Month: March 2017

The buzz is that the restaurant scene in Dublin has never been as good. With the rise of Instagram and travel, a new wave of restaurant owners are combining the need for on-trend dining, new ingredients and new ways of cooking, with local, Irish ingredients and down-to-earth customer service.

Whether you are looking for a taster menu or some good food to accompany your pint of Guinness, why not check out our favourites?

Where to eat in Dublin if you love fine wine

It’s not all about Guinness in Dublin! If you love good wine then you must pay a visit to Fallon & Byrne. A wine lover’s dream, you can go down to the magnificent wine cellar where you can choose what wine to pair with your food. There are more than 600 wines to choose from.

Upstairs there is a sunlit dining room where you can choose from a seasonal menu with tempting morsels such as seared Irish scallops or aged Irish beef finished with a retro Knickerbocker Glory.

Where to eat in Dublin if you love books

The Winding Stair offers old-fashioned Irish food in a rather special setting. An 18th Century staircase wraps its way around three floors, with each floor featuring bookcases packed with old books. Classical music plays while you eat.

The food tastes as good as it looks, but don’t expect an oversized white plate with tiny morsels in a sculptural design dotted with jus here – the food is hearty and homely.

Despite the extraordinary food, this restaurant is down-to-earth and friendly, offering a haven away from the bustling streets or changeable Irish weather. The fact that they call the food ‘homemade grub’ says it all – but it’s doubtful that anyone could make such impressive food at home.

On the ground floor you’ll find a beautiful independent bookshop – one of the oldest surviving independent bookshops in Dublin.

Where to eat in Dublin if you have a sweet tooth

There are so many superb restaurants to try in Dublin, the problem is which one to choose – particularly if you are in a group with various preferences. Let’s face it, too many great places to eat is a rather wonderful problem to have.

Long gone are the days of deliberating over what type of food to eat on a Saturday night in Dublin – COSMO Dublin has it all.

Not only can you eat Italian, Indian, Chinese or Japanese from an all-you-can-eat buffet at COSMO Dublin, you can also choose from a whole menu of desserts.

You can try small squares of puddings from a large selection of chocolate cake, cheesecakes and gateaux and if you have a really sweet tooth head to the chocolate fountain, then choose a few pick and mix sweets.

Where to eat in Dublin for fresh seafood

Cavistons is famously one the best seafood restaurants in Dublin, the perfect place to take shelter from the bracing wind on the Dún Laoghaire seafront.

Cavistons have 50 years of experience in the seafood business. The chef Noel Cusack chooses the menu twice weekly, but examples include baked Kilmore hake or roast monkfish fillet.

The Food Emporium next door is particularly well-regarded for its Irish smoked salmon and offer next day salmon delivery service so you can deliver a treat to friends in Europe and other countries.

Where to eat in Dublin for a special occasion

The Mulberry Garden is situated in the grounds of an old cottage dating from 1911. This restaurant really immerses you in all things Irish – from Irish cutlery, linen, bread boards, and paintings to Irish wool on the walls and soap in the bathroom. The ingredients on the menu are of course all Irish.

The menus change every week, however, the tasting menu might include starters such as Wicklow Quail – courgette soup, apple, Hegarty’s cheddar and summer truffle – or a main such as braised lamb neck and sweetbread.

This may be fine dining, but this restaurant doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is casual fine dining at its best and is ideal for a special birthday treat or a wedding anniversary.

Where to eat in Dublin if you are looking for good ‘craic’

If Irish music is high on your dining adenda when visiting Dublin then head to Darkey Kelly’s bar to enjoy the ‘craic’ every weekend.

From a Dublin Mountain burger to homemade seafood chowder and generous fish and chips, the menu even pairs the food with Irish craft beer.

There are also around 50 Irish whiskeys to enjoy as an aperitif or nightcap.

Where to eat in Dublin for an environmentally friendly meal

The lunchtime queues at Tang reflect the popularity of this tiny eco-conscious eatery. Their main aim is for happy, well-fed customers, but second to that is to make as little impact on the environment as possible and to encourage others to do the same.

