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In case you took a hiatus from social media last night, you missed a lot of buzz from this year's Irish Restaurant Awards . Organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland , it's a fairly drawn out process, involving provincial awards ceremonies in the months beforehand, with Dublin and overall national winners (out of each of the provincial winners) announced on the main night. The big winner last night was Etto , who took home Restaurant of the Year for both Dublin and Ireland, Dublin Chef of the Year for Barry Sun Jian, and Best Customer Service in Dublin. All completely deserved if you ask us (you can read our Etto Once Over here ). We're eagerly awaiting their new restaurant Uno Mas , due to open later this year, and would put a sizeable sum of money on that bagging next year's "Best Newcomer" award. The other big winners were Michael's in Mount Merrion, who took home Best Newcomer, Best Kids Size Me, and Best Restaurant Manager for Talha Pasha. Chef Gareth Smith took over neighbourhood Italian Michael's just over a year ago and quickly turned it into a seafood destination, with diners travelling from near and far to eat fish that's often been caught just hours before. They've also been gaining press for their efforts to get children eating more fish. Best World Cuisine, for Dublin and Ireland, went to Nightmarket in Ranelagh, and Best Emerging Irish Cuisine, again for Dublin and Ireland, went to Craft in Harold's Cross. The Legal Eagle picked up Best Gastropub (Dublin and Ireland), while Klaw The Seafood Café took home Best Seafood Experience in Ireland. We were very happy to see Piglet Wine Bar take home Best Wine Experience, after being overlooked in other awards this year, and the brilliant Jenny & Patrick McNally of McNally Organic Farm won Best Local Food Hero. You can find their organic vegetables on restaurant and café menus across the city, or buy direct from the farm or at their market stalls in Leopardstown, Temple Bar and Dún Laoghaire. The other Dublin winners were Hey Donna (Best Casual Dining), The Marker Hotel (Best Hotel Restaurant, Honey Truffle (Best Café), Walsh's Stoneybatter (Pub of the Year), I Monelli (Best 'Free From') and Locks Windsor Terrace (Best Private Dining & Club). Loads of sore heads in kitchens all over the country this morning, and loads to add to your restaurant bucket list.

From a new combo for our favourite condiment to a fine dining snack that looks too pretty to eat, here's what we're craving this week. 1. This breakfast combo from White Mausu We are borderline obsessed with Katie Sanderson's Japanese/Korean hybrid condiment, and have been pouring it over everything this year, but this combo of eggs, Sceal Bakery bread, McNally Farm kale and peanut rayu is next on the list. Find it at the Dublin Flea or from specialist food stores across the city. www.whitemausu.com 2. Chargrilled Calçots from Hey Donna Some vegetables just shout summertime, and these chargrilled calçots ​with roasted red pepper and pickled green peppercorn aioli make us feel like we could be on a beach in Spain, downing seafood and white wine. Rathmines is a close second. 3. This new snack on the menu at Glovers Alley These lamb croquettes with piquillo pepper from Glovers Alley head chef Philip Roe look almost too pretty to eat, and we're loving the Clove Club -esque presentation. 4. A Cheese Toastie from Meltdown This pop-up cheese toastie shop opened on Stephen Street a couple of weeks ago and their Instagram feed is making us very hungry. We've got our eye on this one with Raclette, Gruyère, Monterey Jack, smoked paprika, wholegrain mustard and pickles. www.instagram.com/meltdowndublin 5. This Perfect Lemon Meringue Pie from Oxmantown Because what you need after all that cheese is cake, and this lemon meringue pie is a piece of perfection. www.oxmantown.com

There's a distinct sense of summer in this week's reviews, as if the critics knew it was going to be a scorcher of a weekend. Seafood, outdoor eating and panna cotta feature heavily. In the Irish Times , Catherine Cleary is at Overends Kitchen for brunch, the café on the site of Airfield estate, which uses produce from their 38 acres of farmland. She's impressed with chef Luke Matthews' seasonal and sustainable approach to eating, and loves that "some of his larder is feet from the kitchen mooing, clucking and growing..." The 'garden breakfast bowl' is a "savoury granola laced with tangy dressing", with red cabbage slaw, sprouted grains, poached eggs and long stem broccoli "that tastes so good I’d put money on it being smoked before it was charred." Half a roast chicken is "meat as it should be, tasting properly of chicken rather than random white protein." She also admires the fingerling potatoes, with "lovely waxy yellow flesh nutty enough to barely need butter, baked at such a high heat that their skins are flayed and crisp like pork crackling." It sounds like the queues she describes were worth waiting in. Dessert of panna cotta with rhubarb is made with Jersey cream from the estate's own cows, and is "creamier than a flotilla of milk tankers". As brunch goes we're wagering this must be one of the best experiences in Dublin at the moment. Read her review here . In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness was enjoying a leisurely lunch at The Garden Room in The Merrion Hotel, who offer all-day-dining - perfect for those lovely, long booze-filled Friday lunches to start the weekend off right. She booked ahead to bag a table beside the towering floor to ceiling doors (good tip), but the temperature wasn't warm enough to warrant opening them. On a sunny summer's day it sounds like this would be an oasis in the centre of the city. Snacks and starters were generally good, with standouts being the boneless chicken wings with pistachio lardo and fontina, and beef-tartare with a quail's egg. A luscious omelette Arnold Bennet with eggs, smoky cod and spinach teetered on the edge of being too much, and half a smoked cauliflower (anyone else over this trend?) with truffled crème fraîche and dulse is salty but works. Dessert of salted caramel tart with popcorn ice-cream and dark chocolate crumb is "perfect". We also love that they treated themselves to a nice bottle of wine instead of going for standard reviewer house (or close) fare. It's Friday people, treat yourselves. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was learning how to be a hipster at Eatyard , the outdoor street food market at the side of The Bernard Shaw . He tries nearly everything on offer (thanks to going with four mates), and is very impressed with what these hipsters eat. Chana Palak - spinach and chickpeas in a rich sauce - from Kinara Kitchen was creamy and satisfying. Cheese burgers and a chicken burger from Box Burger were tasty with good quality meat, but the highlight was Vish n' Chips from Vish Shop , as well as their famous cauliflower wings, which he calls "a genius creation". Vish Shop/Veginity founder Mark Senn has been looking for a permanent home since upping his food truck from Portobello earlier this year, so we were intrigued to see a teasing tweet earlier this week saying they had good news. Watch this space. Read Leslie Wiliams' review of Eatyard here . In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan was dreaming of an impending holiday to France (and having a dig at those 'cool' Irish chefs who believe their own hype) at Voici Crêperie and Wine Bar in Rathmines. She loved her "lovely, square, crisp envelope" of a crêpe with St Tola goat's cheese, walnut, honey and rocket, and her friend's with Buffao mozzarella, sun-ripened tomatoes, basil pesto and basil leaves, but hated the scratched wooden boards they came on. That's one for we want plates . She thought the atmosphere, complete with French music and Citroen facades on the walls, was fun, and earmarked the Croque-Madame for her next visit, after she saw it on leaving and nearly sat back down again. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was revisiting Etto , calling it "the really good chefs' restaurant", a place where people know their straciatella from their botarga. He enjoyed hake and morcilla croquettes, pigs' trotters formed into something between a paté and charcuterie, a shoulder of lamb that was given the Mediterranean treatment, and a risotto made from buckwheat, topped with morels, asparagus and Taleggio cheese, which he calls "one of the best things I've eaten in quite a while". Dessert of an arrestingly rich chocolate mousse with Amarena cherries, and a slice of blue sheep's cheese with quince paste sound like the perfect ending to a great meal, and he calls the accompanying wines by the glass "outstanding". (Review not currently online) The only one outside the capital this week, Gillian Nelis in The Sunday Business Post was in Merry's Gastro Pub in Dungarvan, after her plan of exploring the greenway was foiled by a heavy downpour of rain. She tells us Merry's is an incredible 150 years in business, and says it's "the kind of room you’d love to be forced to spend time in, with its traditional wooden bar, open fire and lovely friendly staff." Small plates were a mixed bag, with mushrooms on bruschetta containing grit and beef croquettes not tasting much of beef, but barbeque pork ribs "fell off the bone and were really delicious". Falafel with charred corn, pickled red cabbage and mixed leaves was "a generous and healthy lunch", fish and chips was "worth every calorie" with a "perfectly crispy batter" and "top-notch chips", and the lamb burger was "messy, delicious and large". A knickerbocker glory for dessert was "pleasingly retro", and a warm toffee and apple pie with custard and cream "gorgeous". She calls the service superb and the atmosphere lovely and warm, and ends by saying time spent here would make you very merry indeed... *face palm*. Read her review here (subscription only). We're taking a break from the critic's reviews next week - holidaze. Back in two weeks. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

Good news for lovers of Bao, those pillowy soft Taiwanese buns filled with all kinds of delicious things, as Bao House has just opened on Aungier Street. Founder Wynne Liu has been working in Dublin for the past 15 years, and saw an opportunity to bring Taiwanese comfort food to the Irish masses. Bao House will serve baos filled with braised pork belly, confit duck, fried chicken and the vegan tofu filled "Temple Bao". This isn't Bao's first appearance in the city. Street food stall How Bao Now have been feeding lunchtime market crowds for the past few years, and you can find them on the menu in several Asian restaurants, but this is the first dedicated Bao shop. Food is made fresh on site each day, and Bao House opens from 9am until the baos sell out, so don't leave it too late if you have your heart set on one. Bao House 34 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 9am - until the baos are gone www.facebook.com/BaoIreland

