Let's celebrate: Nine top restaurants for your next special occasion
51 Cornmarket Street, Cork; 083-0102321,
51cornmarket.ie
David Devereaux and Anne Zagar, 51 Cornmarket, Cork. Photograph: Corinna Hardgrave
Situated on Cork's historic Cornmarket, David Devereaux and Anne Zagar's small restaurant has become known in the city for exacting classic cooking executed with local ingredients on a seasonal menu that changes weekly. Start with Anne's home-made brown bread and burned onion butter, followed by unctuous duck liver parfait with spring Cork asparagus, anchovy and crispy egg followed by monkfish grilled on the bone finished with 'nduja cream.
Joanne Cronin
Bastible
111 South Circular Road, Dublin 8; 01-4737409,
bastible.com
Bastible, on Dublin's South Circular Road. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Bastible continues to stand proud on
Dublin's
Leonard's Corner, serving its unique Irish take on Nordic-style cuisine. Under owner Barry Fitzgerald and chef Killian Walsh, the clean, crisp cooking is sprinkled with rich notes. Think crab tartlet with fermented sweetcorn and tart grape juice, grilled sika deer with the glossiest port jus or a creamy mushroom custard made with mushrooms grown right across the road.
Read our full review
here
.
JC
Campagne
5 The Arches, 5 Gas House Lane, Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny; 056-7772858,
campagne.ie
Campagne in Kilkenny, where Garrett Byrne's food is rooted in the classics
When most
Michelin
-starred places are heading for three figures before you've ordered a drink, this one still turns out three courses at lunch and early-bird for €50. Garrett Byrne's food is rooted in the classics – ravioli of hand-dived scallop with fennel butter sauce, pancetta royale of Challans duck with spiced greengage purée, grilled octopus with braised chickpeas, Hereford beef with ox cheek croquette and green peppercorn salsa. Great ingredients, great cooking, great value.
Corinna Hardgrave
Everett's
22 High Street, Waterford; 051-325174,
everetts.ie
You don't expect one of the country's best set menus to come out of a 15th-century building in Waterford, but Peter Everett cooks with precision and care. Lunch is €38, pre-theatre €41, dinner €55 – for proper dishes like soft-boiled free-range egg with toasted brioche and cheese and onion cream, Wexford scallops with lentils and garlic sausage, and fillet of hake with smoked bacon, cabbage and potato. Eight outdoor seats sit under an awning, with heaters primed for Irish summers.
CH
READ MORE
Lignum
Slatefort House, Bullaun, Co Galway;
lignum.ie
Lignum's Molly Keane and Danny Africano. Photograph: Tristan Hutchinson
At Lignum, Danny Africano leads a kitchen where every plate passes over kiln-dried birch, ash and oak, threading smoke through some of the country's most precise cooking, while his wife, Molly Keane, runs front of house. The €145, 10-course tasting menu has included Killary Fjord mussel and sea urchin flan, red mullet and gambero rosso pasta, and wild venison just barely kissed by flame. A €70 five-course lunch runs at weekends. The
Michelin star finally landed in 2025
– three years later than it should have.
Read our full review
here
.
CH
Ox
1 Oxford Street, Belfast BT1 3LA; +44 28-90314121,
oxbelfast.com
Alain Kerloc'h at Ox, Belfast. Photograph: Stephen Davison
Big windows flood Ox with light, but the real draw is Stephen Toman's cooking – precise, inventive, and rooted in the seasons. Refurbished in 2023, the calm, understated room sets the stage for a kitchen quietly recognised as one of the sharpest on the island. Expect dishes like smoked Ballywalter veal with black garlic, or lobster brightened with broad beans and lemon grass, while Alain Kerloc'h's smart wine pairings pull it all together.
CH
Parrilla
7-9 Sandford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6; 01-4970122,
parrillaranelagh.com
In case the name hasn't already given the game away, a parrilla grill sits at the heart of this Ranelagh restaurant. From restaurateur Jules Mak and head chef Hector Ochoa, charcoal flavour is infused into as many dishes as possible, from grilled half chicken in arbol and habanero sauce to caramelised pineapple with pickled onion and tangy tajin. The margarita menu is absolutely banging, especially the Verdita.
JC
Sister 7 at Fidelity
Fidelity Studio, 79 Queen Street, Dublin 7; 091-637530,
fidelitybar.ie
Sister 7 at Fidelity, Smithfield, Dublin.
Photograph: Laura Hutton
Fidelity Studio connects to Fidelity Bar through a slick interior door, making it easy to move between beers and bao. Sister 7 – a Big Fan collaboration – serves Chinese-style tapas using Irish produce and ingredients repurposed from Whiplash Beer's brewing waste. The dumplings and bao are solid, but the 'lip sticks' – fried cakes of fermented rice, yam, tofu and celeriac – are the move. Don't miss the Sichuan-style Irish lamb with cumin, chilli, sesame and curried chickpea popcorn. DJs keep the place buzzing.
Read our full review
here
.