Their biggest speciality are the salads – bright, colourful, flavoursome and surprisingly filling, especially with a Middle Eastern flatbread alongside. They offer these in salad boxes to go, which is handy as seating is limited. You can also opt for a rustic soup in winter.

Where to eat in Dublin for Michelin starred elegance

The Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is the only restaurant in Ireland with two Michelin stars and people flock from all over the world to visit.

The menu offers dishes such as ravioli of blue lobster with lobster coconut cream, toasted almond, and split curry dressing, alongside lacquered Skeaghanore duck and desserts such as Opalys chocolate and tropical fruit ‘cocoon’, pina colada sorbet with coconut tapioca.

Every dish is bursting with exciting flavours.

Northern Ireland is full of great restaurants and rich local produce. Belfast encapsulates the strong food culture and wealth of Northern Irish food specialities with superb produce on the doorstep.

Whether you are heading to a traditional Belfast pub or a Michelin starred restaurant, there is something for everyone to enjoy in this fascinating city.

Where to eat in Belfast on the water

Holohans at the Barge has the novelty of being located on the upper deck of a Dutch barge and serves the freshest and most authentic Irish food. This includes the famous ‘boxty’ an Irish potato pancake filled with food.

The family business offers traditional Irish hospitality and a warm and friendly atmosphere. The view into the micro-kitchen allows you to see the staff manage a seamless service, producing exquisite food in a small space.

Holohans at the Barge is ideal for a romantic dinner date – enjoy your meal looking out on the city’s twinkling lights as they reflect on the water of the River Lagan.

Where to eat in Belfast for fish and chips

For the best fish and chips in town, head to John Long’s, which has been open for business since 1914.

This popular chippie – which is hidden away behind a car park with  metal mesh grills on the windows which make it look like it is closed – even has many celebrity fans.

Where to eat in Belfast for a special graduation meal

Molly’s Yard is just a stone’s throw away from Queen’s University so it is an ideal location for a celebratory graduation meal. This restaurant offers fine dining with a friendly, fun and relaxed vibe.

Choose from County Antrim dry aged ribeye, whiskey sauce, air dried tomato and chunky chips or Belfast Hills kid goat shoulder, colcannon gnocchi, ratatouille dressing and Belfast blonde jus.

The desserts are no afterthought here with Uachter na Mara (Cream of the Sea), rhubarb soup, gingernut biscuit and hazelnut praline or a tasty bag of Abernethy all butter artisan fudge for those with a sweet tooth.

Where to eat in Belfast for seafood chowder

The Mourne Seafood Bar is a household name in Northern Ireland. They source all their shellfish from their very own shellfish beds in Carlingford Lough.

Their seafood chowder with wheaten bread is a delicious and comforting favourite and the oysters and pan-fried crab claws are also popular dishes.

If you want unfussy, affordable seafood, this Belfast institution is the place to come.

Where to eat in Belfast for students

‘All you can eat’ buffets have won the hearts and stomachs of students across the UK and COSMO Belfast is no exception. COSMO Belfast offers so much more than the usual Chinese or carvery, because you don’t have to choose a single type of food when there is so much choice available from our all you can eat buffet.

Here you can eat sushi, curry or pizza – all at an affordable price – in sleek and stylish surroundings. In fact, COSMO Belfast was voted second place for Best World Buffet in the Food Awards Northern Ireland 2018.

COSMO Belfast is the perfect place to go to eat a hearty lunch in between lectures or for dinner before a night out. After a sports match, bring the whole team here to celebrate a win, or bring your rowing team here to carb-load before a race.

Where to eat in Belfast for a charcoal grill

The Mibrasa charcoal grill is a central feature of Deanes at Queen’s. This bustling brasserie is part of Queen’s University and offers a relaxed atmosphere and world-class food.

Chef Chris Fearon- of Great British Menu fame – serves up dishes using local produce. You can choose from whole sea  bass cooked over charcoal, grilled coley or butter basted sweet cured pork cutlet, grilled pear and pancetta salad.

The desserts are just as flavoursome with warm brown butter almond cake, poached apple and elderflower custard or wild honey panna cotta, banana bread pudding, toffee and pecan fudge.