This week sees the redemption of Bun Cha , the Vietnamese street food restaurant on Moore Street, which Lucinda O'Sullivan memorably ripped apart soon after opening. While LO'S called the summer rolls "tasteless lumps of starch", Tom thought they were "spot on, underlining that this kind of food is all about freshness and clean, distinctive flavours." Wonton noodle soup was a highlight - "I'm not sure where else you will get so much to eat and delight in" - as was the bun cha, consisting of smoky pieces of grilled pork in a sweet, savoury and salty broth, which had "clean, fresh flavours and a considerable degree of zing". The whole meal came to €40 for two, which Tom describes as "The Noble prize for value". It's always curious when critics have such different experiences and opinions of a restaurant. Were the meals cooked by two different people? Has the restaurant in question changed things since the bad review? Or do the critics just have completely different tastes? Regardless, Bun Cha has been removed from the "never eat here" list. (Review not currently online) In the Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness is at Juniors in Dublin 4, wondering if the two women who are front of house and "hospitality incarnate" can be cloned and distributed across the city. Pretty sure our restaurateurs would jump at that. She regretted choosing the pint of prawns for a starter, saying they lacked flavour, and had the exact same complaint about the "homemade mayonnaise" that Paolo Tullio had nine years ago when he ate there, calling it "white and anodyne and less exciting than Hellman's". Nine years is a lot of time to get the mayo right. Purple sprouting broccoli with goat's cheese mousse, red chicory and toasted hazlenuts was "simple, seasonal, rather good", and high praise was reserved for the the Côte de boeuf, which she says isn't far off Etto's . She also managed to narrowly escape disaster when her glass of red wine went flying in the direction of a fellow diner wearing a white silk shirt, but just missed her. Not sure the Indo's budget would have stretched to replacing that. Read her review here . In The Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan does a nice little round up of 5 cafés she thinks are worth a visit - Happy Out in Clontarf, Pot Bellied Pig in Rathmines, The Riddler near Christ Church, Vanilla Pod in Blackrock, and Fennelly's in Kilkenny. She recommends eating a toastie overlooking the sea at Happy Out , and the smashed avocado or speciality crêpe at Fennelly's , as well as the desserts and cakes which are "to die for". Risotto at The Riddler was pleasant, breakfast at Vanilla Pod sounded pretty standard but was enjoyable and good value, and a BLT with garlic and basil aioli was the standout at Pot Bellied Pig . She advises checking out their monthly drag brunches and supper clubs. Review not currently online. In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee was breaking the cardinal rule of never reviewing a restaurant on opening night. To be fair, he didn't plan to write about it - it was just so bloody good. Chestnut in West Cork, from chef Rob Krawczyk, is one of the most anticipated openings of the year, so we're not surprised Joe wanted to get in early, but we're both jealous and impressed that he bagged one of the 18 seats on their first night of service. The food sounds dynamic and delicious, featuring dishes like mussels with tangy-sweet cucumber and samphire, scallops with parsnip purée, pan-wilted wild garlic and fennel pollen, and new season asparagus topped with a shaving of ham fat and pennywort. The two dishes that sealed the deal were Hogget, with its "impossibly tender pink meat you could slice with a knife’s handle let alone blade", and the cheeseboard, which he boldly states is the best restaurant cheeseboard he's ever had. The Michelin guide have already been in , so if you want to visit we'd advise trying to get there before September. This little 18 seater could be Cork's answer to Heron & Grey . Read his review here . In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was at The Parson's Nose in Hillsborough, Co. Down. It sounds like better than average pub grub, but not a whole lot more exciting. She loved the smoked mackerel with pickled radishes, apple and horseradish cream on sourdough toast, and a hot smoked salmon salad. Her whole plaice was flawlessly cooked but came with bland broccoli and kale, and the daily special of cod with mussel and cannellini bean ragu (which doesn't sound overly appetising) was once again bland with no discernible mussels and a chewy courgette on the side. Dessert of pear and almond bakewell with almond streusel and vanilla ice-cream made up for the unspecial special, and she calls the town itself "picture-perfect". Read her review here (subscription only). And finally, as if Cork and Down weren't far enough away, Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times was on a beach in Tulum, Mexico, eating at Arca , next to Graham Norton. Well for ya. After telling us about the chef's pedigree (Alinea, El Cellar de Can Roca and Noma), she describes a setting that features "dark wood tables, gravel underfoot, and the whole thing is (barely) lit with glowing bulbs and candlelight". Sounds slightly nicer than Moore Street. The incense they were burning to keep the mosquitoes away made her feel like she was at mass, but the roasted red pepper tartare made up for it, and came topped with a cured egg yolk and toasted almonds, alongside warm sourdough that was "scorched and charred like something rescued from the embers." Other winners included a prawn ceviche cured with the juice from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, octopus tentacles so fresh they tasted like lobster, and suckling pig with a raw chayote salad (which is like a squash). We're expecting regular Irish-based service to resume next week. Read her review here . More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

From perfect prawn pil-pil to the ultimate caramel custard tart, here's what caught our eye this week... 1. French Toast from Five Points This stuffed, thick cut French Toast comes with crispy smoked bacon, rhubarb, pistachio and rose petals. Breakfast of dreams. www.fivepointshx.com 2. Everything from Clanbrassil Coffee Shop Since opening a month ago, Clanbrassil Coffee Shop have been killing it on Instagram with pictures of Paris Brests, granola bowls and colourful salad plates. We want it all. www.instagram.com/clanbrassil_coffee_shop 3. Sizzling Prawn Pil-Pil at The Old Spot The smell of summer is in the air and we're craving simple food that tastes like holidays. This gorgeous looking pil pil with a cold glass of white wine would make us very happy. theoldspot.ie 4. The brisket and puy lentil bowl from Nutbutter We're loving the look of the rainbow coloured food at Nutbutter , the new healthy-eating café near Grand Canal Dock, particularly this brisket and puy lentil bowl with pico de gallo, pickled red cabbage, scallions, coconut and peanut sauce. www.nutbutter.ie 5. This custard caramel tart from Mr Fox Because, has a more beautiful specimen ever existed? Total perfection. www.mrfox.ie

Spanish Wine Week starts today, and there is loads to get involved in across the city, from events and dinners to more informal tastings in your local wine shop. If you're one of those people who's always complaining about not knowing enough about wine, get involved. Or if you just like drinking it, get involved. You can find the full line up of promotions and events here , but our picks include a Spanish wine dinner at Pickle , with 5 courses and matching wines for €55, a tasting of lesser-known regions and varieties at The Legal Eagle  costing €35 with tapas, a sherry masterclass at 64 Wine with sherry expert Paddy Murphy for €25, and a sparkling wine tasting and lunch with wine writer Corinna Hardgrave at Suesey Street , which will set you back €35. All sound like brilliant value. There are also some great deals on drinking in at Fallon & Byrne , who are doing free corkage on Spanish wine all week, Piglet , who'll have older vintages of Spanish wine at 25% off, and The Port House , who are doing flights of wines with tapas for €10 each. If you want to buy wine to take home, Searsons in Monkstown are doing buy 6 bottles and pay for 5 on Spanish wine, The Winehouse in Howth are doing 15% off their Spanish range, and there are  discounts in the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Stephen's Green, Terroirs in Donnybrook and O'Brien's across the city. Spanish week runs from Monday 23rd April until Sunday 29th April and there are events and promotions happening across the city. For the full list of what's on and participating venues go to spanishwineweek.ie .

