Dublin, Ireland

[joey madison]

In just a couple of weeks, I'll be venturing to Dublin for the first time. I'm anxious to explore the restaurant scene.

Does anyone have any suggestions for places I should check out? I try to avoid touristy and hyper-trendy joints. In particular, I would like to visit an old-standard traditional Irish restaurant that has a deservedly good reputation amongst locals, a new up-and-coming restaurant, and a fine-dining place. I'll eat just about anything, and like adventures, so please, offer your advice!

Thanks!

[Patrick_O]

Hi Joey,

Now is a good time to visit Dublin as there has been somwhat of a renaissance in recent years and trends have followed London where provenance and quality at affordable prices have become far more important to the restaurant going public.

I can't think of any specific "old-standard traditional Irish" restaurants that I'd want to recommend but the following few take great quality seasonal Irish ingredients and create simple, interesting dishes:

Winding Stair (www.winding-stair.com)

Lock's ( www.locksrestaurant.ie)

The Pig's Ear. This is only new so no site yet but I've eaten there a couple of times now and the cooking is excellent. Lots of retro classics such as prawn cocktail and jelly & ice cream but a couple of stand out dishes were the lobster and pea omlette and pig's head terrrine with crispy pig's ears. Good old fashioned bacon and cabbage is hard to beat for winter comfort food.

Although not Irish cooking, I'm also a big fan of L'Gueleton on Fade Street (www.lgueuleton.com) for good quality casual French bistro food.

For a high-end blow out, check out Mint (www.mintrestaurant.ie) or Thorntons ( www.thorntonsrestaurant.com). Arguably the two best restaurants in Ireland run by undoubtedly the two best Irish chefs cooking here at the moment.

Enjoy!

[Corinna Dunne]

Patrick has just about said it all there. One more in town that is worth checking out is Bentley's owned by Richard Corrigan. And they have just started doing breakfast there (I wasn't able to go to the launch last week), but I hear it's great.

And if you venture out to the coast on the southside, be sure to go to Alexis... winner of the Best Leinster restaurant from Food & Wine this year... and owned by Patrick_O above!

If you head out to the coast on the northside of the city, check out Ivans Oyster Bar and House in Howth.