20 of the best Dublin restaurants for 2024 (2024)

Dublin restaurants have long been overshadowed by the city's thriving nightlife scene. Millions of tourists descend on the Republic of Ireland's capital each year – and the trend is set to continue, thanks to a sweep of fabulous new hotels in Dublin catering to every type of traveller alongside lots of exciting things to do. Many arrive in search of the perfectly-pulled pint of Guinness, and visits to Temple Bar are, more often than not, obligatory. However, travellers in search of a tastebud-tickling weekend break are being increasingly rewarded by the new flavours on offer from the city’s burgeoning restaurant scene – contemporary Indian restaurants, fragrant tapas places and Neapolitan havens now sit alongside the ever-popular Dublin pubs. These are our favourite Dublin restaurants across the city right now to grab an indulgent bite to eat.

Hawksmoor

It makes infinite sense that Hawksmoor, a choosey source of the highest quality beef, would settle on Ireland for one of its recent openings. Thirty-five day, dry-aged beef aside, the setting is reason enough for a booking where you can dine beneath the soaring 40-wide dome of the former banking hall of the 19th century National Bank on College Green. The magnificently restored city landmark sets the tone, while the menu is infused with just enough Irishness to give it a proper sense of place. Start with some Flaggy Shore Oysters from County Clare and move on to the extensive steak menu, which runs the gamut of cuts sourced from small producers the length and breadth of Ireland including rare breed meat from The Burren. Then, round it off with an Irish Coffee Tiramisu. The EUR24 Sunday Roast lunch is particularly keen value.

Address: Hawksmoor, 34 College Green, Dublin 2, D02 C850
Website: Hawksmoor.ie

Bread 41

Eoin Cluskey, the owner of Bread 41, is something of a pin-up for the artisan bread movement in Ireland and is evangelical about natural sourdough breadmaking having gathered his expertise at both Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork and stints abroad in places like Tartine in San Francisco. The freshly baked aromas hit you as soon as you walk into the ground floor bakery and café, where you can choose from its delectable display of sweets and savouries made onsite to sit and enjoy with a coffee.

Address: Bread 41, 41 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, D02 H308
Website: bread41.ie

Mamó

Howth is one of Dublin’s quintessential neighbourhoods and a must for visitors, a charming fishing village and well-heeled residential suburb on the north side of Dublin Bay known for its seafood restaurants that line its small working harbour. Mamó is an affectionate term for grandmother in Gaelic, and this small restaurant feels like a warm embrace as soon as you walk in. The food here is their take on contemporary Irish fare – even the cod chip from the nibbles section of the menu is a clever culinary nod to the restaurant’s location. Work up an appetite on the panoramic trail around Howth Head before lunch or look out over the twinkling lights of the harbour at night from the first-floor dining room. There’s also a more informal cafe-cum-wine bar and shop Margadh a few doors down.

Address: Mamó Restaurant, Harbour House, Harbour Road, Howth, Dublin, D13 E9H9
Website: mamorestaurant.ie

Forest Avenue

Tucked on a street off the Grand Canal, Forest Avenue is firmly established as one of the go-to Dublin restaurants for fine dining with an effortlessly relaxed atmosphere. Named after the street where one of its owners grew up in Queens, New York, chef John Wyer’s approach is to use simple ingredients from Ireland’s best producers. The lunch and dinner tasting menus feature everything from a turnip velouté to sika deer with parsnip memorably enhanced by just enough cheffy artistry, and there’s an expertly chosen wine list. Keen jet-setters will also like to know the restaurant’s vaguely Nordic interior was used in scenes of the smash hit BBC series Normal People. The couple have also just opened a new bakery, Una, in nearby Ranelagh village.

