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  • HOTEL BREAKS NEW YEAR

    HOTEL BREAKS NEW YEAR

    30 December 2014

    There's still time for you to treat yourself, or your beloved, and the family to a New Year's Eve break away. Just think of the bliss of having everything served up to you and no washing up to do.

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  • The Best & The Worst of Dining in 2014

    The Best & The Worst of Dining in 2014

    23 December 2014

    It's that time of year again when Sunday Independent restaurant critic, Lucinda O'Sullivan, takes a look back at the good and not-so-good dining experiences of her culinary year. The award goes to . . .

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  • Restaurant Review - Fallon & Byrne at the People's Park

    Restaurant Review - Fallon & Byrne at the People's Park

    22 December 2014

    The greatest psychological uplift for Dun Laoghaire in recent times is not the monstrous building - and equally monstrous waste of money - that is the new dlr LexIcon library on the seafront, but rather the opening of Fallon & Byrne's new restaurant, caf

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  • A Christmas Feast Fit for a Maharajah

    A Christmas Feast Fit for a Maharajah

    22 December 2014

    In 1965, the American novelist Arthur Hailey wrote a blockbuster called Hotel, which went on to be a movie and subsequently a TV series. With a changing colourful 'cast' coming through their doors every day, hotels can provide the ultimate backdrop..

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Beeftro Dundrum

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Beeftro Dundrum

    16 December 2014

    Beeftro, a purveyor of “Viandes de Qualite”, in the Dundrum Town Centre, is one the finest steakhouses around. It started in Monaco as the less expensive sibling of Beefbar, owned by Riccardo Giraudi.

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  • Restaurant Review - Balfe's

    Restaurant Review - Balfe's

    15 December 2014

    From the moment we crossed the threshold, we loved what Balfes had to offer. It had a natural, uncontrived air, and while it's reminiscent of Paris or Madrid, its retro, urban, white-tiled decor- brown leather banquettes and marble-top tables - captured

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  • Christmas Shopping Lunches

    Christmas Shopping Lunches

    15 December 2014

    Every year, I resolve to have my Christmas shopping done by December 1, but every year I fail. Maybe it's just as well, because, had I done it earlier, I would have missed out on the amazing atmosphere that is out there on the streets of Dublin right now

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  • Restaurant Review - Loam

    Restaurant Review - Loam

    12 December 2014

    Loam is the new, long-awaited restaurant by Enda McEvoy. Why long-awaited? McEvoy is a Cavan-born chef who has been cooking in Galway for some time, both in the former Sheridan's on the Dock, and Aniar when it was awarded its first Michelin Star in 2013.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Henry's Bar & Grill

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Henry's Bar & Grill

    10 December 2014

    Located in one of the most beautifully scenic settings that our country has to offer, Henry’s Bar & Restaurant in Cashelgarron, Co. Sligo rests just at the foot of the famous Benbulben.

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  • Cafes Cafes Cafes

    Cafes Cafes Cafes

    26 November 2014

    In the dark days of November 2011, when Vivienne Johnston and Janine Breslin took the big step of opening their Mellow Fig cafe on George's Avenue in Blackrock, Co Dublin, everyone told them they were very brave. They are now celebrating their third birt

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  • 3 to Try - The Brunch Bunch

    3 to Try - The Brunch Bunch

    25 November 2014

    Chilling out with family and friends over Sunday Brunch is becoming more and more popular - here are three suggestions worth trying.

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  • Restaurant Review - Bakers Donnybrook

    Restaurant Review - Bakers Donnybrook

    25 November 2014

    Half-baked: Like a loud bang to a souffle, an evening spent at the latest 'friendly neighbourhood restaurant' on the scene left Lucinda O'Sullivan feeling somewhat deflated and a bit disappointed.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Newgrange Cafe & Tearooms

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Newgrange Cafe & Tearooms

    18 November 2014

    Newgrange is probably one of the busiest tourist stops in Ireland being a must see for most tourists as well as a popular excursion for Irish families and schools. Being over 5,000 years old, it pre-dates Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

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  • Top Hoteliers share recession busting tips and optimism for the future

    Top Hoteliers share recession busting tips and optimism for the future

    17 November 2014

    Liquidators see no value in flowers for hotel guests. Five of Ireland's top hoteliers share their recession-busting tips and optimism for the future.

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  • Best recipes for serving up success and crucial change

    Best recipes for serving up success and crucial change

    14 November 2014

    If you want things to stay the same, you need to change,say three of Ireland's leading restaurateurs

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  • Restaurant Review - The Restaurant at Brown Thomas

    Restaurant Review - The Restaurant at Brown Thomas

    14 November 2014

    In-store dining has taken quite a leap forward, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, following a visit to Brown Thomas, where she was impressed by The Restaurant's Patrick Guilbaud-inspired menu

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  • 3 TO TRY - HOTEL EATERIES

    3 TO TRY - HOTEL EATERIES

    04 November 2014

    Hotel dining has changed very much in recent years nowadays having some great contemporary restaurants and food

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  • Restaurant Review - The Old Spot

    Restaurant Review - The Old Spot

    04 November 2014

    With the sounds of the Dart line rumbling overhead and a table that was located all too near the loo, Lucinda O'Sullivan was less than impressed with The Old Spot gastropub

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  • The Chameleon turns 20!

    The Chameleon turns 20!