In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley visited Drury Buildings , which has had more of a reputation as a place to drink than a place to eat, but it looks like that's going to change now that Gareth Naughton (formerly of l'Gueuleton and Suesey Street) is in the kitchen. He describes a pitch-perfect, raw-heavy, Italian influenced meal, featuring beef tartare with parmesan, lemon and truffle, tuna tartare with soy and sesame oil, and pasta ribbons with guanciale and pecorino which was "so simple, so delicious, so perfect". Swoon. He calls Drury Buildings elegant and understated, with a big airy dining room and lovely staff. Another one to add to your "must-eat in" list. (Review not currently online) In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary was at makeshift, middle-eastern Shouk in Drumcondra, which she thought looked "like it’s been hewn out of OSB sheeting, wine boxes and cushions". She's impressed with the falafel and tahini yoghurt, Shakshuka eggs and the mezze platter, but the whole roast cauliflower that's the size of a human head isn't cooked enough and "too much cauliflower for one person". It honestly sounds like she's been put off cauliflower for life. She obviously hangs out with 'clean-eating' types, as one of them ordered the caramelized banana chocolate pitta without the pitta, so just a smear of chocolate and banana on a plate then, which they don't sound impressed with... *no comment* With €1 corkage and very reasonable prices, we think Shouk is another place you can expect to see filling your Instagram timeline over the coming months. Read her review here . In The Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was also eating in the suburbs at Craft in Harold's Cross. She praises chef Phil Yeung's sustainable food sourcing and menus full of "great Irish produce", saying this is a chef "who can do things with vegetables that would make you weep with joy". She calls the treacle and black porter bread "superb", and crackers topped with whipped chicken liver mousse, prune and apple "heavenly". Goat's curd pasta parcels with morels and pine nuts was "as perfect a representation of spring in a bowl as I’ve ever seen or tasted," and the beef cheek was so good that it was polished off by a fellow diner who hadn't eaten beef in ten years. Not sure praise comes higher than that. She ends with a plea for readers to go out and support their great local restaurants, and we're going to throw the " local multiplier effect " into the mix here, which found that if you spend your money locally it gets multiplied three times. So get out there and start eating. Read her review here . (Subscription only) In The Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was also having a bit of a swoon over the food at Ananda (looks like everyone was loving their job this week). He discovered that Champagne is a great match for poppadoms (we'll be trying that one), and that Indian chorizo is a thing - who knew? None of the dishes disappointed, but he loved the Jaipuri Raj Kachori - a Puffed Semolina bun stuffed with black gram lentil dumplings, crispy potato vermicelli, soft onion, tamarind, sweet and sour chilli and yoghurt. Boned and rolled chicken stuffed with rose petals, wild mushrooms, pistachio, saffron and cardamom was fragrant and creamy, and the dahl languorous and silky with a spicy kick. The rose-petal scented kulfi is one of the prettiest desserts he's seen all year with an intoxicating fragrance, and he ends by saying this is "ambitious and hugely accomplished cooking, beautifully presented dishes and gorgeous flavours." Read his review here . Another great review for Indian cuisine in the Sunday Independent, where Lucinda O'Sullivan sounds like she was about to faint with joy at Rasam in Dun Laoghaire, where she's a regular. She starts by listing off all the celebrities who've eaten there, which we're not sure is any restaurant's biggest selling point (unless you're looking for Shane Ritchie's autograph), but calls it a "home away from home", where there's always a superb welcome (once again we're pondering how anon critic would have fared). She describes a pretty fascinating sounding menu, including tiger prawns dipped in fresh basil and sesame seeds fried with sprout leaves, chillies filled with goat's cheese, peppers and dried Indian mint leaves, and pan-fried white fish, simmered in a sauce of black cumin, melon seeds, dried coconut and browned onions. What they actually ate sounded slightly more tame - lamb and hake curry - but they clearly left delighted, and mango kulfi with basil seeds is described as "an amazing ice-cream, different from anything you will have here". We're also elated to see they've finally started using professionally taken photos rather than dark, blurry phone jobs. Crossing fingers that one sticks. (Review not currently online) Finally, in The Irish Independent , Katy McGuinness was on a whistle stop tour of Galway, where the first stop was veggie/vegan café The Light House . A chickpea pancake filled with courgette, mint and potato fritters was very good, and the salad plate, with hummus, lentils, cabbage and goat's cheese is "the kind of food we all want to eat at lunchtime to fend off the dreaded mid-afternoon slump." Afterwards they head to Kasbah Wine Bar to undo their good work with some croquettes, tacos and wine. Sounds like a perfect day. Read her review here . More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

After last week's Sole love fest from Lucinda , this week it was Katy McGuinness's turn to give her take on the €65 Norweigan crab claws, in the Irish Independent . She seems more on team Lucinda than team Tom and Gillian , and despite having the same complaints about the glut of imported seafood, she liked the 'retro' starters of Oysters Rockefeller and prawn cocktail. Sole meunière was "simple, as it should be", and the infamous crab claws had good flavour and texture but lacked richness - if you can afford to pay €65 for crab claws you probably won't lose sleep over this. She acknowledges it's not for a cheap night out, but we're still staggering at the bill of €287 for dinner for two. You could easily get in and out of Chapter One for less than that. Read her review here . Meanwhile, Lucinda O'Sullivan in The Sunday Independent was trying out the newly refurbished, controversy-ridden Clontarf Baths. Luckily she wasn't planning a dip as she would have been bitterly disappointed. She thought the food was fantastic - Guinness bread with seaweed butter, Ireland's Eye crab on sourdough, Gambas with chilli, garlic, chorizo and samphire - but we're not sure it will be enough to get locals to drop their placards and pop in for lunch. (Review not currently online.) In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary did a split review, mostly of Cowfish in Bray, with a shorter mention of Strandfield House in Dundalk, and once again neither involved alcohol. We're starting to wonder if this is all part of our great leader's plan to bring prohibition to Ireland, on top of having the highest tax on wine in the EU , making us do the walk of shame to the bottle bank and a soon-to-be introduced alcohol bill , the implications of which it's probably best not to talk about on Sunday when we're still marginally happy after the weekend. Has Leo gotten to her? She liked the rooftop location and summer vibe at Cowfish , but had issues with the mackerel on toast which needed to be "toastier" and mushroom ravioli with a filling too much like baby-food, but she enjoyed the beef cheek, "a slump of brown meat cooked so slowly that the sinew and fat have melted to a glistening slick that binds the whole lot together," and the onion nest (above), which were "dusted in a gritty polenta crumb ... tasting like the best crispy bits in the bottom of a chip bag." At Strandfield House she finds "proper cakes, luscious enough to put Strandfield on the map for a pit stop off the M1 on the next trip north." The coffee and hazlenut cake and chewy, toasty coconut macaroons get special mention. Read her review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was taking advantage of €8 corkage at Whelehan's Wines , paying €28.50 for a wine he reckons would be almost €100 in other restaurants (p.s. this is how to drink well when out - look at Green Man Wines , 64 Wine and Fallon & Byrne's €1 corkage Mondays and Tuesdays for similar tricks of the trade). He and his dining companion enjoyed potted Lambay crab and scallops with Clonakilty black pudding, but thought the boeuf Bourgignon had too much tomato, accompanying sides were ill-chosen and the food generally needed a bit more swagger, being "sound" rather than "exciting". In The Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee was at Kalbos Café in Skibbereen, Cork. We love his description of "a space so small even telepathy might be vulnerable to eavesdropping, a crucial consideration in a country town". Every dish hit the spot, including Castletownbere crab salad, caramelised champ potato cakes, and parsnip, leek and lemon soup, but the star attractions were the cakes. The white chocolate and raspberry cake is "so good", the warm nut brownie deserving of 'world famous' status, and the ricotta and lime pie "divine. Read his review here . Finally, in the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was in the Cliff House Hotel in Waterford, trying their Michelin-starred restaurant 'House', and making half of Instagram green with envy with her picture of a ridiculously intricate chicken skin waffle amuse-bouche. She describes the kitchen as "pushing boundaries", using ingredients like the bitter sea buckthorn, but the rest of the tasting menu sounds like an exercise in the ultimate luxury - quail's eggs, caviar, morels, guinea fowl, lobster and tonburi Akita (land-caviar), all feature. Foie gras came with the "rhubarbiest rhubarb" she'd tasted in ages, and the guinea fowl was an "indulgent treat". Both the trio of desserts and the petit fours sound like works of art (or science experiments), and we recommend reading the whole review if you like feeling very jealous of other people's meals. The whole thing sounds worthy of a Chef's Table episode. Read her review here (subscription only). More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

The Big Grill is coming back to Herbert Park in August for its fifth year, and the line up is probably the best one yet. This is definitely a "do not miss" event for anyone interested in getting back to basics when it comes to how we eat - or anyone who likes eating incredibly tasty food. All chefs must cook with live fire, using only natural charcoal or wood, and headlining the festival this year are New York's Angie Mar from The Beatrice Inn , famous for her whiskey-aged rib-eye, and Billy Durney, whose restaurant Hometown is frequently called the best barbeque in New York . We were also excited to see David Carter from London's Smokstak on the bill, which is hands down the best barbeque we've ever tasted. His brisket bun, pork ribs and coal-roasted aubergine have queues forming in Shoreditch every weekend, and when you taste it you'll understand why. Joining him on the plane from London will be everyone's favourite ex-pat, Robin Gill , who's been doing some amazing work out at Airfield lately trying to turn it into Ireland's version of Bluehill at Stone Barns . We have everything crossed that this is a precursor for him opening his first Dublin restaurant. Building the fire pits for the Irish are Gráinne O'Keeffe ( Clanbrassil House , BuJo ), Paul Flynn ( The Tannery ), John Relihan ( Holy Smoke ), and Fingal Ferguson from Gubbeen Smokehouse . There will also be butchery, barbeque and smoking workshops, as well as entertainment and hot wing challenges, and they'll be roasting a whole Dexter cow on Sunday, which you would be ill-advised to miss. There are loads of articles online debating the origins of barbecue food, but the fact is that fire was the only way humans had to cook for millions of years, before we became too busy and too impatient to wait all day for our vegetables to cook in the earth, or for the whole animal we'd spent hours hunting to slowly cook over an open-flame. What we've gained in time we've lost in connection to our food, and we can't imagine there are many people cooking over open fires or digging a pit to bury their dinner in anymore, which if you ask us is a sad state of affairs. So step back in time for a weekend, get back to the the very roots of cooking, and eat some life-affirming food. Then go home inspired and dig that fire pit. And send us a photo. Get tickets for The Big Grill here . And if you need further convincing about how meaningful this type of cooking is, watch this episode of Chef's Table. You'll never be the same again. The Big Grill Festival Herbert Park, Ballbridge, Dublin 4 16th - 19th August 2018 biggrillfestival.com

