From French to Filipino, Argentinian to Georgian, Brazilian to Nigerian, it’s a properly international slate in our latest rundown of Dublin’s recent arrivals. Here are nine new openings, and more to look forward to soon...
Bless Up, Tallaght
Despite a growing number of market and festival vendors in the last number of years, proper sit-down African food remains tragically scarce in Dublin city. That’s why we were really excited to see Bless Up arrive in Tallaght, with a wide Afro-Caribbean food menu and a seriously impressive fit-out. The food skews primarily Nigerian with a major focus on grilled and spiced meat (hello goat), plantains, and various styles of rice. The huge space and committed interior design suggest a lot of ambition for what this place could be - find out what we thought of Bless Up in this week's Once Over.
Mi Casa, Smithfield
It took longer than expected for a new tenant to take over what was previously Vegan Sandwich Co (and the more formal incarnation of Fish Shop before that) on Smithfield’s Queen Street, but Mediterranean restaurant Mi Casa soft launched last week to a slew of happy faces. The bodega-style new venture from the people behind nearby PHX Bistro hits some expectedly familiar beats in its all-day menu of nibbles, small plates and sides, but there’s more of interest in their croquetas and cerdo. The walk-in only window bar should make this a good pick for last-minute impulse eating.
Yves @ Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh
Brother Hubbard’s Ranelagh location is wading into the evening market with Yves (geddit?), a French-inspired casual dining menu with a seasonal selection of sharing and solo plates that places a welcome focus on provenance, with a range of great name-checked suppliers like Sheridan’s, Ring Farm, Garryhinch Mushrooms, and The Village Butcher. They’ve matched Row Wines market-leading gilda price at 2 for €5, and the feasting menu’s €37.50 per person price tag looks like solid value to us – especially with the sheer range of choice it offers. Yves will open Wednesdays to Fridays from 17:30 with a small number of walk-in tables held nightly.
3 Brothers, Drimnagh
You’ll never guess who opened this one. Trading on their own sibling relationship to open a family-oriented restaurant with a focus on “pizza, wings and things”, the owners of 3 Brothers have done a serious job on the space above Drimnagh’s Gate Bar, with a sizeable selection of leather-covered seats and booths lining the brick and wood-finished walls. The menu isn’t about to set the world alight, but they’ve had the good sense to get in a proper wood-fired oven and a pizza chef from Sicily. We’ll take whatever new openings we can get in D12.
Bahay @ Warehouse Food Market, Harold’s Cross
We were thrilled to team up with Bahay for an ATF Insiders-exclusive tasting menu over the summer at Warehouse Food Market in Harold’s Cross – if you’re kicking yourself that you missed it, boy have we got good news for you. Richie Castillo and Alex O’Neill will be taking up a two-month residency on Friday and Saturday nights at the same location, bringing the best in family recipe Filipino food all through November and December. No word yet on the exact menu they’ll be offering, but we’re keeping everything crossed for more longanisa corndawgs and palapa cured halibut. Bookings are open here for the first two weeks.
Georgian Delight, Moore Street
The basement level of the Moore Street Mall is one of the great, underrated treasures of Dublin’s food scene, with a host of otherwise unseen cuisines from the Balkans to Bolivia cropping up among its many small counters. The latest to join the fray is Georgian Delight, and given just how often we’ve been back to Ella’s Heaven on Talbot Street, any more Georgian food in the city is very good news in our book. The menu here offers the same flagship khinkali dumplings and cheese-laden khachapuri, but also carries an array of meat and bean soups and stews alongside a wider range of flatbreads.
Peperina, Richmond Street
“Irish kitchen with an Argentinian twist”, Peperina has expanded into the city centre from its Ranelagh base with a new Portobello site, where the ill-fated Wildflower failed to blossom. With 12 years under their belt on the southside they’re trying something a little different here, and the menu ventures further into South American cuisine than the more conservative Ranelagh options. We’re most keen to get our teeth into the empanadas – handmade by the owners’ 72 year-old mother – and the chargrilled parrilla section. A weekday lunch menu at €16.50 for two courses and a drink could see this play well with the office crowd.
Gaucho’s Dog @ Eatyard, Drumcondra
The rise of Brazilian food in Dublin continues unabated with Gaucho’s Dog setting up shop in Eatyard at the Bernard Shaw. The loaded hot dog and burger vendors have been doing solid business in Smithfield since opening their doors there last year, and this new location would seem a much better fit for a second site than the Tara Street shop they shuttered earlier in the year. Uruguayan panini and an impressive choice of veggie options are menu standouts, while their frankly startling chicken burger looks like it might leave you short of breath. It’s open Thursdays to Sundays.
Mad Yolks, Rathmines
A year and a half on from opening their first permanent site in Smithfield, and many years before that honing their craft at various festivals and pop-ups, the free-range egg sandwich experts Mad Yolks are expanding southward to a second location in Rathmines. We’re expecting their wide selection of hangover-busting brunch burgers, hash browns and nachos con carnage to go down very well in the southside suburbs – just as well for them, with how crowded the morning market is starting to get. They’re open Wednesday to Sunday to start but are planning an all-week offering before too long.
Coming soon...
Mughal e Azam, Jervis Street
There’s not a sliver of info to be had so far about this Indian that’s cropped up around the corner from Jervis Shopping Centre, but we’ll be keeping a close eye in the weeks to come to see whether it’s anything worth shouting about.
2210 Patisserie, Powerscourt Townhouse Centre
Those who’ve eyed up Una Leonard’s cakes and confectionary with envy from afar can sleep easy: the Mullingar-based 2210 Patisserie and café is about to expand into Dublin with a site in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. Great news for the sweet-toothed in the capital.
Yew Tree, Terenure
Settling into Circa’s former space in Terenure is Yew Tree, a new casual neighbourhood restaurant from the team behind Clanbrassil Street’s 57 The Headline, which shuttered earlier this year after ten years of service when the building was sold. Doors are expected to open in mid-November.
