Meals of the Year: the best dining experiences of 2023

From fine dining to great wine bars, the Irish Examiner food team selects our stand-out restaurants of the past 12 months

Illustrations by Aoibhne Hogan

A celebration of great dining experiences, of memorable cooking, of uplifting hospitality, the Examiner Eats team has selected 30 of our stand-out meals across the country in 2023.

This was not an easy list to compile and is a snapshot of our year of dining out. 

Naturally, we’ve enjoyed far more great food than we could ever include here, but we think this list represents our most memorable moments. 

From wine bars to hotel dining rooms and Michelin-starred knock-outs, we hope it will give you some dining inspiration for 2024.

Bar Pez, Dublin 8

Bar Pez, from the team behind Fish Shop and Beach House Tramore, is a new arrival and a delight! 

A wine bar with one of the best lists in the country, and a deceptively simple and supremely tasty fish-focused menu, their crab sandwich is outstanding, the taramasalata homemade, and perfect. 

Leslie Williams

• barpez.ie

Campagne, Kilkenny

Sunday lunch here in early Summer 2023 was a delight. 

Fine breads, risotto with caramelised chicken wings, grilled octopus with chickpeas, poached Comeragh lamb, lime tart on a knife edge between sweet and bitter. 

The best value Michelin Star restaurant in the country? Perhaps. LW

• campagne.ie

Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, Dublin 1

Mickael Viljanen’s peerless cooking is always a thrill — elegant, exciting, original. 

Then there’s that chic dining room overseen by Juba and James, two of the finest (and soundest) front-of-house folk in the country. 

And there’s Guillaume and Paul with that wine list. And those desserts. 

And laughter, because everyone is happy to be dining at Chapter One. 

And why wouldn’t they be? It’s still the very best, in my book. 

Jillian Bolger

• chapteronerestaurant.com

Dede at the Customs House, Baltimore, Co Cork

How does Dede keep getting better and better without losing its thoroughly endearing and lightly worn sense of welcome? 

Because chef Ahmet Dede keeps pushing the outward limits of his Hiberno-Turkish fusion cuisine, while new restaurant manager Jacques Savary de Beauregard has fine-tuned front of house and turned an already good wine list into one of the best in the country. 

Standouts range from ethereal langoustine and asparagus; comforting Sogan Dolma (stuffed onion); to down-and-dirty adana kebab (lamb). 

Joe McNamee

• customshousebaltimore.com

Franks, Dublin 2

Chef David Bradshaw’s menu is almost a haiku, an exercise in brevity that still furnishes the flavours of a gargantuan feast: salty-sweet pop of Carlingford oyster with rosehip syrup; crunchy textures of cabbage, pumpkin seed and yogurt, as partner/sommelier Katie Seward dispenses delightful natural wines from a superb list in a simple yet sublime venue. JM

• franksdublin.com

George V, Ashford Castle, Co Mayo

It’s not just Liam Finnegan’s seductive menus or impeccable cooking that makes dinner at Ashford Castle so enjoyable. 

It’s sommelier Paul Fogerty’s brilliant wine pairings, Robert Bowe’s charming service, and a whole cast of staff that epitomises excellence in hospitality. 

A Michael Caines alumnus, Liam’s food is a knock-out, favouring estate-grown produce while drawing on classic French techniques, seasonal flavours and real elegance. 

Impressive food befitting the glorious setting. JB

• ashfordcastle.com

Goldie, Cork

Aishling Moore’s the golden girl of seafood, with her inventive gill-to-tail cookery that’s reeled us all in. 

Small plates feature imaginatively umami morsels like Taiwanese fried fish nuggets or langoustine and togarashi potato crisps. 

Plate after plate she serves up culinary curveballs of carefully balanced flavours. 

Nab a table by the open kitchen to watch the team in action, cooking up clever and delicious dishes served by a charming crew. JB

• goldie.ie

Green Man Wines, D6W

I ate here four times because chef Dan Smith is serving what every wine bar needs — nuanced thoughtful small dishes that match well with the brilliant wines (corkage: €10). 

Highlights include smoked Gubbeen croquettes, roast courgettes with bagna cauda and hake with confit fennel. LW

• greenmanwines.ie

Ichigo Ichie, Cork

A farewell as much as a celebration of one of Ireland’s best restaurants of recent times, as it ditches fine dining for casual in 2024, but chef Takashi Miyazaki’s delicacy and precision is magisterial as ever: serenity of pistachio tofu; allure of deep fried Rossmore oyster; elegance of Lough Neagh eel; mercurial curing of sashimi fish. 