Whenever someone compiles a list of “Dublin’s coolest cafés”, you can be sure that MMITM will be near the top. Since opening in 2016, they've become a destination for people who like good coffee, creative food with impeccable provenance and doughnuts to destroy all others. The good news is there’s now another “must-try” destination on the Dublin scene, and it’s next door. The guys from MMITM have just opened Reference Coffee , a café and roastery. You can also buy the same baked goods as you’ll find in MMITM , so double win. Coffee is from various roasters in different countries and will change regularly, and you can buy bags of it to take home. They also have oat milk for the dairy free, and serve tea and hot chocolate. Reference coffee is open seven days a week, and we give a few days before it's being included on lists of "Dublin's Coolest Coffee Shops". Reference Coffee 49 Pleasants Street Dublin 2 www.instagram.com/referencecoffee

Can't cook? In this media-filled age with millions of recipes at your fingertips, there is really no excuse for not being able to master the most basic kitchen skills - proper scrambled eggs, homemade pasta sauce and crispy roast chicken spring to mind - but if these continue to elude you, The Fumbally Café can sort you out. The Fumbally Home Cooking course starts on Monday April 16th from 18:30 - 20:30, and runs for six weeks at the same time. The first course ran in January of this year, and feedback was so good that they immediately scheduled the second one. Fumbally chef Aoife Allen will teach the course in the Fumbally Stables kitchen, focusing on sustainable, healthy, and delicious dishes, and lucky participants will learn some of her favourite vegetarian recipes, how to make meat go further, and getting creative with leftovers. Participants will also learn about some brilliant Irish ingredients, how to make sauces and condiments from scratch, and an introduction to fermentation. The course costs €300 for six weeks, and includes a two course meal at the end of each class, which will be prepared in groups of two. You'll also get a sauerkraut or kimchi to take home from the fermentation class. If you're really struggling to get to grips with this basic life skill, or just want to jazz up your kitchen skills from a pro, we think this will be money well spent. You can book a place on the Fumbally Home Cooking course here , but bear in mind there are only 10 places available so if you're interested be quick. The Fumbally Home Cooking Course Where: The Fumbally Stables, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8 When: Starts Monday April 16th,18:30 - 20:30 Website: thefumballystables.ie/events/fumbally-home-cooking-2

The big story this week is how much Lucinda O'Sullivan loved Sole , the new, high-end seafood restaurant on Wicklow Street, after it was panned by Tom Doorley in The Daily Mail and Gillian Nelis in the Sunday Business Post . They both took exception to the amount of imported seafood and the eye-popping prices, but LOS had no problem paying €47.50 for a plate of "perfectly grilled" Dover Sole, and didn't blink at a seafood platter for €110. There's a touch of the 'fangirl' about it, with owners described as the same people behind the "oh-so-fabulous Fire ", the much criticised Norweigan crab called the "mighty denizens of the deep", and "fantastic" Coquilles St Jacques, described as "a plumpous duo of scallop shells filled to their pretty frilled edges", costing €35. Compared to Tom Doorley's description of the same dish, with a sauce "the consistency of milk", and "under-seasoned, under-buttered" mash, we can only suggest that maybe they've bucked up since then. We heard on the grapevine that another critic paid Sole a visit during the week, so we'll wait to see what side they're on. (Review not currently online) Another talking point this week was Catherine Cleary who went to probably one of the country's best restaurants right now, Clenaghan's , and only drank fizzy water. Surely there should be a ban on reviewing a meal if you don't try the wine? Maybe budgets at the Irish Times' are tighter than we thought. Despite the lack of liquid refreshment, Clenaghan's is currently top of her list for meal of the year - imagine how good it would have been with booze! The food reminded her of when she first fell in love with restaurant dining in rural France, and every dish she describes sounds magical. "Quail’s eggs cloaked in sausage meat and bread crumbed and cooked so that a bright yellow yolk slides out of the “wee scotch eggs” like a kitchen conjuring trick". "Properly impressive goat and beet, the cheese in curd form so it’s still almost liquid and gossamer delicate in flavour, a whisper of goat rather than the usual holler." "A slab of garlic bread, the quennelle of green pesto on top made from the softest wild garlic on top of a buttery slice of toast." There may have been a late night dial to Clenaghan's last night to enquire about accommodation availability. Read her review here . In the Irish Examiner , Leslie Williams was at Glovers Alley having a very similar experience to us (you can read our take here ). He too was underwhelmed by the first taste of a Parmesan Gougère, but loved the Jerusalem artichokes with winter truffle - "a genius masterclass on what you can do with a humble root vegetable", Comeragh Mountain Lamb with "the purest most perfect ‘Irish Stew’ I’ve ever tasted", and "silky exuberant Coconut Rice with Cream Cheese wafer, Sake and Yoghurt Ice-cream", which was "extraordinarily good". He ends by saying it's not perfect but has touches of perfection. Read his review here . In the Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was back at Lucky Tortoise in Ranelagh, who are still on the search for a permanent site. He found the €20 dim sum menu delivered yet again, and it seems to have had some multi-cultural tweaks since we were last there - Thai green chicken curry dumplings, pot stickers with pancetta, and a suspicion that the Japanese omelette had a Lea and Perrins sauce. He loved it all, and we've made a mental note to return to what has to be one of the best value eateries in the city. It's also BYO, which is one of the best things ever. Review not currently online. In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis felt her Italian dinner was over-priced at Pinocchio in Ranelagh. Spaghetti Carbonara was cooked the right way (no cream or bacon to see here) but incredibly rich, the frittura mista was well-cooked but salty, and the disappointing tiramisu tasted of "nothing but sugar". Her Italian friend took it as a personal insult that lady fingers weren't used, and they generally felt the food was "only okay" and in parts "very over-priced". Read her review here . (Subscription only) Finally, Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent was over in London checking out one of the buzziest restaurants in the city right now (and the subject of an Irish racism row ), the modern-Irish Nuala . Unfortunately for Katy she was stood up by not one but both of us her lunch dates - we'd be getting new pals Katy! She soldiered on alone (whilst only being able to try half the amount of food, rage). Turns out Irish cooking means load of potatoes, and Katy immensely enjoyed the beef tartare with extra stout sauce, egg yolk and dripping fries, the chips "especially good", and the dauphinoise potatoes with lamb-fat gravy. Cauliflower rarebit was lacking cheese, lardo that came with crab was cut too thickly, and she couldn't manage dessert after all those potatoes, but she'd like to return with a gang, if she can rustle one up. Read her review here . Book your flights to London here . More next week. * 1st August 2018 - A previous version of this article featured Ernie Whalley's review for the Sunday Times. This has been removed at the newspaper's request

A slightly shorter than normal critic's reviews this week, because we have a lot of Easter Eggs to eat. First up, Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent was in Michael's , where she was one of the last critics to cross the threshold, but was no less impressed. She praised the freshness and abundance of the food, saying she's more used to chefs cutting the scallops in half to make it appear like there's more of them (we hear you Katy). The Lambay Island crab salad was 'simply lovely', and the gratin of Lambay crab claws and Dublin Bay prawns 'a garlicky, generous, mop-able delight.' She calls it a 'happy place serving happy food', that's fast becoming a destination. Read her review here . In the Times , Catherine Cleary makes it two weeks in a row for the tiny Assassination Custard to see their name in lights. Like Leslie Williams in the Irish Examiner last week she loved it all (except the bread), particularly the buttery, silky endives, a kohlrabi version of vitello tonnata, the 'ugly but excellent' brown meringue with coriander seeds and hazelnuts for dessert, and the menu written on brown paper bags. Read her review here . In The Irish Daily Mail, Tom Doorley was trying out the new, Naples-accredited Pizzeria Forno 500 (which we wrote about here ), and was pleased to find the pizza was the real deal, with 'its blistered fringe retaining just the right amount of elasticity', and the toppings 'not piled on but added in just the right quantity.' The rest was a mixed bag, with the lasagne 'almost perfect', save for the overcooked pasta, some unconventional carpaccio and risotto, and an ambitiously priced wine list lacking basic details like the producer. (Review not currently online) In the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O'Sullivan was hoping she was onto a new favourite Chinese in Old Town on Capel Street, but ended up sitting in a cold room eating 'magic prawns' that weren't that magic and dry, dense duck. She did enjoy the jellyfish and cucumber salad and a bowl of dry, hot noodles, but the search continues. In the Sunday Business Post , Gillian Nelis was taking one for the team by trying everything on the menu at Hansel and Gretel , the bakery and patisserie near Merrion Square. She found a maderia cake to rival her granny's, an excellent almond croissant and a divine chocolate rice crispie slice. She also let us in on her family Easter tradition of a 'first breakfast' consisting solely of chocolate, which we think should be rolled out across the country. Read her review here (subscription online). Finally, in the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee was taking the wife off for a romantic night away (i.e. he watches sport, she has a bath - sounds pretty perfect) at The Mustard Seed in Limerick. Her current pseudonym is 'The Cat's Pyjamas', or ' TCP ' - we bet she's really missing 'My Heart's Desire/Delight'. They really enjoyed the unusual sounding menu, featuring coffee-braised veg, chicken with plums and maple syrup, a salad with papaya dressing and suckling pig with herby sausage and a meaty, aspic jelly. He's planning a return to coincide with The World Cup. Read his review here . More next week.