    03 November 2014

    A 20th birthday deserves a decent bash. Co-owners Carol Walsh and Kevin O’Toole are marking The Chameleon’s two decades of business in Temple Bar with four weeks of celebrations,

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  • CHRISTMAS COOKERY DEMO AT MUCKROSS PARK HOTEL

    CHRISTMAS COOKERY DEMO AT MUCKROSS PARK HOTEL

    31 October 2014

    Kevin Dundon one of Ireland’s most loved chefs will put a sparkle into Christmas with a festive Cookery Demonstration in the splendid surroundings of Muckross Park Hotel & Spa on Friday 7th November.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pier 26 Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pier 26 Restaurant

    31 October 2014

    Ballycotton, in Co. Cork is renowned for its fishing. An extremely charming and picturesque village, overlooking Ballycotton Bay and its beautiful lighthouse.

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  • Restaurant Review - Street Food

    Restaurant Review - Street Food

    28 October 2014

    Street food is hot, hot, hot right now and it's popping up in various spots all over the capital, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, as she visits three new eateries serving tasty Indian, Mexican and barbecued treats.

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  • TRIUMPH OF FAB FASHION AND FEARLESS FEMALES

    TRIUMPH OF FAB FASHION AND FEARLESS FEMALES

    21 October 2014

    There is a lift, there's no doubt. You can smell it in the air, you can see it in the cars on the road - white is the new colour, by the way - and you can see people walking around with shopping bags once again. Confidence inspires confidence, and now

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  • Restaurant Review - Table 6

    Restaurant Review - Table 6

    21 October 2014

    The 1970s sprang to mind when we first saw the in-your-face purple and lime colour scheme adorning the new Table 6 Restaurant in a first-floor premises in the centre of Templeogue village. Procul Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale it was not! This premises u

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  • Restaurant Review - Hailan & 3 to Try

    Restaurant Review - Hailan & 3 to Try

    17 October 2014

    Hailan is a new Korean and Japanese eatery on Dame Street, near the Olympia Theatre. Nowadays, everyone knows good Chinese or Thai nosh from bad Chinese or Thai slosh.

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  • WELCOME TO RAYTOWN

    WELCOME TO RAYTOWN

    15 October 2014

    We often forget that Dublin is not just one big splodge, it is made up of a series of wonderful old villages, each of which has a history and community of its own. Indeed, it's not all that long ago that Ballymun and Tallaght were farming areas and...

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  • Restaurant Review - Mamma Mia

    Restaurant Review - Mamma Mia

    15 October 2014

    Mamma Mia is a small, very authentic, Italian cafe-cum-trattoria-and-pizzeria on a side road off Bray's Main Street. Primarily residential, it is not a street you'd necessarily think of wandering down if you were looking for a bite to eat.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Interlude

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Interlude

    07 October 2014

    Dungarvan, in Co.Waterford has always been one of my favorite places to visit. It’s a beautiful, vibrant seaside community that has been home to some great restaurants over the years.

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  • ALL ABOARD FOR THE BOOZE CRUISE TO FRANCE

    ALL ABOARD FOR THE BOOZE CRUISE TO FRANCE

    30 September 2014

    Standing in the Salon des Vins of the French supermarkets, Geant and Leclerc,in the town of Morlaix in Brittany, just 20 miles south of the port of Roscoff, it was clear that 'le booze cruise' certainly has won a place in the hearts of Irish wine fancier

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  • Restaurant Review - Lobster Pot

    Restaurant Review - Lobster Pot

    30 September 2014

    I was asked by a lady in Co Waterford to recommend a Dublin restaurant for "a special occasion, which she didn't want to go wrong". As you can imagine, recommending a restaurant for a special occasion is a poisoned chalice, so it is something I never do..

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  • Restaurant Review - Chinatown Dublin

    Restaurant Review - Chinatown Dublin

    24 September 2014

    Fancy chowing down on chicken feet, jellyfish head, frogs' legs, razor clams, shredded tripe, whelks, or a Chinese breakfast buffet for €6? These are just some of the delights that are available in the array of eateries in Dublin's Chinatown area....

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  • Autumn's Fabulous Food Festivals

    Autumn's Fabulous Food Festivals

    23 September 2014

    This is my favourite time of year. The weather is still mellow and we have a great series of food festivals around the country up to the end of October. In fact, you could roll along gently for the next few weeks visiting different parts of the country..

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  • 'The mart is our family, we all know one another'

    'The mart is our family, we all know one another'

    23 September 2014

    Alison De Vere Hunt of Cashel Mart is all too aware of the intolerable pressure farmers are under, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • Restaurant Review - Mare e Monti

    Restaurant Review - Mare e Monti

    12 September 2014

    Mare e Monti is a new 'Italian Surf & Turf restaurant' located on the first floor of a prime corner in my local village of Monkstown, Co Dublin. We are blessed to have a variety of restaurants in the village, as restaurateurs have snapped up any vacant...

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  • A GLUTEN FREE DIET

    A GLUTEN FREE DIET

    10 September 2014

    Almost three years ago I wrote an article about how cutting wheat out of my diet saw me lose four stone in as many months.....

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - 8A Brasserie

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - 8A Brasserie

    07 September 2014

    The new 8A Brasserie certainly piqued the interest of the denizens of Monkstown in a big way when it opened earlier this year and it has settled in very nicely....

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  • Restaurant Review - Finns' Table

    Restaurant Review - Finns' Table

    06 September 2014

    With most restaurants going down the more casual route, we were a tad surprised to find the new Finns' Table in Kinsale bucking the trend with white linen napery, fine china, classical music and the other trimmings and frippery of the more delicate...

