The last decade has seen a renaissance in Irish food culture and the economic boom has meant that more people can afford to eat out regularly. Chefs have developed their own styles without ever losing sight of the conviviality of eating, and impersonal chains have been kept more or less at bay. In Dublin, new eating areas have sprung up at Temple Bar, Ballsbridge and in the city centre. Set meals are the best value at lunch - about half the price of an evening meal. Beer is cheap but wine remains overpriced due to high taxes.
Pubs continue to offer hearty classics - Irish stew, steaks, thick vegetable soups, and mussels and oysters, best downed with a pint of creamy Guinness or the ubiquitous strong, sweet tea. Irish specialities include barm brack (a cake-like bread), boxty (a filled pancake) and Dublin Coddle - a hearty stew.
Booking is recommended if dining after 1930. A tip of 10-20% is expected but is generally not included in the bill. Prices (excluding drinks) cost anything from Ir£5 to over Ir£30.
Restaurants
For a true gastronomic feast, head for Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, 21 Merrion Street (tel: (01) 676 4192), which has two Michelin stars and is open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. Irish produce - Connemara lobster, Dublin Bay prawns and Wicklow venison - are cooked in 'modern classic' style, but at a price. Expect to pay Ir£22 for the set two-course lunch menu or Ir£50-60 for an evening meal.
Peacock Alley, Fitzwilliam Hotel, 109 St Stephen's Green (tel: (01) 677 0708), only opened in 1995 but already has a Michelin star and the reputation for simple but excellent cuisine.
The traditional French restaurant, Les Frères Jacques, 74 Dame Street (tel: (01) 679 4555), serves some of the best food in Temple Bar. The Mermaid Café, 69-70 Dame Street (tel: (01) 670 8236), on the fringes of Temple Bar, across the road from Dublin Castle, has simple interiors and great food - Irish ingredients given the New World treatment.
Gallagher's Boxty House, 20 Temple Bar (tel: (01) 667 2762), serves traditional Irish cooking, albeit for tourists rather then locals. The Commons Restaurant, 85-86 Newman House, St Stephen's Green (tel: (01) 475 2597), merges classical and innovative cuisine.
The burger bar where Chris de Burgh once busked - Captain Americas - at 44 Grafton Street (tel: (01) 671 5266) is a good budget option; as are Fitzer's cafés, with branches on Dawson Street (tel: (01) 677 1155) and Temple Bar Square (tel: (01) 679 0440).
There are many fast-food outlets on O'Connell Street, but no-one's fish and chips equal those of the legendary Beshoff's at 14 Westmoreland Street. Bewley's Oriental Café (tel: (01) 677 2471) on Grafton Street is a legendary meeting place for chess players, and for nightclubbers in need of a quick grease fix as it is open until 0400.
Cafés
There are many good cafés but among the best are the grand Café-en-Seine at 40 Dawson Street - Trinity College students consider it their own cafeteria - and the Winding Stair Café, in the loft of a dusty second-hand bookshop at 40 Ormond Quay Lower, with views onto the Ha'penny Bridge. Brewbaker's, on Frederick Street, which claims to serve 'Probably the Best Cup of Coffee in Dublin' is worth checking out. Even the chain, Café Rouge, 1 St Andrew's Street, acquires an individual charm with its elegant interior by Irish designer David Collins.