Address: Forest Avenue Restaurant, 8 Sussex Terrace, Sussex Road, Dublin 4, D04 C7F4
Website: forestavenuerestaurant.ie

PI Pizzas

Inspired by the likes of the standard-bearing Roberta’s in Brooklyn coupled with obsessive research into technique and ingredients you get buzzy, no-reservations PI Pizza, serving some of the best examples in the city. The dough adheres to the strict Neapolitan principles cooked in the obligatory wood-fired oven, and the eight pizzas on offer include vegan and vegetarian options. Irish ingredients give the pizzas an appropriate local twist with swap outs like Toons Bridge buffalo mozzarella and gubbeen salami from two artisan producers in County Cork as well as Achill Island sea salt. The family has also expanded with a new restaurant at 23 Essex Street East, Temple Bar, now.

Address: PI Pizza, Castle House, 10, 73 - 83 South Great George's Street, Dublin
Website: pipizzas.ie

Daddy’s Café

Rialto is a little out of the orbit of the usual Dublin visitor, but it’s close enough to walk from the city centre, and a visit to the much-loved local hangout Daddy’s Café is reason enough for the detour. Set in a converted pub, it serves flavoursome breakfasts – think superior Irish fry-ups using the best ingredients available plus sandwiches, soups, and salads for lunch – the daily tart special is always a good bet. Doors close at 3pm – at night the venue morphs into the equally hip co*ke Lane Pizza Restaurant and Bar.

Address: Daddy’s Café, 538 S Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8, D08 W6A2
Website: daddys.ie

Chapter One

Chef Mickael Vilkjanen has been the talent behind the stoves of one of Dublin’s best restaurants since 2021, injecting new culinary creativity, which has been rewarded with two Michelin stars. Vilkjanen, a long-time resident of Ireland combines his Nordic sensibilities (he was born in Sweden and grew up in Finland) with sublime haute skills and decadent ingredients likefoie gras, hand-dived scallops and inventive renderings of Irish produce like a Mossfield Gouda steamed soufflé with macadamia, truffle andVin Jaune. The three-course lunch is a more affordable way to experience one of Ireland’s most exciting dining rooms and be sure to space for the dedicated Irish coffee trolley.

Address: Chapter One Restaurant, 18-19 Parnell Square N, Rotunda, Dublin 1, D01 T3V8
Website: chapteronerestaurant.com

Nomo Ramen

The ramen revolution has been a little slow to arrive in Dublin, but now there is an ever-increasing count of places to get your hit. Nomo Ramen is a small spare space just off Dublin’s unofficial bar and restaurant row Camden Street. Nomo imports its main ingredient from the same supplier as David Chang’s US Momof*cku chain, and there are eight types of ramen on offer: six chicken-based broth noodles plus pork and two vegan options. There is also anizakaya-style lineup of starters like fried chicken, gyoza and a chickenkatsu with rice and an accompanying list of beers, natural wines and soft drinks to wash it down.

Address: Nomo Ramen, 4 Charlotte Way, Saint Kevin's, Dublin, D02 VX20
Website: nomoramen.ie

Cavistons

This local institution, which also incorporates a fishmongers and food store next door, is something of a fixture of the seaside suburb of Glasthule on the south side of the city and had a bougie revamp. Irish seafood plays a starring role on the menu – there are oysters, house seafood chowder, pan-tossed crab claws from the coastal waters of County Clare, poached fish and surf and turf in the form of sirloin,crevettes andbearnaisesauce. Try and snag a table on the first floor, where you are also treated to panoramic views out to sea across Dublin Bay.

Address: Cavistons Food Emporium, 58/59 Glasthule Road, Glenageary, Glasthule, Co. Dublin, A96 FR63
Website: cavistons.com

Volpe Nera

You won’t regret the trip out to this hidden gem, which is worth the effort despite being tucked in one of south Dublin’s well-heeled neighbourhoods. The menu leans towards Italy, but chef Barry Sun’s Chinese heritage also shines through. Dishes and ingredients change with the seasons, but must-eats include thecep dumplings in a delicate Asian-style broth and sage and spelt gnocchi, which is rarely off the menu owing to their popularity with the restaurant’s many regulars.

