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Sixty6
This swanky New York-style brasserie is one of the most popular party-dinner spots in town. It does a mean rotisserie chicken, four different ways at any given time. Besides its signature dish, the meat-heavy menu features things like lamb shank and a particularly good bit of liver. For a special occasion, there's a whole roast pig, but you need to order seven days in advance and be in a group of eight.
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Soup Dragon
Eat in or take-away one of 12 tasty varieties of homemade soups, including shepherd's pie or spicy vegetable gumbo. Bowls come in three different sizes and prices include fresh bread and a piece of fruit. Kick-start your day (or afternoon) with a healthy all-day breakfast selection: fresh smoothies (around €5.25 ), generous bowls of yogurt, fruit and muesli (around €5.50 ) or poached egg in a bagel.
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Tante Zoé's
This well-established favourite serves up a Mardi Gras for the senses almost every night, with its menu of gumbos , jambalayas , bayou steaks, Cajun-blackened this and Creole-infused that. It ain't subtle and it won't win a lot of gourmet foodie awards, but the crowd couldn't care less: they come to laisser rouler les bons temps and that's exactly what they get.
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Tea Rooms
Designed to resemble a church, the Clarence's Tea Rooms are spacious with a soaring ceiling and double-height windows, flooding the room with natural light. Appropriately, Mathieu Melin's innovative menu commands respect, with an ambitious marriage of classic French cuisine and typically Irish produce.
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Thornton's
Kevin Thornton shrugged his shoulders when Michelin saw fit to strip him of one of his two stars, and replied by ordering a refurb of his über- trendy room on the 1st floor of the Fitzwilliam Hotel overlooking St Stephen's Green. The food - a mouth-watering Irish interpretation of new French cuisine - remains as good as ever, offering a mix of succulent seafood and gamey dishes like roast woodcock. Want to watch a grown-up squirm? Ask for ketchup.
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Tiger Becs
Below SamSara , this long and cavernous restaurant serves high-end Thai nosh to Dublin's beautiful young things. The lamb massaman, a mild curry from southern Thailand, is a popular choice on a menu that sparkles but doesn't often shine. You're probably paying a little too much for the sense of style, but nevertheless this loud, buzzing venue has oodles of atmosphere and is a great place to launch yourself into a night on the razzle.
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Town Bar & Grill
You're likely to share the low-ceilinged basement dining room with a selection of Ireland's most affluent and influential people, who conduct their oh-so-important affairs barely above a murmur. But the slight stuffiness of the place is swept aside by the simply mouth-watering food, which ranges from basics like lambs' liver to slow-roasted rabbit or sweet pepper-stuffed lamb. Our favourite meal in town.
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Trocadero
There used to be a time when the Troc was the only place in town for a splash-out celebratory meal, hopefully alongside the glitterati of Dublin's screens and stages. No more, but the thespians, hacks, musos and TV execs are still partial to this warm and friendly Art Deco restaurant that won't challenge your taste buds but rarely fails to deliver old favourites, just as your mother dreamt of making them.
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Unicorn
Saturday lunch at this Italian restaurant in a laneway off Merrion Row is a tradition for Dublin's media types, socialites, politicos and their cronies who guffaw and clink glasses in conspiratorial rapture. At lunch many opt for the extensive antipasto bar, but we still prefer the meaty á la carte menu - a particular favourite are the kidneys on a bed of risotto, but there are pastas and fish dishes to cater to all palates.
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Village
Forget plain old pub grub; even an accomplished chef would be proud of the menu at one of Dublin's most popular pub venues. How about pan-fried piri piri perch with vegetable ratatouille? A great choice for lunch or early dinner.
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Wagamama
There's ne'er a trace of raw fish to be seen, but this popular chain dishes up some terrific Japanese food nonetheless. Production-line rice-and-noodle dishes served pronto at canteen-style tables mightn't seem like the most inviting way to dine, but boy this food is good, and the basement it's served up in is surprisingly light and airy - for a place with absolutely no natural light.
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Winding Stair
There was much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth when this Dublin institution closed a few years ago. Thankfully it reopened in 2006 with the same simple decor and warm atmosphere but with the addition of an excellent wine list and wonderful Irish menu - creamy fish pie, bacon and organic cabbage, steamed mussels or Irish farmyard cheeses - all prepared with much TLC.
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Wongs
This top-rated Chinese restaurant, 5km from the city centre, is a family-run classic with subdued decor and friendly service that raises the bar on warmth and courtesy. The menu is not especially adventurous - it sticks to tried and tested dishes that won't offend the conservative Irish palate - but what it does serve is generally excellent.
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Yamamori
Hip, inexpensive and generally pretty good, Yamamori rarely disappoints with its bubbly service and vivacious cooking that swoops from sushi and sashimi to whopping great plates of noodles. It's a great spot for a sociable group - including vegetarians - although you'll have to book at the weekend. They've recently opened a mostly-sushi branch north of the river that we think is just that little bit nicer.
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Yamamori Sushi
Sushi arrives on the northside and immediately proves successful, but that's hardly surprising considering that its southside sister has been doing the Japanese thang with great aplomb for a very long time. The menus in both are largely the same, but we prefer this newer location - right on the river - because it's just that little bit more airy and spacious. The bento boxes are popular, but we just can't get enough of the sushi moriawase.
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Zaytoon
It's the end of the night and you've got a desperate case of the munchies. Head straight for this terrific kebab joint and gobble the house speciality, the chicken-shish-kebab meal, complete with chips and a soft drink.