Expect great things from Ichigo Ichie 2.0 next year. JM

• ichigoichie.ie

Korean Table, Dublin 7

South Korea is having a moment, from K-Pop to Parasite to KFC. 

My best Korean Fried Chicken (of many) this year was in Stoneybatter, one of the best food suburbs in the country. 

The bibimbap is faultless, the beef ribs marinated for 24 hours in grated apple, soy, and garlic. 

The butter kimchi rice is complex but also homely, just like the restaurant. LW

• koreantablestoneybatter.com

La Gordita, Dublin 2

Four stools at the heaving bar on a Saturday night in cold November saw wintery hearts and bellies warmed to Spanish temperatures. 

Star bites: singular and superb crestas de cebolla tierna (tempura fried spring onion, romesco sauce); homely mollejas (panfried lamb sweetbreads). 

Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy are hosts of the first order, while barman Tim knocks out super margaritas. (No wonder Leslie had this on his list too.) JM

• lagordita.ie

L’Atitude 51, Cork

This writer’s best restaurant of last year remains ever-evolving, both in the glass and on the plate — and in that order of importance. 

Simone Kelly directs the kitchen, small plates built around superb local produce, while proprietor Beverly Mathews oversees one of the best natural wine lists in Europe, served up by a magnificent team on the floor. JM

• latitude51.ie

Library Street, Dublin 2

Library Street is a joy, simple as. You should expect flavour overload, layers of complexity in seemingly simple dishes, charming staff, and a great (short) wine list. 

Chicken wing stuffed with chicken mousse and chanterelles, radicchio with fermented pear, cabbage with kimchi sheep’s yoghurt and spiced dukkah. Love it! LW

• librarystreet.ie

MacCurtain Wine Cellar, Cork

Chef Bryan Rudd has moved on so the kitchen is in transition, but anyway menus are tiny though very tasty, only there to backbone a mighty selection of wine in one of the most stylish venues in the country, so a crisp aligote and warmed Spanish olives while watching the world go by through the old Victorian windows feeds the soul like any three-courser. JM

• maccurtainwine.ie

Mae, Dublin 4

It took a while to get a reservation at Mae but it was worth the wait. 

Silky Durrus agnolotti with artichoke sauce, glistening red mullet with a perfectly executed white wine velouté, the old-school onion ring (yes!) with the dry-aged Hereford beef. 

Brilliant. LW

• maerestaurant.ie

Margadh RHA, Dublin 2

A wine bar with soul, Margadh RHA has delivered three of my stand-out dining experiences this year. 

Staff changes haven’t diminished the warm welcome or enticing evening menus that offer some of the best value food in Dublin. 

Think sourdough dunked in sherry cask-aged olive oil. 

Cantabrian anchovy toast with preserved lemon aioli. 

Thornhill duck with endive and blackberries, and an ever-changing wine list of leftfield producers. What’s not to love! JB

• margadh-rha.ie

Mister S, Dublin 2

Don’t be fooled by the low-key ‘fried potatoes, onion salt, aioli’ menu description: Mister S’s spectacular spuds are the love child of roast potatoes and the fluffiest chipper chips you’ve ever eaten. 

Perfect bedfellows for the entire charcoal-and-wood-cooked repertoire, everything is given the bespoke grill treatment, from Andarl pork belly to smoked short rib, grilled prawns, and octopus. 

Casual, cool, and always incredibly delicious. JB

• misters.ie

Neighbourhood, Naas, Co Kildare

Keep an eye on chef Gareth Naughton. 

As a former pastry chef, he has an eye for detail and nuance like that pickled jalapeño sauce that transformed the Hegarty’s Cheddar croquettes or the cream of celeriac that so perfectly matched the pressed suckling pig. 

One to watch. LW

• neighbourhoodnaas.com

Osteria Lucio, Dublin 2

Jillian also wanted to feature this brilliant restaurant that seems to improve every visit. 

Ross Lewis, of Chapter One fame, is clearly loving cooking jumbo prawns in spicy garlic butter, spaghetti with the freshest shellfish imaginable, and maybe the odd roast wild duck cooked in the pizza oven. 

The best casual dining restaurant in Dublin? LW

• osterialucio.com

OX, Belfast

A regular pilgrimage by train from Dublin, lunch at Belfast’s OX is magical. 

The pared-back dining room, with its slick front-of-house team, allows Stevie Toman’s precise cooking do the talking. 

Great value for a Michelin-starred restaurant, every morsel, from a delicate looking bite like Tullyelmer venison tartare, fermented turnip and wood sorrel, sings with sophistication. 

Delightful and exciting every time. JB

• oxbelfast.com

Ruchii, Blackrock, Co Dublin

Ruchii has a shiny new premises and chef Sateesh Sayana’s cooking is appropriately ambitious, especially in the ‘gastronomic odyssey’ that is his Ayurveda Tasting Menu. 

