Siam Thai, which has restaurants in Dundrum and Malahide, has hit on a winning recipe. The family-owned business has marked 30 years in business with the launch of a new interior packed with art deco flair at its newest venue, in Rathmines, which has also seen the addition of a new private dining space for corporate events and special occasions.
Its owners, the Flanagans, have forked out the guts of a million euro on the restaurant, which is handily located on Castlewood Avenue, beside the Swan Centre. If you’re looking for a lovely new space for coroperate events, or just a great one for social or family occasions, it can cater for 60 seated and up to 90 standing. Check it out while at the same time enjoying its new eastern-inspired cocktail menu, with its new summer bites range of chicken satay skewers, duck spring rolls and honey crumbed prawns providing the soakage.
Winning formula
With all the talk of restaurant closures over the past year, it’s nice to celebrate those that have hit on a formula so winning as to have ridden merrily through all points of the economic cycle, numerous times, and still be merrily freewheeling away.
So it is with Limerick’s venerable Mustard Seed, which this year marks its 40th year serving up satisfied customers. Having started out in a thatched cottage in Adare, the country house and restaurant moved to its current location in Ballingarry, just 10 minutes away, in 1995.
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A Blue Book member, it remains a top-notch option for a culinary break, with dinner bed and breakfast breaks starting from 140 per person sharing. And if you’re planning a break with a pooch over the summer, it’s one of the most pet friendly places around.
Brunch of champions
Forget your big breakfasts, over the summer months you can’t really beat a big brunch, especially if you’re planning lazy days mooching in the city. This summer the very smart Nyx Hotels in Portobello and Christchurch are bringing back their much-loved themed brunch series, with DJs to provide the high energy vibes.
Treats range from brunch reliables such as avocado toast to supercharged items such as strawberry and vanilla cheesecake French toast – a serious combo. In all, the menu features a great mix of sweet and savoury flavours, including pulled pork with poached eggs, hollandaise and crispy hash browns; or vegan options such as roasted garlic hummus with chargrilled broccoli and sriracha. Brunch cocktails are flowing too and guests can avail of an optional “bottomless” drinks package for 90 minutes for €29.95 per person, making it the ultimate weekend treat.
Award-winning cocktails
On the subject of cocktails, if you’re looking for some great ones this summer Bar 1661, founded by Dublin’s entrepreneurial Dave Mulligan, continues to gain garlands at home and abroad. Among those picked up this summer alone is being awarded one of the top 10 cocktail menus in the world by the 2025 Spirited Awards, a gong which came right after winning Innovator of the Year at the Irish Restaurant Awards.
Hard to believe the venue, which sits on a quiet corner just off Capel Street, is only six years in business, such is its heft already. In April it opened a sister bar, The Sackville Lounge, on O’Connell Street, in a bid to bring a bit of old-fashioned glamour to the city’s most storied thoroughfare.
Mulligan is a busy man. Craft Cocktails, his award-winning range of ready-to-serve bottled cocktails, launched in the depths of Covid, is now stocked in more than 50 retailers, hotels and venues nationwide. He followed it up with Cuckoo Lane, a multifunctional cocktail factory, showroom, event space and private tasting room. He then partnered with Intrepid Spirits to launch Little & Green, a range of sparkling canned cocktails made with poitín. On sunny days you can catch rays as you clink glasses on its terrace overlooking St Michan’s Park. Bar 1661 is open seven days a week.
