have used Five Points in our last ‘ 5 Things We Want To Eat ’ but how could we leave this out of a blood orange round up? The kitchen minds at FP have made their brioche French toast with housemade mint and lemon ricotta, blood orange curd and fresh blood orange, and it's pretty much all we can think about. www.facebook.com/fivepointshx

Some more new openings to get your teeth into this week, including the best fiver you can spend in Dublin right now, the dumplings not to be missed and the octopus that was thankfully killed before being put on the plate, but more on that later. Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times found "fire and flavour" at Variety Jones , and says it's already one of her meals of the year. Quite the statement with it only being the third week in January. She describes the interior as "a bare bones decor job", but says the craftsmanship is in chef Keelan Higgs' food, and the Vietnamese Pacific oysters are "probably the best €5 purchase on any Dublin menu." Spaghetti Alfredo was "one of the best you'll eat anywhere", and a sharing platter of venison came with caramelised celeriac, charred hispi cabbage and "fabulous" mushrooms, saying "wild meat doesn't get any better than this." She was rumbled when the chef's brother Aaron (front of house) realised that they were very distantly related, and we can only imagine how awkward that encounter was. They stuck to sparkling water, as is the status quo in much of the Times' reviews these days, and because CC won't tell you we'll have to - Variety Jones has one of the most interesting wine lists in the city right now - go and make the most of it. Live your lives. Read her review here . Another new opening from Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent who was at Gertrude on Pearse Street (read our take on it here ). She said she didn't wait long enough before paying them a visit, but we think a month is enough time to get your house in order. She praises the fact that Gertrude is "hot on provenance", and advises not to miss the bacon and cabbage dumplings (we concur), or the tonkatsu pork sandwich, which is the dish she says they'd go back for. A game pie was generous with great pastry, but she found the duck buns too dry, the butternut squash gnocchi unexciting, and the seared lamb tartare "curiously unbalanced". Apple fritters and custard for dessert were "divine", while a brown sugar tart had a luscious filling but under-cooked pastry. She describes the wine list as "one of the most interesting I've encountered in a long time" (no sparkling water here thankfully), but she does find the mark ups hard to swallow, particularly given the more casual vibe, and thinks they need more lower priced options. She gives them 7/10 for food, ambience and value. Read her review here . In the Sunday Independent Lucinda O'Sullivan reviews Uno Mas . She ate there almost two months ago in their first week of opening, so we were starting to think she'd ditched it altogether. No surprises here, she loved it as much as everyone else, particularly the morcilla, piquillo pepper and fried quail's eggs, and the chargrilled octopus with crispy kale and violet garlic aioli. She was also relieved that the octopus was served well done, and not alive on the plate as it is in Korea - apparently the suckers can stick to your throat on the way down. Hungry? Mussels came in a "delicious" smoky sauce, and a mushroom main with chestnut, Jerusalem artichoke purée and slow-cooked egg was "a delicious combination" - lots of deliciousness. A chocolate and olive oil ganache dessert was "guaranteed to send chocoholics off their heads", and she was mucho impressed at the amount of wines under €40 on the list. She calls it "an absolute gem". (Review not currently online) In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley jumps on the city's current pizza obsession, tracing its Dublin roots back to a café on South Anne Street in 1962. After all that digging he was hungry so went to Boco to try theirs. We've had a few people messaging us about Boco saying it's a contender for best in the city, and Tom was impressed, calling the pizzas "dead sound". Despite taking slight issue with the fact that their tomato sauce isn't cooked down as he likes it, a combination of ricotta, fennel sausage, red onion and chilli "worked well", and another with black pudding, goat's cheese, proscuitto and rocket with Highbank Orchard apple syrup was "a symphony, cleverly judged, indulgent". The best came with roasted garlic olive oil, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, bresaola, rocket and herby salsa - and no tomato sauce. A Bean and Goose chocolate selection made to look like a cheese board was "witty and rather wonderful" and he says they left "very well fed". (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner Joe McNamee reckons he's found "some of the finest coffees to be drunk in Cork" at Duke's Coffee Company , over a lunch that was supposed to be child-free, until one of them feigned sickness to get out of school - nicely played. The food sounds a bit carbon copy café - Cajun chicken sandwich fillings are still a thing! - but he describes it as "very solid comfort food". Falafel with couscous and tzatziki was "a cracker", but a quiche was leathery, with disappointing coleslaw. A strawberry sponge affair "mightily pleased" his wife, while his own ginger cake was good but was too light and gently spiced for his tastes (he should try the one at Variety Jones , there's no going back), but says the true stars are the coffees - which maybe doesn't say a whole pile for the food, which he gives 7/10. Read his review here . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis is in Belfast at The Muddlers Club , where she finds "a very modern and gloriously unstuffy take on fine dining". We're planning a trip just for the Wicklow venison carpaccio with beetroot slices, artichoke cream and artichoke crisps. Read her review here . Finally in the Sunday Times , Ernie Whalley reviews new Italian pasta spot Grano in Stoneybatter, wondering how they get so much flavour into the wild boar tortellini. Read that here . We have our own review on Grano in this Tuesday's mail out, so if you're not already signed up you can do so here . More next week.

