The dish

Bottles in the post to retirees of some distilleries have fed rumours of pensions paid in the golden stuff. There’s some history behind the myth.

“Batter man or something. I don’t know what they call me.”

Dim sum chef Li Xiu makes about 400 dumplings a day. Each month, she teaches others how.

Tequeños are similar to cheese sticks. Luis Jorquera and Saul Rondon are experimenting with some extra heat, too.

“What do you want?” he asks. “Full pig, full sheep, full chicken, smoked ribs?”

It’s trying to kit out the premises in a way that emphasizes a zero-waste and packaging-free approach, says Sam Toland.

Romica Stingaciu stands for a few moments in the doorway of his bakery in Coolmine Industrial Estate and breathes in the cold damp air before stepping back inside, into a muggy atmosphere of rising dough and preheated ovens.

Methods of serving periwinkles have changed over time. Traditionally, though, they are boiled in seawater and the fleshy meat is pulled out with a pin.

Several pubs across the city have rolled out these smaller glasses in the past few years, trying to match strength or price and quantity. 

Juan Ramon Sanchez-Gil might make more reselling croissants at hiked up prices, he says. But he wants people to come and learn to eat Spanish omelettes, arepas and cachapas.

The menu at the The Electric Vegan is a little different to the fare found in other vegan restaurants. You won’t find any soy, carrots, broccoli, or refined sugar here.

Last month, staff at the Guinness archive discovered this 19th-century map of the city’s drinking establishments.

The steak, chicken and vegetarian options are all seasoned with Randy Howard’s own signature spice blend. Perhaps, down the line, they might add some smoked brisket.

After moving from the Liberties, they’re looking to build up a strong Sunday market, link in with local schools, and spread the word, says co-owner Christy Stapleton.

Apart from baos, Nikki Wong also makes matcha cookies, and tapioca-coconut “chews”.

Once the last of his customers have left, Cristian Proca closes his Stoneybatter chipper and steps into the kitchen to work on his gelato.

In Dublin restaurants, Chinese food is usually delicate, seafood-based Cantonese or tingling hot Sichuan. Dongbei cuisine is salty, hearty, and sour.

“We mix flavours,” says Carlos Sakai. Guests can go from the more traditional salmon nigiri to rolls with avocado. Or, they can opt for dessert rolls with fruits and Nutella.

The Office of Public Works used to let people grill in designated spots in the park.

Morocco Gate Restaurant will have tagines and couscous, of course. But there will also be chips with ras el hanout – a North African spice blend – and other unusual dishes.

There might be jerk chicken, Jamaican patties, plantains, and more. But it’s not just about the food, says Nick Reynolds. “It’s a gathering … It’s a candlelit dinner, good people, a long table.”

“I grew up thinking chocolate was just one flavour, one experience,” says Simran Sethi, ahead of her public lecture on the subject on 14 May. “Then you start to see.”

“It’s vital, I think, that you use the freshest ingredients,” says Chef Philip Chen.

These Irish-Polish pierogi include a sauerkraut-and-wild-mushrooms version, garnished with glazed aubergine with rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup.

His all-you-can-eat meet-up is a chance for many in Dublin’s Spanish community to get a taste of home.

“If Mauritius had a national dish, I’d say it’s dholl puri,” says Reshma Sumluchun, setting down two fluffy, tear-apart pancakes filled with fresh butter beans, curry leaves, onions, turmeric, tomatoes and chilli.

Crisp and golden, these small, teardrop-shaped snacks tempt hungry passers-by through shop windows across Dublin. For Brazilians they’re a national treasure, best enjoyed with a cold Guaraná.

Venue staff can end up taking home some unusual leftovers from dressing rooms.

“Chef wanted” signs are common across the city. There’s a shortage of chefs, and they often move from job to job, or out of the industry.

After a few collaborations, Barry Wallace has struck out alone with Páng, a Vietnamese restaurant specialising in rolls: Peking duck, smoked salmon, prawn and mango, teriyaki tofu, and more.

Early next year, Shane Reilly and Killian Stokes plan to launch an app to let customers in Ireland trace their coffee right back to the farmer who produced it, through the roasters, washers and transport workers, to their cups.

“I remember as a child seeing my mother making them in a griddle inside the shop. Our flat was just above and it smelt so good,” says Gregory Autret. 

“The old-style people in Hungary have it only with garlic,” says Zoltan Gerber. But there are all kinds of other toppings too.

“The thing that struck me when I first walked in here was that I felt like I’d just walked down a little side street in Korea,” says one customer. “It’s a little hidden gem.”

