We’ve marked this year’s newcomers and used a € to flag everywhere that serves a main course for less than €15
Brother Hubbard €
153 Capel Street, Dublin 1, 01-4411112
The Brother Hubbard crew, led by owners Garret Fitzgerald and James Boland, have been looking after vegetarians and vegans since 2012, with Middle East-inspired menus at their Capel Street and Harrington Street locations in central Dublin. Try their home-made vegan cornbread with grilled greens and corn for brunch, or book yourself in for an evening meze feast. AMcE
Iyer's
38 Popes Quay, Shandon, Cork; 087-6409079
This little cafe could hold its own in the World Food category, as you'll notice the south Indian food served here is fiendishly tasty before you'll notice that it's also vegetarian. Gautham Iyer has a real feeling for threading Irish ingredients through Indian dishes, like the delicate white wild garlic flowers topping a bhelpuri of puffed rice, herbs and tamarind. CC
Paradiso
16 Lancaster Quay, Cork; 021-4277939
Denis Cotter got international recognition this year for his collaboration with the organic growers Ultan Walsh and Lucy Stewart of Gort na Nain farm, the judges at the World Restaurant Awards noting its "longevity and synergy". In other words, the Paradiso farm partnership was not down to any bandwagon-jumping. Eighteen years later, farm and restaurant are flourishing together. CC
Sweet Beat Cafe
Bridge Street, Sligo; 071-9138795
After a long drive to Sligo recently, Sweet Beat's house beans on a chilly Monday were a godsend when everything else in town seemed closed. Their house rosehip and hibiscus kombucha is punchy with flavour and fizz, and it's always a pleasure to see how busy this place is. As a recent convert to soaking dried chickpeas instead of reaching for a tin, I'll bet they've been doing that kind of thing here since the doors of this lovely cafe opened. CC
The Bookstop Cafe
5 Bridge Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry; 083-8533903
There are two smells I love, and both are in this small cafe on a laneway in Kenmare. The first is the warm human fug of second-hand books, which you can buy or leaf through carefully as you eat. Then there are the delicious food smells. The Bookstop is a co-operative making delicious vegetarian food, like a creamy dhal with a beet and barley salad served with lettuce that was freshly picked from someone's garden. CC
Pickle
43 Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2; 01-5557755
Long, slow cooking and expert spicing turn the lentil into a star ingredient in Sunil Ghai's lovely curry house. The vegetable thali came on the menu in January to chime with healthier-eating urges, but it has stayed put well past the denial months of the new year's resolution stage. If you thought vegetarian food was boring, Pickle will change your mind. CC
The Fumbally
8 Fumbally Lane, Merchants Quay, Dublin 8; 01-5298732
There is meat and sometimes fish (for the Wednesday evening suppers) at the Fumbally, but vegetables have always been centre stage. The thriving cafe was built on falafel: it was the only dish they served when they opened their doors. In the Stables, next door, a small fermentation factory makes jars of wonderful kimchi, preserved lemons, miso and fermented garlic paste, which make for a truly delicious plant-heavy diet. CC
Groundstate Coffee
48-50 James's Street, Dublin 8; 083-8820258
More than just the coffee shop you'd assume from the look of the place, this has been a seriously great addition to James's Street. Chefs here prepare meat dishes, but their vegetarian options are more than half the offering, and they source their vegetables from the hero supplier McNally Family Farm. CC
The Rocket Man Food Co €
38 Princes Street, Cork; 021-4278550
Vegetarians, vegans and those who simply enjoy eating their greens have food heroes in Jack Crotty and his business partner (and mum), Simone Crotty. Try the plant-based quick food of the Rocket Man Food Co on Princes Street or at Mahon Point and Douglas farmers' markets, or check out their falafel bar, East, housed in the historic Winthrop Arcade. AMcE