CH
The Morrison Room
Carton House, Carton Demesne, Maynooth, Co Kildare; 01-5052000,
cartonhouse.com
Carton House chef Adam Nevin is modest and immensely talented
Laser sharp classical cooking, intense glossy sauces and innovative flavours all combined this year to land
a first Michelin Star for the beautiful Morrison Room
. It has been achieved under the leadership of local man Adam Nevin, who learned his craft at spots such as The Hand and Flowers in Buckinghamshire and The Grill at the Dorchester in London. Expect much, much more from this modest, immensely talented chef.
Read our full review
here
.
JC
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
First Look: Chinese food and cocktails at a new kind of upmarket takeaway for the south Dublin suburbs
There's lots of curiosity in Rathmines , Dublin 6, as Hawker, an upmarket Chinese takeaway, prepares to open. Even as the team last week readied the venue for opening, sweeping up builder debris and stocking the fridges, customers were trying to come in and order, only to be gently told by group manager Seana O'Brien to return later in the month. Will Dempsey, owner of hip Asian Hang Dai on Dublin's Camden Street, is excited to bring Hawker back to life. It was born during lockdown, at a time when only outdoor dining was allowed. 'When Hang Dai closed in the early days of Covid, we had a staff meeting where we all wanted to work and keep the restaurant alive. So we chose dishes that would work for takeaway and we got set up on Deliveroo,' says Dempsey. It was an immediate hit, with high demand for Hang Dai's modern take on traditional Chinese dishes – its Instagram account still has more than 3,000 followers. READ MORE 'It was actually a bit overwhelming. 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He recruited former collaborator and sound system designer Toby Hackett, and together they visited Hong Kong earlier this year. [ Eight Irish restaurants where it pays to book ahead Opens in new window ] 'It's quite important to me to kind of do something different and I think Hong Kong is one of the best places for that. It's a futuristic Asian New York, you get so many ideas,' Dempsey says. The end result is a bright interior with yellow tiled walls, sleek light fittings, a retro menu board and a custom ceiling made from bamboo wood featuring intricate inlay and elegant arches. The same attention to detail is evident in the brand design which combines bold black characters against a cream and gold background. A little birdcage logo is a nod back to the one that hung outside Hang Dai during the original Hawker days. Hawker features a retro menu board, in keeping with the brand design which combines bold black characters against a cream and gold background Xinjiang lamb skewers, beef hot pot and salt and chilli prawns at Hawker The kitchen will be overseen by Thiago Guerra, head chef at Hang Dai, and Jason Xu. 'We will be doing lots of testing. We'll pack up the food in the containers, let it sit for up to an hour, send it all around the city, so we can see how it travels,' says Guerra. The new menu will be bigger than the original Hawker menu, with some of the Hang Dai classics such as the cheeseburger spring roll available in the new location. Starters will include double-fried crispy chicken wings with Chinese sauce and Grandma's red braised short ribs, based on an authentic recipe recreated in Ireland. 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Seabass in Sichuan oil at Hawker Hawker's salt and chilli prawns Veggie shiitake mapo tofu at Hawker Hawker's Xinjiang lamb skewers Hawker's cote de boeuf Hawker's beef hotpot Hawker's The Bees Knees Cocktail Hawker's hot and sour soup Prices are still being finalised but will likely range from €4-€10 for starters, dim sum and soups, while mains will be from €14 to €20 and the larger sharing plates will be in the €25 to €55 range. Customers will also be able to order from a short selection of wines, beers and soft drinks, but the star attraction will be a range of individually bottled cocktails, developed by manager Paddy Cannon, formerly of Bar 1661, which will bring an Asian riff to classic drinks. Hawker is scheduled to open on August 27th and will operate Monday to Sunday, 5pm to 11pm.
