Irish cuisine isn’t all about potatoes. It is rich and varied, and, depending on the region you are visiting, there are favoured dishes that are always found on any good menu.
These include traditional Irish stew (made with lamb, vegetables, and, yes potatoes in a rich dark gravy that is sometimes finished with a splash of Guinness), coddle (usually sausages, bacon, and onions fried up with, yes, potatoes, although the ingredients are subject to change depending on the region and what is leftover from the day before), and the deliciously moreish barmbrack (a sort of hot cross bun).
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So if you are visiting Dublin, where are the best places to eat? These 5 mouth watering restaurants in Dublin will be a great start on your Irish culinary adventure!
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
If you are looking for something particularly special, then the Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is probably the kind of thing you want. It’s the only two Michelin star rated restaurant in Ireland – impressive! – and the food is an intriguing mix of the traditional and the extremely modern.
With fresh food delivered daily, and people travelling from all over Ireland (and beyond) to sample delights such as croquettes of suckling pig, sweet pea triangoletti, and sheep’s milk sorbet, it is widely regarded as the best restaurant in Ireland.
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is open for lunch and again for dinner Tuesday to Saturday, and, no matter which day or what time, it is essential to book in advance.
Thornton’s
With one sought after Michelin star, Thornton’s is hot on the heels of Partrick Guildbard’s rating. And with good reason – the food here is, they say, best sampled through the wonderful tasting menu, which offers diners the chance to try the best of the best from their wide range of interesting and mouth-watering dishes.
A typical tasting menu could consist of a fillet of sika deer with slowly braised beetroot, foie gras rolled in hazelnut, roast partridge with cep, and of course a decadent and deliciously unforgettable chocolate mousse.
However, there are midweek dining options, and for vegetarians, often the ones who miss out in establishments such as these, the chef and his team will be happy to create a menu just for you, after finding out your likes and dislikes.
Dinner at Thornton’s is a truly interactive experience!
Shanahan’s On The Green
Shanahan’s On The Green is a gorgeous restaurant set in a 250 year old building that, as the name suggests, overlooks a beautiful Irish green. This Georgian building has been painstakingly refurbished to give you the ultimate in sumptuous dining experiences.
The food matches up to the décor, and includes the trio of Irish salmon, chilled jumbo lump crab salad, every kind of thick, juicy steak, pork shank with crackling, and much, much more. Desserts are to die for – doesn’t the white chocolate soufflé or the cookies and cream cheesecake sound divine?
The Winding Stair
With a name as intriguing as this, how could you resist taking the time to have dinner at The Winding Stair? Luckily, the food is worth the risk, and the a la carte menu of such delicacies as potted Dingle Bay crab with soda bread, Irish potato boxty, and Winding Stair ‘smokies’ (smoked haddock) on toast is good, traditional Irish faire with a hunt of fun thrown in.
Beneath the restaurant is a famous and much loved bookshop, one of the oldest independent bookshops in Ireland. A wonderful place to spend some time before heading upstairs for a delicious dinner!
By the way, the name of the restaurant comes from a poem of the same name by William Butler Yeats.
The Vintage Kitchen
For those who like thing simple, The Vintage Kitchen would be the perfect dining experience. With a BYOB policy (and no corkage charge), and a set menu, this is good, honest food that will impress you and satisfy those hunger pangs.
It is casual and relaxed, and you can even bring along a vinyl LP to be played on the turntable as you eat. The owners of the Vintage Kitchen want you to feel at home here, so sit back, order whatever you like, and be sure of a warm welcome every time.
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