The Best of Dublin 2007 - Food

Organic markets and greasy-spoon cafés. Easi-Singles and Brie de Meaux. Sweet Woodruff and sticky buns. Our intrepid team has dined at over 300 restaurants, slammed vodka with the Russians, risked life and limb in early houses – and generally made pigs of themselves – in order to identify the greatest epicurean delights the city has to offer.

Ice Cream
Acapulco
7 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2, 677 1085
Somehow, when you begin to describe this particular Mexican Creation – super-frozen ice-cream, covered with an egg paste and cornflakes, then chucked in the deep-fat-fryer for a few seconds – many people turn up their noses. Just convince them to order it, however, and it’s a different story. It arrives smothered in creamy butterscotch, and the first spoonful of a melting exterior and icy centre is intoxicating. The setting for savouring, one of George’s street’s more pleasant eateries, isn’t bad either. Ultimately, if you’re going for ice cream, you’re looking for a bit of frosty indulgence. And if you’re going to be indulgent, it’s got to be deep-fried. And don’t hold the sauce. A healthy heart really isn’t all its cracked up to be. DO

Meat for a Barbie
Ennis Butchers
463 South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8, 454 9282
Lumpwood, propane, briquettes... Admit it. Barbecues are hard work. You have quite enough trouble managing the fire without worrying about something clever to do with the meat. Solution? The choice of marinating morsels at Ennis Butchers includes duck breast in plum sauce, chicken wrapped in Parma ham with pesto, pork fillet with apricot and walnuts, and lamb burgers. About €6 a serving. Derrick behind the counter can trace every piece of meat and tell you how to cook it. There’s also a full range of organic vegetables and gourmet dressings from the likes of Saucy’s and McDonnell’s. Put on your apron... and pray the weather holds. RL

Crépe
Fafie’s
2 Lower Kevin Street, Dublin 8, 476 3888, www.fafies.com
Crépes are hardly the rarity they once were – the Celtic Tiger was surely reared on pancakes and mojitos. So how is Fafie’s any different? Buckwheat, for one. These Brittany-style galettes are made with sarrazin flour, a boon for those who’ve sworn off over-processed white foods. It also stands up a bit better to the rich fillings – try the Reblochan cheese, tomato and shallots. Dessert crépes are sinful – chocolate and almonds and ice cream, oh my! It’s nice to see a menu acknowledge that strawberries are seasonal. Some things could be tightened up: the perfunctory side salads, the euro-shop picnic tables, but with a cozy room and mellow French tunes, you don’t mind. The crowd is not just DIT students on study break; plenty of Francophones. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. RL

Supermarket
Morton’s
15-17 Dunville Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, 497 1254, www.mortons.ie
This ancient supermarket in very pricey Ranelagh has a charm that big chains lack. Here, Heinz Ketchup sits beside tomatoes from Marc Michel’s organic farm in County Wicklow. Easi-Singles or Brie de Meaux. All meat is Irish-reared and there is an extensive selection of organic fare (try the three-week fillet and striploin streak). Good ice-creams too! With a lunchtime deli, a fine florist and over 400 wines, Morton’s still does the job. KR

Italian Food
Little Italy
139/140 North King Street, Dublin 7, 872 5208, www.littleitalyltd.com
Pasta by the famous Barilla in 50 different shapes fills the shelves, as well as the more down-market Paone (bought – ahem! – by Irish people, not Italians). Wonderful cheeses: Regato, Fontina, Provolone (piccante and the more traditional and excellent dolce), Ricotta (in tubs, alas) and very good Pecorino Romano. They do most of the traditional Italian cured meats all year round, including pancetta belly, zampone, cotechino. Seasonal specialities too: they get the marvellous Mostarda di Frutta and Baccalà at Christmas, and the dentally-challenging but delicious Cantuccini biscuits which you dunk in vin Santo. Wines too, and biscuits: a treasure-house. HLB

Tea & Scones
Queen of Tarts
9 Cork Hill, Dame Street, Dublin 2, 670 7499
The phrase ‘old world charm’ is bandied about by word-counting scribblers and dodgy auctioneers. It should only be used to describe places like Queen of Tarts. Tea and scones are best taken, we find, in an atmosphere reminiscent of granny’s front parlour. Here, there’s barely room to swing a large dead fox, and the noise of industry in the kitchen is unceasing, but tea will soothe away those cares, and the fruit scones are just creamy enough. The best things on offer, however (and these fend off a spirited challenge from Keogh’s down the road) are the messylicious chocolate scones. Come prepared to lick your fingers clean, or get chocolate all over your face. Plus: gorgeous staff. DO

