20 Best Restaurants in Dublin, Ireland

Even with its location in a relatively unfashionable corner of the city, this high-end bistro has the natives traveling miles to get a treasured table. The five-course set menu manages to be daring and traditional at the same time, with game and fish transformed in particularly ingenious ways. The decor is warm and woody and avoids even a hint of stuffiness, but the food is the star here, with Nordic-type snacks to begin, and mains like the shockingly good black sole with parsley velouté and collard greens. 

At this dreamy little cafe, local, organic, and seasonal are the words to live by, where you can chow down on simple savory and sweet delights, all made with a loving, homey touch. The plant-filled courtyard is also the perfect summer spot for a daytime glass of prosecco and small bites. The surprising eggs and soldiers with roast tomatoes and shallots is a typically delicious dish. Save room for the delicate tarts and moist sugar-dusted sponges. Ask about the fun cooking classes: they're the talk of the town.

When Michelin-starred chef Mickael Viljanen partnered up with this venerable Dublin dining institution, great things were expected. We weren't disappointed. This wonderful, culture-vulture favorite gets its name from its location, downstairs in the vaulted, stone-wall basement of the Dublin Writers Museum; the natural stone-and-wood setting makes it cozily cavelike. The daringly modern French, four-course, set dinner menu is the talk of the town and W. B. Yeats himself would have loved the roast pigeon, brussels sprouts, pear, offal tart all with sauce perigourdine. The only downside is the place is so popular you have to book well in advance.

The unpretentious brilliance of this husband-and-wife restaurant and deli just off Nassau Street is what makes the classy little Italian joint so popular. The menu is extensive but simple: panini, a horde of antipasti, a few choice pasta specials, and some evening meat dishes and desserts. The all-Italian kitchen staff work wonders with high-quality imported ingredients. The gnocchi with a slow-cooked ragù of Gilligan's Hereford Irish beef makes a great lunch. A couple of long tables are perfect for groups, and the hundreds of bottles of wine on shelves cover every inch of the walls. 

This fresh, one-stop shop for everything organic and delicious in Dublin combines a huge deli with a cozy cellar wine bar and expansive second-floor French brasserie. Located on the top floor of a beautiful old telephone exchange building, the high-ceiling, light-filled dining room is always bustling. The menu covers everything from burgers to loin of rabbit, but the Wicklow pork belly, celeriac, and Savoy cabbage are typical. Leave room for the lemon-ricotta cheesecake. You can pick up a bottle of wine in the wine cellar and enjoy it for a small corkage fee.

Named after the street in Queens where chef-owner Sandy Wyer grew up, Forest Avenue is a star on the Dublin food stage. The menu is a five-course taster, and while choice is limited, quality and value are off the charts. The open kitchen gives the place a lively vibe and Sandy and her Irish husband, John, are only too willing to discuss each dish with interested guests. A floor-to-ceiling glass frontage allows the light to flood in across the elegant white-brick walls. Try the confit cod with pumpkin and crab velouté. They do a cheaper three-course lunch menu Thursday to Saturday.

Owner Roberto Mungo brings his brand of simple Calabrian cooking to this classy little Italian, family-run joint in hip Stoneybatter. There are touches of other Italian regions on the menu, but standouts are Calabrian classics like deep-fried aubergine with tomato, mozzarella, and green pesto and baked mackerel with potatoes, herbs, red pepper cream, and asparagus. The wonderful nibbles menu (each for around €5) is perfect for a quick bite.

This effortlessly cool, award-winning eatery slots neatly into the gallery/shop that makes up the rest of the Hen's Teeth empire. Located in the working-class Blackpitts area of the Liberties, the atmosphere is diner casual, while the food is a tapas-inspired trip into small-plate adventure. Try the smoked duck salad with chicory, blackberries and deep-fried cheese cubes, or the ceviche of sea bream with watermelon and cucumber. 

A unique Korean-Japanese standout in the slew of cheap and cheerful Chinese eateries on Parnell Street (the closest Dublin comes to a Chinatown), Hop House is a restaurant and pub in one. Part of the old Shakespeare pub has been transformed into one of the friendliest, best-value restaurants in the city. The dining room is bright and busy, with little table buzzers for service and the sounds of music spilling over from the bar next door. Traditional Korean specialties like kimchi are augmented with a large selection of sushi rolls, including the mouthwatering crunch roll with king-prawn tempura, cucumber, crab stick, and teriyaki sauce.

