The 13 best restaurants in Dublin (2024)

Feeling peckish? You’re in the right place. Dublin is a city that loves its food, whether it’s a toastie dripping with artisan cheese, or a Michelin-starred spot where reservations are like gold dust. And alongside the darlings of the Dublin restaurant scene, there are hole-in-the-wall joints, tiny bistros and casual burger bars, all serving up dishes that keep the city’s food lovers coming back for more. If you’re in the mood for a lavish, slap up supper or just want to grab a bite to go, here are some of the best places to eat in Dublin.

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• City Centre
• North City
• The Liberties
• Portobello
• Docklands

The brainchild of its charismatic head chef Eric Matthews, Kicky’s is the kind of neighbourhood bistro that every city needs. While the setting feels casual, with exposed brick walls and a giant mural over the pass, the food is next level – it didn’t take long for their slabs of focaccia with carbonara butter to get cult status among Dubliners. Order as many sharing dishes as you can, like the rabbit pappardelle or crab mayonnaise on toasted sourdough, and finish up with their take on an Irish coffee, a modern-day tiramisu with meringue and chocolate soil.

Contact: kickys.ie
Reservations: Essential
Prices: ££

To call this place a tapas restaurant would be to sell it short. Sure, Uno Mas features all the classics, like gilda, croquetas and potato tortillas, but also turns out more unusual dishes like fried sweetbreads, punchy yellowtail crudo and asparagus fregola, all served in a cosy space that’s a dream for eavesdroppers. The mains are hearty and designed to be shared, like the milk fed lamb cooked in manzanilla, so try your best not to fill up on bread dunked in their signature peppery olive oil – it’ll be a challenge.

Contact: unomas.ie
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

Primarily a cheese and wine shop, Loose Canon is also where you’ll find what could be the best toastie in town. These sourdough sandwiches are filled with artisan cheeses from the counter, slathered in salty butter then grilled to golden, crunchy perfection. You can pick a bottle of wine from the shelves or just get a glass of whatever they’re pouring, like a cloudy orange wine or Riesling. Then grab a seat, either on a table just inside the gothic George’s Street Arcade, or outside on Drury Street for some top-notch people watching.

Contact: loosecanon.ie
Reservations:Walk-ins only
Prices:£

A favourite of Nigella Lawson (who dubbed it “exquisite” when she visited), Etto is an intimate space that’s barely two tables wide. The menu chops and changes regularly, but the favourites are always in situ, like the sharing slab of côte de boeuf, with wobbly fat and a drinkable jus, served with crispy potatoes and a bordelaise sauce. Their side dish of hashed potatoes and lyonnaise onions is the stuff of legend, as is their signature dessert of prunes doused in red wine with vanilla mascarpone.

Contact: etto.ie
Reservations:Essential
Prices: £££

One upside to Ireland’s rainy climate is that the cows are well fed, and as a result, Irish dairy and beef is some of the best in the world. In this steakhouse, you’ll find cheaper cuts on the menu, like the eponymous featherblade and picanha. Both are rich, smoky and pleasingly fatty, but a fraction of the price of sirloin or fillet, which means you can load up on sides like beef dripping chips, truffle mac and cheese and creamed spinach.

Contact: featherblade.ie
Reservations:Recommended
Prices: ££

There may not be any seats (maybe a leaning perch outside, if you’re lucky) but this hole-in-the-wall deli is one of the hottest food spots in the city. Their sandwich menu sticks to the classics, like a salt beef sub or tuna melt, but it’s the weekly specials that draw a crowd. The owner Barry Stephens spends days cooking up the components for sandwiches like Kentucky fried pork neck with crackling and Korean slaw, or his fan favourite the Dublin Dip, with braised beef, tarragon mayo and smoked cheese, served with a beef birria for dipping.

Contact: 147deli.com
Reservations: Walk-ins only
Prices:£

When it comes to the best restaurants in Dublin, Chapter One may just take the crown. On the surface, it feels like every other two Michelin-starred restaurant, with starched tablecloths and artfully crafted plating. But there’s a rare sense of character here – the chef patron Mickael Viljanen finishes most dishes tableside with quiet flair, using creations like a tomato and Savora sabayon that he dubs a “Big Mac” sauce. Their three-course lunch menu offers good value, but if you manage to snag a reservation, do yourself a favour and go for the full tasting menu.

Contact: chapteronerestaurant.com
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

Insider’s tip: There’s a chef’s table in the kitchen, so you can snoop on the team at work.

There are loads of fish and chip spots around Dublin, but no one does it better than Fish Shop. Enter their tiny set up in Smithfield and you’ll see the menu scrawled on a blackboard, with dishes like plump gigas oysters or dressed crab to start, before the main event, a thick fillet of haddock or hake with a golden batter that cracks open with the tap of a fork, alongside hand cut chips and tartare sauce. And the wine is top-notch, with grower champagnes and pet nat by the glass.

Contact: fish-shop.ie
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

There are some solid brunch options in Dublin 8, but Two Pups is always a safe bet. Their coffee is like rocket fuel, as is their punchy homemade ginger beer, and the food is the kind of stuff you crave on a Saturday morning – think thick wedges of sourdough with miso butter, fried eggs and their own hot sauce, or a garlicky hash with chorizo and whipped ricotta yoghurt. Get there before 1pm for your best shot at a weekend table – in Dublin, brunch is generally an afternoon affair.

Contact: twopupscoffee.com
Reservations: Walk-ins only
Prices:£

If you have any dietary restrictions, this isn’t the place for you – all tables get the same chef’s choice menu, with allowances made only for pescatarians, if there’s prior notice. That said, a meal here is a must for those who love inventive, creative cooking – their duck liver parfait, layered with chicory, orange and endive, arrives at the table with a warm waffle, and their bite-sized snacks, like miniature pork tacos and tuna crackers, are the perfect mouthful. Unless you’re a vegan or vegetarian, obviously.

Contact: varietyjones.ie
Reservations:Essential
Prices: £££

Down among the Georgian townhouses of Portobello, Locks has a great location right on the edge of the Grand Canal. The fact that it’s away from the madness of the city centre means a meal here is a more relaxed affair, where locals congregate on sunny tables for a leisurely, gossipy feast. Their lunch menu is set at a great price, and is filled with decadent dishes like Cáis Na Tíre gnocchi, juicy spring lamb and a sharing salt-aged Delmonico, served with beef fat chips. Just the fodder for a lunch that turns into a long, wine-fuelled afternoon.

Contact: locksrestaurant.ie
Reservations: Essential
Prices: ££

They love their burgers in Dublin, and while Dash is one of the newer kids on the block, their smash burgers are some of the best in town. Ignore the infantilised names like chicken “tendies” and order their classic double smash, particularly if there’s a special on the menu – in the past, they’ve served up burgers slathered with shiitake or truffle butter. But whatever you get, the patty will be crisp around the edges, dripping with melted cheese and their secret sauce. There’s a second branch on Capel Street, too.

Contact: dashburger.ie
Reservations:Walk-ins only
Prices:£

Led by the chef Niall Davidson, a star of the Dublin food scene, Allta is one of the toughest reservations to nab, but it’s oh so worth the effort. From their new location in a stark, modernist set-up in the Docklands, Davidson whips out dishes like barbecued rabbit on pasta, squid skewers and bone marrow rostis. Unusual for a restaurant of this calibre, the menu is a la carte, rather than a tasting variety, so you aren’t required to go for 10 courses (though you’ll probably want to anyway).

Contact: allta.ie
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

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