This is also a beautiful venue for wedding receptions, boasting a pretty south facing terrace, adjacent to the Botanical Gardens.

Nottingham has given the world such culinary delights as HP sauce, Stilton cheese and Bramley apples and today the food scene in Nottingham continues to innovate and thrive.

From high-end restaurants to artisan coffee houses, sourdough bakeries, trendy pop-ups and street food, Nottingham offers a wealth of eateries and local produce.

Where to eat in Nottingham for the best tapas

Baresca is the place to go if you are craving some tapas and sangria. You can ‘do vermouth’ and then enjoy a large range of sharing bowls with Catalan flatbreads. Choose from Spanish cured meats and cheeses, smoked haddock, cauliflower and chilli gratin, or mackerel escabeche and halloumi fritters with lime mayonnaise.

It wouldn’t be tapas without some sangria and there are a variety of sangria recipes available including the traditional red wine and orange. The variations include berry sangria, apple and elderflower sangria, tropical sangria or raspberry and limoncello sangria.

The decor inside this restaurant is warm and rustic with mosaic tiles and low hanging lights. At the weekend Baresca brings a dose of latin energy to Nottingham – the cellar bar is lively with DJs and bands so that you can enjoy music with your drinks.

Where to eat in Nottingham for a culinary experience

Restaurant Sat Bains was just one of two Nottingham restaurants featured in the 2019 Good Food Guide. The two Michelin-starred restaurant took the fourth position for the second year in a row.

Food writer and critic Tom Parker Bowles even said that the food is so astonishingly brilliant at Sat Bains that they deserve three Michelin stars.

Despite these accolades, the restaurant remains unpretentious. In fact this restaurant’s down-to-earth appeal is highlighted in its surprising location under Clifton Boulevard – an industrial area.

The tasting menus offers a spectacular seven courses or ten courses and will not disappoint.

Where to eat in Nottingham for teppanyaki

Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine based around an open iron cooktop where food is grilled in front of the customers as a performance using the highest  quality ingredients.

COSMO Nottingham brings this food theatre to the UK for everyone to enjoy. At COSMO Nottingham teppanyaki experts will grill your food in front of you – from steaks to fresh seafood – at an affordable, all-inclusive price as part of our all-you-can-eat world buffet.

Not only will you have fresh food cooked to perfection, but the sight of the flames and the skilled teppanyaki chefs are thrilling to watch – a feast for all your senses. This is not only a fun experience for a romantic date, but also to entertain children.

Where to eat in Nottingham if you love a dessert

The Pudding Pantry has the most delectable pudding menu. From comforting favourites like apple crumple, Mississippi mud pie and caramelised banana sticky toffee pudding to salted caramel and cheesecake brownies – even the sweetest tooth will be satisfied.

There are also freakshakes (indulgent, oversized milkshakes) in flavours such as s’mores and Eton messy. Then there are adult-shakes with a drop of something stronger in them, such as Cointreau and chocolate or Irish coffee and salted caramel.

There is of course a savory menu too, with delicious savoury pancakes and brunches – but if you want to eat pudding here first, no-one will bat an eyelid.

Where to eat in Nottingham if you want a burger with a difference

Annie’s Burger Shack is a family-friendly burger restaurant with a twist. This US-style joint gives the burgers with some seemingly crazy ingredients – but they work.

How about raspberry jam, grilled pineapple, peanut butter or sauerkraut in your burger?

With names like ‘The Deathray’, ‘The Elvis’ and ‘The Malibu Surf and Turf’ these burgers have character!

The burgers are big, messy and overflowing with delicious flavours.

Where to eat in Nottingham if you want to sip a cocktail

Hockley Arts Club is a richly decorated mix of neon lights, artwork and old fashioned Victorian lampshades providing warm, atmospheric lighting and eclectic, Instagram-worthy looks. The interior reflects a trendy Shoreditch members’ club, but this establishment is open to all. The wacky cocktails are the speciality, with an award winning head barman.

The food will soak up the cocktails nicely with substantial comfort food like fillet steak with fondant potato, mushroom ketchup and red wine sauce and lamb rump with sweet and sour carrots and confit potatoes.