This gem of an old Dublin boozer—which was once also the local grocer—has been turned into a gastropub and world-beer emporium, without losing too much of its real Dublin feel. It's the perfect spot for a quick pint of ale and a plate of black pudding (with pear relish and red chard) if you don't feel like a full sit-down meal. Microbrewery beers are hard to come by in Ireland, so the wide selection of small-label ales, lagers, and stouts is reason enough to make the trip to the evocatively named village of Stoneybatter on the Northside. The menu doesn't fuss around with too many choices, but the potted crab with sourdough soldiers is a great starter and the rib-eye steak with whiskey butter and twice-cooked chips is the pick of the hearty mains.

Located on the Grand Canal Basin which connects the River Liffey and the Grand Canal, this popular new spot features an upturned rowboat on the ceiling, a nod to its location between these two iconic bodies of water. An open kitchen lines the back wall of the restaurant, and features a copper wood-fired pizza oven. The fare is classic American, with generous pancake platters, cheeseburgers, pizzas, sundaes, and giant cookies all designed to encourage lively, casual gatherings and sharing. The bar is a lively spot for after-work drinks and the outdoor terrace overlooking the canal is the place to be for weekend brunch, a fairly new concept and dining category in this city.

Located upstairs at the wonderful French Paradox wine shop, this cozy new restaurant sees celebrated local chef Grainne O'Keefe work her magic on the best of Irish produce. The fixed-price tasting menu changes with the seasons, moving from starters like aubergine tart with goat cheese and pickled walnut to meat courses like Iberico pork, with anchovy, dates, and confit potato. 

This hot sushi bar on suddenly hip Capel Street has given birth to sister restaurants around the city because it finally made the Japanese staple affordable. Japanese owned and run, the restaurant serves fresh and flavorful dishes—all the sushi standards you'd expect but better than anything else in the city. The interior is simple and unfussy: a long, narrow room with dark wood floors and rows of pinewood tables and seats dotted with red cushions. They also do a mean tempura and gyoza for those who don't fancy raw fish. 

"Street food" is a painfully abused term in the dining world, but this downstairs Thai joint in the heart of Ranelagh has the authentic flavors and spice of a Bangkok noodle stall. The narrow dining area is beautifully tiled in simple colors and packs out quickly with locals and visitors. The Capmoo (pork scratchings with green chili relish) is a stunning starter, and the Hor Mok Talay (red seafood curry with coconut milk, prawn, egg, and Thai sweet basil) a favorite main. Finish with the zesty lychee cheesecake with fresh mint.

Chef-owner Eamonn O'Reilly cuts quite a dash, but it's his sophisticated, daring, contemporary cuisine that tends to seduce visitors to his little restaurant tucked away in a quiet lane only a few minutes from Stephen's Green. As is usual with Dublin's luxe eateries, the fixed-price lunch and pre-theater menus offer great value. Try the incredible scallop ceviche to start. Dishes such as pigeon with chicory, salsify, and baked celeriac puree demonstrate the mix of traditional and cutting-edge cuisine. 

Also known as "Dublin's finest restaurant," this Michelin-starred place on the ground floor of the Merrion Hotel boasts a menu described as French, but chef Guillaume Lebrun's genius lies in his occasional daring use of traditional Irish ingredients—so often taken for granted—to create the unexpected. The ambience is just as delicious, if you're into lofty, minimalist dining rooms and Irish modern art (the Roderic O'Conors and Louis le Brocquys are all from the owner's private collection). The best dishes are flawless, such as the roast red leg partridge. Follow that, if you can, with the assiette au chocolat (a tray of five hot and cold chocolate desserts). Nearly as impressive are the 70-page wine list, the view of the Merrion's manicured gardens, and the two-course lunch special. Soaring white vaults and white walls won't make you feel warm and cozy, but you can always go somewhere else for that.

Opened by a group of friends, the Fumbally started out with a market stall but quickly became the vanguard of true slow food in Dublin, finding its roots in a spacious, light-filled space smack in the middle of the Liberties area, the heart of the old city. Menus are simple but clever, with the Fumbally eggs, lightly scrambled with Gubeen cheese and sautéed kale, a classic. The pulled porchetta sandwich with overnight fennel and caper mayo is another favorite. A focus on local produce and a warm, unpretentious vibe make it a great place to while away an afternoon.

Unassuming Thomas Street is the last place you'd expect to find a Michelin-starred restaurant, but that's exactly where celebrated chef Keelann Higgs set up shop. Inside, you're greeted by the smell of wood smoke, and the narrow dining room is dominated by an open kitchen where cooking is done over a blazing fire. The menu is short and prix fixe, so you select five to seven dishes. Choosing is the only problem when faced with starters like salt-baked celeriac with grilled cabbage, stout, lardo, and an aged cheddar mousse. The pearl barley risotto with soft egg and crispy shallots is another standout. Finish with the blood orange cake with lemon curd and vanilla creme fraiche. Note: Does not offer a vegetarian menu or dairy-free options.