And cinema-goers in Coolock like it weird. “Guests in Coolock would … ask for a little tub of the [nacho] cheese so they can dip their popcorn into it,” says Sinead O’Neill of Odeon Cinemas.

“Back home, it’s a very special dish for us,” says Shakeer Khaja.

Traditionally, the tonnes of spent grain leftover from the city’s breweries have been sent to farms around the country to feed livestock. Now, some bakers are playing with other uses.

Alon and Dana Salman have kept the menu simple for now, with – among other dishes – soft pitas, fresh falafel, and tangy tahini.

As chefs Ken Doherty and Gwen McGrath raid the market stalls in Temple Bar on a recent Saturday, they reveal a little about how they cook their dishes.

Dublin City Council plans to transform the beautiful Victorian market building from a wholesale spot into a retail attraction. Current traders say they may not survive the changes.

There’s a story behind each version of Dublin coddle – a story about tradition, about family, and, often, about poverty.

Two foodies offer cosy supper clubs in the city, giving Dubliners the chance to dine and chat over a showcase of Mexican cuisine.

Imran Rahman’s deli offers fresh and crispy samosas, spicy dals – and Punjabi cooking lessons so you can learn how to do it all yourself.

Falling Fruit locates unwanted fruit in back gardens and orchards around Dublin, and gets it to people who want it. The organisation is looking for more volunteers.

Since he opened his shop Ayla last week, Erol Basak has been enthusiastically sharing samples of pastries and sweets with those who stop by.

“Around the Table” gathers stories about food, from the Docklands to Stoneybatter, from the coddle wars to cows colliding with cars in the Liberties.

At least two different places have started to offer the Hawaiian staple.

One woman says she got chicken from the direct-provision centre’s shop that was two months past-date. The centre’s management refutes this in “the strongest possible terms”.

At the back of Frank Ryan’s pub, a blue gazebo offers fresh, hot pizzas for vegetarians, vegans, and meat eaters.

Jamshid Kamvar has been working for almost 20 years to change how Dubliners see kebabs. Now, he’s hoping to roll out more restaurants.

While many associate Chinese food with sweet, sticky sauces, there is another, more authentic set of dishes available to those who ask.

Takara is Johny Xin and Jimmy Pei’s second restaurant in the city.

After a pilot at Mosney, a new system for providing food to asylum seekers may be rolled out to other centres. But many have unanswered questions about how, and why, it has been set up.

The soundtrack in a restaurant can affect everything from how long people linger, to how much they drink, to what the food tastes like to them.

It takes Rafea Abdelrazek weeks to make his air-dried, spice-crusted beef.

Some Dubliners are seeking out what they see as healthier hot drinks, and trying to cut out the caffeine.

While Admiral bills itself as a mainly Russian restaurant, the menu includes Eastern European dishes, as well as some from the Caucuses and Central Asia.

Holly Dalton is delighted that 3fe is the first in Dublin to be recognised as “sustainable” by the UK-based Sustainable Restaurants Association (SRA). She hopes others will follow.

Since discovering the art of fermentation in 2015, Indigo Micciche’s been experimenting with all kinds of ingredients. Now Micciche’s ready to share recipes.

George Stamopoulos points to the meat, rotating on spits behind him. This is gyros, he announces, as if introducing an old friend.

Back in November, Labour Councillor Mary Freehill kicked off a meeting with a complaint about the amount of food on offer. But what do councillors usually get?

You can walk past Little Italy without realising that, inside, you will be welcomed with an espresso and aisles and aisles of the finest Italian foods.

It all started about a decade ago, when a few regulars asked if they could eat some of their favourite cheeses inside, with a cold pint. By now, it’s become a tradition.

Nageh Shaaban opened his restaurant, Oasis, in 2013. But he believes that word is just starting to spread.

Even in the midst of a housing shortage, the city is dotted with vacant and derelict properties. We’ve mapped 389 of them and we’re open to more suggestions.

As part of the Designated Driver campaign, pubs and restaurants have for 12 years been offering sober drivers free soft drinks.

No matter who sits down on the red twisty stools by the counter of Little Mac’s in George’s Arcade, Alan Smartt seems to find something to talk to them about.

Innovative Solutions recruits tasters of all ages, from adults to judge Guinness, to children to rate jelly sweets with smiles or frowns.

Explore how Dublin City Council plans to spend its €862.5 million budget in the coming year with this handy data visualisation.

“It’s closer, cheaper and better than the supermarkets,” says student Sarah McCabe.

