Mani’s Roman-style pizza styles have been responsible for a permanent queue down Drury Street since they opened at the end of 2023. Hiring ex-Pala Pizza’s Rory Shannon as head chef was a great move from fellow pizza nerd and owner Ciaran McGonagle, and the power of these two seems to multiply by being in close proximity to each other. Crispy, twice-baked slices featuring the most moreish of toppings, and some deep-fried naughtiness for good measure. Basic but quality drinks, and loads of outside seating, as well as a few stools inside. Mani Website instagram.com/mani.pizza.panini Address Mani, Drury Street, Dublin, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Mani’s Roman-style pizza styles have been responsible for a permanent queue down Drury Street since they opened at the end of 2023. Hiring ex-Pala Pizza’s Rory Shannon as head chef was a great move from fellow pizza nerd and owner Ciaran McGonagle, and the power of these two seems to multiply by being in close proximity to each other. Crispy, twice-baked slices featuring the most moreish of toppings, and some deep-fried naughtiness for good measure. Basic but quality drinks, and loads of outside seating, as well as a few stools inside. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Craft Neighbourhood dining that's a steal in Harold's Cross Posted: 5 Aug 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Craft opened in February 2016, and was immediately touted as the neighbourhood restaurant Harold's Cross had badly needed. Head chef/owner Philip Yeung had previously been head chef at Town Bar & Grill (remember the boom?) and Bang on Merrion Row, and a string of glowing reviews for his first solo opening followed, with Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times calling the Dublin 6 suburb "a better place to be thanks to the arrival of Craft." The following year they got the news that they'd been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2018, given to restaurants that Michelin deem good quality and good value - for Ireland it must be €40 or under for three courses - and held onto it for 2019 but lost it for 2020. It was a year of shock deletions, with Etto, Bastible, Forest & Marcy, The Pig's Ear and Delahunt all losing their Bib too, so we didn't pay too much heed and presumed it might be more to do with menu pricing than food quality for most places. Luckily it hasn't seemed to make any dent in their customer base, who mostly seem to be locals, delighted to have something like this on their doorstep, when so many other suburbs don't. Where should we sit? There’s a front and a back room, but we’d probably opt to sit in the front as it feels a bit brighter and airier. We did however spot a couple with a young baby in the back and thought it was perfectly suited to a bit more privacy. There are only five tables in the front post-Covid, all adequately spaced, and the two in the window are ideal if you’re an avid people watcher. What's the food like? We came for the neighbourhood menu (only served on Thursdays), as we figure a lot of people are probably looking for maximum bang for their buck right now, between job losses, pay cuts and many businesses in unknown territory after the past few months. It’s a very good deal at €27 for two courses and €32 for three, but there only a choice of mains so you wouldn't want to be a fussy eater or have too many dietary requirements – they do cater for veggies though and one main will always be meat-free. We started with seedy, treacle brown bread and Glenilen Farm butter, dense and crunchy enough to fill the hungry gap until the food proper started to arrive. The starter was a plate of heirloom tomatoes, burrata, charred peach and smoked almond pesto - ideal summer eating (for a grey, rainy evening in July). There were little dried tomatoes in amongst the mix, which added bursts of flavour in every other forkful, but we thought the whole thing needed more seasoning, which they brought on request. Our main was a meaty piece of expertly cooked Kilkeel hake with a prawn tortellini (whose filling was more mousse-like than fluffy fresh prawn), an intense pea purée, fresh peas, chard and a foaming shellfish sauce. Again it felt perfectly suited to the time of year, and like the kitchen is giving serious consideration to what we might want to eat on any given week. It was also light enough to ensure we were looking forward to (rather than holding our stomachs at the thought of) a chocolate dessert. With the fish came a side of crunchy, fluffy potatoes (they've thought of everything), but just two each, so again not enough to steer you into uncomfortable tummy territory. For a set menu that already felt like good value, the main really pushed it into the "this is a bit of a steal" category. Dessert was "chocolate mousse and raspberry", with various elements of each - an airy mousse, a crispy chocolate cracker, a raspberry sorbet, fresh raspberries, raspberry sauce and what looked and tasted like puffed rice. It was a nice mix of richness and freshness, and the chocolate tasted dark enough so as not to veer into sugar overload territory. What about the drinks? The wine list is very short with few options by the glass – maybe Covid-related – and we thought it was in need of an injection of interest. Perhaps they’re trying to cater for the locals with tried and tested options. We did think the prosecco was unusually good – to the point where we questioned if it might have been something more upmarket like a Crémant, and a Kir Royal was a perfect aperitif. And the service? Staff were all masked and very welcoming and friendly. The food came out at nice intervals, and the open kitchen appeared entirely calm. The verdict? The neighbourhood menu at Craft offers serious bang for your buck, with a three course meal for two and a bottle of wine easily coming in at under €100. We have a feeling it’s not the kitchen’s best work, but it’s more than solid cooking, and even more reason to go back for the Friday and Saturday tasting menu at €52 for four courses (including snacks). If value for money is your top priority right now when it comes to eating out, the neighbourhood menu is a great dive into Craft at a not so great price. We started with seedy, treacle brown bread and Glenilen Farm butter, dense and crunchy enough to fill the hungry gap until the food proper started to arrive. Craft 208 Harold’s Cross Road, Harold's Cross, Dublin 6W. craftrestaurant.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bastible A new reason to visit the Dublin 8 favourite Posted: 25 Feb 2020 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Bastible opened in 2015, the first restaurant from couple Barry Fitzgerald and Claremarie Thomas (who also own Clanbrassil House and Coffee Shop ), and after Catherine Cleary called it the best restaurant she'd been to that year, there was something of a stampe, with months of tables booked out in an instant. Since the initial pandemonium it's enjoyed steady success, and it's safe to say it would feature on most (if not all) food writers and critics' 'best restaurants in Ireland' lists, but in the middle of last year there was an interesting development when it was annouced that ex-Geranium (three-Michelin starred restaurant in Copenhagen) and Noma (two-stars, also in Copenhagen) chef and Dublin native Cúán Greene had come home and taken up the mantle of head chef. Cue mammoth excitement about having someone who's worked at that level of globally recognised dining home and cooking in Ireland. They kept it quiet to start, letting Greene find his feet and explore the local (and greater) Dublin area for what could be foraged, fermented and found in woodlands, fields and probably even gardens, but you can't keep a secret long in this town, and as soon as Catherine Cleary found out there was fresh blood in the kitchen she was straight in. Another rave review followed, with her saying "there's a new level of cooking in town", and Leslie Williams in the Irish Examiner following close behind saying that what's happening here "needs to be experienced". We don't need any more convincing than that. Where should we go for a drink first? If you're after bubbles or wine, recently opened The Wine Pair on Clanbrassil Street should be top of your list. The neighbourhood wine bar has a mostly European selection, with plenty of organic and natural options and €10 corkage on anything off the shelf. If it's a pint or a G+T you fancy head for 57 The Headline who specialise in craft beer and have an enormous range of gins. Where should we sit? The dining room is pared back and minimalist, with lots of wood and steel, and moss green on the walls - very Scandi-esque. There are tables against the wall and in the centre of the room, and a six seater at the window. We do prefer a window seat, but if there aren't that many of you we'd opt for the wall every time. There's also some counter seats with a good view of the kitchen, which we imagine are in demand on busy evenings. What's good to eat? We visited for Sunday lunch which is the best value meal of the week at Bastible. The 'set menu' (really a tasting menu) is €45, whereas on other days a similar spread costs €52 at lunch or €65 at dinner. Just think about the extra money you'll have to spend on wine. It opened with 'ox tongue shish, kelp and dried mushroom', and if the thoughts of eating that part of an animal has the potential to turn your stomach, this is the tongue to change your mind. We're talking "OMG what is happening in my mouth right now and how can I make it last longer" levels of deliciousness. It had been sliced wafer thin, threaded onto a branch made of beech (for the flavour), barbecued and glazed before serving. Imagine the softest, most melt in the mouth, deeply-flavoured brisket, which had finished over fire to make it extra 'extra', and given a sticky, slightly sweet coating. What an opener. Next up came doorstop sized slices of homemade sourdough bread with Greene's cultured butter, the bread soft and tangy, the butter creamy, sweet and almost fluffy. We're also not sure whether it was deliberate or not but we're really on board with the idea of serving the bread and butter as its own course, rather than as an accompaniment to more exciting dishes. What's more exciting than really excellent bread and butter? After that came what felt like a beautiful looking palette cleanser of very finely sliced kolhrabi, sorrel and orange blossom, served cold and eaten in one or two bites. It was an interesting, light bite, but it won't be consuming our minds like some of the other dishes. Then it was back into OMG territory with a dexter beef tartare topped with