Sunday World
14 hours ago
- Sunday World
Powerhouse pop star Lyra is embracing her trademark sass for her brand new album
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RTÉ News
21 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Anna Geary on baby number two and the kindness of strangers
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With plenty happening both at home and on air, Geary is approaching it all with her usual warmth and energy – and no shortage of early starts. "My son does not like to sleep in," she laughs. "He is in a FOMO place in his life where he doesn't want to miss out. Therefore, he is up at the crack of dawn and it is all go." From All-Ireland winning Cork camogie captain, to broadcaster, personal trainer, pundit and author of the best-selling book, Anna's Game Plan, she has carved out a multifaceted career grounded in a deep connection with audiences. After hanging up her boots, she quickly became a familiar face on our screens, from Ireland's Fittest Family and Dancing with the Stars and Up for the Match. On radio, she's found her wheelhouse with Supercharged, now in its sixth season. "Moving into Miriam's house", as Anna describes it, is an opportunity for a new audience to hear Supercharged, which usually goes out at 6pm on Sunday evenings. "I know myself, we'd have the radio on Sunday mornings in the background, making breakfast and getting ready for the day. It's a different group of people listening to the radio on a Sunday morning, compared to the Sunday evening listenership," she notes. What matters to her is that Supercharged offers something more honest and expansive than the standard health and well-being shows. "When people think about health and well-being, the things that come to mind are fitness, healthy eating and sleep, all the traditional topics. What we've tried to do with Supercharged is really open people up to what health and well-being really is about," she says. "It extends far beyond fitness and food and sleep. It's things like combating loneliness, talking about sex or the various forms of contraception, and prostate cancer. We've talked about STIs, and we've talked about anabolic steroid use. What we really like to do is open up conversations about what may previously have been seen as a taboo topic." When it comes to a new Sunday morning audience, Anna, who lives in Kildare, says: "That traditionally can be family time and people are maybe getting ready to go out for the day. So we can explore giving people ideas and inspiration of what to do for the next few weeks, places to go, things to try. People are going to have to occupy their kids and themselves, so that everybody doesn't crack up inside the house and row with each other! That's as much about our health and well-being as the right thing to eat, because we all need to make sure that we can be tolerant of each other." In a space often crowded with quick fixes and conflicting advice, Supercharged aims to offer honest conversations, expert insight and real-life stories that cut through the noise. "I remember being on Today with Maura and Dáithí a few months back, discussing this viral trend of sticking an actual piece of garlic up your nose. I don't know what it was meant to do – improve sinus health; get rid of a cold or something bananas. There were so many videos of younger people online doing this, and medical experts were coming out saying 'This is really dangerous. Please don't do this.' But because these people saw it online and it had 2 million views, then they think it must be right, let's do it. That is the danger." She adds: "With everything I say, my line is simple: look for the evidence. Because if the evidence isn't there, it's not there for a reason. It's not tried and tested. Don't be the guinea pig." Her social media presence is strong; on Instagram she has a significant reach with 169K followers. "I think I'm very lucky that the community of people that I seem to connect with online are, by and large, extremely supportive, and they're very encouraging; inspiring at times. I actually said to my husband last week, when we announced our baby news, just the kindness of strangers blows me away all the time," she says. She has always tried to keep things authentic and real online, within reason. "We always hear about social media that there's a veneer and there's a gloss and it's all curated. That is so true because while I try and show the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, and I try and be as genuine as I can, I'm still not going to be coming on Instagram and talking about a row I've just had with my husband or that my son has been particularly unruly. And I'm not going to say for a second that I don't use the Paris filter on occasions when I've had little sleep. It just makes you look that little bit fresher." Anna's online content is a blend of fitness, food, health, well-being and life in general, and it's often humorous. "I could spend hours recording a fitness video, editing it, putting it up and it mightn't get good traction," she says. "But then I'll put something up about how I put cardboard boxes at the door to see how long it takes for one of us to put them out, and then we step over them for two weeks, because neither of us want to be the person to concede and actually break up the boxes and put them in the recycling. People relate to that because they're probably in the middle of doing it themselves. I think it's a nice route, to give people a bit of lightness in their day, because we're all going through something." Also in the mix is the 13th season of Ireland's Fittest Family, which she's currently filming ahead of its autumn broadcast. "Oh, wait until people find out what's happening in Ireland's Fittest Family! No, I'm not going to be the person to let the cat out of the bag because I'll absolutely be taken down by the production team. But what I will say is never before has what is about to happen, happen on the show. Let me tell you, as a coach, I was more shocked than anybody. There are big changes, big twists, you're going to see a changed format, new locations. Oh my God! It's going to completely shake things up." She was on Up for the Match this year and continues to work in camogie punditry. "The camogie is something I feel such a privilege to be involved in as a pundit. I retired in 2015, so a decade later, to be still working with The Sunday Game and as an analyst is amazing. It's funny because I'm working with women that I would have banged off in the field when we were all playing against each other." Her fellow pundit, Wexford camogie player Ursula Jacob, is one such person. "She would have been my nemesis and now we get on great, and we're great pals. It's like we're moving through life almost together too: we retired at the same time; we experienced similar success in All-Ireland with club and county. She recently had her second child and now I'm pregnant with mine. I always say to people that aren't into sport and don't get it, and who say, 'What's the big deal?' that it's about bringing people together, even long after you finish playing." Just when you think life couldn't get any more full-on for the broadcaster, she's also covering for Oliver Callan in August. "It's an opportunity for me to learn a different show, work with different producers and try and step out of my comfort zone. I've covered for Ray [D'Arcy] in the past and Ray's show is different to Oliver's show and Supercharged is different to both. "It's all the time just trying to add that skillset and to learn as much as you can. But everyone knows when you're doing something new for the first time, it's daunting and it's nerve-wracking. Yeah, it's exciting and you'll make plenty of mistakes even though you don't want to, and that's the nature of life and anything in the world of media. But it's also the nature of just trying something new and I'm really looking forward to it." As we wrap up our chat, Anna reflects on her career path, and the importance of perspective. "I never thought 10 years on that I'd be doing this, or TV and radio shows. Sometimes you have to say to yourself, think back to a time when all you want is what you have right now." It's a sentiment that clearly resonates with her, especially in the midst of such a busy chapter."Because we all move the goalpost, we all get something or achieve a goal and go, OK, next. Next. So, just remind yourself of how far you've come too, because we're all very hard on ourselves, I think."