There's been excited talk of a small café from the guys behind Bastible and Clanbrassil House for months, and this morning Clanbrassil Coffee Shop finally opens for business. With items like their homemade sausage roll with homemade brown sauce, Cheese Palmiers and Paris Brests on the menu we're pretty confident this is going to be a busy spot. It's also the first time we've seen a Paris Brest on a Dublin menu, and how good does it look... Zia Burke, ex-Clanbrassil House, is in charge, and has spent the last few months putting together a short but very appealing menu with some twists on normal coffee shop fare - like a meatball sandwich with spiced lamb, sauerkraut, yoghurt, and walnut and rocket pesto, and a Kimchi Cheese toastie. We're also loving the fact that they've done away with the complicated coffee menu, and have two options - coffee, or coffee with milk. Reports from a mini soft launch last week is that the coffee is good. Clanbrassil Coffee Shop will open from 7:30 - 15:30 from Monday to Friday to start with, but hope to extend to weekends soon. Just get there early if you want that Paris Brest. Clanbrassil Coffee Shop Mon - Fri: 7:30 - 15:30 www.instagram.com/clanbrassil_coffee_shop

It's safe to say Locks are having a good weekend, after the team woke up to not one but two rave reviews on Saturday - we did say their buzz was showing no signs of slowing down. In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary was in much better mood than last week awarding Locks a rare 9/10, and saying "The food is brilliant and easily outflanks restaurants where tables are much harder to secure. Go soon to enjoy a restaurant at the top of its game." We also can't help but detect a subtle dig at Glover's Alley when she describes Locks as "calm, less nerve jangled than those earlier days, like a place that knows what it is rather than somewhere reaching for what it wants to be." CC's food descriptions alone are enough to have you begging for a booking - "gobstopper-sized croquettes of smoked ham with disks of glistening apple", onion soup that comes with "a smoked buttermilk curd like a captured cloud in the bottom of the bowl, currachs of pearly charred onions and lifebuoy rings of battered shallots, like a bay with the tide gone out, all waiting for the soup which is poured from a jug at the table", and poached sea trout "such a vibrant colour that it looks like it was sliced sashimi style from something still flapping, then scorched with a flame and plated ... There are tricolour blobs of herb oil, creme fraiche and roe to finish one of the most beautiful starters I’ve had in an Irish restaurant." *books table immediately*. You can read her review here . Tom Doorley in the Irish Daily Mail was equally loving his visit to Locks , mostly because he was let in the door - the last time he tried to eat there he was thrown out by ex-owner Sébastien Masi (long story involving some contentious pumpkin gnocchi). He calls the new Locks "one of the best places to eat in the capital", and says the food is about "serious talent and discipline". He calls the whipped chicken liver paté "ethereal", the agnolotti with smoked potato "inspired, quite brilliant", and the cod "impeccably cooked". If you didn't want to visit before you definitely do now. (Review not currently online) Someone else who was loving the critic life was Leslie Williams in the Irish Examiner after eating in Assassination Custard THREE DAYS IN A ROW. Hard core. We've always wondered what the crazy name meant, and he starts his review by telling us - it involves Samuel Beckett being stabbed. Thankfully things look up from here. He loved the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern inspired menu, featuring dishes like panelle chickpea flour fritters, goat's heart with cherries, yoghurt and smoked paprika, and homemade labneh with pomegranate seeds and sumac (all above). It sounds like a little piece of heaven and we're scratching our heads as to why they only open for lunch from Tuesday - Friday. Answers on a postcard. You can read his review here . Over at the Irish Independent and The Sunday Business Post it was a tale of two Indian restaurants. Gillian Nelis was in Kinara Kitchen in Ranelagh, enjoying marinated, charcoal cooked beef, masala prawns cooked in a tandoor oven, and a mouth-numbing, sweat-inducing curry. She also makes a very valid point about the wastefulness of the lettuce, carrot, cucumber and tomato garnish on the plate - has anyone ever eaten that? Her and her companion also "pushed the boat out" with a €45 bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir - are we the only ones who wish the critics would stop apologising for having a nice bottle of wine with their nice plate of food? Or worse, ordering the house wine EVERY SINGLE TIME. We're not in a recession any more lads. Good food deserves good wine. While she enjoyed a lot of the food, she felt it was a bit dated and lagging behind what new-wave chefs are doing with Indian food. We're quietly confident she was thinking about 3 Leaves in Blackrock when she wrote this, which coincidentally is where Katy McGuinness ended up for her review. (Read the review of Kinara Kitchen here - subscription only) Unsurprisingly, Katy loved 3 Leaves , particularly the Dahl Puri - "crispy puffed semolina balls stuffed with chickpea and yoghurt sauce and more deep-fried shards of crunchiness on top", Chicken Shahjahani - boneless chicken thighs in a rich cashew nut gravy, and Aloo Ka Masala, a vegetable curry with house-made cheese, nuts and soya beans. She calls the potato and white turnip breads "exceptional", and lets us in on the hot tip that Blackrock Cellar across the road offer a 10% discount on wine to take across to 3 Leaves - it's BYO in case you didn't know, so you can feel a bit less guilty about "pushing the boat out" with that nice bottle of wine. The two reviews are like a snapshot of then vs now, and we know which one we'll be heading to the next time we're craving Indian food. Read Katy's review here . Last but never least, is Lucinda O'Sullivan 's taking apart of Elle's Bar and Bistro in the swanky new Iveagh Garden Hotel on Harcourt Street. Despite a €40 million cash investment, they couldn't manage a base plate or a spoon for her crayfish cocktail, and her main of Barbary duck breast was like "two big lumps of pig's liver". Yum yum. Thankfully her friend's spelt risotto was delicious, despite a long wait, as was a gluten-free brownie (we're sensing a trend here). The service sounds a bit like a Fawlty Towers sketch, with a waiter attempting to remove a starter plate before it was finished, questioning a choice of red wine when the diner was having fish (face palm), and then managing to get the bill completely wrong. Oh well. They launch properly mid-April, maybe they'll have spoons by then. (Review not currently online) More next week.

Our social media feeds were abuzz this week with news that Gywneth Paltrow's lifestyle website Goop had compiled a Dublin eating guide, featuring loads of our favourite restaurants. Put together by Goop editor and Dublin native Rachel McKeon, twenty-two eateries were included, from cafés to Michelin star. New opening Glovers Alley made the list despite being open less than two months, as did fellow fine dining companions Chapter One , L'Ecrivain and One Pico . In the 'slightly more casual but with the coolness dialled up a notch' category, Etto , Bastible , Mr. Fox , Coppinger Row and Pickle were all mentioned. For cafés, The Fumbally , Bibi's , Brother Hubbard , Fia , Hatch and Sons , Salt and Two Boys Brew - the solo inclusion for Dublin's Northside - all made the list. Guess we'll know where to find Gywnnie the next time she's in town. Check out the Goop Dublin eating guide here .

The Eatyard Cheese and Wine Festival opens its doors at 4pm today and runs until Sunday night, and if you like either cheese or wine we would suggest you drop in. Plus the weather's looking dry and it's an outdoor event so for once the gods are with us. It's free entry but you can get priority tickets here for €10 which will give you €10 to spend once you get in there, and there is so much going on over the three days. There are wine tastings, cheese-making demonstrations, talks, karaoke and screenings of wine themed movies in the Bernard Shaw, including 'Sour Grapes', and one of our all-time favourites, 'Sideways'. Just don't bring Merlot into the screening. (You need to have seen the movie to get that one.) Pouring wine will be O'Briens, Greenman Wines, Quintessential Wines, Wicklow Wines and Station to Station. Bringing the cheese are Corleggy Cheese, Toons Bridge Dairy, The Ploughman's Daughter, and The Cheese Press. The regular Eatyard vendors will also have cheese specials on for the weekend, including the 'Sweet Cheesus' burger from Box Burger, and a cheesecake collaboration between The Flour Artist and Toons Bridge Dairy. Full details are on the event website . Vendors will take cash or festival vouchers, and we think this is going to be rammed so if you want guaranteed entry we'd advise getting one of those priority tickets. You'll also get a voucher for a complimentary glass of wine when you buy one so it's a no-brainer if you ask us. Eatyard Cheese and Wine Festival 9-10 South Richmond Street, Dublin 2 (next to The Bernard Shaw) Friday 23rd: 4-10pm. Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th: 12-10pm the-eatyard.com/wineandcheese

