FIRE Restaurant in downtown Dublin gives diners an experience resplendent in history and gorgeous colour. The centrepiece of the dining area is twin silver pillars, pointing skyward toward the high, wooden beamed ceilings. It is in this atmosphere that the most scrumptious steaks and vegetables are savoured, as the impeccable service of FIRE’s complete with a sizeable cocktails and wines selection ensure your time there is graced with glitz and joviality.
The food is uniformly excellent, with the traditional Sunday roast service a particular high note. Day by day, the restaurant serves award winning steaks and lamb joints – it has accordingly become a popular place for company events and functions. Once we account for the delicious tarts and cakes that comprise the dessert menu and the friendly, attentive attitude of the serving staff, it’s a cert that in FIRE’s you’re onto a real winner in Dublin restaurants.
Green Nineteen offers visitors a place to relax over some drinks, where the end of the meal need not be the end of the patron’s experience in the place. Founded just a few years ago, the café has gone from a local curiosity to a happening meeting spot where trendy youngsters and elders proud of their good taste sample scrumptious cuisine while sipping coffees or a glass of wine. The atmosphere is one of relaxed understatement, while the meals are universally reasonable – most mains do not surpass the 10 euro mark.
Whether you just want a quick lunch or are considering wiling away an afternoon, Green Nineteen’s menu has something for you. Salads, sandwiches, burgers, beef steaks, chicken dishes and pan fried fish all claim representation, while dinnertimes gain a certain Italian twist with gnocchi and pasta dishes featuring. The locality however supplies the hake, cod and vegetables, in keeping with the friendly feel of Irish hospitality this venue exudes. An unmissable element is the cocktails, with evenings in particular made lively with the addition of a couple of the barman’s trademark Mojitos!
Hugo’s is one of Dublin’s classiest joints, declaring its identity with a standout, light blue frontage in a way few venues would ever dare. The gaudy exterior conceals a warm décor which instantly feels homely, with wine bottles and paintings adorning the walls as simple, classy leather seats allow guests to behold the atmosphere and the culinary treats in comfort. The food takes inspiration from traditional Irish and French cuisines, with most ingredients sourced from the surrounding Ireland country farmland. Particular favourites include the steaks and the charcuterie boards.
If you’re after more than just a meal, Hugo’s is all too happy to oblige with live jazz music and a formidable drinks menu making the place ideal for a night out as well as for great sustenance. Not to be missed is the Sunday jazz brunch, which manages to regale clients in a manner restful yet lively. Ensconcing yourself upon one of the restaurant’s cosy sofas, reclining in relaxation as you sample some of the delicious wines – this is surely the very core of what hospitality means in Dublin.
The Elephant & Castle brings the real charm and homeliness of a good eatery straight to the heart of Dublin’s Temple Bar. Scrumptious starters include tender ribs and crab cakes, while main’s span stalwart all-time classics like Caesar’s salad and Irish lamb rumps to more novel, continental delights such as fettuccini. Desserts meanwhile include good old fashioned bread pudding and a signature, scrumptious cheesecake.
Since opening in 1989, this restaurant’s reputation for great food has made it particularly renowned, with the chicken wings gaining near-legendary status among regular purveyors of Temple Bar. Quality wood panelling and wall lighting combine to create a soothing atmosphere perfect for dining, while waiting staff weave between tables never missing a beat with breezy politeness and attentive order taking the embodiment of what they’re exceedingly great at.
Dunne and Crescenzi are a group of three classy restaurants superbly situated throughout Dublin, all of which specialize in a daring but universally delicious menu of Italian classics. A sophisticated remix of some of the favourite Neapolitan dishes such as generous helpings of antipasti, lasagne and spaghetti carbonara is accomplished. A graceful touch manifests in the form of starters and creative desserts which hark back to the glory years of nouveau cuisine.
Such commitment keeps customers flocking and reviewers praising, whether they reside in Dublin or want something special whilst touring Ireland’s capital. What’s more, all three restaurants prepare food to the same high standards, their owner regularly stopping in at each to ensure that customers, cooks and waiters alike are all happy with the high standards demanded. Factor in the atmosphere which melds comfort with chic, continentally aware fashion and we become joyfully cognizant that Dunne and Crescenzi is an epic choice for dining.