White Pudding
Midlands Meats
Unit 5, Janelle Shopping Centre, Finglas, Dublin 11, 836 1572
Clearwater Shopping Centre on the Finglas Road is everything that is wrong with our compulsion to spend. One of the biggest Tescos I’ve ever seen is located there – and such is the lure of its wares that, try as you might to make a quick dash for a pint of milk, you’ll inevitably leave with an LCD TV or a Hoover. If, however, you manage to escape with dignity and wallet intact, pop in to Midland Meats, the butcher next door, for great meat cuts and truly delicious white puddings. Class act. SM

Low Fat Snack
Down to Earth
73 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2, 671 9702, www.downtoearth.ie
Such was my lust for Colin Farrell that I started to hang out at Down to Earth, his dad’s health food store on George’s Street. I haven’t seen Colin but I did find a delicious low-fat snack that  has kept me away from chocolate all year: yoghurt-covered pineapples. A bag of yummy fruit pieces that taste like toffee. Well worth a try. SM

Corkage
Fallon and Byrne
11-17 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, 472 1010 www.fallonandbyrne.com
If only wine had the price controls that pints do. A shall-remain-unnamed city centre bar and grill once sold a Ravenswood by the glass for the price of the whole bottle at an off-licence – that’s a 500% mark-up over retail. A remedy can be found in the wine cellar of Fallon & Byrne, where on Mondays the corkage fee is just €1. The selection is thick with French, light on American – which is just as well; they’re overpriced in Ireland – and in the €15-€75 range. Barrel tables, bare brick and leather couches make for a relaxed setting. The staff is warm and knowledgeable. The menu has sharing and picking in mind: cheeseboard, paté, oysters, duck salad; each about a tenner. A multinational crowd of pretty people makes for something of a scene. Great place to shake off a case of the Mondays. RL

Milkshake
Eddie Rocket’s
Pretty much everywhere, 679 7340, www.eddierockets.ie
“Five dollars – that just milk and ice cream, right?” asks an incredulous John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Ah, but a good milkshake is so much more. First, there’s the blender: an aeration disc rather than a blade froths the concoction without liquefying it. It’s the kind of specialised equipment only a theme restaurant would bother to purchase, yet it makes all the difference. Next, lashings of malt powder are added to give that familiar moreish tang – the girls are thinking Maltesers, the boys Guinness. Purists will insist on only vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Served in the stainless steel beaker, crusted in frost to keep it cold. A generous serving means three refills of your glass. Sure, that’s about 12,000 calories in total, but you didn’t come here to diet. Eddie Rocket’s also serves mediocre diner food to surly teens or flailing drunks, depending on what time of day it is. But that shake? Damn right, it’s better than yours. RL

Medium-end burger
Bobos
22 Wexford Street, Dublin 2, 400 5750 www.bobos.ie
The world’s most expensive burger is €85 – kobe beef at the Four Seasons in Indonesia. Fast food joints have a burger for €1. Surely there’s a sane compromise between wallet and stomach? It has arrived. This faux-retro diner, with mosaic floor and a marble lunch counter, serves seven-ounce slabs of crisp and juicy Irish beef from O’Toole’s Butchers. Toppings are interesting if not exotic: guacamole, Cashel blue cheese, Portobello mushrooms. Stacked high and cooked quick, it is the best balance of speed and quality for a hot patty that you’re likely to find. More burger than you can get your mouth around for about €8. RL

Bagel
Itsabagel
Branches citywide, 293 5994, www.itsabagel.com
At the airport, in the staff canteen, in the freezer at the supermarket – bagels are everywhere. Yet not all dough is created equal. Witness the beauties on offer at itsabagel: massive hunks of chewy, crunchy, genuine imported Manhattan goodness. The Kemp sisters [Domini has worked for this magazine] do justice to their medium by roasting their own meats, making hummus from scratch and generally doing things as you’d do in your own kitchen, if only you had the time. The Reuben – pastrami, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on pumpernickel – is as New York deli as you can get on this side of the Atlantic. Bagels, by the way, are high protein, low fat and have fewer calories than your average croissant. It sure beats garage ham-and-coleslaw in plastic. RL

