World Travel Guide

Home -  City Guide  - Dublin  - Food and Drink
Food and Drink

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 too many good cafés to list, 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.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
GENERAL
City Overview
City Statistics
Cost of Living
History
Language
Accommodation
 
GETTING THERE
Air
Water
Road
Rail
 
GETTING AROUND
Getting Around
 
BUSINESS
Business
 
SIGHTSEEING
Sightseeing
Key Attractions
Further Distractions
Tours of the City
Excursions
 
ENTERTAINMENT
Nightlife
Sport
Shopping
Culture
Special Events
Food and Drink