Meals are under €10, and are usually served in less than 10 minutes. “I would find the same flavour back home,” says Hector Romero, who is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Twenty-nine Dublin restaurants are taking part in Dine in the Dark to raise money for the National Council for the Blind.

Why, in the Barry’s versus Lyons debate, does the treatment of workers on tea estates rarely come into it?

Some residents in Churchtown say they’re being turned away from their newly opened local pub, but there’s not much they can do about it.

Dublin shops and supermarkets put out seasonal bags of monkey nuts each Halloween as a nod to tradition, but sales have slowed over the years. Why that is, depends on who you ask.

Amid the grandeur of Baggot Street, Ismael Yildiz’s kebab shack has been sat for 36 years like a leftover piece of a movie set.

Jarrod Cuffe and Baz Gargan have experimented with 65 flavours – from lime to hawthorn berry – for their new range of bitters. They’re hoping to have them in stores in late October.

“If you eat lunch in here you don’t need to have any dinner,” says owner Hamo Muhadzic.

Inside the newly reopened Lincoln’s Inn, owners Ian Lacey and Shane McCloughlin have acknowledged its literary legacy without descending into garish excess.

“If someone genuinely needs to make a call, they can get up and go outside like a smoker does,” says Stephen Mooney of The Gingerman on Fenian Street.

At a lab in the North Inner City, a PhD researcher is trying to work out how to use flours and extracts from crickets, mealworms and silkworms to make something yummy.

At Mark Senn’s new restaurant, try the Korean-style starter with an Ethiopian injera-based main, washed down with a pina-colada type mix.

At Cakes N’ More in the north inner city, Venu Sood cooks up affordable Indian snacks from poha and panipuri, to fresh, hot samosas.

A guy and a girl finish their meal, and the server automatically brings the bill to the guy. Is this sexist? Does it matter?

Have you noticed that there’s more kimchi on menus these days? Aoife Martinho and Dom Breslin have come up with a local version they hope will catch on.

Eric Nolan started to work in kitchens when he was 14. After years of slogging it out, he’s making a name for himself with his cakes and pastries.

There are Polish food stores all over the city, but many Dubliners are still probably more familiar with Italy’s sausage offerings than with Poland’s.

For the past four years, Café Delice owner Mustapha Kahal has opened his doors throughout Ramadan for local Muslims.

It seems like there’s a new one opening every week somewhere in the city. Is this a coffee-shop bubble? Or are they here to stay?

The caramel’s taste is pierced by a hit of Irish sea salt; as the creamy gelato melts, it leaves big chunks of chewy golden caramel.

With its Naples-style pizzas, Dublin Pizza Company aims to combine the best of Italian cooking techniques with the finest Irish produce, said founder Michael Ryan.

Customers come to Brendan’s Café from the early houses, from the flats, and from the nearby fruit and veg market for the breakfast. Inside, very little has changed since the place opened in 1985.

So far, 280 streets in Dublin have registered to host street feasts. It’s not hard to join them and throw a party on 12 June, says Sam Bishop.

The Social Hops project lets people become part of a great hops-growing experiment, which should lead to some first-of-their-kind beers.

Spiked with lemongrass, ginger and turmeric, and naturally fizzy, Gerry Scullion is selling his unusual brew as a healthy alternative to sugary soft drinks.

The corner cafe on Coppinger Row and Clarendon Street looks likely to close there by the end of the month.

Every year or two since 2009, John Farrell has opened a new restaurant in the city: The Butcher Grill, Dillinger’s, 777, Super Miss Sue, Luna. And he’s not done yet, he says.

Phil Martin and Lily Ramirez-Foran are on a mission to get Dubliners to appreciate the earthy flavours of real corn tortillas.

For Annet Mphahlele, polenta is more than just polenta. It’s a reminder of Uganda, a reminder of her mother, and a healthy break from chicken nuggets.

The landlord has shuttered the 16-year-old food court, leaving its future unclear, and its restaurants scrambling for new locations.

Every six weeks, Dubliners with ideas for how to make the city better will pitch to Dubliners with questions about how it’ll work. And they’ll all eat soup.

If you’re a coffee-shop squatter, Fia might be your new favourite home away from home. Try the peas on toast: crushed peas and sweet-onion purée on toasted sourdough, topped with pecorino cheese and a fried egg.

Last week, media reports indicated that two of the city’s favourite burrito bars had been hit with Food Safety Authority closure orders. Here’s what happened.

From 18 to 20 March, you’ll be able to get your Dublin Bay prawns prepared every which-way. And if you’re not into shellfish, there’s always fish and chips.