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  • Artisan Food Producers move up the ladder

    Artisan Food Producers move up the ladder

    05 September 2014

    I am always impressed by the innovative people I meet at the various markets around the country. Not only do I admire their courage but also their food products, which never cease to amaze. It was wonderful then to see how well so many of them...

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  • 3 to Try - Tempting Tapas

    3 to Try - Tempting Tapas

    30 August 2014

    With lots of tapas eateries around the country, here are three you might like to try.

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  • The Kerry Food Story

    The Kerry Food Story

    29 August 2014

    TJ O'Connor is one of those great people involved with the training of young people going into the hospitality industry. He is Head of Section, Hotel, Culinary and Tourism Department at the Institute of Technology in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He has just launche

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  • Restaurant Review - Salt Yard Kilkenny

    Restaurant Review - Salt Yard Kilkenny

    27 August 2014

    Kilkenny has been hitting the news on the culinary scene in a big way in recent times, with the awarding of two Michelin stars in the county, one to the Lady Helen Restaurant at Mount Juliet in Thomastown, and one to Campagne in Kilkenny city. There is al

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - THE WOOLLEN MILLS

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - THE WOOLLEN MILLS

    26 August 2014

    The Woollen Mills was where your granny, for more years than Harry Moore might have cared to remember, went to buy knicker-elastic, tweeds and buttons and bows. It was in business for over a century before closing its doors in recent years - James Joyce..

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  • The Silk Road Kitchen

    The Silk Road Kitchen

    26 August 2014

    So, I come to Abraham Phelan, who has been doing Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food here for many years in his very popular Silk Road Cafe, located in the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle...

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Waterfront House Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Waterfront House Restaurant

    19 August 2014

    On a recent trip to Co. Sligo, we found ourselves in the restaurant at Waterfront House in Enniscrone and we couldn’t have been happier that we did. Enniscrone of course is a stunning location in itself, a total Mecca for surfers...

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  • IRISH FOOD PRODUCERS SHINE AT GREAT TASTE AWARDS

    IRISH FOOD PRODUCERS SHINE AT GREAT TASTE AWARDS

    18 August 2014

    Well now it's official - we have great taste! Irish food producers have had tremendous success at this year's Great Taste Awards, run by the Guild of Fine Foods in the UK. What is so exciting and satisfying about all of this is that it endorses Ireland's

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  • THE SCALES ARE FALLING FROM OUR EYES

    THE SCALES ARE FALLING FROM OUR EYES

    18 August 2014

    Fishmongering seems to run in the family says Lucinda O'Sullivan as she meets scions of the Wright and Rogersen families

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - La Bella Donna

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - La Bella Donna

    16 August 2014

    On a recent visit to Donegal, I discovered La Bella Donna, an Italian restaurant on Bridge Street in Donegal Town. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated with classical Roman look making you feel as though the Colosseum could be just outside...

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  • WW1 - FINDING BILLY MORRIS IN THE SOMME

    WW1 - FINDING BILLY MORRIS IN THE SOMME

    12 August 2014

    Last week saw the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of World War I, which spanned four years from August 3, 1914 until November 11, 1918. Very many Irishmen and women fought in the Great War and it is only now that they are being properly honoured

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  • Restaurant Review - Amuse

    Restaurant Review - Amuse

    12 August 2014

    Inventive Franco-Asian tasting menus are the order of the day at chef Conor Dempsey's chic new venture, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who was utterly delighted by what she found at Amuse....

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Russborough Tea Rooms

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Russborough Tea Rooms

    12 August 2014

    Russborough House, in Blessington, Co. Wicklow, is one of the finest stately homes in Ireland. A wealthy Dublin brewer named Joseph Leeson, who later became the first Earl of Milltown, built it in the 1740’s...

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Clodagh's Kitchen Blackrock

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Clodagh's Kitchen Blackrock

    08 August 2014

    A decade or so ago a young lady from Cork sent me a recipe for chicken liver pate, which she was selling in Midleton Farmer’s Market. Since then she has moved rapidly up becoming one of our foodie stars. I speak of course of Clodagh McKenna.

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  • Eating Out is Party of the Holiday Experience

    Eating Out is Party of the Holiday Experience

    07 August 2014

    I am taking a look at places to eat in holiday spots. After all, eating out is very much part of any holiday experience. Starting in east Cork, you are spoiled for choice. In Ballycotton, Pier 26 eatery at the Inn by the Harbour...

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  • Lucinda in Ireland's Holiday Hotspots

    Lucinda in Ireland's Holiday Hotspots

    07 August 2014

    In the second part of a series looking at excellent places to eat on Les Cotes d'Irlande, ?Lucinda takes you on a whistle-stop tour of eateries in Wexford, ?Kerry and Donegal

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  • Festival fun under an August moon

    Festival fun under an August moon

    07 August 2014

    This month's festivals are kicking off across the globe, but there is much to savour at home, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY BREAKS FOR ALL THE FAMILY

    AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY BREAKS FOR ALL THE FAMILY

    28 July 2014

    August is a wicked month, they say, when the cities of the world empty out on to the beaches - be it Antibes or Alghero, Baltimore or Roundstone. If you haven't planned your break, you need to get dialling fairly smartly because the holiday season...

