Restaurant Review - Lucinda's 20 Best Sunday Lunches
Wednesday 29 November 2017
Fine dining may be all very fine, and there are lots of cool culinary styles and novel niches out there, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, but even the hippest of hipsters knows that the 'mammy's' traditional Sunday lunch is what really warms their beards. In the hectic, ever-changing-ever-trending foodie world of today, it's easy to forget that our favourite foods aren't flavourless foams or whatever fare has been freshly foraged from under the thorn bushes in the backyard. So, take a break from the flashes in the pan and sink your teeth into a wholesome, robust roundup of the 20 Best Sunday Lunches, both in the capital and countrywide, that will put a smile on everybody's faces.
IN THE CAPITAL
AQUA
Take in the breeze and walk the length of Howth’s West Pier to Aqua, the cracking seafood restaurant, stunningly perched out over the Irish Sea. The Sunday Lunch menu here runs from 12-5pm with a 2/3 courses at €25/€30 + tea or coffee and their extensive a la carte menu also available.
aqua.ie
BASTIBLE
A hip bistro on the South Circular Road, Bastible is known for its new wave seasonal menus sourced from a variety of artisan producers. On Sundays, they offer large select cuts of meat and fish served with seasonal veg for their ‘Family-Style’ Sunday lunch (€34-€38).
bastible.com
HARTLEY’S
Take a DART out to Dun Laoghaire, and have Sunday lunch in the grand old railway station that is now Hartley’s restaurant. As well as interesting starters, they serve ‘Sunday roast with all the trimmings at €24 all day… until we run out’, including Hereford beef, roast leg of Wicklow lamb, and roast duck.
hartleys.ie
LOCKS
Head Chef Connor O’Dowd delights in providing customers with the best modern Irish food available. Located on the Grand Canal, they do a top-notch Sunday lunch menu from 12-4pm with 2/3 courses €30/€35, including roast breast and leg of partridge with parsnips and elderberries or, for a €15 supplement Cote de boeuf for 2 with delicious duck fat chips.
locksrestaurant.ie
O’CONNELL’S
Tom O’Connell, and his wife Annette, established their popular Donnybrook restaurant with a dream of creating a “home away from home Irish Brasserie”. On Sundays, they do an extensive a la carte lunch menu from 12.30-3.30pm to suit all pockets and appetites, with lots being prepared on their ‘Josper’ grill.
oconnellsrestaurant.com
ONE PICO
Some reckoned that Eamonn O’Reilly’s original restaurant was in line for a Michelin Star this year, like its little sister The Greenhouse. Chef Ciaran McGill’s food is certainly outstanding and they do a cracking 2-course Sunday lunch at €27 from 1-4pm. Add on desserts or cheese €9/€14.50. Sunday dinner too from 5pm with 3 courses at €49.
onepico.com
PICHET
Pichet on Trinity Street is a smart citified hotspot. Here, Stephen Gibson does fab modern French bistro fare served with style and flair, offering a great Sunday lunch menu from 12-3pm with 1-3 courses from €16-€28 euro.
pichet.ie
ROLY’S BISTRO
Paris may have grand brasseries such as La Coupole, but Dublin has Roly’s. Their 3-course weekend lunch (€26.95 + 10% SC) includes braised daube de boeuf Bourguignon and roast rib of Hereford beef, red wine and shallot jus, Yorkshire pud (€3 supp).
rolysbistro.ie
SEASONS
Always the Sunday destination of the high flyers, Seasons' Sunday 3-course brunch €42, running from 1-3pm, is more lunch than brunch, having a great starter buffet of shellfish and charcuterie followed by choices including the classic sirloin roast with all the trimmings.
intercontinentaldublin.ie
WILDE
The ultra chic Wilde restaurant, at Dublin’s 5-Star Westbury Hotel, off Grafton St, attracts celebs for it's brilliant atmosphere and top-notch cuisine. On Sundays, they do a great roast rib eye with all the trimmings at €34.
wilde.ie
COUNTRYWIDE
AMBER LOUNGE
With so much green space and Fota Wildlife Park next door, the Amber Lounge at the 5-star Fota Island Resort is perfect for all the family. Their a la carte Sunday lunch menu with mains (€17-€22) has roast Irish sirloin of beef, roast potato, beetroot puree, honey roast root veg.
fotaisland.ie
CAMPAGNE
One of the best restaurants in the country, Gareth Byrne and Brid Hannon’s fab Michelin starred Campagne, located under the old railway arches on Gas House Lane in Kilkenny, has some of the finest dining around. Chic and modern throughout, be sure to check out their Sunday lunch menu from 12.30-2.30pm with 3 courses at €34.
campagne.ie
MAIGUE RESTAURANT
Dining in the superb Maigue restaurant at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare is a traditional experience in the best sense. The 3-course + coffee Sunday lunch menu at €32 includes dishes like Jack McCarthy's outdoor reared pork loin, and, of course, their roast prime rib of Irish beef is carved from the trolley.
dunravenhotel.com
OLDE POST INN
Gearoid and Tara Lynch’s picture pretty Olde Post Inn in Cloverhill, Co. Cavan, is a delight. Coeliac Gearoid wrote 'My Gluten Free Kitchen', adapting all his recipes to gluten-free. Sunday lunch is 3-course + coffee at €35, so think crispy duck wontons followed by roast beef or maybe roast lamb with mint stuffing.
theoldepostinn.com
PANORAMA BISTRO & TERRACE
The Panorama Bistro at the fabulously revamped Montenotte Hotel is going down a treat with the Cork glitterati. With splendid views out over the city, their 2/3 courses Sunday lunch menu (€28/€32) will delight carnivores with roast beef; roast West Cork Mountain leg of lamb with Montenotte stuffing, rosemary and thyme gravy; and baked stuffed pork steak.
themontenottehotel.com
PERROTS GARDEN BISTRO
Set in an elegant conservatory at the fab 5-Star Hayfield Manor Hotel, the 4-course Sunday lunch menu here at €42 includes dishes such as a trio of O’Connell’s salmon to start, perhaps followed by superb traditional roast sirloin of beef with beef dripping fondant potatoes.
hayfieldmanor.ie
SIGNAL RESTAURANT
The pretty Station House Hotel is surrounded by enchanting scenery, and here chef Killian O’Donohoe dishes up some great Boyne Valley produce in its Signal Restaurant. Their traditional Sunday Lunch, 12.30-4.30pm, offers 3 courses at €25.95 from an extensive menu.
stationhousehotel.ie
SASH
Part of the exquisite No.1 Pery Square hotel in Limerick’s Georgian Quarter, Sash is a classically stylish restaurant, with really good contemporary country house cuisine from their seasonal menus. Their Autumn Sunday Lunch menu offers 2/3 courses at €25/€29 from 1-6pm.
oneperysquare.com
VM RESTAURANT
Gary O’Hanlon, of TV fame, is the irrepressible chef at VM Restaurant, set in the original courtyard buildings of Beryl and James Kearney’s Georgian Viewmount House in Longford. Gary’s fab food never fails to excite and the 3-course Sunday lunch menu with coffee at €35 is excellent value.
viewmounthouse.com
WILD & NATIVE
Fergal and Jodie Dempsey’s great seafood restaurant is at Rosslare Strand, where they've made a real name for themselves. Their 3-course Sunday lunch is excellent value at €24.50 and they also have an a la carte selection. Look out too for their new Wild & Native shop serving 'food to go' on Wexford’s Henrietta Street.
wildandnative.ie
lucindaosullivan.com
First Published In The Sunday Independent