Ah great, I'd heard yerman Atul had a restaurant in Dublin but i didnt know where it was, will definitely give it a try!

Must go there next time I'm down south! Maybe get spin down over the hols. Is their rice as good as mine?

Nautalis in Ballycotton is still a firm favourite of mine. He is now doing a gorgeous cheese fondue. Perfect comfort food for these cold frosty nights.

Unfort I don't get to eat out too much!!!

Agree about the Nautilus. Very good. Esp the charcuterie starter. Of course you have Ballymaloe house!!

From up north I don't think there is anywhere special.. but you can be guaranteed a good meal in the Buck's Head in Dundrum. Thyme in Holywood is also excellent. James Street South in Belfast is good. But the best meals I've had in Ulster have been in the Rathmullen House Hotel in Donegal!!

Conor- its good- you would adore it!

Have you heard of The Ivory Tower? It's on the corner of Prince's Street, just off Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork. It is pricey so it's special occasions affair for sure, but it's unreal. The meat is cooked perfectly, in fact everything is! Among other amazing dishes I had Venison with chocolate sauce and Beetroot and Balsamic Vinegar Sorbet and although I thought they'd both taste strange they were fantastic. The best restaurant I've ever been to by far!

Yep, i know it well - great spot- super burgers! If you're in cork you simply have to make the journey to ballycotton to Nautilus - which is in the In By The Harbour Pub. It is run by a French chef called Lionel and he is AMAZING.

I went along to Atul's Indian a few weeks ago - wow - the best indian I've ever eaten. Not just your typical indian food like - but more regular style food with indian flavourings and spices. Would highly recommend it.

I always forget about the ivory tower when i'm in town looking for someplace to eat. must remember it next time now.

yummm cheese fondue - havent had that in ages - a firm favorite of mine!

Og course Caf? Paradiso is really good as well, all veggie food but wow, what veggie food!!!

yep - thats good. Glad you liked Atuls- did you have the tikka masala- the best tikka masala I've ever ever tasted.

Cafe Paradiso proves that you don't need meat to make fantastic food. A very un-Irish way of thinking! My boyfriend worked there for 2 years and used to bring home sushi and bread at the end of the night. The sushi is sooo good and the bread is lovely, especially the olive oil and rosemary. It's like a dense, moist ciabatta bread, a cake-like texture. I find that the food is a lot better at night, especially if the owner Denis is there as he really knows his stuff and you can really taste the difference.

Cafe Bar Deli used to be my haunt but they stopped doing the Black Pudding and Caramelised Onion pizza-why, I don't know. I miss it . They have some lovely soups though- Butternut Squash and Maple Syrup, Sweet Potato, Chili and Corriander..yum. I didn't eat for hours today and then had your Honey, Carrot and Corriander soup. It really tasted and smelt of real carrots, as strange as that sounds. Really nice

i know it's a bit confusing looking at a menu and not havin gany tasty fish or meat to go for, confused me the first few times i went there, always went for the veggi sushi as starter as an opt out, but actually i've since decided the sushi isnt a good choice as there's much more interesting things to try.

Cafe Bar deli is grand for what it is, quick daycent food for very good prices.

Has anyone heard of The Cornstore in Cork? The steaks there are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and they have a deal on now until the start of June...

Value Menu from 15 Euro
Monday to Thursday 12-3 and 5-6 starter or desert and main course 15 Euro

Is that on the same street that The Bodega used to be on? Think I do know it- looks very fancy

Yeah it's just before The Bodega (which is re-opening this month ...!). Lovely, lovely food.

There's a new Gourmet Burger place called [gourmet burger] on bridge street, very nice lamb burger - I'd have it up there with the liberty grill for tasty burgers, which is good because the liberty grill is after getting so popular it's hard to get in the off a Saturday night unless you book it.

Anyone tried the food in the new bodega? I've heard mixed reviews about the place itself, haven't popped in yet, although i hear the music is very good of a weekend (go'wan DJ Kate!)

If you fancy lunch in Belfast, avoid Stiff Kitten at all costs.

always good to know where to avoid!!!

Whenever I've been in Cork City centre lately I've noticed a lack of good reasonably priced lunch food. I always go to Cafe bar Deli but the menu is always more or less the same. Amicus has gone from good to terrible-I've had plastic (a strip, not a little piece!) in my pizza, the world's most disgusting salad and out of date beer (3 months). If there was a restaurant that served great real food that would be fantastic..

Amicus hasnt been the same since they mmoved around the corner, especially since they lost the Uber-Fry they used to have, it was 10 euro but you got more fry then you could shake a stick at, even a bit of steak with it.

An Cruibín (the old lobby), does tasty Tapas, although slightly expensive as all Irish Tapas seems to be - which is missing the point of Tapas I thought. The Market Bar in Dublin is the exception to the expensive rule, you get loads int here for cheap enough.

Cafe Paradiso.......

We ate their last night and it was fabulous. I was chatting about it today with a friend and we both commented about how under the radar it is in Cork. I so rarely think of going there, but when ever I do, it's stunning. We had amazing Chanterelle with kale gnocchi - a must if you're in Cork followed by a Halloumi cheese & lentils in a basil leaf cake sort of thing- very good. The Paradiso Limone dessert is awesome- if you like lemons.