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  • Al Fresco Restaurants for sunny day dining

    Al Fresco Restaurants for sunny day dining

    24 July 2014

    If you’re looking for the top spots around the country to eat seafood and other myriad delights in the open air here is the quintessential guide to doing just that...

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Kelly's Cafe

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Kelly's Cafe

    23 July 2014

    Kelly’s Hotel & Resort has made their name, over the years, with food, hospitality and top notch service.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - The Brook Inn

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - The Brook Inn

    21 July 2014

    In the heart of the pretty village of Glanmire is the Brook Inn, a wonderful atmospheric old world style restaurant and bar.

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  • 3 to Try - An Ocean Breeze

    3 to Try - An Ocean Breeze

    18 July 2014

    There is nothing like an ocean breeze to put a spring in our step followed by some delicious food. Here are three places you might like to try.

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  • Restaurant Review - Saint

    Restaurant Review - Saint

    18 July 2014

    Clams cooked in craft beer may not have rocked my boat, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, but the atmosphere and enthusiastically prepared food at Saint certainly did.

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  • 3 to Try - Seafood & Steak

    3 to Try - Seafood & Steak

    18 July 2014

    Seafood and steak restaurants are perennially popular at any time of the year. Here are suggestions for three you might like to try.

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  • Restaurant Review - China Sichuan

    Restaurant Review - China Sichuan

    18 July 2014

    It's Chinese food, but perhaps not as you know, with the delicious exotic goodies that are on offer at China Sichuan Sandyford

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  • From snack boxes to cookies, food producers find a link

    From snack boxes to cookies, food producers find a link

    07 July 2014

    From snack boxes to cookies,this chain gang helps Dublin food producers promote their wares, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Fiorentina

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Fiorentina

    07 July 2014

    Looking out through Venetian blinds at the mighty illuminated portico of Dublin’s magnificent City Hall on a balmy evening was a mood raiser and uplifting experience in itself. We were in the new Fiorentina restaurant.

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  • THREE TO TRY - SUMMER SUPPERS

    THREE TO TRY - SUMMER SUPPERS

    03 July 2014

    Hopefully on these bright summer days and weekends you are out driving around the country. If you fancy a bite to eat on that trip, here are three places worth trying.

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  • Restaurant Review - Mourne Seafood Bar

    Restaurant Review - Mourne Seafood Bar

    03 July 2014

    Wooden, double-bench-style picnic tables of the 'throw your leg over' variety, complete with booze-company-endorsed umbrellas, didn't create ?a great first impression as we walked down the boardwalk to the new Mourne Seafood Bar....

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  • Three to Try - Noodle Doodle

    Three to Try - Noodle Doodle

    27 June 2014

    We all adore the spices and noodles of Asian food so here are three different places for you to perhaps try.

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  • SOMETHING FOR BONO AND THE BOYS ON THEIR WORLD TOUR

    SOMETHING FOR BONO AND THE BOYS ON THEIR WORLD TOUR

    25 June 2014

    I spoke recently to two men, both involved for many years solely in the world of women's fashion and accessories, who by adding 'something for the boys' to their repertoires, have found that it has greatly enhanced their businesses.

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  • Restaurant Review - Sage Restaurant, Midleton

    Restaurant Review - Sage Restaurant, Midleton

    25 June 2014

    Since first opening Sage Restaurant some five years ago, in a tucked-away premises off Midleton’s Main Street, in East Cork, chef patron, Kevin Aherne, has continuously moved forward.

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  • Restaurant Review - HX46

    Restaurant Review - HX46

    16 June 2014

    ‘HX46 — Cafe and Pan Asian Casual Dining”, emblazoned on a smart, pale-grey shop front in a row of shops on Harold’s Cross Road in D6W, had me hitting the brakes for a better look.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McLaughlin's Restaurant @ The Castletroy Park Hotel

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McLaughlin's Restaurant @ The Castletroy Park Hotel

    16 June 2014

    The four star Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick is home to a most attractive restaurant, McLaughlin’s, which has a bright elegant atmosphere with lots of light enhanced by cream colours and elegant decorative touches.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar Cork

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar Cork

    11 June 2014

    The first branch of McGettigan’s opened its doors way back in 1964 with McGettigan’s Pub on Queens Street in Dublin and their brand has certainly come a long way since then. Today they boast a successful chain of modern Irish restaurants.

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  • The man behind O'Crualaoi's Cork

    The man behind O'Crualaoi's Cork

    10 June 2014

    Driving from East Cork to Kinsale, which we do fairly frequently, I have had to restrain myself on many occasions from jumping out of the car, in the line of traffic through Carrigaline, to join the queue of eager customers hovering around a barbecue outs

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  • Restaurant Review - 64 Wine Sandycove

    Restaurant Review - 64 Wine Sandycove

    10 June 2014

    Some years ago, Gerard Maguire visited Martel, a small town in the south-west of France and, while sitting with his wife, having a glass of the local Bergerac wine with a salad of duck confit, he was struck by the perfection of this simple repast.

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  • THREE TO TRY - COOL BASEMENTS

    THREE TO TRY - COOL BASEMENTS

    06 June 2014

    Here are suggestions for three cool basements in Dublin and Galway with cracking food to try out.

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  • Restaurant Review - Saison

    Restaurant Review - Saison

    06 June 2014

    Tucked away in a totally secluded alcove, one could be forgiven for thinking that it was gone midnight, rather than a little after midday. The basement of 21 Kildare Street has had more column inches written about it over the past number of years than a

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Galileo's

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Galileo's

    06 June 2014

    It was a lovely bright Sunday morning, spring was in the air, the daffodils were peaking through and the ‘urge was on me’ to point the car in some direction out of Dublin!

