Is this your lucky month?? November's ATF Insider giveaways have been revealed, and what better way to get in the festive spirit than by winning a present from us to you. We've got hotel stays, fancy lunches, swanky dinners, afternoon tea, and will be making nine of you very happy in three days time.
ATF Insiders is the only way we're funded and lets us visit cafés and restaurants independently, pay our writers, and give you #ad and #invite free content, as well as offering members loads of other benefits - so if you get value from what we do, you might consider supporting us in return.
Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders by midnight on the 17th November will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on the 18th November. Here's what you could be winning this month...
1) An overnight stay in the Radisson Blu Royal, Dublin, with lunch at The Old Town Café
Dublin 8 has a brand new coffee spot, serving Cloud Picker coffee, gourmet sandwiches and salads, and homemade goodies like cinnamon rolls, protein balls and smoothies. The Old Town Café is a three-minute walk from Aungier Street and part of the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin’s development of Le Pole Square. We've got lunch for two at The Old Town Café to give away this month, and you can head upstairs afterwards for an overnight stay with breakfast in Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin. If you need dinner recommendations you know where we are. (T&Cs apply)
2) Lunch for two at One Pico
Michelin-listed One Pico has been open for an incredible 26 years, with head chef Zhan Sergejev taking over the kitchen (and food photography) in 2022. We love nothing more than a long lunch there before ambling out onto Grafton Street in the late afternoon, so their new ‘set lunch menu’ with two courses for €39 or three courses for €49 is a great reason to take a half day from work and do the same. We've got lunch for two to give away this month with breads, canapés, coffee and petit fours, which can be used up until November 21st, or until the end of February 2024. We recommend saving it for a dark January day when you need cheering up.
3) Dinner for two at Yves @ Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh
Brother Hubbard have just launched an evening pop up called “Yves” in their Ranelagh location, and initial word on the street is excellent (our Insiders are everywhere). The food leans towards French and Spanish cuisine using great Irish products, like panisse, Toulouse sausages, and confit mackerel, all created by their two French chefs. There's small plates, big plates and sharing plates alongside a feast-style sharing menu (with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options), and a small but perfect wine list with Vermouth and Sherry-based cocktails. They also offer BYO from Redmond's of Ranelagh. The vibe is fun, relaxed and reasonable, and they open Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays from 17.30 - book here or walk in, or if you're signed up to ATF Insiders you might be going for dinner on us.
4) Sunday Lunch for two with wine at The Morrison Room, Carton House Fairmont, Kildare
The only think we like better than a Sunday drive is a Sunday drive that ends with a Sunday roast. So we've earmarked this new one from chef Adam Nevin at The Morrison Room, in Carton House, Maynooth - one of Ireland’s most spectacular dining rooms and just 30 minutes drive from Dublin. Lunch is €55 for two courses or €65 for three, with dishes like mackerel with red pepper and bouillabaisse, and yoghurt pannacotta with preserved raspberries, book-ending the roast options of Feighcullen Farm chicken, rump cap of Higgins' beef, or mushroom pithivier, and we've got a three-course Sunday lunch for two to give away this month.
5) Dinner for two at The Coburg's Arzuaga Wine Supper Club
The Coburg, Conrad Dublin’s contemporary award-winning restaurant, is holding the fifth installment of its Supper Club series with Spanish winery Arzuaga, on Thursday 23rd November. The one-off menu has been designed by Executive Head Chef, Marek Sulhas, alongside the Arzuaga catalogue, to celebrate both the wines and the best of Irish produce, and we've got a table for two to give away for what sounds like a very swanky evening. For more information or to book visit OpenTable.
6) Food and drinks for two at new cocktail bar Pen & Player
Dublin has a new premium cocktail bar on Harcourt Street, and we're sending one of you to check it out. Pen & Player has a very impressive sounding cocktail list, each with its own story to tell, and there's a bar food menu with dishes like garlic and rosemary foccacia, duck leg rillettes and cod tacos. Pen & Player are going to treat one of our Insiders plus a guest to food and drinks to the value of €120, and you've got until the end of January to get in there - that's one way to kick the mid-Winter blues.
7) Afternoon Tea for two with bubbles at Bewley's, Grafton Street
Bewley's on Grafton Street have just launched Afternoon Tea, and what timing with multiple city centre shopping trips likely to be on the horizon over the next few weeks. It's filled with sweet and savoury treats all made in Bewley's in-house bakery (which has been producing breads and cakes for almost a century) and includes sandwiches, fresh scones and patisserie. They're all accompanied Bewley's master-blended loose-leaf tea and a glass of bubbly, surrounded by stained glass works of art in the Harry Clarke room, with the Christmas Lights twinkling outside on Grafton Street. As good excuse as we've heard to take a break from the shops.
8) €100 voucher for Orani
New Blanchardstown opening Orani Café & Restaurant was badly needed in Dublin 15, and the locals are letting them know all about it. The Filipino-owned restaurant is serving modern European cuisine with Asian fusion like tonkotsu ramen and chicken karaage, but the Filipino influence has been popping up in specials and desserts, like pork adobo, breakfasts like longsilog and tapsilog, and ube croissants. We've got a €100 voucher for Orani to give away this month so one of you can head over and try the whole gamut.
9) A year's 'Saltscription' for Dingle Sea Salt for you and a friend
Dingle Sea Salt, the off-grid, solar-evaporated, sustainable salt producer, is giving us two of their new 'Saltscriptions' to give away (with a value of €110) - one for the lucky winner, and the other for a friend or family member that you can pass off as a Christmas present (or keep for yourself - we don't judge). The award-winning, artisan producer won gold at Blas na hÉireann for their 100% natural, mineral-rich sea salt, produced by the sun’s rays and the West Kerry breeze, resulting in higher levels of magnesium and calcium, and lower sodium. Their new Saltscription will mean a delivery of fresh salt four times a year, and is priced at €55. (Get any Christmas orders in by Saturday December 23rd 2023 to ensure you get an E-voucher in time for gift giving)
Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders for November (new and old) will be automatically entered into the prize draw - you don't need to do anything. If you're not signed up yet join here before midnight on the 17th November to be in with a chance of winning. You'll be supporting independent content in Dublin and beyond, and be able to get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.