a Jerusalem artichoke cream and cep crumbs. If there's a better tartare in the country we need to know about it, because it's unimaginable to think of any tasting better than this. The cream was almost like a rich, earthy custard, with the slightest crunch from the crumbs contrasting with the velvet softness of the tiny cubes of meat. A perfect plate of food. After that life high came a dish we'd been lusting after on Instagram for weeks - the baked swede with pumpkin seed mole, pumpkin seeds and ginger oil. It's one of the prettiest plates of food you're likely to eat this year, with soft, delicate flavours, but it didn't have the oomph or impact of some of the other dishes so felt over-shadowed in the grand scheme of the meal. Although 10 points for making turnip not taste like turnip. Then it was onto the main course proper - quince lacquered sea trout with glazed potato flatbread, smoked yoghurt and fermented gooseberries. The fish was rich and sweet and flaking apart, the potato flatbread pillowy, chewy and slightly sticky, and the smoked yoghurt with sea lettuce on top jacked everything up to peak flavour. The only thing we didn't get was the fermented gooseberries, which were tangy and sour in a very funky way that we found marginally unpleasant. They also only brought one tiny bowl of each for three people which felt a bit mean. They brought more on request but there was a five minute wait while the chef prepared it. Nevertheless this is a spectacular combination of flavours and textures, and much moaning was uttered during its consumption. Dessert was a beautiful, unusual combination of sheep's milk yoghurt mousse, fermented plum, marigold leaf sugar and woodruff oil. After so many rich flavours it was nice to end on something so light and delicate, with the sugar giving a lovely crunch against the airy mousse, and each flavour defined yet melding together so well. Plates were scraped clean. Finally as a petit four we were brought a juniper caramel wrapped in blackcurrant leather, a sweet, sour, salty, satisfying end to a pretty spectacular meal. What about the drinks? The wine list here is impressive, with many of our favourite winemakers featured and loads from the natural canon, as well as sherries and grower Champagnes - notoriously hard to find on Dublin wine lists. We loved the Gaston Chiquet Champagne and the Emmerich Knoll Riesling, but you can't go far wrong with a list like this. And the service? Staff were all lovely and accommodating, and knew exactly what was in each dish and how it had been prepared - a rarity. We did have to flail around a few times trying to flag someone down to order more wine or request more of that immense smoked yoghurt, but once they got there they were very helpful. The verdict? Bastible has been one of Dublin's top restaurants since it opened in 2015, but the arrival of Cúán Greene has taken it to the next level, where foraging, pristine sourcing and defining Irish food takes centre stage, and stars undoubtedly await. It's no secret that Greene harbours ambitions of opening his own restaurant, and how far away that is we don't know, but we'd recommend trying his food here as soon you can, and you'll be guaranteed to follow him wherever he goes next. Bastible 111 South Circular Road, Dublin 8 bastible.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Did we even smash before Dash? Get into a heated debate about Dublin's best burger with anyone in the city and Dash will top the list again and again. Double and triple smash burgers, chicken tendies, fries and sauces make up a simple menu that needs nothing else. Dash Burger Aungier Street Website dashburger.ie Address Unit 2, College Court, 6-11 Kevin Street Lower, Portobello, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Did we even smash before Dash? Get into a heated debate about Dublin's best burger with anyone in the city and Dash will top the list again and again. Double and triple smash burgers, chicken tendies, fries and sauces make up a simple menu that needs nothing else. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

French pizzeria and bakery, topping pizzas with Emmental instead of Mozzarella. Couple Giles (Gaillot, French) and Emma (Gray, Irish) started off with a food truck in Greystones, which was such a success that they upgraded to permanent premises. Coffee and freshly baked pastries in the mornings, soup, sandwiches and salad at lunch, and thin based, wood-fired pizzas with traditional French toppings from 4pm. Lovely garden out back to enjoy it all in. Gaillot et Gray Website @GaillotGrayP Address 59 Clanbrassil Street Lower, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story French pizzeria and bakery, topping pizzas with Emmental instead of Mozzarella. Couple Giles (Gaillot, French) and Emma (Gray, Irish) started off with a food truck in Greystones, which was such a success that they upgraded to permanent premises. Coffee and freshly baked pastries in the mornings, soup, sandwiches and salad at lunch, and thin based, wood-fired pizzas with traditional French toppings from 4pm. Lovely garden out back to enjoy it all in. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Precise, original Sichuan cooking that draws diners from across the city and beyond, for the ‘Man and Wife’ beef slices, ‘waltip’ pork and chicken dumplings, and whole fresh Irish lobster with egg noodles. It's not cheap, but it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in the country. China Sichuan Website china-sichuan.ie Address The Forum, Ballymoss Rd, Sandyford Business Park, Sandyford, Dublin 18 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Precise, original Sichuan cooking that draws diners from across the city and beyond, for the ‘Man and Wife’ beef slices, ‘waltip’ pork and chicken dumplings, and whole fresh Irish lobster with egg noodles. It's not cheap, but it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in the country. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Middle Eastern, pocket-friendly food that consistently delivers. Hummus, falafel and vine leaves are some of Umi's standouts, but it's all flavour-packed and feel good. Umi Falafel Rathmines Website umifalafel.ie Address 180 Rathmines Road Lower, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Middle Eastern, pocket-friendly food that consistently delivers. Hummus, falafel and vine leaves are some of Umi's standouts, but it's all flavour-packed and feel good. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Bless Up Home-inspired Afro-Caribbean food to feast on and to share in Posted: 31 Oct 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What's the story with Bless Up? With a history more steeped in emigration than immigration, Dublin has often sadly lagged behind many even comparably-sized UK cities when it comes to the diversity of food on offer. This has started to change and change quickly in recent years, but we’re still playing catch-up in many terms. That’s a big part of why Bless Up caught our eye as it opened in Tallaght back in September: this isn’t the first restaurant in Dublin to offer Sub-Saharan African food, but the scale of its fit-out suggests plenty of confidence that it could be the best. The flashy décor speaks to the ambition to make this a community space as much as a restaurant, and there’s an impressive speaker setup in place to allow Bless Up to host all kind of music night events. The Nigerian-Irish and Nigerian-British owners have plenty of front-of-house experience from the likes of Carluccio’s and Fifty50 but this is their first time manning a kitchen. Where should we sit? Expect to walk in and be wowed – the space here has been transformed with low lighting and red curtains pairing with the smart seating and marble-effect tables for a premium late-night lounge vibe. To the rear there’s an area closed off by a sliding glass door that can be booked as a private room. The tables lining the walls have cosier seating than the wooden chairs of the handful of two-tops out on the floor; we’d recommend sticking to the wall that runs perpendicular to the bar to avoid the minor annoyance of an Instagram-friendly flashing welcome video projected on the wall. What's on the menu? We knew going in that half the mains were going to need our attention so for starters we stuck only to suya, a spiced and grilled meat dish made in this case with a mix of beef, chicken and goat. You’ll more often find this marinated in the characteristic dry-rub – a deep-flavoured powder of roast peanuts and spices including paprika and cayenne – and barbecued on a skewer but here it’s doner-thin slices layered up in a bowl. The meat is tender and juicy, teeming with flavour from the rich rub; the three kinds of meat make for a mouthful-to-mouthful variety that keeps it from ever seeming one-note. This is a great starting salvo apart from the tragic side salad – it’s there to add colour, but it’s really just taking up space. For all its pitching itself as an Afro-Caribbean restaurant, there’s no doubt Bless Up skews solidly to the former part of that hybrid. Jerk chicken on the mains list is the major exception: this Jamaican dish is a classic of Caribbean cooking, spicy-sweet from a lengthy marinade in an allspice and hot pepper-dominated mix and smoky from the grill. Those duelling flavours play well off the thigh’s fatty richness but we would have liked a little more heat – especially given they asked if we wanted it really spicy (of course). “Rice and peas” (actually kidney beans, as per tradition) on the side are simmered in coconut milk and the same spicing for a complimentary, more mellow flavour – these work really well together. Back to Nigeria for the efo riro, a seasoned and sauteed spinach with full flavours from a fried onion and tomato base. If we’re honest we had lowest expectations for this plate but the depth of flavour had us eating our words along with our greens. Our server suggested a side of goat meat to go with it and who were we to argue – this was a definite highlight of Bless Up’s simple satisfactions, gorgeous grilled slices of succulent meat with a sprinkle of spice. Goat remains a real rarity in Dublin restaurants and it’s a great shame – the quality take on it offered here is one of the major reasons to haul yourself out to Tallaght. Both efo riro and jerk chicken come served with a generous side of fried plantain – here they cook the starchy banana varietal to a caramelised crisp that’s positively addictive. It's good news for the greedy that two of the mains are also available in smaller side form, and that’s how we opted to enjoy the jollof and chakalaka – both come with plantains and