Wing It , the chicken wing specialists, which opened in Tallaght in 2014, and has also been available at Eatyard for the past two years, will open their first city centre site on George's Street at 5pm today. The two floor, 60 seater site, which was previously home to Camera Exchange, has taken them three years to find, and features art work from local artists on the walls. The menu features three types of wings - regular, boneless and even vegan (made from wheat protein by Moodley Manor ) with 16 different flavours, including medium and spicy buffalo, Teeling whiskey BBQ and mango habanero. They also do burgers, 'loaded fries' and nachos. Wing It was started after founders Sebastian Conway and Tim Cole were travelling in the States and came back thinking that Dublin was missing a chicken wing specialist. They started testing various cooking methods and flavours at food markets and festivals, before settling on recipes for their regular and boneless wings. Their buffalo wings were crowned winners at Bray's Wings Food Fest in 2017, and taking a pitch at Eatyard allowed them to dip a toe in the city centre market and build up a following there before opening their own central space. Wing It on George's Street opens at 5pm today, and will be open from 12pm daily from tomorrow onwards. They'll also be available again from Eatyard when it reopens in mid-February. Wing It 63 South Great Georges St, Dublin 2 Mon - Sun 12pm - late www.wingit.ie

Alma , a new Argentinean Café with dulce de leche pancakes and eggs with steak and chimichurri on the menu, opens in Portobello today. Alma is a proper family affair, owned by Argentinean couple Alejandro and Lucrecia, with their four daughters also involved, as manager, assistant manager, front of house and social media manager. Alma means 'soul' in Spanish, and the four letters are the initials of the family's four daughters - Anabella, Luciana, Macarena and Augustina. Alma's chef Thiago Marques (formerly in Fia and The Fumbally) is Brazilian, and together the team have spent the last few months putting together a seasonal menu featuring local Irish produce with Argentinean flavours. The menu features dishes like grilled morcilla with caramelised walnuts and sultanas, choripan (chorizo argentino with chimichurri on tartine baguette), and a chocolate granola bowl with Greek yogurt, coconut and chocolate shavings, lemon curd and fruit. Three of the sisters have worked in various cafés in Dublin for the past few years, and have always wanted to open their own place with a link to home. It was earlier this year that their parents and other sister decided to take the leap and move to Dublin, and the family decided to go all in on looking for a site to make Alma a reality. Alma is now open and will serve food from 8am on weekdays and 9am on weekends. You can follow them on instagram here . Alma 12 South Circular Road, Portobello, Dublin 8 Tue - Fri 08:00 - 16:00. Sat - Sun 09:00 - 17:00. www.alma.ie