All kinds of ethnic eating experiences, from all around the world, are readily available in most of the towns and cities of Ireland. Very often, consumers welcome ethnic cuisine in the run-up to Christmas, as a welcome change from the often over-familiar traditional Christmas fare.

By long tradition, most of the ethnic cuisine in Ireland was French and Italian, but in recent years, other European cuisines have come to the fore, like Spanish.

Similarly, Chinese cuisine long represented Asian cooking in its entirety, but now several Japanese restaurants are well established, as well as Indian, Malaysian and Pakistani.

Even Mongolian cuisine is represented in Dublin, while Thai cooking has spread its influence, and not just in Dublin. One of the sheer joys of ethnic menus is that their pleasures are not confined to the capital.

Included among the ethnic cuisine is Irish menu making, and while it's been making some inroads, the task of putting traditional and modern Irish dishes on many restaurant menus, as a counterpart to bland European or mid-Atlantic, has been something of an uphill task.

Places like Gallagher's Boxty House restaurant in Temple Bar have an excellent selection of old and new Irish dishes on the menu, and while restaurants like this may have an image of being for tourists only, they can serve up dishes that are just as appealing for residents. For lunch or dinner on a cold day coming up to Christmas, it's hard to beat a well-made Irish stew with authentic ingredients.

Another place worth trying for an Irish dish or two is the K Cafe in the new look Irish Design-Kilkenny shop in Nassau Street, Dublin. Its wide ranging menus for breakfast include crispy bacon and egg, a mouth-watering traditional dish.

Some hotel restaurants will be doing seasonal Irish dishes over the next few weeks, like Raglans restaurant in Jurys in Ballsbridge, which in its Table d' Hote Christmas menu includes such delicacies as sirloin of beef and poached fillet of cod, and among the desserts, traditional Guinness Christmas pudding. Irish cheeses feature on the cheese-board.

Moving from Irish to other European-style restaurants, French and Italian are still to the fore. In French restaurants, there's the high gourmet approach of establishments like Les Freres Jacques and Patrick Guilbaud's, both in Dublin.

The Cafe Rouge is a pretty authentic repro of a Parisian cafe, except it's in St Andrew Street, Dublin, opposite the post office.

Also in Dublin city centre, La Cave in South Anne Street is an attractive little corner of France right in the heart of the capital. It has a fine and tempting Christmas menu for £21.50, including mignon of venison, confit of goose and seasonal nut roast with fig sauce. In Cork, the Strasbourg Goose in French Church Street has an attractive four course Christmas party menu.

Italian continues its popularity. Among the constant, long time favourites is Dublin's Kapriol restaurant, which has many of the classically traditional Italian dishes and a fine wine list to match, while in Belfast, there's the stylishly modern Antica Roma in Botanic Avenue.

The Mediterrean influence continues at Senor Sassis, near the Burlington Hotel. In Monkstown, the Valparaiso is a Spanish restaurant, while D'Olier Street in the city centre now has its own Spanish-style restaurant, Don Angel.

When it comes to Asian cooking, most towns and cities in Ireland, North and South, have good quality Chinese restaurants. They are the nearest to an ubiquitous style of restaurants on a countrywide basis; everyone has his or her own favourite.

In Dublin city centre, the Imperial in Wicklow Street is very popular with the Chinese community, always a good sign with a restaurant. In Ballsbridge, Kites and the Orchid Szechuan have been established for years. Donnybrook has Furama. Dalkey, Co Dublin, has its inimitable Kingsland, with a very cordial and welcoming atmosphere.

Wong's has a trio of restaurants in the Dublin area, at Clontarf Road on the northside, at Sandford Road in Ranelagh and in Monkstown. Wong's has plenty of tasty dishes and menus for both family and larger parties, with an excellent selection of dishes for Christmas.

Japanese cooking has developed a tremendous reputation in Ireland, largely thanks to Ayumi-Ya, which has been going for years in Blackrock, Co Dublin, and more recently, with the Ayumi-Ya Steakhouse in Lower Baggot Street, trading for nearly seven years. It specialises in Japanese-style steaks, meats and seafood dishes, Sushi and noodles.

Vegetarian dishes are available as well as dishes that aren't too Japanese, for the less adventurous. It's a great place for a party and a further added bonus is that you can see everything being prepared in the open kitchen. Ayumi-Ya has a new web page, at www.ayumiya.ie where you can browse for more details.

In the North, the Ginger Tree restaurant, in a converted farmhouse at Ballyclare, Co Antrim, has a fine reputation for Japanese cooking.

Indian restaurants abound, like the various branches of Eastern Tandoori and Chandni's in Ballsbridge, which is noted for its curries. Saagar's in Harcourt Street is another Indian restaurant that's become very popular, with an extensive menu, including Tandoori and curry dishes.

On the other hand, if you something really hot from Thailand, several Thai restaurants can be recommended, including the Chili Club just off South Anne Street in Dublin city centre. The Thai Fusion restaurant is at Harbour Road in Howth. The Lang-Kawi in Upper Baggot Street, Dublin, is one leading spot for Malaysian food, while if you want to be even more adventurous, there's the Mongolian Barbeque in Anglesea Street, Temple Bar.

A recently opened Pakistani-owned restaurant in Dublin city centre has been attracting very favourable reviews, the Kyber Tandoori in South William Street. It has a very wide and excellent selection of Tandoori, Kyber and Balti dishes. In addition to chicken, meats and seafoods, the Kyber Tandoori also does lots of vegetarian dishes and it does set meals for two and four people.

One of the cooking styles of the world that isn't well represented in Ireland yet is Latin American. We have plenty of North American gastronomic influences, including Planet Hollywood and McDonalds, but central and south America aren't well represented.

However, you can try Cuban-style cooking in Ballsbridge, while a recently opened restaurant in Upper Leeson Street, Milton's, does Cajun specialities. Shrimp creole and Sunset on the Everglades - a vegetable medley - are just two of the seductive items on the menu. Christmas eating out, ethnic style, can be quite an experience, with not a turkey in sight!