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  • The Caterer

    The Caterer

    05 June 2014

    Looking recently at the movie The Women, a 2008 remake of the acerbic and amusing 1939 movie, based on a play by Clare Boothe Luce on the lives, loves and dramas of a group of Manhattan wealthy socialite friends, all I could think was plus ca change.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Aroi Asian Street Food

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Aroi Asian Street Food

    30 May 2014

    Street food is the thing people talk about when they return from the Far East. Those morsels of spicy deliciousness cooked and sold from stalls in markets and on the streets for no more than a few cents. Foodies waffle too about street food in Ireland,

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - An Bhialann

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - An Bhialann

    28 May 2014

    There is something very enticing, honest and welcoming about the family run An Bhialann restaurant located on the Sandford Road end of Ranelagh’s main drag. In what has become virtually a restaurant village over run with tapas and tasting plates,fast food

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  • The Mary Stanford returns to Ballycotton

    The Mary Stanford returns to Ballycotton

    26 May 2014

    Living beside the port of Dun Laoghaire, my ears always prick up when I hear the distinctive beat of helicopter blades swirling around the area. It very often means that someone is in trouble and the helicopter is trying to spot them in conjunction with

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  • Restaurant Review - Exchequer Wine Bar Ranelagh

    Restaurant Review - Exchequer Wine Bar Ranelagh

    26 May 2014

    I could probably sit down every second week and write about an eatery that has "just opened" in Ranelagh. This suburban village, for many years best known for being a Dublin flatland, with launderettes, cheap takeaways, and cafes, morphed into a hot resid

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Barracuda

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Barracuda

    21 May 2014

    If your looking for a restaurant with great food and really great atmosphere then look no further than Barracuda. Located on Bray’s magnificent and ever popular Victorian seafront and with floor to ceiling windows.

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  • THE WORLD'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS - HOW IT WORKS

    THE WORLD'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS - HOW IT WORKS

    19 May 2014

    Rene Redzepi recently saw his Noma restaurant in Copenhagen restored to the position of No 1 in the ranks of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, having been knocked off the pillar by Spain's El Celler de Can Roca last year. Now back in the top spot for 2014

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  • 3 to Try - Almost Nationwide

    3 to Try - Almost Nationwide

    19 May 2014

    Something old, something new, here are three restaurants suggestions for you to try around the country.

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  • Restaurant Review - Fiorentina

    Restaurant Review - Fiorentina

    19 May 2014

    Looking out through Venetian blinds at the mighty illuminated portico of Dublin's magnificent City Hall, on a balmy evening, was a mood-raiser in itself.

    Read more »

  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pizza E Porchetta

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pizza E Porchetta

    16 May 2014

    Ronan Ryan is one of the best-known names in the restaurant industry in Ireland and his forte is modern Italian food, which he is serving up at his new Pizza e Porchetta eatery in spectacular style. P & P is a happening place.

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  • 10 Years Younger!  A Decade of Dining

    10 Years Younger! A Decade of Dining

    13 May 2014

    The cosmetic-surgery TV programme, 10 Years Younger, springs to mind when I think of the last 10 years of dining in Ireland. Since 2004, the restaurant industry has been nipped and tucked, weeded and plucked, resulting in a much tighter and keener ....

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  • 3 Ladies of Kinsalebeg - Food and Craft

    3 Ladies of Kinsalebeg - Food and Craft

    12 May 2014

    WHEN Mary Kay Solomon came to Ireland 11 years ago from the US to work in the computer industry, I doubt she thought she would now be married to an Irishman and living in Killeagh in east Cork, or that she would totally change her career from computers t

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  • 3 to Try - The Spice is Right

    3 to Try - The Spice is Right

    07 May 2014

    We all have a passion for spices and Oriental and Asian food - here are three place you might like to try

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  • Getting the simple things right in the food business

    Getting the simple things right in the food business

    07 May 2014

    THE ‘management meeting of one’ is the hardest meeting there is to have,” says Paul Williams of the uber cool Canteen eatery in Limerick. “Just staring back at yourself in the mirror. There's no one else to point the finger at. It's you, and you alone..

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  • 3 to Try - Diverse Dining

    3 to Try - Diverse Dining

    07 May 2014

    Fancy trying somewhere different to eat - here are three diverse places to try all with something interesting and different to offer.

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  • Restaurant Review - Deep South

    Restaurant Review - Deep South

    07 May 2014

    There's a fine line between being naturally cool and overly contrived. Likewise, there's a fine line between shabby chic and just plain shabby. It felt like the latter when we arrived for lunch at the Deep South Cafe Bar in Cork.

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  • Restaurant Review - Aroi

    Restaurant Review - Aroi

    30 April 2014

    Street food is the thing people talk about when they return from the Far East. Those morsels of deliciousness cooked and sold, for no more than a few cents, from stalls in the markets and on the streets

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  • Kirsti O'Kelly's 'Silver Darlings'

    Kirsti O'Kelly's 'Silver Darlings'

    29 April 2014

    Kirsti O'Kelly's Silver Darlings are inspired by Kirsti's native Finland, where herrings are an everyday staple. We have wonderful herrings in our Irish waters but a lot of them are exported to Scandinavia, Europe, Japan and the Middle East and the Scandi

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  • Sefik Dikyar's Baklava to die for!