grilled meat when ordered as a full-fledged main. The jollof – a staple West African rice dish seasoned with spice and simmered in tomato sauce – is delicious, a warming feed of flavour we can see working especially well on those coming colder nights. Chakalaka, a spiced-up riff on baked beans from the south of the continent, has more of that stewed vegetable complexity and gets great texture from the corn and peas flecked through the bowl. We would have happily eaten both of these as mains. We can’t tell you how much our eyes lit up when our server said the dessert of the day was a plantain split – we weren’t through with this delicious fruit yet. Three scoops of caramel-drizzled vanilla ice cream straddle the two wedges of banana, and if it isn’t quite as crisp-charred as its savoury dish cousins, it at least has all the same sweet softness. Puff puff is the menu option we most often saw praised by diners across early reviews on Google and TikTok and it’s hard to argue: these icing sugar-dusted deep-fried dough balls are airy, indulgent, and absolutely addictive dipped in the caramel on the side. Both desserts have a kind of confident simplicity that makes for a nice finish to a meal characterised by layered, complex flavours – a pared-back wind-down to send you out into the street well and truly stuffed. What about drinks? The wine list is relatively slim and with little of any real interest – we expected to see a bit more South African options but it gets no more attention than the other typical regions with three to four bottles and one or two by-the-glass each. Prices are fine, but there’s nothing here that’s good enough to count as a bargain. How was the service? Lovely! Everyone we spoke to seemed genuinely delighted people were trying the place out and keen to know how we’d come across it. Staff are attentive and all over the menu, quick with suggestions to help you try out as much as you can. Everything was ready in super-quick order too, though there was no speed the other side in trying to hustle us out of the place – you will feel very welcome here. What was the damage? What we ordered came to much more than enough for two – though we still ate every bite – at a very reasonable €88. Portion sizes are plentiful, so if you’re watching your spend you could happily fill up on just a main with plenty of change from a twenty. Families will be keen to know they’re very kid-friendly with high chairs on standby and a special kids menu offering goujons, jollof or fried rice for €6.95. And the verdict? At a time when slimming margins and uncertain outlooks are (understandably) pushing more and more new openings to go for the same style of small plates, it’s a thrill to see something as unique as Bless Up land in Dublin. There’s a clear confidence to both the space and the cooking here that seems to suggest those behind it know they’ve got something special on their hands. This is great hospitality, home-inspired food to feast on and to share in. With the broad range of cuisines that fall under the Afro-Caribbean remit we can only hope they continue to add to the menu – already since we’ve visited they’ve added gizdodo, the Yoruba delicacy of gizzards and plantains, and honestly we’re checking the timetables to Tallaght as we write. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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Storyboard Not your average brunch Posted: 1 Oct 2019 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? Storyboard opened in Islandbridge, Dublin 8 (near Heuston Station) in 2017 with chef Laura Caulwell (ex- Fumbally ) at the helm, and within months Catherine Cleary in the Irish Times had written that it was the best café food she'd eaten in Ireland. It was already busy, being in a good-food-starved part of the city, but it got busier. Caulwell quietly slipped out the following year, going back to help The Fumbally in their mission of changing school dinners in the The Warrenmount Canteen , but Storyboard continued their trajectory as one of the city's best brunch spots. We love a brunch with a difference and the images on their Instagram feed were causing serious cravings for kimchi pancakes , so we went to see how things were faring two years in. Where should we sit? It feels like a tight squeeze inside when it's busy so if it's in any way sunny we'd be trying to nab an outside table. Otherwise edge your way onto a table of two of four, and there may be a wait at the weekend. There didn't seem to be a queuing system when we got there, and while we got a table quickly we hope they have some way of telling who's first in line. There was a queue but we couldn't tell who was waiting to pay, who was just there for takeaway coffee and who wanted a table. What's good to eat? From the brunch menu we tried two of the Storyboard classics - the kimchi pancakes and the "spuds", and a new kid on the block - 'Beet & Figs' - which turned out to be our favourite. The beetroot and figs come served on a thick slice of Le Levain sourdough toast topped with sumac mascarpone with hibiscus, and lemon tea reduction (almost like a curd), with McNally's mixed leaves. A great and unusual combination of flavours and textures, although we would liked the pieces of beetroot to be a bit less enormous. You also only get one slice of toast for €10.50 so if you're very hungry this might not fill you. The kale kimchi pancakes are a nice savoury rework of a breakfast classic, and we rarely pass up an opportunity to eat the pungent, fermented cabbage in any form. These had a slightly chewy, slightly crumbly texture, and came with perfectly soft scrambled Wicklow free-range eggs on top, as well as sunflower shoots, scallions, house teriyaki sauce and homemade spicy mayo. Maybe we didn't read the menu properly as we were disappointed that the "spuds" was literally just a plate of spuds. They were well cooked with rosemary and salt, but neither the accompanying buffalo sauce, pea purée or minted frisee leaves leaves did much to amplify it much beyond a plate of potatoes. We wishes we'd added two free-range fried eggs or some Gubbeen chorizo from the sides, which probably would have made all the difference, but by itself it felt like an incomplete dish. The price tag of €10.50 added insult to injury. They'd run out of quite a few cakes/treats when we got there (but they'd been restocked by the time we were leaving), so we settled on a chocolate covered peanut butter ball (rugby not soccer), which was dense and extremely peanutty, dipped in excellent dark chocolate - what a snickers wishes it was. Perfect if you have a sweet tooth to satisfy but don't want a full on cake fest. What about the drinks? Coffee is excellent, as you would expect, and they had both Imbibe and Bonanza Coffee Roasters in stock when we were there. Other drinks are very limited, and if you were hoping for something other than kombucha, ginger fizz or sparkling water you'll be disappointed. And the service? Chaotic. They really seemed as if they needed more staff. We were passed several times while trying to figure out if there was a queue for seats without being acknowledged, and had to almost walk out in front of someone to get their attention to ask. They were very nice, but some seemed addled, others too relaxed. Once we did sit down we waited 25 minutes for a flat white to arrive, having asked after it three times, and watch customer after customer leave with takeaway cups in their hands. They took it off the bill but it's hard to recover from a start like that. The verdict? Storyboard is still one of Dublin's most interesting places for brunch, with an ever evolving menu and a thoughtful use of Irish produce. If you favour peaceful weekends you might want to get in early and hopefully beat the rush, but if you're not in a hurry and like a bit of buzz it's probably right up your street. A walk in the Phoneix park afterwards should help you work up an appetite for lunch. Storyboard Clancy Quay, Islandbridge, Dublin 8 storyboardcoffee.com New Openings & Discoveries More >>

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Coppinger The boys are back and better than ever Posted: 6 Aug 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What's the story with Coppinger? You remember Coppinger Row right? Opened mid-recession in 2009; became a central player in Dublin dining for the next 12 years; was engulfed in a social media meltdown after Beyoncé and Jay Z were papped having dinner there; closed abruptly at the end of 2021 after their pesky landlord decided to put their lease on the open market. Name-checked everywhere from Vogue to Goop , Coppinger Row had a fanatically nostalgic fanbase, who despaired at the news it was pulling down the shutters for the last time, but lo and behold, those clever Bereen brothers managed to get the lease back into their hands after two and a half years of refusing to give up the fight - what an entirely exhausting palaver. The result is Coppinger Row 2.0. They've dropped the 'Row' to become ' Coppinger ', completely reinvented and redesigned the restaurant space, and unveiled a far sexier menu from Executive Chef Daniel Hannigan and team - the days of black pudding salads and open meatball sandwiches have been parked. Where should we sit? There are quite a few different areas so this is somewhere you might want to specify a seating preference when you book. There's bar seating (ideal for solo dining or if you like to watch things from up high), outdoor seating, two circular tables perfect for group catch ups, and a long line of tables for two/four/six along the left wall in the front room looking out onto Coppinger Row. There's also two sections towards the back of the restaurant which feel a bit more private and removed from the buzz of the main floor. The section at the very back has private dining written all over it. What should we order? Good luck making choices here because everything sounds better than the thing before it. Order a couple of snacks while you read it from top to bottom 18 times. On being handed the menus we were told to order what and how we want - refreshing in a world where we're increasingly told to order three courses or get out. You might be wondering what tarama is. Stop wondering and ask them to bring it. The silky cod's roe based dip (€6.50) comes with a puddle of sweet fennel jam (why is this not more of a thing) and a generous sprinkling of furikake over the top. It's one of the nicest things we've eaten this year - sweet, salty, savoury joy in each scoop. The kitchen also sent up some muhamarra with marinated red pepper and candied walnut (€6.50) which we hadn't ordered. It's smoky and piquant