Sunday Brunch
Brasserie Sixty6
66-67 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2, 400 5878, www.brasseriesixty6.com
When does breakfast turn to brunch and brunch into lunch? What is brunch anyway? Is it just a glorified full Irish breakfast? And is there such a thing as ‘linner?’ At Sixty6, brunch is served from 10am to 5pm on weekends. We like that. The menu is heavy on comfort food, with everything from gravadlax to meatballs and chips. You can have sausage and mash or a big crayfish salad. Wash it all down with a glass of delicious homemade lemonade or organic apple juice. Honourable mentions around the corner: Eden, The Mermaid. EF

Cheesecake
The Gallic Kitchen
49 Francis Street, Dublin 8, 454 4912, www.gallickitchen.com
The cheesecake at Gallic Kitchen isn’t available every day. If it were, it would be the death of you. It’s made New York style, laced with berries and icing – but unlike some New Yorkers it won’t leave you rather uncomfortable and anxious for a drink. If the perfect balance of crumbliness and creaminess exists, these good people have nailed it. The eating area, closer in atmosphere to a dentist’s surgery than a French maison, isn’t conducive to enjoying such delights, so we’d recommend buggering off somewhere – perhaps the gardens of Saint Pat’s – where you can gobble away in worthy surroundings. DO

Sticky buns
Simon’s Place
The George’s Street Arcade, South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2, 679 7821
Long before the lunch crowds arrive, a few early die-hards sit patiently at the wooden tables in Simon’s Place. The earthy smell begins to waft up from the basement ovens. A new customer enters and asks, “Are they ready yet?” The girl behind the counter smiles and shakes her head. There are several bakeries around town putting out high-quality cakes, but none has the cult following of Simon’s Place and its cinnamon buns. The pastry swirls ooze spice – unravelling them is the sensory inverse of peeling an onion – but the buns are at their chewiest and gooiest when hot in the morning. Simon’s does lunch as well, of course, serving doorstep sandwiches and strong coffees to suits, crusties and students in a space where the only stainless steel is the spoons. But don’t bother asking for a cinnamon bun late in the afternoon – they’ll be long gone by then. RL

Greasy Breakfast
Munchies
1-3 South William Street, Dublin 2, 613 7707, www.munchies.ie
There’s a certain dualism to the Celtic character that makes us swing between cold asceticism and visceral debauchery. It’s one of the reasons we have lots of teetotallers and even more raging drunks. From the décor, Munchies would appear to pander to the Spartan in us, but the good stuff, particularly the sausage sandwich, is all about greasy, fleshy indulgence. If you’re looking for something hearty, good for a hangover and bad for the arteries, said sausage sandwiches, along with their charming Bacon Whoopie or Scrambled Egg ‘Hugo Special’ all fit the bill. Skip the coffee. DO

Jewish Food
SuperValu
13 Braemor Road, Churchtown, Dublin 14, 298 4917, www.supervalu.ie
Between all the new Chinese restaurants and Polish markets, Jewish cuisine feels a bit lost in the shuffle. More Bialystock than Beersheba, it takes its cues from Eastern European peasant fare: hearty dumplings, marinated fish, and robust seasoning like horseradish. Now add the strict dietary laws: no mixing meat and dairy, the humane slaughter of animals, and no trace of pork or shellfish. The one stronghold in Dublin for all this is the ‘Kosher Korner’ of this otherwise average supermarket in Churchtown. The selection ranges from cake mixes and wine to frozen chickens and pickles. Most are imported from London or Brooklyn. Try some all-beef hot dogs to get that Coney Island flavour. Or soak matzo crackers in milk briefly, then crumble in the pan while scrambling eggs for matzah brei, a yeast-free take on French toast; serve with jam. RL

Indian Takeaway
Bombay Pantry
Glenageary 285 6683, Rathmines, 496 9695, www.bombaypantry.com
Rivals with tablecloths and good intentions try their best, but Bombay Pantry continues to outdo them all. The flagship Glenageary outlet has been the most popular Indian takeaway and delivery service on the southside for the last decade, and is now joined by branches in Clonskeagh, Rathmines and Fairview. All use fresh, natural ingredients and original recipes; you’ll see a cardamom seed swimming in that rich sauce where elsewhere there’d be a limp, crinkle-cut frozen carrot. There’s no using heat to mask poor quality: the Chicken Karahi, for example, is bright and balanced with big chunks of breast meat. The portion of fish in the Tandoori Salmon would be triple the price on a restaurant plate. On top of all this, they never seem to have an off night. If you need further convincing, try ringing on a Saturday: it’s an hour’s wait if you can get through, and worth it the whole way. Available chilled or frozen for collection as well. RL

