14 New Restaurants to Visit Around Ireland This Winter - The Irish Times

Husband and wife team Charlie and Brendan O’Sullivan opened All Apologies at Unit 6, Shearwater, Pier Road in Kinsale, Co Cork, following work at Rare and The Black Pig.

Offering a striking cocktail list, a selection of wines highlighting small organic makers, and an evolving lineup of seasonal small plates, the dual-level property provides direct views of the harbour.

New Dublin Openings and Cafes

In Lucan, Co Dublin, friends and fellow cafe owners Jason Mac an tSionnaigh of Urbanity and Ryan Nolan of East Village Coffee transformed a 200-year-old building at 1 The Mall, Main Street, into Cora. Alongside homemade lemonade and rock shandy, Chef Paul Brogan provides a contemporary selection covering breakfast, all-day brunch, and vibrant, zesty lunches featuring Turkish eggs, pork belly polenta, and a changing assortment of sandwiches.

Kelan O’Reilly opened Dak at 1a Bolton Street in Dublin 7, tucked behind Bar Anam on the corner of Capel Street and Bolton Street. Korean soul food is the focus, featuring fried chicken, handmade mandu, a €25 dosirak meal, and craft beers from Bar Anam’s taps.

Karthik Thiru opened his first bricks-and-mortar restaurant, Dosa, at 562 South Circular Road in Rialto, Dublin 8, specializing in the food of Tamil Nadu. The menu features the award-winning gunpowder ghee masala dosa, spinach masala vada, grills, curries, and biryani.

At 189 Kimmage Road West in Dublin 12, Ian and Elaine Ussher opened Elle’s, a sit-down brunch cafe featuring dishes like the Buffalo Bennie and fluffy lemon meringue pancakes, alongside a coffee hatch serving coffees, juices, and açai bowls.

In Ranelagh, Jules Mak and David Fox of Parrilla opened Fuoco at 52 Fields Terrace with chef Renato Braga in the kitchen. The Italian- and Mediterranean-inspired restaurant serves fresh pasta, pizzettes, a skewer menu featuring lamb belly, spiced carrot, and lasagne, alongside picanha, half chicken, and market fish cooked over fire.

Dan Chambers began cooking from the small kitchen at Leonard’s Corner at 117 South Circular Road in Dublin 8, building a solid reputation for simplicity and seasonality with dishes like ricotta-stuffed Roscoff onions, roast cod with butter beans, and a cheese quarter-pounder.

Niall Davis and business partner Tamsin Harper opened Jumon at 53 William Street South in Dublin 2, following their Belfast opening in 2018. The vegetarian and vegan menu features XO green beans, silky white garlic hummus, and spicy dan noodles.

Mark Moriarty opened his slick 22-seater eponymous studio at Wilton Park Studios in Dublin 2. The venue offers a unique mix of art, music, a 10-course tasting menu including baked potato sourdough, and a relaxed atmosphere for lunch or dinner.

Edlyn García Morán and Raquel Hernández Rodríguez opened Pickosito at North Lotts, Dublin 1, a north Mexican restaurant where wheat flour tortillas are rolled out and cooked on a flat-top griddle, filled with barbacoa, adobada, carne asada, chorizo, vegetables, or chilli sin carne.

Regional Spots Across Ireland

In County Kildare, Ken Komatsu opened Matsu Ramen at 5 Charlotte Street in Newbridge. The classically trained sushi chef and instructor serves yuzu tsukemen ramen, vegetarian miso ramen, and donburi rice bowls topped with braised pork.

In Abbeyleix, Co Laois, Cúán Greene opened Ómós, featuring a Scandi/Japanese-influenced 12-course tasting menu driven by seasonal Irish produce, priced at €175, with dishes including shiitake jelly topped with pumpkin seed milk and 60-day-aged beef grilled over live fire.

In Belfast, Alice Stewart and Chris McClurg opened Regency House at 15 Upper Crescent. Diners begin with a drink in the first-floor drawing room overlooking Crescent Gardens before moving to the downstairs dining room for saddleback pig rib, agnolotti with manzanilla and Coolattin, and sharing main courses of saddle of Murley Mountain lamb or monkfish tail with red curry and kaffir.

In County Mayo, The Grace hotel added the Black Sheep restaurant at The Demesne in Westport, serving a menu of seafood and meat including Clew Bay scallops, Padraic Gannon oysters, Clare Island lobster, sole on the bone, Parker House rolls with whipped onion butter, and Mescan stout treacle oat bread.

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