But he is also having fun with dishes like pulled jackfruit pulka tacos, kerala fried chicken, and mango coconut prawns. LW

• ruchii.ie

Seeds, Kinsale and Seagull Bakery, Dungarvan

Two wonderful bakers, Ben Le Bon, in Cork, and Sarah Richards, in Dungarvan, both cleaving to a similar game plan, making superb real sourdough breads in the most natural way possible, including the use of Irish-grown grain, along with splendid patisserie and excellent in-house coffee, all that was needed for two of the nicest ‘breakfasts’ of the year. JM

• @seeds_bakery_kinsale; seagullbakeryshop.com

Seafood Bar, Dublin 7

Swordfish carpaccio, gambas al ajillo, whole seabream with fried garlic, paella, lobster and chips — Dublin 7 is better off for having Seafood Bar open its doors here this summer. 

Tiny, with Spanish tapas-bar vibes, it’s cosy on a rainy day looking out and great for people watching on a summer’s evening perched at a pavement table. The food is delicious. JB

• seafoodbardublin.com

Shouk, Dublin 9

There’s something reassuringly comforting about Shouk’s mezze platter, a kaleidoscopic feast of Middle Eastern vibrancy served up at this Drumcondra favourite. 

The spread includes fragrant falafel, zingy hummus, creamy baba ganoush, tabbouleh, sticky aubergine salad, garlicky zhug, and carrot salad with a mound of fluffy pitta for a great price. 

Consistently excellent, this is wholesome and delicious grazing food guaranteed to make everyone smile. JB

• shouk.ie

Saint Francis Provisions, Kinsale, Co Cork

Powerful feminine energy radiates through this tiny restaurant, overseen by proprietor Barbara Nealon and Emily Hartless, where great Irish produce is doctored with Spanish magic by chef Rebeca Recarey Sanchez: brandade stuffed piquillo peppers; grilled octopus, potato escabeche; and slow-cooked Lost Valley Dairy heritage pork belly with barley risotto, all washed down with cracking wine list. JM

• @stfranciskinsale

The Beach House, Tramore, Co Waterford

Love at first sight — and first bite. Concise, ego-less yet effortlessly accomplished seafood cooking of Jumoke Akintola in the kitchen — including wonderful shrimp cocktail and the finest battered fish eaten in decades — marries perfectly with husband/partner Peter Hogan’s gentle marshalling of front of house and a super wine list. JM

• beachhousetramore.ie

The Club at Goffs, Kill, Co Kildare

Derry Clarke’s back to his old tricks, in Kildare, and we couldn’t be happier. Bringing his Michelin-star pedigree to this casual brasserie, with James Sheridan of Canteen, there’s an edge to this offering. 

Think salad of globe and Jerusalem artichoke with radicchio and Connemara air-dried ham or a loin of Wicklow venison with smoked shoulder, girolles and parsnips and you’ll begin to understand the fuss. 

Front-of-house queen Sallyanne Clarke brings extra pizazz to the experience making this a dining detour worth taking. JB

• clubhotel.ie

The Old Spot, Dublin 4

That cooking. That service. That atmosphere. There’s little to fault at The Old Spot, a cosy gastro pub that punches well above its weight. 

Mark Ahessy’s food is always superb, from rustic ham hock terrine to spiky tuna ceviche or sensational slow-cooked short-rib lasagne. 

The joy continues with the team of happy staff overseen by manager extraordinaire Denise McBrien. This is the blueprint for a neighbourhood restaurant. JB

• theoldspot.ie

The Owenmore, Ballynahinch Castle, Co Galway

Danni Barry’s technical precision is matched by preternatural empathy for divining finest flavour from superb produce in one of Ireland’s cosiest hotels. 

Poached smoked haddock is superb, with slow-cooked egg. 

Dry-aged Hereford beef fillet is succulent with lush, tender braised cheek, and smoked bone marrow. Wild halibut is heavenly. JM

• ballynahinch-castle.com

West at Twelve, Barna, Co Galway

West making my meals of the year list was not something I would have predicted. Chef Nathan Hindmarsh is doing extraordinary things, from the fluffiest brioche to the perfect fish cooking, Staff, wine list and kitchen are all in harmony — a rare thing. LW

• westrestaurant.ie 

Honourable mentions 

• Grano, Dublin 7 
• Woodruff, Stepaside, Co Dublin 
• Denj, Dublin 
• Pickle, Dublin 2 
• Bites by Kwanghi, Dublin 2 
• Piglet, Dublin 2