    Sefik Dikyar's Baklava to die for!

    29 April 2014

    Sefik Dikyar is originally from Turkey, and he produces the best Turkish baklava, and other specialties, I have seen this side of the Bosphorus.

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  • 3 to Try - All Greek to Me

    3 to Try - All Greek to Me

    24 April 2014

    Take yourself off to a Greek or Mediterranean restaurant and try some of their very interest mezze dishes.

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  • Restaurant Review - El Greco

    Restaurant Review - El Greco

    24 April 2014

    People sometimes say to me, "How do you pick a restaurant to review?" The answer is simple. In a review, people want to know about new restaurants, and new eateries are opening apace – especially in Dublin.

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  • COME DANCING AND LEAVE YOUR WORRIES BEHIND

    COME DANCING AND LEAVE YOUR WORRIES BEHIND

    21 April 2014

    SINCE time immemorial, the movement of dance has fascinated, enthralled and even frightened at times. Around the world, there are courtship dances, rain dances, sword dances and war dances, not to mention the Maori Haka. Just as Spain enthralled...

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  • FOOD NOTES

    FOOD NOTES

    21 April 2014

    The new Terenure Village Market kicked off last Sunday, outside Gerry Caffrey Motors on Terenure Road North. The market committee is made up of a small number of locals who volunteered their time to set up this market "to try revive

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  • Restaurant Review - Brookwood

    Restaurant Review - Brookwood

    19 April 2014

    Brookwood’ is a new eatery on busy buzzy Lower Baggot Street.I can’t say I quite get the significance of the slightly rural folksy name in the center of the city, particularly as it is a sleek steak and seafood house, rather than of the ‘fumble and forage

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  • Ardmore Open Farm, Brigid Shelly Gallery, White Horses Restaurant

    Ardmore Open Farm, Brigid Shelly Gallery, White Horses Restaurant

    18 April 2014

    WE COULDN'T help but burst out laughing at the sight of 'Dorothy' rolling languorously on her back, then pausing mid-roll to look at us as if to say, 'come scratch my tummy'.

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  • 3 to Try - Steak & Seafood

    3 to Try - Steak & Seafood

    16 April 2014

    Steak and seafood restaurants are perenially popular and here are three suggestions you might like to try.

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  • Restaurant Review - 8A Brasserie

    Restaurant Review - 8A Brasserie

    11 April 2014

    Having now lived for many years in Monkstown, County Dublin, I remember when number 8A Monkstown Crescent was Coopers – which was one of a chain of popular bistro/brasserie-style restaurants around the capital.

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  • Cracking Easter Breaks

    Cracking Easter Breaks

    08 April 2014

    FOR the next couple of weeks it is all about fluffy yellow chicks, Easter bunnies and lots of chocolate. Hotels around the country are getting ready to welcome guests over the Easter holidays with various packages.....

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  • 3 to Try - Fashionably, fabulously fast.

    3 to Try - Fashionably, fabulously fast.

    04 April 2014

    There is some really great food to be had in the casual fast food dining arena nowadays. Here are three interesting places to try

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  • LIMERICK'S CULTURE & CHIPS

    LIMERICK'S CULTURE & CHIPS

    01 April 2014

    DENIS Allen’s anthemic Limerick, You’re a Lady pays tribute to the Shannon’s waters as “tears of joy that flow”.

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  • Restaurant Review - Galileo's

    Restaurant Review - Galileo's

    01 April 2014

    It was a lovely, bright, Sunday morning. Spring was in the air, the daffodils were peeking through and the "urge was upon me" to point the car in some direction out of Dublin! I am notoriously last-minute – some might say impulsive, some might say advent

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  • 3 To Try - P is for Pleasure

    3 To Try - P is for Pleasure

    26 March 2014

    With some great eateries out there around the country here are three suggestions for you to try out.

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  • Restaurant Review - Peruke & Periwig

    Restaurant Review - Peruke & Periwig

    26 March 2014

    Set in a compact, three-storey Georgian house on Dawson Street, Peruke & Periwig is the latest offering from the people behind Wagamama, the Vintage Cocktail Club and the Liquor Rooms in Temple Bar. Tourists, trendies and young-bucks-about-town may

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  • Chic niche boutiques streets ahead

    Chic niche boutiques streets ahead

    26 March 2014

    It's busy, it's buzzy, and it's jam-packed full of quality goods. Go visit Drury Street, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • Marianne Weidner opens 4th Oska Shop at Avoca Mount Usher

    Marianne Weidner opens 4th Oska Shop at Avoca Mount Usher

    18 March 2014

    Passion and change are the two words that drive Marianne Weidner. Marianne has recently opened her fourth OSKA shop, this one at Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford,Co Wicklow.

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  • 3 to Try - Gastropub Grub

    3 to Try - Gastropub Grub

    18 March 2014

    I must say I love the casual ethos and restaurant grub on offer in Gastropubs- here are three great places you might like to try.

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  • Restaurant Review - S Caviston@Goggins - Closed Before Review Published!

    Restaurant Review - S Caviston@Goggins - Closed Before Review Published!

    18 March 2014

    I guess you are skating on fairly thin ice when you set out to review a new food element in what has been your local pub for the last 30 years. You are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don't!