We have also included a listing of various Dublin restaurants by type of cuisne:
American:
Bad Ass Café 9-11 Crown Alley, Temple Bar
Captain America's 44 Grafton Street
Carmines 121 Lwr Rathmines Rd
Elephant & Castle 18 Temple Bar
Oscar Taylor's Coast Road, Malahide
Asian:
Café Mao 2 Chatham Row
Cafes:
Expresso Bar Café 47 Shelbourne Rd, Ballsbridge
Harvey's Coffee House Moira House, Trinity Street
Kilkenny Restaurant & Café 6 Nassau Street
Thomas Read Parliament Street
Cuban:
Bella Cuba Restaurant 11 Ballsbridge Terrace
European:
Belgo Dublin 17-20 Sycamore Street Dublin
Bistro One 3 Brighton Road, Foxrock
Bistro Vino 56 Glasthule Road, Sandycove,
Ernie's Mulberry Gardens, Donnybrook
Fitzers Ballsbridge Café Royal Dublin Society, Merrion Road
Howth Lodge Hotel Howth
Mange Tout 112 Lower Baggot Street,
No 27 The Green 27 St Stephen's Green
Old Schoolhouse, The Coolbanagher Church Road Swords
Satchels 2 - 8 Northumberland Road, Ballsbridge
The Commons Cafe Earlsfort Terrace
The Side Door At The Shelbourne 27 St Stephen's Green
Unicorn Café & Restaurant 12B Merrion Court Merrion Row
French:
Batts Bistro 10 Baggot Lane
Bistro, The 4 & 5 Castle Market
Bon Appetit 9 St James Terrace, Malahide
Brownes Brasserie and Townhouse 22 St Stephen's Green
Commons Restaurant, The Newman House 85-86, St Stephen's Green
Ivy Court Restaurant 88 Rathgar Road
L'Ecrivain 109a Lower Baggot Street
La Cave 28 South Anne Street
La Mère Zou 22 St Stephen's Green
La Stampa 35 Dawson Street
Les Frères Jacques 74 Dame Street
Morels 18 Glasthule Road, Sandycove
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud Upper Merrion Street
Rodney's Bistro Cabinteely Village
Roly's Bistro 7 Ballsbridge Terrace, Ballsbridge
Russell Room Clarendon Street
Indian:
Eastern Tandoori 34/36 South William Street
Indian Brasserie Main Street, Rathfarnham Village
Khyber Tandoori 44/45 South William Street,
Poppadom 91a Rathgar Road, Dublin
Rajdoot Tandoori 26 Clarendon Street
Saagar 16 Harcourt Street
Shalimar 17 South Great Georges Street
Zafraan 15 Lr Stephen Street
International:
Abbot Restaurant Abbey Street, Howth
Avenue Belmont Avenue, Donnybrook
Blueberry’s 15 Main Street, Blackrock
Bruno's 30 East Essex Street, Temple Bar
Camden One Pico 49 Lower Camden Street
Citrus 1 Island View House, Harbour Road, Howth
Coopers Café, Ballsbridge Sweepstake Centre, Ballsbridge
Dish 2 Crow Street
Dunville Place 25 Dunville Place, Ranelagh
Harbourmaster, The Custom House Docks
Herbert Park Hotel Restaurant Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge
Le Panto Stillorgan Road
Les Visages 9 Marine Court, The Green, Malahide
Mermaid Café 69-70 Dame Street
Montys of Kathmandu 28 Eustace Street, Temple Bar
Nude Food 21 Suffolk Street
Patrick Kavanagh Restaurant Baggot Street
Pavillion Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge
Purple Sage Restaurant Stillorgan
QV2 Restaurant 14-15 St Andrew Street Dublin
Ta Se Mahogani Gaspipes 17 Manor Street, Stoneybatter
Talavera Stillorgan Road
The Tea Room 6-8 Wellington Quay Dublin
Tosca 20 Suffolk Street
Wheelhouse Restaurant Harbour Road, Howth
Italian:
Ar Vicoletto Osteria Romano 5 Crowe Street, Temple Bar
Canaletto's 71 Mespil Road, Ballsbridge
Casa Pasta 12 Harbour Road, Howth
Da Pino 38-40 Parliament Street
Da Vincenzo 133 Upper Leeson Street
Gotham Café, The 8 South Anne Street
Il Primo 16 Montague Street
La Tavola 114 Rock Road, Booterstown
Little Caesar's Palace Chatham, Balfe Street
Milano 38 Dawson Street
Pasta Fresca 2, 3 & 4 Chatham Street
Pizza Stop 6-10 Chatham Lane