with contrasting textures and you'll need an order of foccaia (€4) to mop both of them up. If you stop in for one plate at the bar, make it the tuna crudo with peach, oregano and fennel (€19). It could so easily be a case of the Coco Chanels - just take one thing off. It's not. It's an incredible flavour combo, with sweetness, spice and herbal notes offsetting the fatty fish - we've never tasted anything like it. Those garlic and chilli gambas a la plancha are back, and still as monstrous as ever. They come in small (€16) or large (€30), and four of them as a starter swimming in that spoonable garlic, chilli and lemon butter sauce with half a slice of sourdough felt like good value. A round flatbead, piled with sticky, savoury lamb belly, comes with a Belvedere pineapple mint chimichurri (€16) - clearly dreamt up by someone with a flair for flavour. Every bite brings savoury, sweet, sharp, fruity, creamy - consider this an order to order it. Octopus rice, evidently cooked in squid ink, came with nicely cooked BBQ octopus and dollops of sunny saffron aioli (€17) - an enjoyable dish which the under-seasoned rice and under-flavoured aioli somewhat took away from. Long, fluffy, crisp pan-fried gnocchi (€26) comes tossed with peas, meaty maitake mushrooms and Hegarty's cheddar, and it's a killer vegetarian dish, easily enough to make you pass on meat or fish, but a little too oily for our delicate taste buds - we couldn't quite finish it which doesn't happen too regularly. A lighter hand with the fats is all that's needed. Crisp Ballymakenny spuds (€6.50) are hash browns for the 2024 diner, sitting in a pool of Parmesan custard with more of the good stuff on top. This is another dish you'd regret skipping if you saw it pass by on the way to another table, but try to share or you'll struggle to entertain dessert. The dessert menu is more on the simple side with ice-creams, sorbets and a couple of plates proper - a panna cotta; and a strawberry and elderflower cruller with ice-cream (the menu said strawberry but we think we got vanilla - €12). The well made pastry is partly soaked in syrup by the time it arrives, spilling over with summer strawberries, and the lime zest keeps everything from feeling too sweet. What about drinks? The wine list isn't going to get oenophiles' pulses racing, but it's a good one for covering all the bases, and having bottles to satisfy all tastes. There are three sparkling wines for sub €60 (fizz fans will be delighted), and having whites and reds between €35 and €40 will make a lot of squeezed diners very happy. We really liked the Valle des Aigles Cazot Orange, which stood up well to those big flavours. There's a decent by the glass selection too with bubbles, white, orange, rosé, reds and fortified, and mark ups are not as painful as some of the other restaurants around town. It's clear they want people to see Coppinger as a regular dinner spot, rather than a once a year treat, and we get the feeling they've worked hard to keep prices on the more accessible side. How was the service? For the second week in a row it felt like we'd been busted on arrival. Service was very friendly, and twice extras arrived from the kitchen that we "just need to try". Despite this, there were long lulls in service at times, and we spent an hour more there than necessary waiting for various courses to arrive. A lot of the staff are back from the original Coppinger Row, and all seem very upbeat and happy to be home, but things could do with a bit of tightening up - whether that's on the floor or in the kitchen we couldn't tell. It's early days though. What's the verdict on Coppinger? The lads behind Coppinger must have thought the world was falling down around them when that lease got pulled from under their feet, but from our vantage point it's the best thing that could have happened to them. We've heard the Bereen Brothers say that Coppinger Row was never really about the food - well Coppinger is, and this update, 15 years after the original opened its doors, couldn't feel any more of the moment. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

High end Italian seafood and pasta with an extensive Champagne and wine list that's become a focal point for some of the city's big spenders. Gregarious owner Luca likes opening the top end bottles and teaching customers how to sabre Champagne. Rosa Madre Website rosamadre.ie Address 7 Crow St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story High end Italian seafood and pasta with an extensive Champagne and wine list that's become a focal point for some of the city's big spenders. Gregarious owner Luca likes opening the top end bottles and teaching customers how to sabre Champagne. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Neighbourhood café in the heart of Dublin 8, with all food made on site using seasonal, mostly organic ingredients, and a yoga studio on site. Their menu is all vegetarian with plenty of vegan options, so you can enjoy a plant-filled feast after you’ve worked through your sun salutations. Little Bird Website little-bird.ie Address 82 South Circular Road, Portobello, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Neighbourhood café in the heart of Dublin 8, with all food made on site using seasonal, mostly organic ingredients, and a yoga studio on site. Their menu is all vegetarian with plenty of vegan options, so you can enjoy a plant-filled feast after you’ve worked through your sun salutations. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

A Do Pop's potato curry has them lining up in Malahide Posted: 31 Aug 2021 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What’s the story? There are approximately 50 places to eat in the small, seaside town of Malahide, but approximately 40 of them have more or less the same menu - if you want burgers, fish and chips or seafood tagliatelle you've come to the right place. On the other hand, if that makes your eyes glaze over, you need to know about A Dó , which opened from a hatch on New Street in April, serving potato curry boxes, filled rotis and chicken salad with mustard slaw, and immediately stood out, because it was like nowhere else around. This is a proper family affair, with brother Krishna out front, sister Anna Maria in the kitchen cooking their father's Indian recipes, and another sister Róisín helping out too. They were busy from day one, with coffee, porridge and pastries in the morning, and the Indian influence kicking in from lunchtime, and the smells alone will draw you to their window if you're close by. Where should we sit? As the world (and Fingal County Council) got on board with outdoor dining, A Dó went from being a hole in the wall takeaway to having six or seven tables for outdoor dining throughout the summer. New Street in general is a really atmospheric place to soak up some sun over breakfast, lunch or dinner, but with the pedestrianisation of the town's main thoroughfare due to be reversed in Autumn, they may be back to takeaway only until 2022. If that's the case when you visit, grab your food and head for the newly redeveloped green at the Marina, one of the benches overlooking the sea along the coast or estuary, or head into Malahide Castle for acre after acre of green space. What's the food like? It's one of those small but perfect menus. No fillers, no crowd-pleasers, just the food they want to serve. It's so real and unapologetic, even before you get your food you know it's going to be good. Their 'Pop's potato curry' box is a mainstay, and come with a freshly made roti, Asian slaw, green chilli chutney and yoghurt sauce. You know those perfect plates/boxes/dishes where every single element is a knockout, nothing is an afterthought, and everything works so beautifully together you could almost weep with joy? That. Pop knew what he was doing in the kitchen. There are no shop bought pastes or powders here, you can see and taste the freshly ground and whole spices in everything. On weekends you might find specials like a beef curry box or a butter chicken one (just as good), but the potato is there all week. You can also get one of those freshly made rotis stuffed with potato curry and yoghurt, topped with carrot and green chutney, and eating it as a whole bread between two hands shows off its buttery, flaky magic to maximum effect. It's also got to be one of the best fivers you could spend on food in the entire capital. At the weekend you might find other curries stuffed in rotis also, like their beef version, and we've yet to be disappointed with anything. But we're not done with Dad's potato curry yet. In one of the most impressive showings of carb on carb action we've seen in years, they also stuff it into lavash bread from Tartine to make a potato curry sandwich. Admittedly this did initially cause us to raise eyebrows, but like everything else that comes out of this kitchen, it just works (and is an incredible hangover helper). The other pillar of A Dó's menu is their chicken salad, which comes either in a box or in a sandwich. It looks and sounds so simple but the additions of mustard mayonnaise, apple and pomegranate make it pop, and even makes the celery palatable (sorry celery lovers). Cakes and cookies are predominantly vegan from Oh Happy Treats , and we loved the chocolate banana bread which was so dense with banana and didn't suffer in the slightest from non-dairy chocolate. A brownie was a bit too thin and fudgy for our liking, but that's being picky. They have other more mainstream treats like those mini doughnuts you see all over the place, vegan power balls and muffins, but we're sending you here more for the savoury than the sweet. What about the drinks? Standard café fare - coffee, tea, soft drinks and sometimes slushies. Coffee is from Ariosa and often we've found it quite bitter, but that might be a matter of staff training rather than the beans being used. It's definitely on the stronger side of coffee blends. And the service? Staff are always very pleasant, but you'll get the best interactions from the owners. Customers love to tell Anna-Maria how much they loved her food, ask if they can buy her chutneys by the jar, tell her never to change a thing, while her brother jokes about not giving her a big head. This is the antithesis of a chain café or restaurant, and eating here will make you feel so much better than if you went to the Starbucks down the road, on a lot of levels. And the damage? We've eaten here a few times but the last visit comprising of two mains, two cakes and an iced coffee came to €23. We almost felt we were ripping them off. The verdict? A Dó café is the most interesting thing to happen to Malahide's main thoroughfare in years (and we're include the 'Save Malahide Village' protests in that). Go for the homemade rotis, stay for the potato curry, beg for some chutneys to take home. You'll feel revived. A Dó Café 2 New Street, Malahide, Co. Dublin www.instagram.com/ado_coffeetogo New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Neopolitan woodfired pizza (many of our readers name it as the best in Dublin) and handmade pasta a couple of minutes walk from Stephen’s Green. Bread and ice cream are also made freshly in house. Cirillo's Website cirillos.ie Address 140 Baggot Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Neopolitan woodfired pizza (many of our readers name it as the best in Dublin) and handmade pasta a couple of minutes walk from Stephen’s Green. Bread and ice cream are also made freshly in house. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Tiller + Grain's owner/chef Clair Dowling worked for Ottolenghi and Skye Gyngell in London, before bringing her flavour-popping salads and sandwiches to Dublin city centre. Meat and fish is cooked on an indoor barbecue, bread is from Bread 41, fruits and vegetables are predominantly Irish and seasonal, and it's hard to surpass the flavours in their salads. Tiller And Grain Website tillerandgrain.ie Address 2 Frederick Street South, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Tiller + Grain's owner/chef Clair Dowling worked for Ottolenghi and Skye Gyngell in London, before bringing her flavour-popping salads and sandwiches to Dublin city centre. Meat and fish is cooked on an indoor barbecue, bread is from Bread 41, fruits and vegetables are predominantly Irish and seasonal, and it's hard to surpass the flavours in their salads. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Floritz, where the Cliff Townhouse used to be on St Stephen's Green, is Dublin's answer to Hakkasan in London. Asian influenced dishes in a glitzy floral and velvet filled room, where no expense has been spared on interiors. Head chef Matt Fuller is pushing the boat out when it comes to sourcing and flavour, and the quality of both is sky high. The larger than average menu may give you a pain in the head trying to decide what to order, but portions are small and it just means more reasons to come back. Floritz Website floritz.ie Address Floritz, Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Floritz, where the Cliff Townhouse used to be on St Stephen's Green, is Dublin's answer to Hakkasan in London. Asian influenced dishes in a glitzy floral and velvet filled room, where no expense has been spared on interiors. Head chef Matt Fuller is pushing the boat out when it comes to sourcing and flavour, and the quality of both is sky high. The larger than average menu may give you a pain in the head trying to decide what to order, but portions are small and it just means more reasons to come back. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

First rate coffee and quality food have had Two Pups secure a place on every "Dublin's best café" list since they opened in 2016. Daily specials, great cake, and they love to see dogs coming in with their owners. Two Pups Website @twopupscoffee Address 74 Francis Street, The Liberties, Dublin 8 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story First rate coffee and quality food have had Two Pups secure a place on every "Dublin's best café" list since they opened in 2016. Daily specials, great cake, and they love to see dogs coming in with their owners. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Bootleg Disco nights, vintage wine and Spanish/Asian small plates shake up Drury Street Posted: 20 Feb 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Bootleg? “Drink, dance, dine” is the motto-slash-mantra (if not the likely running order) of this new Drury Street arrival, a joint venture from the four people who’ve between them brought us Big Fan , Sprezzatura , and Bow Lane . That they’re bringing us Bootleg in a space that was previously a Starbucks is reason enough for us to darken their door – in a city where tenancies all too rarely change hands in that direction, this feels like a turning of the tide we need to support. If the thumping music and an all-day offering that looks set to lean heavily into brunch probably make Bow Lane the best proxy among its owners’ prior ventures for what to expect at Bootleg, the upmarket drinks selection and a more focused plancha menu signpost a more mature iteration is the general vibe. Where should we sit? That’ll depend on which combination of drinking, dancing and dining you want to indulge in. The large rectangular bar, fitted out with upcycled panels from the previous tenant in a nice hat-tip to prising back a piece of the city, has plenty of plastic seating for a quick drink and a snack; the right side of the room is studded with booths inviting you in for a slow evening of wine and small plates; the left has high tables temptingly close to the DJ booth. We have to assume the three unoccupied low tables also sharing this space on the midweek night we visited are cleared off to make way for a dancefloor, but it’s hard to imagine a full house with this layout wouldn’t seem a little cramped. What’s on the menu? Big Fan ’s Alex Zhang is among the four owners here and has taken on an executive chef role, with his colleague Wei Cai parachuted in to head up the kitchen. The loosely Spanish-style menu makes room for a whole variety of Mediterranean and Asian influences across its sections of small plates and sides, and there's a whole menu dedicated to gildas (even though the name gilda can only be applied to the classic version - the rest is poetic licence). We started with a generous wedge of thick-crusted sourdough, its flavourful near-black crust making up for a disappointingly dense crumb; a little more time to develop the dough might add an airiness to better balance the accompanying chicken skin butter’s salty richness. That the spread’s been whipped to a creamy consistency helped even things out, though more would be welcome – we found ourselves scanning the table for something to coat our final chunks of unbuttered bread in. Lucky then that we’d gone all-in with the flatbread snack plate too. Not least for the strand of rosemary perched atop, this crisp disc has a little of the touch of a focaccia about it, perfect for mopping up the trio of dips it’s served alongside. The best is muhummarah, the Middle Eastern red pepper and walnut paste that’s rarely done this well in Dublin – our leftover bread gratefully lapped the last of it up. Garlic scape chimichurri had an enjoyably intense flavour, while the tapenade ticked the box solidly if unspectacularly. Menus online had not been updated, and at least half the expected plates from the plancha section were not on when we got there - we’ll put it down to early days trying-and-testing. An addition that caught our eye was swordfish skewers, and this is one that ought to stay put - three neat cubes of grilled meat planted on a mojito yogurt and drizzled with harissa oil. The fish is superb with a charred surface yielding to soft flesh inside, smartly complemented but never upstaged by the contrast of cool yogurt and sharp harissa. A slightly too-thin yogurt is all that's holding this plate back from perfection. A duo of land and sea sliders with Wagyu beef smash and crispy prawn makes for a nice sharing pair, with standard but solid brioche buns largely letting the main events speak for themselves. The beef, oozing melted cheese and meat juice, makes for a satisfying mouthful, with the assertion of piquant pickles buried beneath the patties, while the prawn’s sweetness works well with the light tang of shiso leaf. These are nice bites, but we can't say the execution felt like it justified €17 for two tiny burgers. Wagyu doesn't tend to come cheap though. On the on-site but not online menu was a solitary concession to vegan diners, and was effectively a mushroom spice bag - albeit with no ordinary mushrooms. Garryhinch is one of three suppliers name-checked on the menu, and their lion’s mane has gone into this inventive offering – we’re sorry to say they deserve better. Not even these prime specimens, well-seasoned and served up in a light crispy batter, are enough to overcome the one-note spice of sliced chilies and bizarre blandness of an oat milk and sourdough purée. The picanha plate also sadly went down as a dud. This beef cut is having a bit of a moment about the city, thanks not least to a growing Brazilian influence, and for good reason – when given the right treatment it’s one of our favourite steaks. Here it was underdone, with none of the charring that brings out its best. Together with a just-done egg that quickly cooled, this added up to a dish that was unpleasant to eat. Kimchi rosti off the sides menu brought things back on track - these crispy, croquette shaped slabs of grated potato are a deceptively light feat of deep-frying, somehow held together despite the pockets of air throughout. In a menu not without its missteps, they’re a reminder of what the kitchen is capable of. What are the drinks like? A bit confusing. While the twelve negroni variations (you can add a gilda for €2 in a nice touch) and ten spritzes join in with the bassy soundtrack as a statement of intent, the €120 to €460 vintage wine menu had us wondering who’s looking to drink like that in a place like this - maybe there's a gap for Chambolle-Musigny and Italo-Disco nights that we didn't know about. There's plenty of regularly priced wine too, all from WineLab , and Whiplash is all that’s on tap, while we salute the very fair pricing of their solid non-alcoholic options – more of this, please. We kicked off with a classic Aperol spritz and white negroni – both passed muster without tempting us any deeper into their variations. Once the food arrived, we plumbed the slim BTG list and went with a chilled red in the form of Succès’ La Cuca de Llum. Earthy, dry and decidedly light-bodied, it played well off the majority of plates. How was the service? After getting in a round of drinks to survey the menu over, we had to put a little work in to get our order taken – the informal drink-dance-dine vibe means you need to make it known you’re here to eat. Staff are attentive and quick off the mark once you do flag them down though, and the quick pace of service left nothing to be desired. And the damage? Our full spread with two rounds of drinks came in at €125, with two of us satisfied but far from stuffed. The sliders are the clearest sense of where individual items can come in a little overpriced, but we’re all too aware of the cost pressures bearing down on city centre restaurants – nothing here is out of whack with what you’ll get anywhere else nearby. What’s the verdict on Bootleg? We left Bootleg not totally sure what kind of place it’s trying to be, and we could tell the mixed crowd of middle-aged couples in for a bite, and younger groups who tried it for a drink before heading off elsewhere felt much the same. Those excited to share in swordfish might find it a bit too lively; those who get peckish while in for a dance may find the food too fancy. Maybe it finds its groove in the wee hours. There are some ruthless calls to be made here to tighten up the concept, and a way to go yet on fine-tuning the menu, but both show ambition and a promise of more to come, and we'd expect no less from the team behind it. