It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s January. All is not lost (apart from the hard-earned cash you threw about with wild abandon over Christmas), great restaurants are open all week – not just at the weekend – and there are lots of creative ways to eat out for less. If you’re prepared to dine a little earlier, stock up on supermarket vouchers or bring your own wine, there are excellent deals to be had in Dublin this month.
Not-so-blue Monday
This has to be the mother of all deals, kudos to Hawksmoor for dreaming it up. The high end Dame Street steakhouse with origins in the UK opened last year in the stunning National Bank building on College Green (formerly Abercrombie & Fitch). It is currently offering a three-course menu Monday to Saturday (pre-6pm) for €33 per person. Go on Monday and you hit the mother lode if you bring your own wine/bubbles, when corkage is just €5 on any size of bottle. Just think, you could enjoy a steak dinner for four in one of the best diningrooms in the city for €137. Alternatively, you could go very early (from 12-3pm and for 5pm bookings) for their one-course steak and a side deal at €23 per person.
Every little helps
Those supermarket vouchers aren’t just for reducing the cost of the weekly shop. Tesco Clubcard rewards allow you to dine out for substantially less at Milano restaurants countrywide. Every €5 Clubcard voucher is trebled in value to €15 in restaurant tokens. Up to a maximum of €50 Clubcard vouchers can be redeemed, knocking €150 off a Milano restaurant bill. Drinks are not included, but a few Clubcard vouchers could certainly knock the edge off any slap-up family treat.
Pop your cork
One of Dublin’s coolest dining districts, in Ranelagh, has a new offering with the addition of Brother Hubbard’s evening dining option in the form of “Yves”. Operating from Thursday to Saturday from 5.30pm, the Yves menu is described as French-inspired with a touch of Spain thrown in, and the vibe is casual, with snacks, sharing plates and full plates to allow diners as much or as little as they choose. For about €40 per person, there’s a six-course feasting menu to share. The clincher is, you can bring your own bottle, and corkage is just €10. They heartily encourage you to buy from the excellent Redmond’s off-licence next door, though corkage remains the same. Here are some other restaurants offering BYOB we looked at a few months back (but do double check in advance to ensure the policy is still in place).
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Eat early and often
Paulies Pizza in Dublin 4 is a neighbourhood staple – and frequently packed. It does great wood-fired pizza and plenty of Italian favourites too, from antipasti sharing plates to pasta classics. Book via earlytable.ie for a table before 6pm and enjoy your meal for half price – yep, 50 per cent off. Earlytable.ie is well worth signing up to if you’re prepared to dine that little bit earlier. It features some excellent restaurants around the city, and booking times for participating restaurants can often creep into more sociable evening hours. The sign-up process is simple, and there’s a small charge when booking on the site of about €1.50 per diner, but that’s it – everything else goes straight to the restaurant. Apparently there are plans to significantly extend its countrywide offering soon too. Win-win.
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Open season
Meanwhile, over at restaurant-booking website opentable.ie, there’s an extensive guide detailing innovative January dining experiences at a range of city and neighbourhood restaurants. I Monelli is an authentic canal-side Italian offering two aperol spritz and a charcuterie board to share for €25 per person. A nice idea for a casual catch-up with friends. In Ranelagh, Layla’s Rooftop Restaurant at the Devlin Hotel has introduced an early bird two-course menu before 6.30pm with a glass of prosecco on arrival, at €40 per person. See opentable.ie for the full range of offers.