Address: Volpe Nera, 22 Newtown Park, Newtownpark, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, A94 D780
Website: volpenera.ie

Uno Mas

Spain informs the overriding theme of the food at this perennial favourite set in a long narrow building on Aungier Street. The menu kicks off with small tapas-inspired plates likejamón croquetas,padrón peppers and squidà la plancha and moves on to more substantial starters with a wider influence like Scallopaguachile or beef tartare. Mains follow the same cue – the salt-aged Delmonico steak for two accompanied by bearnaise, beef dripping potatoes and Bordelaise sauce is a favourite, and there is an extensive list of lesser-known Spanish and Portuguese wines and sherries.

Address: Uno Mas, 6 Aungier Street, Dublin, D02 WN47
Website: unomas.ie

Liath

It might be a slightly unlikely spot for a two-star Michelin restaurant. Still, Australian-born chef-owner Damien Grey continues to wow diners at this tiny Dublin restaurant hidden in a covered market off Blackrock’s main street. Grey is a genial host and his tasting menus that take up to three hours are an explosion of unexpected flavour combinations, all delivered with hyper-seasonal ingredients, some appearing on the menu for just a few days.

Address: Liath Restaurant, 19A Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, A94 C8Y1
Website: liathrestaurant.com

Fish Shop

For one of Dublin’s more elevated fish and chip experiences, perch at one of the stools along the bar or wall of the diminutive Fish Shop in Smithfield. With a handful of small plates to start, like oysters, smoked haddock croquettes or a singlegilda, the main event is a selection of sustainably sourced species from Irish coastal waters like hake, haddock, brill and plaice, which can be served without the crisp beer batter if required, and hand cut chunky chips. Accompany it with a glass of something from the highly selective wine list with sherries, regular and skin contact vintages, and Champagnes from a range of new and old world producers. Also, try its sister wine bar on the other side of the river, Bar Pez, on Kevin Street.

Address: Fish Shop, 76 Benburb Street, Smithfield, Dublin, D07 X3PN
Website: fish-shop.ie

Bunsen

When it opened its first outlet on Dublin’s buzzy Wexford Street, word quickly got around, and Bunsen immediately shot to the top of the list as serving one of Dublin’s best burgers. Now with seven outlets dotted around the city and suburbs as well as outposts in Cork and Belfast, this micro-chain’s popularity and quality remain undimmed. The formula is deceptively simple; hamburgers and cheeseburgers delivered in the form of perfectly sized prime beef patties, especially baked buns, toppings and three types of fries to choose from when only a burger will fill that hunger gap.

Address: Various locations
Website: bunsen.ie

Pickle

Book well in advance for a table at Pickle, one of the city’s standout restaurants that marries the cuisine of Northern India with locally sourced Irish ingredients. Culinary talent obviously runs in this Punjabi-born family; head chef Sunil Ghai’s brother, Rohit Ghai, was the original chef at Mayfair’s Michelin-starred Gymkhana and who now runs Chelsea restaurant Kutir. Sunil Ghai is dedicated to sourcing the best spices from his homeland and experiments with lots of different techniques like pickling and fermentation. Cult menu items include the Goat Keema Pao, made with Irish goat meat and the Dal Bukhara Plate, an addictive Punjabi black lentil speciality and the order-in-advance, slow braised leg of lamb.

Address: Pickle, 43 Camden Street Lower, Saint Kevin's, Dublin 2, D02 N998
Website: picklerestaurant.com

Allta

The latest iteration of Allta, which has occupied four different spots around the city, opened early this year (2024) in a vaguely '70s-styled space in Three Locks Square in the heart of Dublin’s Silicon Docks neighbourhood. A micro-bakery by day, come evening, chef Niall Davidson’s talent shines throughout the choices on the A la Carte menu, which includes whole fish like John Dory, and six-year-old Jersey Dairy cow beef cooked over open coals and other offerings like squid and suckling pig skewers with lardo or rabbit, ricotta cavatelli, buttermilk and parsley. You can sit at one of the individual tables in the main dining room and watch the goings on in the open kitchen, the communal chef’s table, one of the high seats around the bar, or reserve one of the low tables in the adjacent Glovebox Bar with its co*cktails and DJ spinning the decks for a more informal evening. Just make sure you leave room for the baked-to-order madeleines.