Pub Grub/Beer Specialists
Porterhouse North
Cross Guns Bridge, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, 830 9884, www.porterhousebrewco.com
When this old tyre factory was transformed into a superpub some years back, the residents of Phibsboro and Glasnevin let out a heavy sigh: Not another one. However, Porterhouse North has managed to fill a gap by offering affordable pub food and a family-friendly environment. Pizzas are superb – especially the Chicken Wing – and there are salads, Irish stew and classic burger and chips on the menu. As busy as it is, you can always get a seat and with a good selection of world beers, it makes for a fun night out on a full belly. One caveat: the red wines are a tad too cold. SM

Herbs
Denise Dunne
Forde-de-Fyne, Naul, County Dublin, Tel, 8413907, info@theherbgarden.ie
Denise Dunne lives in a Hansel and Gretel cottage surrounded by greenery. Her organic herbs are famous among a coterie of herbers. This year she has Corsican mint, aloe aristogata – the small aloe that is magically efficacious with burns – and best of all, the genuine Sweet Woodruff (Germans flavour wine with it) for growing under trees and in shady places. She also has a large selection of organic seeds: coriander, rocket, ruby chard, mizu, and seeds of lots of edible flowers. And she specialises in designing herb gardens. Visits by appointment only. HLB

Northside Butcher
F.X. Buckley
61 Moore Street, Dublin 1, 873 2143 
Moore Street is itself one of the Best Things in Dublin. The excellent fish shop where we all went is long gone, but Buckley’s not only survives but thrives. It has adapted to the economical tastes of our East European communities, who eat all the bits that the silly Irish ignore. Paddy Buckley tells me that he sells huge amounts of oxtails to the immigrants, and more Irish are going back to it, and to the traditional brisket, tripe and so on, on which the mature among us were brought up. Filipinos are very heavy on slow-cooked brisket on the bone. He has veal, both red and white most of the time; the whiteness of the flesh is now attained by a milk diet and no cruel practices are involved. In addition he gets in on Thursday such things as wild rabbits from Wicklow that are in season all the time.  During the game season, November to March, Thursdays see wood pigeons, venison, quail (hand-reared in France) and other oddities that sportsmen sell on. The supply tends to be unpredictable and it is best to reserve things. HLB

Free Vegetables
Samphire on Bull Island
Northern side of Dublin Bay
Go right down the beach on foot to the tip of the island opposite Sutton, turn the corner onto the landward strand, and there are acres of marsh samphire. It is illegal to pick any plants or flowers on Bull Island, but the samphire grows below the high-water mark and is legal. It is ready for picking from mid-July onwards; check the purity status of the water with the Public Health people before you set off. How to recognise them:  they grow in the wet sand, are about a foot high, and look like green cactuses. Boil or steam for about eight minutes and eat them like asparagus, with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce, or purée them for a sauce on fish. HLB

Late Night Feed
Tandoori Bite
21 South Richmond Street, Dublin 6, 475 7553
There’s no reason to sacrifice on taste and entertainment when closing time comes. As the man says, when one door closes another opens. So as the barmen clear up, it’s off to Tandoori Bite on Richmond Street for the hardy, not-yet-partied-out. And Kathryn Thomas. It’s true that our judgement is less than reliable at 2am but smiling staff, onion bhajis, chicken passanda and ice-cold beer are still good news in my book. Plus: new romances flourish by the gentle flicker of tea lights. JS

Farmers’ Markets
Various Locations
www.bordbia.ie, www.irishvillage markets.com
A trip to one of the many farmers’ markets around the city will come back to you threefold. You’ll be supporting the country’s diminishing tribe of plowmen, who get a better price selling directly to the public than wholesale. You’ll pick up fresh, traceable goods, grown either naturally or organically, and in the case of meat, humanely. And you can pat yourself on the back for buying locally-produced goods that haven’t guzzled fossil fuels on their trip around the world. (Let’s not mention how you took the 4x4 to get down those nasty country roads.) Prices vary from place to place: haggle if you feel you’re being given out-of-towner rates.