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Oyster Grill Restaurant @ Hotel Meyrick

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Oyster Grill Restaurant @ Hotel Meyrick

    14 March 2014

    The city of Galway is famous as a hub for visitors of all kinds, with thousands flocking to the city of tribes every year. Whether they’ve come for a relaxing retail getaway, an oudoorsy adventure holiday or for one of the many popular festivals.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Stay - Hotel Meyrick

    Our Latest Great Place To Stay - Hotel Meyrick

    12 March 2014

    Known far and wide as the city of tribes, Galway City is the thriving hub for culture and tourism in the west of Ireland. With beautiful beaches along its coasts and a buzzing social atmosphere both day and night, the city is a pleasure to explore.

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  • Restaurant Review - Frites Haus

    Restaurant Review - Frites Haus

    11 March 2014

    Oh dear! I've had a couple of iffy experiences with "take it or leave it" service of late. I hope we're not heading for the situation of restaurants losing the plot again. Restaurants are opening all over Dublin, but, in this era of tight belts, they need

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  • The Royal Treatment in our own Glass Tower

    The Royal Treatment in our own Glass Tower

    10 March 2014

    ANGELA Merkel was entertained there last week, as was Queen Elizabeth during her state visit in 2011. I'm talking about the CCD – Convention Centre Dublin – the dramatic, tilted glass tower on the northside of the Liffey docklands that gives the leaning

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  • Restaurant Review - Drury Buildings

    Restaurant Review - Drury Buildings

    05 March 2014

    An orchestra without a conductor, a ship without a captain, a circus without a ringmaster. It felt a little bit like that at the new Drury Buildings on our midweek visit for dinner.

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  • Kelly's open new chapter in its book of welcomes

    Kelly's open new chapter in its book of welcomes

    04 March 2014

    AS I thumbed through The Book of Kelly's, a fascinating history of Kelly's Resort Hotel at Rosslare Strand, Co Wexford, I thought, 'This is going to have to be updated!'

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Darwin's Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Darwin's Restaurant

    26 February 2014

    With Whitefriar Street Church being its best known landmark, I suppose I might be forgiven for saying that when Darwin’s first opened in Aungier Street some years ago it had always been more “mantilla” land than “Manolo” land.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Stay - Conyngham Arms

    Our Latest Great Place To Stay - Conyngham Arms

    24 February 2014

    The historic village of Slane springs to the fore when it comes to Rock Festivals in Ireland. Over the years Slane Castle has seen thousands of people enjoy the music of Thin Lizzy, Bruce Springsteen, Guns ‘N Roses, David Bowie, Queen, U2, Madonna, etc

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Conyngham Arms

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Conyngham Arms

    24 February 2014

    Right in the heart of the historic village of Slane, Co. Meath you will find the Conyngham Arms Hotel, a magnificently restored 18th Century coaching inn.

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  • Restaurant Review - An Bhialann

    Restaurant Review - An Bhialann

    21 February 2014

    In a city that is awash with – nay, expects – value menus and early birds, the first thing that struck us in the new steak and seafood restaurant, An Bhialann, on a bleak Thursday evening in January, was that there were no such offerings.

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  • THREE TO TRY - NEW FACES NEW PLACES

    THREE TO TRY - NEW FACES NEW PLACES

    20 February 2014

    Restaurants are opening like wildfire in Dublin and surrounding areas. Here are three places you might like to try.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Germaines Bar & Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Germaines Bar & Restaurant

    19 February 2014

    When I was a child I spent my summer holidays with my aunt and uncle on the farm in Tullow, Co. Carlow. I was regularly packed off on the bus which jogged along, making a ‘comfort’ stop in Blessington, before heading on for Baltinglass and Tullow.

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  • Hats Hats Hats - Ireland's Great Milliners

    Hats Hats Hats - Ireland's Great Milliners

    18 February 2014

    WITH weddings being planned right now all over the country, we are coming into the season when it's also all about hats, hats, hats.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Stay - The Mill Times Hotel

    Our Latest Great Place To Stay - The Mill Times Hotel

    17 February 2014

    The town of Westport is known far and wide as a bustling and welcoming community that draws tourists year round both from home and abroad.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Temptations Restaurant Westport

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Temptations Restaurant Westport

    17 February 2014

    The town of Westport is famous as a busy, buzzing tourist community that draws in vistors from around the world for its beautiful scenery, historical sites and its thriving hotel and restaurant scene.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pasta Fresca Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pasta Fresca Restaurant

    13 February 2014

    Just off Grafton Street lies one of Dublin’s most popular restaurants, so popular in fact that it has been running since 1985. The secret to its continued success is that on top of serving really delicious Italian food, there is always a buzz.

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  • THREE TO TRY - PLAISIR D'AMOUR

    THREE TO TRY - PLAISIR D'AMOUR

    11 February 2014

    With Valentine's Day virtually on our doorstep here are three suggested romantic restaurants to try.

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  • Restaurant Review - Canteen at the Market

    Restaurant Review - Canteen at the Market

    11 February 2014

    Love is in the air this week, and one place you can't help but feel the love is at Canteen at the Market, owned by young couple, James Sheridan and Soizic Humbert.