Address: 1 Three Locks Square, Dublin D02 ASW7
Website: allta.ie

Note

Most evenings, Note thrums with a pleasing bustle with people dropping in for an after-work Negroni and snack at the bar, or something more substantial from the bistro-style menu served in the wedge-shaped dining room. With its short but succinct menu, there are plenty of crowd-pleasing classics-with-a-twist like chicken liver parfait with salted greengage and crumpets and the must-order pork chop for two, followed by a chocolate mousse with salted milk ice cream. The carefully put-together wine list features a cherry-picked roster of natural and low-intervention wines and grower champagnes from small producers, as well as beers and a tight line-up of six classic co*cktails. Despite being in pretty much the centre of the city, it still manages to retain a casual neighbourhood feel. It’s also one of the few standout restaurants that open for dinner on Mondays – worth noting if you are in town for a long weekend.

Address: 26 Fenian Street, Dublin D02 FX09
Website: notedublin.com

D’Olier Street

With a shiny new Michelin star to its name, D’Olier Street is smart, slick and the culmination of three friends’ dream to open a fine dining restaurant in Dublin. Occupying the striking and stuccoed Victorian D’Olier Chambers opposite Trinity College, the restaurant serves just one option, a leisurely paced, 12-course tasting menu for EUR118 that extends through micro bites to more substantial plates, so there is no need to feel daunted. There is also a five-glass wine paring curated by one of Dublin’s best sommeliers. Australian-born chef James Moore spent time working in the two Michelin-starred kitchens of Manhattan’s AteraNYC, so there are some serious cooking skills on show here – try and bag one of the eight seats at the chef’s counter and pray that the foie gras custard with dinky English muffins is still on the menu.

Address: D’Olier Chambers, D’Olier Street, Dublin 2
Website: dolierstreetrestaurant.com

Library Street

Part of the Unlisted Collection that includes the two Michelin-starred Burnt Ends in Singapore and Da Terra at The Town Hall Hotel in London’s Bethnal Green, Library Street has a convivial air that is all about sharing. A pleasing, light-filled dining room festooned with trailing dried flower garlands and terrazzo floors, this is very much the contemporary face of skilled but unshowy Irish cooking at its best. Chef, Kevin Burke, turns out small and larger plates of carefully sourced local produce complemented by other ingredients. Favourite dishes like Choux, horseradish and Cantabrian anchovy, Chargrilled Monkfish, black kale, black radish and chicken sauce and Chargrilled Porcupine Bank Langoustine are already menu classics.

Address: 101 Setanta Place, Dublin D02
Website: librarystreet.ie

The Legal Eagle

In the shadow of Dublin’s Four Courts on the north bank of the River Liffey, the aptly named The Legal Eagle reopened in late 2023 rebooted and reimagined. With its exposed brick walls and bar at the front, this is somewhere to come for a relaxed pint of Guinness, not far from where it is brewed, accompanied by a bowl of homemade crisps sprinkled with cheese and bacon dust. Then move on to the gastropub-style menu with main courses like the woodfired half chicken, roasted Monkfish tail and Lamb Rump that are meant to be shared. Lunch also offers up the chance to try some of Ireland’s traditional dishes, which are in danger of disappearing from menus, with properly executed daily specials like Beef and Porter stew on Mondays and the must-try classic potato and sausage stew, Dublin Coddle, on Thursdays.

Address: 1-2 Chaucery Place, Dublin D07 HD40
Website: thelegaleagle.ie