Most markets sell meat, cheese, eggs, fruit and veg and breads. Donnybrook (Thursdays, 10am-4pm) and Monkstown (Saturdays, 10am-4pm) markets also have local crafts and jewellery, as does the Liffey Valley Farmers’ Market (Fridays, 10am-4pm). The recently-launched Tallaght market (Fridays and Saturdays, 10am-4pm) has international food from local Indian and Italian cooks, organic wine and vegetarian goodies. A bit further afield but worth the trip is the Whitewater Farmers’ Market (Wednesdays, 10am-4pm), Newbridge, Co Kildare. For the best fresh fish, go to Howth’s Fishermans’ and Farmers’ Market (Sundays and bank holidays, 10am-5pm). In the city centre, there are the Pearse Street (Saturdays, 9.30am-3pm) and Temple Bar (Saturdays, 9am-5pm) markets. These tend to be crowded and overpriced, but battle on: some of the genuine farm produce is top-notch.

Early House
The Windjammer
111 Townsend Street, Dublin 2, 677 2576
It may be the dark crimson interior and stained-glass windows, and it doubtless has something to do with the the fact that everyone seems to know each other, but if you venture into the Windjammer at 7.30am, you will think you’ve stumbled onto the set of a Dublin spin-off of Cheers. The patrons, however, are a touch less polished. Still, even the rough and ready atmosphere – note the barman’s shudders as the shutters open to the morning light – cannot obscure the fact that the Windjammer is, in truth, a very nice pub. The furnishings are comfy, the service is old-school and polite and the Smithwick’s is fantastic. DO

Gingerbread Men
The Bretzel Bakery
1a Lennox Street, Portobello, Dublin 8, 475 2724, www.bretzel.ie
Bribing children is no easy task. Savvy six-year-olds know exactly what you’re at. Faced with a battalion of nieces who could outsmart US army generals, I am often forced to use my secret weapon. Gingerbread men. Even the most world-weary child can’t resist the charms of these delicious and slightly cheeky-looking men that I buy by the dozen from Portobello’s Bretzel Bakery. I’ve also charmed my mum with their pear and custard tarts, delighted my dad with apple pies like his mum used to make and seen love in the eyes of boyfriends when I present them with doorsteps of fresh Vienna roll slathered in butter. The Bretzel is the only Dublin shop that can make me feel like a real domestic goddess. JS

Pressed Cider
David Llewellyn
Quickpenny Road, Lusk, County Dublin
There are over 7,500 varieties of cultivated apples, but most commercial orchards here grow just a handful. Biodiversity is a worry for the future – like anything else, you lose what you don’t practise. Lucky for us, Dave Llewellyn remembers what our grandmothers always knew. He grows varieties like Katy and Discovery and his signature product is pressed, unfiltered juice. The Tangy, made with Bramley, is a blast of tartness and a grassy finish, not miles away from a crisp Chardonnay. Mixes well with brandy and ginger ale for a refreshing summer cocktail. There is also a medium blend, and a sweet one using Jonagolds. Chill and shake to get the tasty bits from the bottom. It’s a far cry from the crystal clear and cloyingly sugary stuff you find in the supermarket. Llewelyn’s also make a strong cider and a zesty vinegar perfect for salads. RL

Choice of Beers
The Twelfth Lock
Castleknock Marina, The Royal Canal, Castleknock, Dublin 15, 860 7400, www.twelfthlock.com
Take a world tour from the comfort of your bar stool. Start in Belgium with a Leffe Blond before crossing the border to Germany for an Augustinier Edelstoff from that country’s oldest brewery. Travel down under and sample a Carlton Cold from Australia, coming back via Singapore, stopping for a Tiger. Perhaps bypass France with its Desperados tequila-flavoured beer (I speak from bitter experience) before heading to England to sample the delightfully named Old Speckled Hen – brewed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory and actually named after a paint-splattered car. All these and many more are available in the bar of the Twelfth Lock Hotel, picturesquely situated on the banks of the Royal Canal in Castleknock. There’s also decent bar food and a choice of non-alcoholic beers. EF

Cheap Date
Merrion Square
Dublin 2
For a romantic picnic, you’re looking for three things: a comfortable spot, some conversation-starters, and a bit of solitude. Stephen’s Green has the first two and a good central location, but you’ll be lucky if you can whisper sweet nothings to your beloved without scandalising someone on their lunch break. Much-more-romantic Merrion Square remains relatively neglected by the eating/loving set. It’s sheltered from high winds and surrounded by wonderful buildings. DO