The French are coming, and they're bringing food and wine. There's a special ' Frogs Attack ' dinner taking place in The Fumbally Café on Tuesday 10th April, with travelling chef Antony Cointre , and legendary natural winemakers Agnès and Jean Foillard and Thierry Puzelat, and we think you should put this one in the diary. Anthony is a self-thought chef who ended up at cult Parisian bistro Le Baratin . Anyone who has a 'where to eat in Paris' list knows it and loves it. The cooking is all about the seasons and what's available, and there's rarely much choice. This is how Anthony cooks, and on the night he'll be preparing a six course tasting menu. Details won't be announced until a few days before the event, but we're told it will be 'thoughtful and seasonal'. Joining Antony to pour the wine will be two of the most talked about names in natural wine - Jean Foillard and his wife Agnès from Beaujolais, and Thierry Puzelat from the Loire Valley . Folliard's Beaujolais' are frequently held up as the benchmark for the region, and are the antithesis to bad-name giving, bubblegum tasting, banana sweet BoJo. Puzelat is making some of the most original, interesting wines to come out of the Loire Valley, including a crazily delicious Sauvignon Blanc that tastes like mango yoghurt. Tickets are €50 for food, and wines will be sold at cost price, meaning a wine that would normally be in the region of €90 will be more like €35. The winemakers will also be talking about their wines and pouring tasters so you can decide what to order. We think this sounds like a really lovely evening and a chance to experience a little bit of Paris in Dublin 8. Frogs Attack Tuesday 10th April, 7:30pm The Fumbally Café, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8 Tickets €50 Book here

‘Ouch’ has been the word of the weekend, after Glovers Alley getting a hammering from Catherine Cleary and Sole getting not one but two hammerings from Tom Doorley and Gillian Nelis. It’s also been a bad week for the reputation of the mildly terrifying looking Norwegian crab. The critics have been taking their time heading into Glovers Alley , presumably giving the team a fair amount of time to settle in, but after being open for six weeks (is that really all its been?) we were hoping for better than Catherine Cleary’s 6/10 in The Irish Times . She quipped that the cheapest option on the menu was to not show up (€50 a head), and lamented the use of Swiss cheese over Irish, which we think is a little unfair - it would be a hard-pressed kitchen to stick to only Irish ingredients. What’s less understandable is how they let a hair get onto the plate of the Irish Times food critic. Beetroot with foie gras was the best dish of the lunch, and they felt the kitchen showed more flair with vegetables than meat, calling the guinea fowl skin ‘flaccid’ and the hake ‘rubbery’. Even Aoife Noonan’s universally praised desserts didn’t do the job, with CC saying her rhubarb meringue looked much better than it tasted. She felt the place was ‘vibrating with stress rather than focusing on the food’, and if it was a person she’d ‘send it on yoga retreat or to a dark room to calm the heck down for a few hours’. We hope Andy McFadden and team have thick skins. The only way is up guys. Read her review here . Another team likely to be licking their wounds this weekend is the one at Sole , the glitzy new seafood restaurant on South William Street where a plate of the eponymous Sole will cost you €47.50. We did raise our doubts , and it seems the critics agree. Tom Doorley in the Daily Mail was unimpressed with their use of Norwegian crab and Portugese octopus when we have so much great seafood on our coasts. The crab tasted of little and the octopus was battered, but not in tempura like the menu said, just your bog-standard kind. He describes a dish of Coquilles St Jacques with two scallops in a sauce the consistency of milk, with under-seasoned, under-buttered mash piped around the edge, for the eye-watering price of €35. (Sounds almost as scary as that massive crab in the tank above.) We bet he was dreaming of the one he had in Bresson a few weeks ago. He ends by saying ‘lacklustre food at any cost is always disappointing; at prices as ambitious as these it feels worse.’ Once again, ouch. (Review not currently online) Gillian Nelis’s headline says it all for her review of Sole : ‘Swanky Seafood at terrifying Tiger prices’. She is not impressed that her dish of Dover sole costs €2.50 more (€47.50) than a far more enjoyable three-course meal at Locks (€45, her review last week). She too lampoons the use of Norwegian crab, 300g of which will make a dent of €65 in your pocket, but she thought the sole and tiger prawns were well cooked. Sarcastic sentence of the week also goes to G: ‘If only we lived on an island surrounded by some of the best crab meat in the world that could be sold at a much more affordable price, and in the process help to support local jobs…’ She ends by saying ‘Sole is the ghost of the Celtic Tiger come back to haunt us.’ Read her review here (subscription only). Not everyone got a kicking this week. Katy McGuinness in The Irish Independent managed to bag a reservation at Heron & Grey - she must have been hovering over the laptop when the last batch of tables became available – AND got to sit next to ‘Lovely Leo’ - swoon. She calls the cooking dynamic, innovative and flavoursome, describing a journey through the tastes that sounds a bit like a science experiment, but one we’d wait in line to be a guinea pig for. She describes dishes of ‘Allotment Kimchi – Herring – Kohlrabi’, ‘Refined Unwaxed Lemon Textures’, and pigeon with wild garlic and hazelnut. They don’t quite get a perfect score like Etto , with 9/10 for food, and 10/10 for ambience and value, which Katy puts down to it still being somewhat of a test kitchen, and a stepping stone to a more ambitious project. We’ll be hovering again on the 1st of April at 10am when the next batch of tables become available. If you want to hover too you can do it here . (Review not currently online) Next door to Heron & Grey, Lucinda O’Sullivan was lapping up the Indian street food at 3 Leaves , leaving their perfect critic score unchanged. She loved the pani puri (wheat based shells filled with potatoes, chickpeas, mango, pomegranate and sauces, below), palak pakora chaat (crispy spinach dressed with sauces) and the kesari murgh (chicken curry with nuts, lentils and other toppings). Dessert of gulab jamun (milk-solid balls in rosewater syrup) was ‘absolutely heavenly’, and she found the whole experience ‘thoroughly delightful’. (Review not currently online) Also having a good food day was Joe McNamee who was in Waterford at the Bay Tree Bistro , the same restaurant whose food Tom Doorley called ‘over-ambitious’ a few weeks ago. Joe also found the ‘multiplicity of flavours’ a bit much, and the amount of flavours described in the snacks alone had us needing a sit down - White Pudding & Blue Cheese Gougere; Chicken Mousse & Curry Granola (what?); Soy-glazed Chicken Oyster; Beef Tartare with Balsamic Caviar. Make it stop. Joe and The Light of His Life (changing it up from My Heart’s Desire, good man Joe, keeping it fresh) loved the homemade crisps, breads and butters, and starters of beef cheek rillettes with brown butter, and ‘cheffy’ Sea Bass, potato, apple and beetroot. Our favourite food descriptor of the week comes in the form of his Kilkenny Rose Veal which was ‘tender as an infant’s cheek’, and desserts were accomplished but so sweet, and lacking the innovation of the savoury dishes. Despite a couple of blips they left happy, saying; 'it is a joy to eat the food of a chef so utterly in thrall to his craft, an old pro operating with the enthusiasm, vigour and verve of a freshly unfettered young ’un.’ We’re sure the team have a bit more pep in their step today than they did two weeks ago. You can read his review here . More next week.

We know. There is a lot to care about these days. You can barely walk down a supermarket aisle any more without breaking into a sweat over whether dolphins were killed for your can of tuna, or whether your free-range chicken ever actually found the door to get out. But single origin coffee is a new one on us and we thought you should know a bit more about it. A lot of people think we're at peak hipster when it comes to coffee, and just want to order a cappuccino and get out without being subjected to a lengthy lecture about whether or not the beans were washed , and what the name of the farmer was (Katy McGuinness we're looking at you), but like everything with a cult-ish following, once you do a bit of digging you tend to start getting sucked in. Ebb & Flow in Clontarf are one of the speciality cafés in Dublin who've made the decision to serve 100% single origin coffee, and owner Dave along with barista Hannah enlightened us on what's so great about it. It turns out Single Origin coffee is like good wine, and here's why. People who love wine tend to buy a lot of single vineyard bottles. Wines where the grapes came from one site, are looked after by one person, and made into a wine containing only the grapes from that place, as opposed to loads of grapes from different sites (or even regions), so that we might get a sense of the 'terroir' from this one site. It's not consistent year on year, and tastes different depending on the weather or what decisions were made in the winery. Single vineyard is seen as a marker of quality, a way to tasted a nuanced expression of a single place, and single origin coffee is exactly the same. Most coffee that's served in mainstream cafés is a blend of a lot of beans from a lot of different places, and often if the beans aren't that good they're roasted really dark to cover it up - just like bad wine can be covered up by using a lot of oak. The other reason why coffee tends to be roasted dark is so it stays consistent across sites, day in day out (just like big brand wines), and many people on their first encounter with single roast coffee are shocked by its paleness, thinking it looks more like tea than coffee. With single origin you are tasting beans from just one place, grown by one farm, and it only gets more specific from there. Generally the better the coffee, the lighter it's roasted, to bring out all of the subtle aromas and flavours. The other thing you might want to consider is that speciality coffee tends to be more ethically sourced and sustainably grown, and to ensure this is the case with their own supply, Dave and his business partner have started a roastery in Dublin called Full Circle , which ensures that money is put back into educating the farmers that their beans come from, and allows the whole process to come full circle. We tried Ebb & Flow 's espresso tasting plate, which contained a small amount of espresso in one cup, and the same coffee used to make a latté in another, so we could see how the milk changed the flavours. The espresso tasted like cake, and the official tasting notes were given as orange, caramel and cherry, all of which we could taste. The latté was one of the best we've had in this city, presumably helped by sitting and savouring, rather than running and throwing it back. Like wine, cheese or art, coffee appreciation takes time, energy and interest, and if you're just not into it then go forth and order your dark roast cappuccino, but if this has piqued your interest then visit a place like Ebb & Flow and ask the barista to tell you more about what they're pouring that day. They will be very happy to see you coming. Ebb & Flow 56 Clontarf Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3 Mon - Fri: 07:00 - 17:00. Sat 08:00 - 17:00. Sun 09:00 - 17:00. www.ebbandflow.ie