The decor is Indian kitsch, with colourful posters from Bollywood films and vintage Air India adverts on stripped-back walls.

Campari cake with grapefruit and black sesame. Rhubarb, juniper and rosewater cake with Hendrick’s Gin icing. Baker Kate Packwood experiments with some unusual flavour combinations.

Just when you thought you had all the coffee-related paraphernalia that you could need, Andrew Douglas of Urban Farm has plans to launch a new kit to help you grow food on your grounds.

In the last couple of years, Bodytonic has opened one pub after another, expanding into neighbourhoods far from the city centre. What’s their plan?

It’s the Year of the Monkey, and the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival is in full swing for the next couple of weeks. Here are a few food-related events you might consider.

If your dog or cat is healthy, it’s not that risky to have them around when you go to grab a pint. So what’s the HSE thinking?

Grace and David Lambert saw the need for a deli with all manner of fresh and local produce. Enter, their new store: Bang Bang.

You don’t even know where Pomerania is, do you? But if you go to one of chef Eric Heilig’s monthly pop-up meals, you’ll know what it tastes like.

The Vintage Kitchen, one of the city’s most desirable dining spots, has spun off a sister restaurant. This one: the Little Kitchen. But is it really possible to clone a thoroughbred?

Always wondered how to use seaweed in your cooking? You can sprinkle it over chips, add it to your pasta, or stir into your chili con carne, says seaweed seller Paul O’Connor.

Russell Wilde threw open the doors of Richmond restaurant about two weeks ago. On the menu: high-end dining in a casual environment.

Yes, there are Irish wines. David Llewellyn makes them from grapes he grows in his County Dublin vineyard, and sells them at off-licences and markets in city. His best so far? His 2014 cabernet-merlot, he says.

For a year now, Real Bread Ireland has been trying to increase standards by promoting a simpler approach.

Sure, the decoration’s a bit much at first, but give in. You could go for lunch here every day for a year and still manage to spot new details.

Licences for casual trading are hard to come by, but that hasn’t stopped a few hardy food truckers from finding a way to ply their trade.

After a good stroll around the harbour on a crisp winter’s day, there’s only one place to head for a portion of steaming chowder.

The chef at Delahunt restaurant on Camden Street has a collection of antique cookbooks from the 1800s that he turns to for inspiration.

Chickweed and hairy bittercress salad, anybody? Chef Niall O’Sullivan shares the delights of foraging in Dublin’s inner city and on its fringes.

You’d see this a lot in Korea, I ask, a restaurant in the back of a supermarket? Not really, no, he says. (This post includes both an article and a podcast.)

Most Indian food in Dublin restaurants is from north India. South India offers a whole different cuisine, which you can get here if you seek it out.

Delish Melish marshmallows come in flavours including beet-and-lime, made from real beets and limes, and vanilla-and-rhubarb, made from home-grown rhubarb.

Skip the chicken fillet roll, there’s something far more interesting to be had at the Ugly Ducklings in George’s Street Arcade and the Epicurean Food Hall, writes Sarah Maria Griffin.

At 3FE café, coffee addicts can learn how to make the perfect brew. But beware. The effects are lasting.

Two Dublin spots have launched new craft cocktail menus since the end of July, tapping into the buzz around authentic drinks.

Boba tea is about as far from the cuppas we make at home as you can get. More often than not, it’s blue or green. It’s cold. It’s full of tapioca pearls or candy-like popping jellies.

The owners of new restaurants Klaw and Catch 22 have a similar aim: to get Dubliners hooked on fish again.

The suspended-coffee movement took off in Dublin a couple of years ago, but it has met with mixed success. Some cafes have struggled to give away coffee.

Daniel Campos came to Ireland five years ago, and has opened what’s being touted as the first pasteleria in Dublin, serving sweet and savoury stuffed Brazilian pastries.

A cafe, a restaurant, a bar: Berlin D2 will be whatever you want it to be. Want a raclette night? OK. Want an elephant-juggling venue? Just don’t drop them.

Chef Farid Tadjine sells his sticky sweet kalb el louz each year during Ramadan at Camden Halal on Lower Camden Street. Get it while you can.

From June until September, picnickers will descend on Smithfield Square each Sunday in an attempt to liven up the often barren plaza.

The Dublin dining scene hasn’t been a particularly dog-friendly one. Slowly but surely, thanks to places like the Dog House Blue’s Tearoom, that seems to be changing.

Put the cans away. With the upcoming Gin & Tonic Fest and a new Dublin gin down the line, the city looks set for some classy summer tipple.