Darwins Restaurant is sublime for its inclusiveness, its menu drawing inspiration from several countries all around the world. The result is a diversity in which meat eaters and vegetarians alike are amply catered for, with definitive sirloin steaks a menu option right alongside butternut squash and sauce. The desserts range from traditional favourites like bread and butter pudding, to the ever-popular Irish cheese board showing off the best dairy Dublin’s countryside surrounds have to offer.
Enjoying your time in Darwins restaurant is all too easy; real brick walls, sensually warm lighting and a tasteful clash of wooden floors and tables giving real character to where you dine. The eatery is keen to tout its relishing meats, sourced by their own butcher, some of which have been lengthily cured for the finest, juiciest, richest taste. For those getting ready for a night out, the pre-theatre menu specializes in lighter meals with soups and Boyne farm steaks sating but never overfilling those sampling such delights.
Cornucopia Restaurant in central Dublin gives local vegetarian, vegan and raw food enthusiasts something to talk about. Their sensitive cooks select only the best organic, local produce and work it into a series of meals which are presentable and delicious. Their soups – commonly created from combining sweet potatoes with other vegetables – delight diners for their unabashed tastiness. Mains span salads and delectable dishes such as cashew baked aubergines with paprika and pea sauce and the venue’s immaculate filo pastry dishes.
The creativity that underpins all the tasty meals sold at Cornucopia happens in a lovely atmosphere where tall open windows admit light into a relaxed dining room complete with fireplace. Many of the meals and desserts are on open display, and just next door many of the whole food ingredients featured in the delicious foods are sold in the store. With catering and large group bookings available, and over thirty years of history feeding Dublin’s locals and visitors scrumptious veggies and vegan delights, this restaurant makes for a superbly healthy place to eat out.
Corfu Greek Restaurant lets visitors to Dublin sample the Mediterranean delights of Greece in a lovely setting that acts as the embodiment of Greek friendliness and hospitality. In keeping with the rich variety of meals from the culinary crucible that is the ancient Hellenic nation, we have seafood and meat dishes aplenty. Vegetarians meanwhile will be impressed and sated by the feta cheese and Med salads, authentically prepared with regional favourites such as olives and sundried tomatoes.
The atmosphere within the Corfu Greek Restaurant is one of simple conviviality, with pictures of famous landmarks adorning the walls. The eatery’s proprietors are friendly, with their all-encompassing choice of main meals including moussaka, kleftiko and skewered kebabs. Furthermore, a range of lovely home-made desserts such as baklavos bolster the delights available. Once we account for the tasty regional coffees and superbly prepared pastas and sides, we see in this venue a fantastic, authentic dining choice.
Chapter One is a restaurant which has really stamped its authority on the Dublin food scene in recent years. One of the select few venues in Ireland’s capital to receive a coveted Michelin Star – the eatery’s proud use of local ingredients from land and sea allows guests to sample the best flavours of Ireland in a manner unique and delicious. Chefs working at this restaurant have honed their methods of meat preparation to the point of the formidable: cured, smoked and braised meats and fish seldom fail to impress, while desserts like cherry parfait effortlessly delight.
The restaurant itself is divided into a few rooms, each of which offer couples and groups an opportunity to enjoy delightful meals. One, the ‘Chef’s Table’, allows diners to observe their food being prepared in the background through translucent glass screens. The passion behind the cooking is all too clear, with Chapter One including devoted testimonials to its best ingredient suppliers upon its website.
Chameleon Restaurant brings the exciting zest of innovation to Dublin’s food scene, offering as they do a range of tantalizing dishes originating from Indonesia and wider Asia. Their embracing approach to great food means that delightful snacks and meals seldom seen elsewhere find appreciation. For diners wanting to simply try a bit of everything, an Asian tapas menu allows for discerning choice while acting as superb introduction to the exotic delights their chefs capably assemble.
The décor within Chameleon is delightful for its sumptous ambiance – rich in expression and colour, with cushioned seats in vivid purples and reds gracing the premises. Numerous savoury treats boasting an impeccable depth of flavour include curry and meat dishes, plus snacks such as spring rolls. Presentation of all courses proves gorgeous and artful. Desserts meanwhile are rich in tropical fruits and coconut native to the Indonesian nation. For those not up to making the journey to this delightful eatery, home delivery is fortuitously available.