Yum Yum

Try the Shanghai Express in Kinsale- Asian tapas at it's most delicious and very good prices. It's a real cute little place. Thumbs up

Got some very tasty Tapas in the new Bodega yesterday!

oh- thats good to hear. We heard it had been transformed and the menu changed. So that's nice to hear that it was good. Will be back so

yea it was very nice - almost as good as my old favorite the market bar. 4.60 for potato bravas (brave potatos?), and 6 euro for some seriously nice meatballs!

Update from Me:

Drennan's, University Road, belfast

Cosy, bistro style restaurant with a classic menu filled with high quality ingredients prepared nice and simply. Very good quality. Do an early bird menu for £12.95 for two excellent courses. I was there for the menu on Friday night, place was packed, we got a cosy, romantic nook at the end of the restaurant. Great service. Pianist in the corner will take requests so you can impress your date.... as long as you get him sober early in the evening.... Recommend.

Villa Vinchi, Newcastle, Co. Down.

cafe come evening restaurant, Italian come Med. Great value, starters are about £6, mains £12-£15. Excellent baby squid starter, mussels are good, chilli prawns on ciabatta also decent.

Main course, braised Lamb shank excellent, confit of duck good as well. Small wine list but the house white is only £11.50 and is a great, young, dry and sharp Italian white.

Great place for good value, good quality informal night out.

Good to know. I really never know where to go when up north- maybe you should publish a nordie guide- if it was attached to the Bridgestone Guide or Georgina Campbells that could really encourage us up more often!

The Crawford Gallery Cafe is a firm favourite of mine for lunch.
We are heading to Les Gourmandis for dinner Saturday night so will let you all know how it goes.

I had lunch in the gallery last week - very nice!

O'Grady's on the Pier in Bearna, Galway always has exquisite fresh fish. Worked there through college and always went to work hungry as we had to taste the dishes in order to explain to the customers what the flavours and textures were.

Café Paradiso in Cork is the first place on my list when I am south bound. Love it. SO MUCH!

For total luxury (and an excuse to travel) Babbo in NYC owned by Mario Batali. Mmmm Fennel Dusted Sweetbreads anyone?

Must try O'Grady's - so many wonderful places to eat in Galway. I wish all the councillors in Ireland would go to Galway and see what a wonderful city it is in terms of food and atmosphere. There is so much to be learnt. So many of our cities now just look like high streets in the UK and the food is all coming from the big contract caterers and it's vile. I'd love to start a campaign around scones, sandwiches and cakes- I feel a revolution coming on......

The Silver Apple in Sligo town; Tobergal Lane Cafe in Sligo town; Riverbank in Dromahair, Co. Leitrim - luckily its our local - walk there & back, very sustainable !!

Was there last week and loved it ... the food is just great (best striploin ever) and great to see German white wine on the menu .. could do with a few simple tablecloths which would make the place look less like a canteen .. just a hint and wouldn't cost too much !

I only found out yesterday that Shebeen Cuisine in The Vineyard in Cork is owned by the same person/s as Ivory Tower! I go in there quite often (I'm a student so their €3.75 soup is a no brainer!) . The food is absolutely excellent-for example, a potato cake filled with black pudding and apple which is amazing with a pint! It's all very reasonably priced as well

Hi Lily - thats Seamus O' Connell who must own that so. I didn't know that either. He's been involved in loads of different places and is a very good guy. Potato cake filled with black pudding sounds delic- I love black pudding. You should try the one from the butchers in Sneem- it's like cake and is to die for.

A family favorite of ours in The Dropping Well in Milltown(Dublin). We have yet to have a bad meal there and we eat there a lot over the last 15 years or so.

They give you enough time to browse the menu before coming over to take your order (I hate waiters asking you what you want 2 seconds after giving you the menu) the food arrives piping hot and delicious.

Never been there. Milltown is a good spot. A very good Spar there run by John and Emma and the Wild and Green shop is also very nice. Good spot

New Restaurant : The Brown Bear, Two Mile House, Naas. My Boyfriend and I went there for valentines after hearing great reviews about it. We had an amazing five course meal. The food is gorgeous and at an affordable price. Great atmosphere and very obliging staff.

Ohhhh - something nice in Naas. Awesome. We're always up and down the Dublin road so thats a handy one. Will be there very shortly. Thanks for that.

Not a restaurant as such, but I've just started going here and it's great. The food is slow, but it's good stuff, really tasty and reasonably priced. Great toasties and homemade soup especially. Lovely place

Café Gusto is run by the peeps that run The Liberty Grill, which is me favorite gourmet burger establishment. They know good food alright. I used to get take away sangiches from Gusto quite a bit when i was tired of the English Market Sangiches but it is very sloooow slright.

Must check that out- sounds good. Was in Sheridans (on the docks) in Galway last week-wow- what an amazing place. Definitely some of the best cooking in Ireland going on there.

Thanks a million Angie-looking forward to catching up in August when you're home. See you then and all the very best. Sully

Ooh, my new favourite place is Dolce Vite on Cow's Lane in Temple Bar, Dublin. Lovely little Italian place with a more interesting selection than your average Italian. Last night I went there and had warm gorgonzola on crusty bread drizzled in honey and it was to die for, the bottle of meaty red wine went down pretty well too. Haven't managed to try the desserts yet, I'll keep ye posted