Asian Experience
Hilan
45 Capel Street, Dublin 1, 874 8677
Spare me the lecture on the merits of integration. Authentic and fun, Hilan serves an extensive menu that includes traditional Korean barbeque (a bucket of coal set into your table and plates of raw meat for you to cook on it) and welcoming, if slightly bemused, staff. JS

Bar to Check your Email
The Odeon
57 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, 478 2088, www.odeon.ie
This building was a railway terminus for almost 100 years until 1959, after which it was used as an office space. The Odeon officially opened in June 1998. By day it is an elegant, airy place in which to have lunch or linger over coffee or a bottle of keenly-priced wine. If you have a laptop and an understanding boss, this free Wifi zone can even be treated as an extension of your office.  In the evening the post-work crowd arrive and the music gets louder. EF

Off-Licence for Foreign Drinks
The Celtic Whiskey Shop
27-28 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, 675 9744, www.celticwhiskeyshop.com
From the name and location, you’d be forgiven for dismissing this place as a twee tourist trap, where characters in mangy Aran jumpers flog watered-down spirits from the ‘old country’ to half-baked émigrés. There is indeed some tat – like a ‘your county whiskey’ display – but there is also a very respectable selection of wines, champers, absinthe and grenadine. The Polish Bison Vodka, whose distinctive flavour arises from the use of grass where – fancy this – Polish bison graze, is lethally good with apple juice. DO

Drinking Vodka with Russians
Bleu Note
61 - 62 Capel Street, Dublin 1, 878 3371, www.bleunoteclub.com
Ostensibly a jazz club, the Bleu Note on the corner of Capel Street is a Hitchcock location in waiting. As soon as you go to make your way to the basement (the centre of the action), the voiceover in your head begins. “She walked down the steps, with legs that went on for miles and a face that just wouldn’t quit.” The gentle, offbeat jazz washes over you, gorgeous Russian girls, jazz aficionados and what look like Bond villians mingle while the beer and vodka loosen you up for what’s bound to be an interesting night. JS

Sneaky Pint
The Stag’s Head
1 Dame Court, Dublin 2, 6793701
The Stag’s Head was recently bought by uber-publican Louis Fitzgerald for €5.8 million. Now that our fears of an ‘urban chic’ refurbishment have been allayed, we are once again sinking into the shabby couches for a mid-afternoon pint. The donkey’s-years-old pub on Dame Court is a great place to get a gang together, especially in the summer when the street outside is packed with smokers and their pals. It’s close to work and the shops, and is just moody enough to let you forget that it’s still sunny outside while you sip your third Guinness. Plus: tasty pub food. Try the coddle (€10.95). NR

Comments

[Sharon]

Best Chinese Food
Beijing Chinese Restaurant, 4-5 Jardine House, Main Street, Sandyford Village Centre, Dublin 18, 2069111

Beijing Chinese restaurantis highly regarded as the best Chinese restaurant in Dublin. Housed in a brand new building with fabulous decorations, Beijing Chinese restaurant specializes in Beijing, Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines. The atmosphere is relaxing and cozy, with amicable staff offers a welcoming and attentive service. An up-market restaurant has a huge photo-frame with photos of celebrities and some rich people from Foxrock that I know of. This is a favorite restaurant of many influential, rich people and some celebrities. You may meet up with someone special...

[H O'N]

Re Morton's

Very possibly a lovely shop BUT they have made a mess of Moyne Road and environs during their expansion phase, they persistently leave rubbish on the street and their "baled" cardboards are left strewn around the place. Some of this is Dublin City Council's problem, but most of it is Morton's. The lane behind Morton's has been completely blocked by their materials - an abuse of a right-of-way.

[Mairead]

Sheridans cheesemongers. Best cheese and nice selection of cold meats. They also do good quality olives and olive oils.

[john rock]

Hi there,
I´m a dubliner living in Reykjavik, Iceland. It´s nice to catch up on all of the gastro delights i´m missing from home, but in relation to the kobe burger, a restaurant recently opened in Reykjavik called Orange (dreadful name, if only they knew how much the logo resembles the british phone company) who are serving a kobe burger for the equivelent of 105 euros. It´s probably a useless fact but if ever you need it, there it is.
Regards,
John Rock

[Jamie]

Re Beijing Chinese Restaurant Sandyford - was there on 24/12/08 - generally a very poor experience - probably the worst chinese restauant I have ever eaten in. Went on basis of recommendation in this site as I misread a comment as a site owner recommendation!!