Pichet is a bistro-style restaurant, cooking consistently good and tasty food. A talented kitchen, led by Stephen Gibson, produces well executed, flavoursome, interesting and modern bistro food. The dining room gets busy, but is still quite spacious and comfortable and the service is friendly and engaging. The lunch and pre-theatre menus are particularly good value.
Another good value lunch and pre theatre menu is in Etto. Cooking rustic, wholesome, satisfying and well executed food with a focus on seasonal and local produce. The dining room is small, buzzy but intimate. A real care and a love of food and produce is evident in Etto and there is a lot to like about this place.
Soder + KO still feels like eating in a large old nightclub, despite claiming to be "Inspired by Scandinavian creativity" and the service is pretty poor. But behind all that the food is quite good and still has an authentic feel. In the wrong hands this food could so easily be a let down, but Chef Kwangi Chan has taken his fine dining experience and applied it to cooking food inspired by his native Hong Kong. The dim sum are good value and really delicious.
We are generally not fans of Sunday brunch as it is usually pretty poor, generic food and a way for average restaurants to get rid of stock left over from Saturday night. That was until Forest Avenue came along and started to do it the right way. A top Dublin restaurant by evening, it also serves a tasting brunch on Sunday which is definitely worth a visit. Reservation a few weeks in advance needed for this one.