Looks like loads of the critics were on their holidays this week. Catherine Cleary was double-brunching in Galway, Katy McGuinness was freezing in Cork, and Lucinda O'Sullivan was living it up in Mayo. Staying in Dublin, Gillian Nelis was uber impressed with the new chef at Locks in Portobello, Chris Maguire . She had the chef's tasting menu, where dishes included crispy oxtail croquettes with horseradish, poached trout with radish and crème fraîche, garganelli pasta with confit pheasant, turnip and walnut, in a buttery pheasant sauce, and poached forced rhubarb with crème fraîche ice cream, honeycomb and a rhubarb espuma. The whole meal sounded idyllic, and it's further cemented Locks' position on our growing 'must eat in immediately' list. You can read her review here (subscription only). Someone who wishes he'd gone to Locks is Tom Doorley , who had a solo stomach-churning experience at Salamanca , after being ditched by his dining companion. Bad day all round. After a fruitless search for his favourite jamón croquetas, he settled on a black pudding and ham version, which were so dry and flavourless that he couldn't eat them. He questioned whether the meatballs (in a suspiciously shiny sauce) had been reheated, and thought the churros were under cooked (but at least they weren't chilled, as threatened on the menu). The red wine was good, although he expected a Spanish restaurant to have more sherry options. To be fair, it doesn't sound like authenticity is the name of the game. (Review not online yet) Back on the up, Leslie Williams had a chance to reminisce about 1980's Temple Bar when he went for dinner at Gallagher's Boxty House , which has been going for almost 30 years. Apart from one overcooked fish dish, he and his food writer companion enjoyed it all, including a Boxty Sharing plate with gnocchi-like dumplings, boxty bread and 'supremely moreish' boxty fries. They also had a 'well-executed seafood chowder', a free range bacon chop, 'meaty and sweet and served with positively silky Colcannon, nutty roasted carrots and parsnips', and a 'glorious sticky toffee pudding served with cashew praline, wonderful Boxty ice-cream and salted caramel'. Lovely staff took the fish dish, desserts and brandies off the bill by way of apology, and by the end of dinner Leslie is proclaiming that he loves it, saying 'these are familiar comforting dishes but there is flair and real accomplishment here.' Looks like the tourists are onto something. Read his review here . In Cork, poor Katy McGuinness in The Irish Independent was left waiting out in the cold during Snowmageddon by the Elbow Lane's sous chef due to 'health and safety'. Morto for said chef, but hopefully lesson learned. Luckily for them, Katy didn't let frostbite affect her review, and loved the roast Wicklow blue with lambic-soaked pomegranate and crusty bread, and the 'superb' T-bone steak with all the flavour you could ask for. They were disappointed with the lemon sole and the chips, but the 'huge' desserts of lapsang souchong and honey parfait, and milk chocolate mousse got things back on track. Hopefully they weren't kicked back outside too promptly. Read her review here . Over in Galway, Catherine Cleary for The Irish Times did a half review of Kai , and a half-review of Tartare . We would have preferred a full review of either, but we did appreciate the appearance of 'brunch baby' in both. In Kai , her and her friends enjoyed west-coast crab on toast with avocado and poached eggs, the Kai fry, and a massive pumpkin, pecorino and chilli croquette (sounds better than Tom Doorley's). A peanut butter and cream cheese cake was 'eye-closingly good', and the almond, pear and chocolate tart was 'a great piece of baking'. On to Tartare , and all they could manage was a plate of beef tartare, some oysters and a cheese scone. Not even a single glass of wine was drunk, despite this probably (definitely?) being Galway's best wine bar. Not sure we have the emojis to accurately express our disappointment. The tartare was 'luciously good', the oysters 'white as wave tips and dressed with a sweetly pickled sea lettuce and trout roe', and the cheese scone was a 'cakey-like brioche with a nutty cheese warmth instead of a sweet edge'. It all sounds nice but we would have preferred they waited a few hours and went for dinner to give us the full lowdown. Note for the rest of you: when in JP McMahon's wine bar, drink wine. Finally in Mayo, Lucinda O'Sullivan was treating herself to a stay in Ashford Castle , and dining in their George V dining room - nice work if you can get it. She went all out with the 8 course tasting menu, which featured dishes like 'stunning squid-ink Connemara brown-crab ravioli in a shellfish sauce', Skeaghanore cured duck with rose 'crackers' and marinated fig, and Achill Island lamb with sage gnocchi, butternut squash, sprout leaves and black trumpet mushrooms. Although the bill came to €224.82 for two, she says it was 'worth every penny given the setting, service and exquisite food'. Add in the price of a night's stay and you're looking at the equivalent for a week in Spain. Better get saving. More next week.

For a country that makes so much good cider we're incredibly reliant on those alco-pops pretending to be the real thing. We can never understand why the majority of Dublin pubs have no proper Irish cider on the menu (maybe we'll write a piece about the ones that do so if you know any email us), and instead rely on brightly coloured, sickly sweet imports. They claim it doesn't sell, but is there really no appetite here for real Irish cider? We're not convinced. One man who might convince you (and the pubs) to explore Irish cider a bit more is Mark Jenkinson of The Cider Mill Slane , who makes Cockagee Cider using the ancient technique of keeving. You can read more about it on the website, but it's a pretty complicated process involving a lot of TLC and resulting in a cider that's unfiltered, unpasteurised, unsweetened and naturally sparkling. If we've managed to get you interested, there's a cider tasting and dinner on March 28th at The Riddler, opposite Christchurch Cathedral, where Mark will be pairing three of his ciders with food cooked by head chef Artur Garwin. It's also a complete bargain at €20 a head for three courses, drinks, and a cider tasting with Mark afterwards. The Riddler is a modern Irish restaurant focusing on local food and keeping traditional Irish dishes alive. The walls are also filled with riddles, hence the name. The menu for the cider tasting night consists of Fivemiletown goat's cheese and roast beetroot to start, paired with ''Ciderkin', a refreshing, crisp cider. Then, slow-roasted pork belly with Clonakilty black pudding and potato croquettes, paired with 'Windvane', a juicy, rich cider with a slight sparkle. To finish, a selection of Irish cheeses paired with 'Lamhog', a big, bold cider made from a blend of the vintage keeved ciders. Dinner will take place at 7pm, with the cider tasting at 8:30pm, and we think this has to be one of the best value nights you could have out in March. Plus Irish cider is brilliant, and we should be drinking more of it or it will just leave the country. To book contact the guys at The Riddler . The Riddler La Rochelle Building, High Street, Christchurch, Dublin 8 Ph: 01 9073266 www.theriddler.ie

While Niall Sabongi's been shouting all over town about getting Dubliners to eat more seafood (and doing a good job of it), another restaurant has been waiting in the wings ready to unleash lobster and crab claws onto South William Street. Sole has opened in the site formerly occupied by Zaragoza , which was a fusion restaurant serving dishes like Louisiana Chicken Wings, Mayo Lamb Kofti, and Chicken Satay - their website says they're moving to a new location later in the year. Executive Head Chef at Sole is Fire 's Richie Wilson, who's been the main man for steak and seafood in the Mansion House for the past four years. While they have seafood in common, this is not a Niall Sabongi style shack. It's more Corrigan's of Mayfair. Serious money has gone into the design and fit out, and it's luxe all the way from the jaw-dropping seafood tank to the toilets, all of which you'll be paying for on the menu. This is not a Tuesday night, spur of the moment catch up kind of place (unless you're on the big bucks). At €47 for Sole Meunière, €32.50 for pan-fried Halibut and €110 for a 'Captain's Seafood Platter', this is into Glover's Alley territory. There's a lot of talk about provenance on their menu so we were surprised that there was no Dublin-based supplier mentioned on their list , especially as so much great seafood comes in from Howth every morning. Hopefully this was an oversight and they do have suppliers in the city. This might be one to save for a special occasion, pay day, or if you're really looking to impress your lunch or dinner guest. One thing's for sure, there'll be a restaurant critic in here before you can say 'Killary Fjord mussels', so expect a newspaper review soon. Until then (or until we come into more money) we might hop on over to one of the Klaws for 15% off the bill . Sole 18 South William Street Ph: 01 5442300 www.sole.ie

Always a packed event, the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival is coming back to Howth from Saturday 17th March to Monday 19th. Known as the gateway for much of Dublin's seafood to enter the city, Howth is known for seafood restaurants and fishmongers, and this is a weekend where they all come together to celebrate the magnificent creature that is the Dublin Bay Prawn. Amongst the restaurants serving a special festival menu from the food village are King Sitric, Aqua, Octopussy's, The Bloody Stream, Doran's on the Pier, The Oarhouse and Findlater. You can see what they're serving here . There'll be booze too. As well as a tonne of seafood, there will be on stage entertainment from the Sea Shanties and the Howth Trad Collective, and a living Howth Village where you can meet the local businesses and book a cruise, hike or scuba-diving lesson (we're good for the last one but you fire ahead). Expect parking in Howth for the three days to be insane, so if you're going either get there very early or use public transport. We think it sounds like a very civilised way to spend Paddy's Day, we're just crossing everything for the weather. Surely we're in major credit after Snowmaggedon. Dublin Bay Prawn Festival Howth, North Co. Dublin Saturday 17th - Monday 19th March 2018 dublinbayprawnfestival.ie