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  • GET BOOKING THAT VALENTINE BREAK

    GET BOOKING THAT VALENTINE BREAK

    11 February 2014

    WITH St Valentine's Day falling on a Friday this year, it is the perfect opportunity for a spring break and the hotels around the country are gearing up to woo your custom.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar

    11 February 2014

    Right in the heart of Dublin’s City Centre, opposite Connolly Station, close to the Liffey and convenient for the O2, you will find McGettigans Cookhouse and Bar, which I have to say is one of the most inviting and atmospheric venues I’ve visited.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Cava Bodega

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Cava Bodega

    10 February 2014

    There is no doubt but the colour, vibrancy, drama and romance of Spain has held a huge attraction for the intellectuals and artistic of this world from the great American writer Ernest Hemingway to movie star Rita Hayworth.

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  • THREE TO TRY - PIZZA PLUS

    THREE TO TRY - PIZZA PLUS

    04 February 2014

    Everyone loves Italian food and here are three suggestions for you to try which offer pizzas and more....

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  • Restaurant Review - Pizza e Porchetta

    Restaurant Review - Pizza e Porchetta

    04 February 2014

    It was rather nice to see restaurateur Ronan Ryan striding on familiar turf by way of the new Pizza e Porchetta in the Malting Tower on Grand Canal Quay.

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  • No 1 Best Bargain Hotel in the WORLD 2014

    No 1 Best Bargain Hotel in the WORLD 2014

    03 February 2014

    IF someone asked you where was the No 1 Best Bargain Hotel in the World, your head would probably whirl around images of the blue oceans of the Seychelles, a chalet in the Swiss Alps, or a colourful riad in Morocco.

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  • THREE TO TRY - HOMELAND DINING

    THREE TO TRY - HOMELAND DINING

    28 January 2014

    American casual food is hugely popular with all age groups so check out these three places.

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  • Restaurant Review - TUCKBOX

    Restaurant Review - TUCKBOX

    28 January 2014

    'You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind," crooned Elvis Presley, followed in rapid succession by Diana Ross rolling up with Ain't No Mountain High Enough. "Well, the music's a winner anyway. Young rockers and old rockers are going to love

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  • Spinng a tasty yarn at Winnie's cafe

    Spinng a tasty yarn at Winnie's cafe

    27 January 2014

    WHEN driving through a Dublin suburb, you are not expecting to encounter a grassy green sheep pen with gambolling lamb figures peering over the fence – not to mention 'Winnie' in the corner.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Clancy's Bar & Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Clancy's Bar & Restaurant

    24 January 2014

    One of the great new additions to the seaside town of Youghal in East Cork is Clancy’s Bar & Restaurant on the Front Strand.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Texas Steakout

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Texas Steakout

    22 January 2014

    We all love a good steak and, when I say a good steak, I mean a good steak. We want it juicy and tender, cooked the way we like it, with all the trimmings – our favourite sauces, fries, onions, mushrooms – the works.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Holland's

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Holland's

    21 January 2014

    Right in the heart of the popular seaside town of Bray, Co. Wicklow is a venue that has been delighting its patrons for over 40 years now, Holland’s Gastropub.

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  • 3 to Try - New Kid on the Block

    3 to Try - New Kid on the Block

    20 January 2014

    Restaurants are opening apace all over the place - here are three restaurants you might like to try.

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - SEVEN SOCIAL

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - SEVEN SOCIAL

    20 January 2014

    You really do have to admire the get up and go of some people. Seven Social is a 24-seater restaurant on Benburb Street, which has never let its diminutive size or location curtail its ambitions.

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - The Hen House

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - The Hen House

    20 January 2014

    Graham and Rosie Campbell’s Hen House restaurant, overlooking Dun Laoghaire’s seafront, has become one of the most popular restaurants in the area and continues to draw customers who love to chow down all American style in a relaxed comfortable atmosphere

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  • LUCINDA VISITS THE DSPCA AND MEETS LOTS OF FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS

    LUCINDA VISITS THE DSPCA AND MEETS LOTS OF FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS

    13 January 2014

    'A DOG is for life, not just for Christmas" was the slogan created way back in 1978 by Clarissa Baldwin of the Dogs Trust in the UK.It is a slogan that is every bit as relevant today as it was back then. The idea was to discourage people

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  • THREE TO TRY; ORIENTAL EATS

    THREE TO TRY; ORIENTAL EATS

    13 January 2014

    Fond of Asian food, then check out these three Oriental restaurants who will be in full flight for the upcoming Chinese New Year at the end of January.

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  • Restaurant Review - Ka Shing

    Restaurant Review - Ka Shing

    13 January 2014

    I'd never before sat in a Chinese restaurant in Ireland and been the only European in the place. And it wasn't a simple, tucked-away venue in some backstreet of what is, euphemistically, called our Chinese quarter -- around Parnell Street and Capel Stree

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  • Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Lord Baker's Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Lord Baker's Restaurant

    10 January 2014

    To be a succesful restaurant or pub in the town of Dingle, Co.Kerry one has to be something pretty special. With 36 eateries and 50 pubs to be found within the town, it can be tough to compete.

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  • Weighing up the diets that might work for you

    Weighing up the diets that might work for you

    06 January 2014

    ONE of these fine days, when the last of the tinsel has been packed away, very many of us are going to try and put our New Year's resolution into operation and, for very many of us, that resolution is to lose weight.

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  • Restaurant Review - Opium Restaurant & Cocktail Bar

    Restaurant Review - Opium Restaurant & Cocktail Bar

    06 January 2014

    Restaurants seem to gather in clusters. Once one paves the way successfully, others follow hot on its tail -- the Haddington Road area, Upper Leeson Street and Ranelagh are all prime examples.Now the hot-to-trot Dublin city-centre place is Wexford Street

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