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Neighborhood restaurant guides for Dublin, Ireland. Find the best restaurants, pubs, cafes, and fine dining in every area of Dublin. Dublin Restaurant Guides & Reviews Neighbourhoods Where to Eat Dublin doesn't have the same easy-to-navigate neighborhoods as say, New York - but we've tried to split the city up into easily manageable chunks so wherever you're headed you can find the best places around for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert. From Argentinean in Portobello, to Calabrian in Stoneybatter, to a raw seafood bar in Terenure, restaurants and cafés here have the ATF seal of approval, so wherever you find yourself in the city you can search for the best eating experiences around. North City Centre Parnell Street Capel Street Pearse St - Merrion Square Grand Canal Dock Temple Bar Dame Street / Wicklow Street Grafton Street - Kildare Street Creative Quarter St Stephen's Green Aungier Street - Wexford Street - Camden Street Portobello Dublin 8 Smithfield Stoneybatter Dublin 4 Rathmines Ranelagh Harolds Cross - Terenure Blackrock - Monkstown - Mount Merrion Dún Laoghaire - Sandycove - Glasthule - Dalkey Dundrum - Sandyford - Stillorgan - Foxrock - Stepaside Drumcondra - Phibsboro - Glasnevin Clontarf - Fairview - Killester - Artane Howth Join ATF Insiders Make the Most of Every Meal. Join Us

Kari South Indian specialities come to Inchicore Posted: 30 May 2023 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Kari? We first spotted the signs of a restaurant fitout in the ground floor of one of Inchicore’s new apartment buildings back at the start of the year, but word was hushed on just what Kari might be - though a little digging on a planning permission notice showed up some connection to Clanbrassil Street’s Konkan . It ’s almost twenty years since husband and wife team Bala Nayak and Nidhi Joshi opened those doors, and over ten since a second branch sprung up in Dundrum. With Kari , named from the Tamil word for sauce, which gives us the English word curry, they’re looking to trade on the reputation they’ve already built to bring us something a little more specialised. Where should we sit? The bright, spacious room has been nicely kitted out with a gold-grey colour scheme, consistent from ceiling to walls to even the padded leather seats. The large, partly-frosted windows which face out onto Inchicore’s main street bring the right mix of light and privacy, while the geometric mirror wall to the rear spreads the brightness through the space - you can’t go wrong no matter what table you land at. What’s on the menu? There’s a general focus on the cuisine of India’s south and south-western states here, Goa and Kerala chief among them. Nayak and Joshi are loathe to use the word “authentic” given the wide variety of styles between and even within the country’s many regions, but the menu’s very much informed by their own experiences and memories of home - with a few concessions to more familiar dishes. We got started with poppadoms, as is only right and proper - these crispy appetisers are hard to get wrong, but done really right the little differences can often stand out as a strong statement of intent. At Kari they came served with a lightly-spiced creamy tomato sauce, and a punchy, fruity chutney we were shocked to learn was turnip - our server, beaming at the surprise, said they aim to incorporate Irish ingredients wherever they can (we’d just missed a rhubarb chutney, gutted). Just as standout a fusion foodstuff were pakoras of kale and samphire, a real showcase of Kari’s Irish-Indian instincts. Lightly-battered shreds of the two veg are deep-fried to a fragile crisp, dolloped with a tangy tamarind-ginger chutney and scattered with pomegranate seeds. Kale’s ragged surface area lends itself especially well to a perfect pakora crunch, and if samphire’s thicker strands can make for some uneven mouthfuls, it’s a fair price to pay for the salty satisfaction of an inspired take on the street food treat. Gobi 65 is another south Indian street food favourite that’s made its way onto Kari’s starter selection: blanched florets of cauliflower are tossed in a thick, richly-spiced batter before being fried to a dry finish. Pooled pockets of sauce caught among crisped cauliflower branches make for a great clash of textures in every forkful - this is one of those plates you start off sharing but wish you could keep to yourself. Each of the main dishes’ grill options can also be ordered in starter form, so we ordered a smaller serving of Chicken Angarey and were not long regretting it. These bone-in chicken thigh tikka are given a spell in a fiery yogurt marinade before a roasting in the high temperature of a tandoor oven: the result is an otherworldly balance of blackened extremities and tender fatty flavour, cut through with a powerful spice kick. If tikka is your thing, don’t make our mistake - go all in on making this a main. If you can forgive the mild annoyance of the same limp side salad scattered across multiple plates, the only damp note in our selection of starters was the Goan crab and prawn kebabs, three soft cakes of seafood laid out over a sauteed cabbage and coconut slaw. We can’t fault the flavour but structurally these were a mess, crumbling under first touch of a fork - good luck dipping them by hand. The accompanying coconut chutney seems a mismatch for this flavour profile too, its cooling effect hardly called for in a dish that’s all about subtle spicing. The batting average came in just a little lower across the mains we tried, though it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility we were just starting to fill up by then - a light bite to eat Kari is not. The cauliflower and potato ghassi skewed slightly forgettable: a vegan twist on a classic Mangalorean chicken dish, we couldn’t help but suspect those absorbent subbed veggies had dulled all the heat of the dried chili and roasted coconut base. The flagship chicken kari was always going to need a look-in and we’re glad to say it stands on firmer feet. The base sauces between this and the ghassi aren’t actually all too different, only fresh coconut and an earthier spice character setting this aside, but it’s enough to make for a standout difference. Generously chunky chicken breast pieces help too: the slight resistance they offer before yielding to the bite is worlds apart from the cauliflower’s sodden softness. Kari’s care and attention to detail comes through best in the dum biryani: this traditional technique of slow-steamed layers of rice and meat gives a delicate depth of flavour and deceptively light texture to the rice that plays well off the fatty excess of the lamb. If not exactly a showstopper dish it's still a showcase of the instincts that underlie the place. Many restaurants striving for speed and scale will just go ahead and do this in an oven, and it’s often quite good, but taking the long way round here is a testament to the place’s core mission statement: sharing good home cooking, the way it ought to be done. Most mains (the biryani is an understandable exception) come with a choice of turmeric and ghee or plain basmati rice, but as far as sides are concerned, the bread is where it’s really happening. We could not get enough of the date and coconut naan. In essence a pimped-up peshwari, its deeply sweet taste is the perfect pairing for the spicier of the curry choices, and could happily serve as a dessert in its own right (we're not ashamed to say we kept picking away at it long after there was nothing left to mop up). We took a tip from the staff and threw in a paratha too, the flaky, dense dough an ideal vessel for the lighter dishes. What are the drinks like? The wine list is broadly functional, with a mix that feels more tailored to catch-all crowd pleasers than any particularly interesting pairing options, but everything comes in at under €50 a bottle. Cocktails are curious, with the rioja, raspberry and peach schnapps of the “Indian Cobbler” a little too assertive against the food - the elderflower and hibiscus prosecco spritz managed to mingle more discretely. Beers are basic, with Moretti and Tiger on tap, while non-alcoholic options are impressively broad and range from assorted Irish producers to an in-house mango lassi we wish we’d had the stomach space to sample. How was the service? One little bugbear with Kari is the way the space is set out, with the dining area distinct from a service and reception section - we get the zoning, but when the staff retreat there it can be tough to catch an eye until they’re already en route to another table. There’s no fault though when you do get their attention - from walking you through that one flavour you can’t quite place, to offering advice on what to order, every server in here was brimming with knowledge. And the damage? Dinner for a greedy three with one drink each clocked in at €133 - we might easily have fed another for that were we less eager to get a taste of everything around us. There’s a more pared-back, street food oriented menu available for lunch on Fridays to Sundays and it’s very reasonably priced at around €15 a head - we’ll be back in to try that. What’s the verdict on Kari? A very welcome addition to a part of the city not exactly awash with great Indian food, Kari’s menu strikes a balance between quality classics to draw in a crowd, and lesser-known dishes that should help it stand out from the crowd. It seems admirably intent on building a neighbourhood restaurant rep, and a kid’s menu that’s both fairly priced and not patronising in its options speaks especially to that - we saw several families drop in while we visited. Inchicore locals are in for a treat; those of us further afield won't regret travelling. Kari 205 Emmet Road , Inchicore , Dublin 8 www.kari.ie New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Bright and beautiful brunch dishes (order anything with their homemade nutbutter), and an emphasis on Middle Eastern flavours at lunch, with wraps and salad plates. A café passionate about climate change, political activism, and doing the right thing, and it's contagious. Tang Abbey Street Website tang.ie Address 9A Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Bright and beautiful brunch dishes (order anything with their homemade nutbutter), and an emphasis on Middle Eastern flavours at lunch, with wraps and salad plates. A café passionate about climate change, political activism, and doing the right thing, and it's contagious. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Mamó was the most anticipated opening in Howth in recent memory (and one of the most generally of 2019), and with owners Jess D’Arcy and Killian Durkin’s CVs including Etto, Chapter One and Thornton’s expectations were high. Thankfully they were met, and Mamo's cod chips, by-catch ceviche and Howth honey tart seemed to have charmed everyone who’s walked through the door. Mamo Website mamorestaurant.ie Address Harbour House, Harbour Road, Howth, Dublin 13 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Mamó was the most anticipated opening in Howth in recent memory (and one of the most generally of 2019), and with owners Jess D’Arcy and Killian Durkin’s CVs including Etto, Chapter One and Thornton’s expectations were high. Thankfully they were met, and Mamo's cod chips, by-catch ceviche and Howth honey tart seemed to have charmed everyone who’s walked through the door. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra

Named one of the coolest streets in the world by Timeout Magazine, post-covid pedestrianised Capel Street has one of the best line ups of restaurants in the city, with plenty for those on a budget. Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Korean, sushi, steak - is there anything Capel Street doesn't have? Capel Street Our Take Named one of the coolest streets in the world by Timeout Magazine, post-covid pedestrianised Capel Street has one of the best line ups of restaurants in the city, with plenty for those on a budget. Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Korean, sushi, steak - is there anything Capel Street doesn't have? Where to Eat Aobaba Bovinity Brother Hubbard North Cafe Lisboa Dak @ Bar Anam Dash Burger Capel Street Kopitiam Pera Ristorante Romano

Stretching from Exchequer Street to Lower Stephen's Street, and South William Street to George's Street, Dublin's 'Creative Quarter' is known for design, boutiques and studios, but is also one of the best places in the city centre to head for food and drinks. Creative Quarter Our Take Stretching from Exchequer Street to Lower Stephen's Street, and South William Street to George's Street, Dublin's 'Creative Quarter' is known for design, boutiques and studios, but is also one of the best places in the city centre to head for food and drinks. Where to Eat 777 Amy Austin Bambino Cantina Valentina Caribou Coppinger Fade Street Social Fallon and Byrne's Wine Cellar Good World Handsome Burger Hong Kong Wonton Izakaya Japas & Sake Kicky's Little Canton Loose Canon Mani Masa Nan Chinese Pi Rei Momo Row Wines Spilt Milk Sprout Exchequer Street The Pepperpot Café The Ramen Bar

Dublin's best-known park is surrounded by food options on all sides. Find a table close-by or grab a takeaway and enjoy it in 22-acres of Victorian-built parkland. St Stephen's Green Our Take Dublin's best-known park is surrounded by food options on all sides. Find a table close-by or grab a takeaway and enjoy it in 22-acres of Victorian-built parkland. Where to Eat Amuri Bang Cellar 22 Cirillo's Dax Etto Floritz Glas Kaldero Little Geno's Margadh RHA Tang Dawson Street The Commons At MoLI Yibu by Janet

Parrilla The Mexican wave reaches Ranelagh, with buzzy crowds sipping top-quality cocktails Posted: 1 Oct 2024 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Ronan Doyle What should we know about Parrilla? When does a trickle become a trend? It seems long past time to declare Mexican cuisine the new flavour of the month in Dublin, as Parrilla sees the wave wash up in Ranelagh. Jules Mak – of the much-loved Chinese up the road – had the idea in mind long before Tacos Lupillo , Pickosito and Chilangos arrived on the scene, and the Friday night crowds we waded through en route to our table would suggest this market is nowhere near saturated. The name comes from the charcoal grill cooking style popular across Latin America. Mak has staffed his with a primarily Mexican crew, including several new arrivals to Ireland, and brought many of his namesake restaurant’s management staff across to avoid the opening hurdles – speedy service and prompt but unpushy turnover times make that seem like a smart move. Where should we sit? The bright, spacious and well-appointed room is built around a long central bar, with booths for groups of four to six adjoining it, and two and four-top tables along the walls ready to be pushed and pulled to accommodate whoever walks in the door – they’ll take online reservations for up to six only. None of the seats have much of a good look into the kitchen pass at the back, nor is there much in the way of intimate nooks and crannies - it’s less date night vibes than gabbling groups you’re in for here. What’s on the menu? Ten “bites” of various sizes, five tacos, four grilled mains and four sides – plenty, in a word. 777 is a closer comparison than any of those other recent arrivals, with a similar grill focus and fewer fast-casual favourites like quesadillas in sight. Chips and guac is an obvious bar-setting entry point and a generally solid start - Parrilla aren’t making their own masa on-site but they’re getting the good stuff, and these are a strong showcase of where that makes all the difference. We won’t be petitioning for a retail range of the house salsas anytime soon though, we've had more standout versions. They keep the hanger at bay, but the portion sizing also needs a rethink – that’s either too much dip or not enough chip, we know which side we land on. It's in a dish like crab tostada that the rubber really meets the road, and we sensed no skidding on this plate with perfect balance. Shallots support the delicate sweetness of the meat, while the well-calibrated tang of chipotle mayo and salsa verde cut through rich avocado chunks. The crisp fried corn tortilla is just-right in how it breaks into bites rather than a shattered sprawl – far harder than it looks. We loved them all the more in retrospect as we masticated our way through the squid - a rubbery dud of a dish. There was no trace of the menu-touted coal-cooking in sight or taste, the neat kick of nduja and a tajin-spiked batter wasted on overcooked rings that never should have made it onto the floor. With well-cooked calamari we can imagine this singing the crab’s same hymn of poise and balance, instead of a one-note wail that couldn’t have ended soon enough. Who could have guessed something as simple as pineapple would save the day – not all heroes wear capes, some just bring a salty-sour-sweet symphony to cleanse your memory as well as your palate. We’d expect a lot of diners’ eyes to gloss over "Pina Caramelizada" (it reads more as a taco topping than a plate) but don't be among the deniers. Eyes will flare wide open at the intensity of flavour here, mouth-puckeringly pickled onions and tongue-twitching tajin playing off the sharp sweet flood of pineapple juice gushing forth from caramelised edges. There are Dublin prices, and then there are Ranelagh prices, and then there are Ranelagh prices in 2024. It is not Parrilla’s fault that the world is where it is and that the balancing act of marking margins stack up in that context is a near-impossible feat, but we winced at the thought of two tacos for €10-€14, a notable step-up in price-per-piece terms than anywhere else outside the canals and plenty within them – 777 is all we can think of that can beat it, and Taco Tuesday is the night to go there when it's two tacos for €8. In the case of the fish (€13 for two) we can almost allow it, chubby fingers of battered cod so generously shrouded in salsa and guac they’re almost a challenge to pick up. For the steak (€14) it’s a far harder sell, with the grill again failing to stand out in these chunks of under-rendered beef, barely basted by a dollop of avocado-courgette cream. Parrilla potatoes play like a Mexican twist on bravas, with tajin-sprinkled halves of baby spuds ready to receive the garlic aioli and chipotle salsa alongside. They were a touch less crispy than we would have liked, but the floury insides lend themselves well to the duo of sauces, which were good alone but better together. Dessert seems to change daily if early accounts are anything to go by, and our chocolate orange tart was a bit of a box-ticker, with fine flavours but texture wide of the mark. The sand-dry crust worked as nothing but vessel, while the chocolate filling needed far more cream - its thick-set consistency took such pressure to cut through it went flying off the plate. We wished we'd stuck with a digestif. What about the drinks? They're a big part of the appeal here. Parrilla has shacked up with Casamigos, the award-winning tequila brand that Diageo bought off George Clooney and friends back in 2017, for a margarita menu that should make this a popular spot for more well-heeled pre-drinks – the Friday night crowd all looked intent on heading out after. We were most excited for the verdita margarita but they’d run out of the namesake mixer – a spiced and herbed pineapple juice. We settled on a server-recommended Spicy Fox instead, with Tequila, spicy Aperol, passion fruit, pineapple, orgeat, cherry and lemon. This is one aspect that Parrilla gets pitch-perfect. With the michelada we’d had at our recent Chilangos visit still living rent free in our heads, we couldn’t resist another one here – you know, for research purposes. We’re sorry to say it was a wet whimper to the other’s big bang, and a price point (€10, where the Sol alone is €5.70) that added insult to injury. How was the service? This is a slick operation, with the Mak team’s involvement clear to see in the way the bustling room is tightly managed – keeping that many plates spinning is no mean feat for a new arrival. We’d worried showing up to the very last seating on a Friday night (good time slots at less than two weeks’ notice are few and far between right now) might have the staff hating us, but they couldn’t have been nicer. The kitchen crew is just as well-oiled, with food before us in remarkably quick order. If you want food fast, but not fast food, you’ll find it here. And the damage? Everything here plus two cokes took us to €120. We reckon you’d want to budget a minimum €40 a head just for food if this is dinner for the night, more if you feel like venturing into the mains. Our top tip for thrift is a cocktail, the pineapple plate, and tostadas to share – that’s the makings of a very good catchup for €30 each. What’s the verdict on Parrilla? It’s clear from the thought-through cocktail menu and the more inspired dishes that Parrilla is closer to the labour of love it’s proclaimed itself than the high-turnover business opportunity it might have been in more cynical hands, but there’s a few kinks that could do with ironing out for it to reach its full potential, especially in the crowded and quality Mexican wave we’ve happily found ourselves riding of late. Against some of their competition out in the suburbs, Parrilla has a central location, well-crafted drinks and an undeniably buzzy atmosphere to boast about, but it's less destination dining for now, more a good compromise candidate for groups looking to start a night off on the right foot. Hopefully with time and menu tweaks the only way is up. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Table 45 A sweet taste of South American food and hospitality near Grand Canal Dock Posted: 10 Jun 2025 Neighbourhood Neighborhood Name Address Restaurant Address Website Website Name Restaurant Info View the Listing >> Written by: Lisa Cope What should we know about Table 45? What was formerly Bodytonic -run, board game-filled pub The Square Ball near Grand Canal Dock closed at the start of 2024, and die hard fans of Andy Noonan's Fowl Play chicken wept at not being able to get their Nashville Hot Chicken burgers and smoked wings in the area any more. Two more people who weren't crazy about the news were married couple Daniel Kavanagh and Daniel Rivera who lived upstairs and were looking down the barrel of losing their apartment. Rivera worked for Bodytonic and had been in the hospitality industry for years in his native Chile, the US and Ireland, while Kavanagh is an interior designer and all round handy man. The landlord agreed to give them the lease for the whole building, and suddenly they owned a bar. A classy South-American themed refurb, an inclusive (and dog-friendly) policy, and a commitment to building a home-like space for their community later, all alongside a menu of South American and Spanish tapas and drinks, and Table 45 was open. (The name comes from the nickname given to the dining table in their apartment, due to friends ordering food and drinks at the bar before joining them upstairs) Where should we sit? The main bar space is at the front with warm wooden floors, exposed stone walls, and brightly coloured furniture bringing a rustic-modern feel to the former pub. There's a mixture of low tables with comfy upholstered benches and seats, high tables, and counter seating along a wall, as well as a cute little table for three in the window. The back room feels more like a restaurant (image further up), with less natural lighting and more mood lighting, and there is the most adorable high table for two set back into an alcove which will get you major brownie points if you can secure it for your next date. What's on the menu? A pretty extensive selection of Chilean/South American inspired small plates, with bites, meat, fish and vegetarian sections. This is the kind of menu that's ideal if you're out with group with varying tastes, appetites and budgets - everyone will find something they want. Start with the sopaipillas (€8) - deep-fried, disc-shaped Chilean pastries (here with the addition of squash), served with three sauces for scooping and dipping. A traditional Chilean pebre salsa seemed to be missing the vinegar, garlic and parsley, solely consisting of diced tomato, onion and green pepper. An avocado purée was also bland, but dipping deep-fried dough into wholegrain mustard honey with a spicy Michelada on the side is peak bar pairing. Uruguayan chef Luisina Perdomo is their in-house “Empanadera”, making beef and cheese empanadas, as well as croquetas and churros. Beef empanadas (€13 for two) arrived with underbaked, doughy pastry - a shame as the richly flavoured interior dotted with hard boiled egg and olive was perfect (they should have looked like this ). Again that Pebre salsa didn't hit like a good chimichurri (or a good pebre) would have. Tacos come in fish, pork or veggie versions, and our pan-fried haddock ones (two for €10) came with flaky, unbattered fish, smoky sweetcorn and Madras aioli underneath for an unexpected flavour direction that really worked. Patatas bravas (€9) were a homerun, the potatoes crispy outside, fluffy inside, the bravas sauce with just the right amount of heat, and the aioli on the side just garlicky enough, without leaving you paranoid about who you're speaking to for the rest of the day. We're so used to patatas bravas here being so bad that it's almost a shock to find a version this good. Croquetas (€11 for three) come in Jamón and spinach versions, and we went for the latter on the owner's recommendation. Plump, crisp and oozing filling, the citrus aioli and beetroot sauce underneath was another unexpected addition, bringing more punchy flavour layers. Chickpeas with black pudding (garbanzos con prietas, €10) is overdone on tapas menus, yet rarely done well, with chickpeas that haven't turned to mush and soft, crumbly morcilla-like pudding, instead of tougher, more commercial versions. Table 45's is immaculate, with sultanas, paprika, cumin, parsley and garlic oil tying everything up in the tastiest of bows. The universally favourite dish was the Lomo Saltado (a Peruvian-inspired beef stir fry, €14) - braised diced beef marinated for two days in cumin, black pepper and soy sauce, served with fried onions and red peppers (perfectly al dente), served on "crispy" potatoes. The last part was moot as the meat's juices turned anything that was previously crisp underneath it into soggy mush (they would be much better served on the side), but the flavour here was unbeatable, showing how time is often a chef's best tool in the kitchen. Chilean dessert means churros (€9 for four with two sauces), and while ours looked the part outside, they were raw inside. They made them for us again, and the second time were slightly more cooked through, but a sliver of raw dough persisted where a fluffy interior should have been - oil too hot perhaps. Chocolate sauce was good dipping material, but the dulce de leche was a solidified blob straight from the fridge, churros bouncing off on attempt to dip. It needed a knife for spreading like butter, instead of being the luscious pool of caramel we were expecting to stir with a churros baton. Chilean Torta di Amor is similar to Spanish Miljohas or French Mille-feuille , with layers of pastry, cream, custard and fruit. Table 45 's "mini torta di amor" (€9) came on a bed of raspberry purée, with dulce de leche, custard, and a thickened cream with raspberries on top. We had all the love for this little love tart, which felt like a perfect summer dessert (despite the non-summery rain outside). What about drinks? We reccomend sticking to cocktails and beer, which is what we'd wager the owners are most interested in. All the South American favourites feature, including Pisco Sours, Caipirinhas, Mojitos and Margaritas. A Pisco Sour was excellent, and a Caipirinha very enjoyable, but don't expect sugar crystals to flow up the straw like the ones you had on the beach in Rio de Janeiro - this one's smooth as ice. If you're a fan of both beer and Bloody Mary's, you need to try their love child - the Michelada. A cocktail of beer, tomato juice, lemon, Worcester sauce and Tabasco, it's served in a chilled glass with a salty Tajin rim, and is just the thing if you're feeling delicate from the night before. or sleepy from the day that's just been. There's a full spritz menu too, and the T45 with Vermouth Rosso, Prosecco and Soda Water is an easy afternoon sipper. The wine list is all South American or Spanish, and only marginally above your average pub in terms of interest. Draught and bottled beer on the other hand is way more interesting than your average pub, with plenty of less commercial brands, and good N/A options too. How was the service? Very pleasant if not effusive. We ordered a few plates at a time which seems to be the way to go in here, and they arrived nicely paced, never overwhelming the table (a constant complaint in reviews lately). A flat spritz (last night's Prosecco) and undercooked churros were replaced without question and with plenty of apologies. What was the damage? €141 before tip for seven small plates, two desserts, four cocktails and two soft drinks - a good amount of feeding and watering for three hungry adults, or two adults and two kids. €50 a head would be plenty to budget for a good night out here, but a Michelada, a couple of tacos and a filling plate of sopapillas and you could get in and out for €25 before tip. What's the verdict on Table 45? Table 45 is a sweet little taste of South America that's clearly tugging on locals' heartstrings and becoming a happy place for many - frequent posts on their Instagram account announce they're fully booked for the night, so don't expect to walk in at peak times and find yourself a table. There's a very real and wholesome feel here, and with a bit more attention to detail in the kitchen it could easily develop from a "sweet place" to a "must eat in place", but their legion of regular customers don't seem to have any complaints with the current offering. New Openings & Discoveries More >>

Spanish sister restaurant to much-loved Etto, which opened at the end of 2018 to a glut of gushing reviews. Some of the best counter-dining in the city and all the Spanish favourites like padron peppers, tortilla and morcilla with quail eggs. Extensive list of wines and sherries. Uno Mas Website unomas.ie Address 6 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 Good For Tag 1 Cuisine Tag 1 Once Over Read our Review >> The Story Spanish sister restaurant to much-loved Etto, which opened at the end of 2018 to a glut of gushing reviews. Some of the best counter-dining in the city and all the Spanish favourites like padron peppers, tortilla and morcilla with quail eggs. Extensive list of wines and sherries. Where It's At Nearby Locales Yibu by Janet Little Canton Dak @ Bar Anam Mongoose Chongqing Hot Pot Boco Clontarf Bell Pesto Bang Gloria Osteria Cantina Valentina D'Lepak Pera Borgo Amai by Viktor Kaizen Chubbys Badam Table 45 Comet Daruma Malahide Lena The Pig's Ear Notions @ Two Pups The Rooftop @ Anantara The Marker Sofra