Ristorante da Roberto 5 George’s Avenue, Blackrock
Japanese:
Aya @ Brown Thomas 35 Clarendon Street, Dublin
Ayumi Ya Newpark Centre, Newtown Park Avenue, Blackrock
O Sushi 12 Fownes Street
Wagamama South King Street
Malaysian:
Langkawi 46 Upper Baggot Street
Mediteranian:
Clarion Stephen’s Hall Hotel Restaurant The Earlsfort Centre Lower, Leeson Street, Dublin
Cooke's Café & The Rhino Room 14 South William Street
Morels Bistro 14 Lower Leeson Street
Mornington Restaurant Upper Merrion Street
Muscat 64 South William Street
Modern Irish:
Carmines Restaurant 121 Lr Rathmines Road
Chapter One 18/19 Parnell Square
Christophers Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen’s Green
Cusack's The Mercer Hotel, Lower Mercer Street, Dublin
Dobbins 15 Stephens Lane
Eden Meeting House Square, Temple Bar
Halo Morrison Hotel, Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin
Jacob's Ladder 4-5 Nassau Street
Kingswood Country House Old Kingswood, Naas Road, Clondalkin
Le Coq Hardi 35 Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge
Liaison Restaurant 318 Clontarf Road
Lloyds Brasserie 20 upper Merrion Street
Locks 1 Windsor Terrace, Portobello
Mitchell's Cellars 21 Kildare Street
Munkberry's Castle Street, Dalkey
No 10 Restaurant 9/10 Fitzwilliam Street Lower
O’Connell’s Restaurant Merrion Road Ballsbridge Dublin
Peacock Alley Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen’s Green
Popjoys 4 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure
Red Bank Restaurant & Lodge, The 7 Church Street, Skerries
Restaurant Jam Irish Music Hall of Fame 57 Middle Abbey Street
Silks Restaurant 5 The Mall, Malahide
Talbot 101 Restaurant 101 Talbot Street
The Dome St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre
The Grey Door Irish Restaurant 22/23 Upper Pembroke Street Dublin
The Osborne Restaurant Strand Road, Portmarnock
Thornton's 1 Portobello Road
Trumans Restaurant 25 Molesworth Street, Dublin
Waterfront Restaurant Hilton Dublin, Charlemont Place Pub Food
An Poitin Stil Rathcoole (off Naas Rd dual carriageway)
Ashtons 11 Vergemount,Clonskeagh
Brazen Head 20 Lr Bridge Street
Café en Seine 40 Dawson Street
Davy Byrnes 21 Duke Street
Finnegan's 2 Sorrento Road, Dalkey
Halfway House Navan Road, Ashtown
Hole in the Wall Blackhorse Avenue, Phoenix Park
McCormack's 67 Lr Mounttown Dun Laoghaire
McCormack's Merrion Inn 188 Merrion Road
O'Neill's Public House 2 Suffolk Street
Old Jameson Distillery, The Bow Street
Old Stand, The 37 Exchequer Street
Porterhouse, The 16 - 18 Parliament Street
Purty Kitchen, The Old Dunleary Road, Monkstown
Queen's, The 12 Castle Street Dalkey
Ryans of Parkgate Street 28 Parkgate Street
Stag's Head 1 Dame Court
The Abbey Tavern Abbey Street, Howth
Scandianvian:
Deer Park Hotel & Golf Courses Howth
Lukas River Mall Main Street, Swords
Old Dublin, The 90/91 Francis Street
Seafood:
Brasserie Na Mara Railway Station, 1 Harbour Road, Dun Laoghaire
Caviston's Seafood Restaurant 59 Glasthule Road, Sandycove
Johnny Fox's Restaurant Glencullen, The Dublin Mountains
King Sitric Fish Restaurant East Pier, Howth
Lobster Pot, The 9 Ballsbridge Terrace, Ballsbridge
Lord Edward, The 23 Christchurch Place
The Lodge Bistro Howth
Wrights Fisherman Wharf Restaurant IFSC Custom House Docks, Dublin
Thai:
Chili Club, The 1 Annes Lane
Siam Thai Restaurant Gasyard Lane, Malahide
Thai House 21 Railway Road, Dalkey
The Chili Club 1 Anne’s Lane South, Annes Street
Traditional Irish:
Nancy Hands 30-32 Parkgate Street, Dublin
Pier 32 22/23 Upper Pembroke Street
Bon Apetit! Have a wonderful time in Ireland!