The big story this week is the Sunday Business Post ’s pull out on ‘ 101 Great Irish Restaurants ’. There are 33 listed in Dublin, and it’s a brilliant line-up. You could spend the next year eating your way through this list and be very happy. Lots of our favourites are on there, including Etto , Clanbrassil House , Michael’s , Fish Shop , Piglet , Old Street , Nightmarket , Dax , Forest & Marcy , Chameleon and The Seafood Café . Most of the Michelin stars are on there too, including Chapter One , The Greenhouse , Heron & Grey and Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud . If you can't pick up a copy you can get the list online here , either by subscribing annually or buying a one-day pass. In the rest of the papers, after last week’s love-fest, it seems the critics were back in rip-roaring form ready to hang a couple of places out to dry. Lucinda O’Sullivan in The Sunday Independent had the worst sounding Vietnamese food we’ve read about in a while (but some of the best article sub-headings), in Bun Cha on Moore Street. From the staff not wanting to let them in, to beef that was ‘dry and cardboard-like’, to a curry with a skin on it, it sounds like an absolute nightmare. The clincher had to be finding out that the toilet that was out of order for the third day in a row due to a blockage (we’re not gagging, you’re gagging). Review not currently online. In Waterford, Tom Doorley was unimpressed with the widely-lauded Bay Tree Bistro , calling the cooking over-ambitious and expressing his displeasure at the wait for food. We’d say this one went down like a lead balloon with chef Keith Boyle, especially seen as the Bay Tree was one of the restaurants listed in the Sunday Business Post’s ‘ 101 Great Irish Restaurants ’. Maybe you caught them on an off-night Tom? (Review not currently online) In the Irish Examiner , Joe McNamee had a pretty dull sounding meal at Bodega , also in Waterford (not a great weekend for the Deise). Apart from his chicken main - 'succulent, tender, underpinned by sweet, earthy Jerusalem artichokes with spinach, in an umami-rich tarragon and bacon gravy — a wedge of creamy Dauphinoise potato crowns perfectly a sublimely comforting dish' - it all sounded a bit average. Tiger prawns in an adapted Pil Pil with lemon and butter, ‘decent salt cod fishcakes’, and a main of Turbot which came with purple carrot purée ‘too blandly sweet’. Despite this, he enjoyed the night, but it sounded like this was more to do with the company of his ‘Heart’s Delight’, ‘La Daughter’, ‘No 2 Son’ and ‘The Judge’ and family. Read his review here . In The Irish Times , Catherine Cleary visits Bresson in Monkstown and loves the old-fashion feel, making it four weeks in a row for Temple Garner, Conor Kavanagh and team getting a great write-up in the papers. Might have been better for business if they were a bit more spread out, but it’s a dream start for a new opening. Catherine and her companion loved the white aprons, hefty cutlery and being called ‘ladies’, saying ‘you don’t so much need Google maps to get here as a time machine.’ While Katy McGuinness in The Irish Independent found the crab crème brulee too eggy, Catherine Cleary liked it, calling it ‘a deft and delicious working of a favourite’. She also enjoyed the bouillabaisse with ‘chunks of everything that’s good from the sea, including curls of scored squid and the star ingredient: palourde clams’, and wild Seabass from Brittany – ‘a gorgeous fillet of luscious fish as white as the table linen topped with a shimmering mesh of crisp skin', with 'gnarly just scorched baby squid whose tentacles taste of summer barbecue season’, as well as confit of fennel, a Pernod and chervil butter, and skin-on ratte potatoes which remind her of her Dad’s homegrown spuds. Sounds gloriously French and the perfect antidote to the Vietnamese horror described earlier. More next week.

Mother's Day is next Sunday, and if you still haven't planned anything to treat the woman who is the very reason for your very existence, this might fit the bill. Cliff Townhouse (the epitome of a restaurant your Mum would like) has teamed up with The Little Museum of Dublin to offer lunch or dinner plus a ticket to the Ireland's Fashion Radicals exhibition for €49 per person. The meal will consist of three courses plus tea and coffee, and we're told that chef Sean Smith is planning a retro twist on dishes like Caesar salad, dressed crab, roast sirloin of beef served with Yorkshire pudding and onion sauce, and pavlova. Before or afterwards (subject to time availability), you can visit the Ireland’s Fashion Radicals exhibition, which focuses on the talented Irish fashion designers who found international fame during the 1950s, including Sybil Connolly, who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy for a White House portrait. Sounds like a bit of a dream girls day out. To book contact the Cliff Townhouse . Cliff Townhouse 22 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2 Ph: 01 6383939 www.clifftownhouse.ie

A Dublin pizzeria which opened in October has been officially certified by the Neapolitan Pizza Association (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana) - the first restaurant ever to receive this certification in Ireland. This is pretty big news. To put this into perspective, there are only two restaurants in the whole of the UK that have been certified by the AVPN (we've eaten in one and it was all kinds of amazing). Forno 500° opened last October in the site formerly occupied by Les Frères Jacques , next door to The Olympia Theatre. The Dame Street building with its signature French text was an icon of the Dublin restaurant scene, open for 28 years, and many in the trade were despondent to see a piece of history replaced first by a wine bar, and then 'another pizza place', so hopefully this news will cheer them. The owners of Forno 500° are not messing around. They found a fourth generation Neapolitan oven maker and spent nine months convincing them to leave Naples to create the first authentic Neapolitan fixed oven in Ireland. Nine pallets of materials (weighing a tonne each) were shipped to Dublin, and the oven was constructed Italian brick by brick. It's packed together using mortar made from volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius, and workers were locked out when it was being built to protect the secrets handed down from generation to generation. If that's not enough to get you interested nothing is. Getting certified from the Neapolitan Pizza Association is not for the faint-hearted. There are pages and pages of rules, from the flour to be used, to the exact cooking time, to the temperature of the tomatoes, which is why so few restaurants in the world are certified. Neapolitan pizza is characterised by a light, airy dough which blisters and chars in the 500 ° oven, and minimal, quality toppings. When it came to the inspection, Forno 500° had to document all of their processes on video, before the Association flew to Dublin and turned up at the restaurant out of the blue to inspect the kitchens and procedures and taste the pizzas. There was much celebration when their accreditation was delivered last Thursday from Naples. We think this is a such a big deal for Dublin, both for us who live here and for visiting tourists. If it's anything like the other Neapolitan certified restaurant we've eaten in we are very, very excited. We just hope they've got Lambrusco. Forno 500° 74 Dame Street, Dublin 2 Ph: 01 6794555 www.forno500.ie

Locks in Portobello has been steadily rising up the ranks of Dublin's best restaurants since re-opening under new ownership in 2015. Its previous incarnation under Pearl Brasserie's Sebastian Masi won and lost a Michelin star in the space of a year, which ended with the doors closing in July 2015, but in Autumn of that year a new chef-led team of Conor O'Dowd and Paul McNamara (ex- Etto ) took over, and things have been getting better and better ever since. And it looks like they're not slowing down any time soon, with today's announcement that they've appointment a new head chef, Chris Maguire, formerly of two-Michelin starred The Ledbury in London, and equally brilliant Michelin-starred Trinity , also in London. With co-owner Paul McNamara busy preparing for his new restaurant Uno Mas, which he's opening with Etto owners Liz Matthews and Simon Barrett, we think this is a shrewd move to ensure the kitchen keeps evolving and improving. Locks seems to have some serious fire about it right now and we're looking forward to seeing what Chris is going to add to the mix. Locks 1 Windsor Terrace, Portobello, Dublin 8 01 416 3655 www.locksrestaurant.ie

The French have given us a lot - antibiotics, raincoats, the hairdryer - but arguably their biggest contribution to the world has been in the form of food. What would our days be like without croissants, baguettes, brie, the odd quiche? If you feel like celebrating this fact, the largest French-style dinner in the world is taking place across the globe on Wednesday 21st March, and several Dublin restaurants are signed up. Organised by the French government, the idea is to celebrate French gastronomy, but restaurants are encouraged to use local ingredients. Piglet in Temple Bar are doing a 5 course meal featuring dishes like 'Baked Clarenbridge Oyster, Parmesan, Organic Gubben farm Lardo', 'Irish Spring Lamb, Bayaldie de Légumes, Jus Tranché a la Menthe', and 'Irish Goat's Cheese, Organic Honey and Pollen'. Dinner costs €65, or €105 with matching wines, which include a Loire Muscadet, a Pinot Blanc from Alsace and a red Bordeaux. You can book by emailing or calling them on 01 7079786. Piglet Other restaurants taking part are Cliff Townhouse , which will be serving oysters or crab, followed by sole meunière, and ending with a French cheese plate, and Aqua in Howth, who'll be serving duck foie gras, sole in mornay sauce and cheese to finish. Unfortunately no-one is organised enough to have their full menus online yet but keep an eye on their websites or get in touch via email or phone. You can read more about the event and where to celebrate it on the French Embassy's website here . And if you don't want to go out, this is as good an excuse as any to have some friends over and break out the Beaujolais and baked Camenbert.