48 hours in Dublin, your 2025 intinerary of the best places to eat and drink

Catherine Hanly 17 April 2025

Despite being second generation Irish and heading over to Ireland every couple of months, we'll admit that Dublin isn't the place we know best. That was until we recently spent a long weekend eating and drinking our way around the city.

Having done all the legwork, research and ingested the calories, we've put together a 48-hour itinerary of some of the best places to eat and drink in the city in 2025.

Where to stay

The Marker (centre) on Grand Canal Square in Dublin

Anantara The Marker

Grand Canal Quay, Docklands, Dublin, D02 CK38

This five-star luxury hotel is right on the waterfront at Grand Canal Square. It's about a 15-minute walk from the centre, or a quick bus or taxi ride, with the benefit that at night you get to escape the more lairy parts of Dublin city centre and swap them for the relative peace and quiet of the waterside. It's owned by Minor Hotels (which also owns the Wolseley Hospitality Group in London).

It's an ultra-modern place to stay and we loved every part of it, from the Irish breakfast iced tea dispenser in reception to the old-fashioned welcome that we got from every member of staff.

Junior Corner Suite with ALL the views at the Anantara The Marker

The room

We got upgraded to a Junior Corner Suite with a view, which is now frankly the only place we want to stay in Dublin. That meant wraparound views over the canal, a massive bathroom and plenty of room to chill out, or work if you needed to. It was also very quiet at night.

The fun bits

There's a full-sized spa complete with infinity pool, relaxation rooms and gym. If you're persuaded to treat yourself, we'd recommend the Elevate treatment, which was an hour of having the most amazing Irish seaweed-based products massaged into our skin leaving us looking much less like someone who's terminally online and never switches off.

Where to eat and drink

Here's how we spent 48 hours eating and drinking our way around Dublin.

Day One - Lunch at Lena

1 Windsor Terrace, Portobello, Dublin 8, D08 HT20

We arrived in Dublin at lunchtime, so we had just enough time to throw our bags in the room before heading out to one of Dublin's hottest new restaurants. If the weather had been slightly more clement, or we'd had more time we could simply have followed the canal path from our hotel to Lena.

Right by the canal is where you'll find Lena

We'd secured a coveted Friday lunchtime booking just before the publication of an amazing review in the Irish Times calling it 'the perfect restaurant'. We hear it's booked out for months now, but you might be lucky with a walk-in seat at the counter.

The team behind this neighbourhood Italian are also responsible for the much-hyped Dublin spots Uno Mas and Etto. Everything we had here was blindingly good, from the lardo toast and seasonal seabass crudo with blood oranges to the ossobuco.

Ossobuco with risotto Milanese at Lena

Drinks at the Fitzwilliam

127/128 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, D02 HE18

The lounge bar at this hotel on St Stephen's Green has just had quite the makeover and it's now the perfect spot for an early evening sharpener, whether you're opting for something from their new Bloody Mary menu or a classic cocktail, as we did.

The lounge bar at The Fitzwilliam

A casual dinner at Chimac

76 Aungier St, Dublin 2, D02 XR70

Slap bang in the middle of town, Chimac is a vibey Korean chicken restaurant from the team behind Butchies in London, celebrating Korean chicken know-how alongside Dublin pub culture. On the menu is a mix of chicken burgers, KFC, some must-have sides and some very, very good sauces. The beer list is an almost exclusively Irish offering, with our Blue Ghost pils from Dublin Brewery Whiplash a perfect pairing for all that spice.

Our top tip - buy a bottle of their amazing Great Taste award-winning sauce to take home with you.

The Good Good burger (ssamjang and cheddar cheese sauce with a honey and jalapeno relish and habanero mayo), bacon cheese fries and Korean fried chicken nugs with sriracha caramel pour over.

Drinks and small plates at Row Wines

Coppinger Row Unit, City Assembly House, Dublin D02XC61

Run by the Bereen brothers, who also own Charlotte Quay and newly-opened Coppinger, this funky wine bar definitely needs to be booked in advance. They say they take inspiration from Tokyo’s Japanese-style listening bars. We weren't all that enamoured with the bar food we tried, but both the natural wines and DJ vibes were great. They also have a large outside dining area if the weather happens to be good.

Natty wines and croquetas at Row Wines

Post-drink snacks at Bambino

37 Stephen Street Lower, Dublin, D02 T862

Ever since it opened in 2022, this pizza slice shop has had a perma-queue outside which didn't appear to go down at all the entire weekend we were there.

There's always a queue at Bambino

It's about a 15-minute wait which, in our opinion, was worth it for the vodka slice and the Vito (a burrata, hot honey and pepperoni combo). The ingredients are mostly well-sourced from Irish producers. As for drinks, there's one white, one red, a Grower champagne and their own range of beer on offer, along with soft options.

Worth the wait - pizza slices at Bambino

Day 2 - Breakfast at The Marker

We absolutely love a hotel breakfast buffet and the one at The Marker didn't disappoint. Bread with honey dripping straight from the comb and a range of interesting fresh smoothies were just the prelude to the hot section. We went for eggs royale with locally smoked salmon and a full Irish that, of course, included both black and white pudding.

Beholding the breakfast buffet at the hotel

Lunch at Allta

1 Three Locks Square, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, D02 A5W7

After a quick run around the docks to work off breakfast and make room for lunch we took a very short walk to our next restaurant which was just a few blocks away. Set right beside the Irish offices of JP Morgan, we're pretty sure that Allta does a storming weekday business with the finance bros. At the weekend though, it's a much more laid-back affair.

We were here to try the much-vaunted burger that's only available in the bar. We were hoping to add in some snacks from the main restaurant menu, but they maintain a strict bar/restaurant divide so that wasn't possible. In the end, we had some very good Cromane Bay oysters with mignonette and fermented hot sauce as a prelude to the burger. The chef here is Niall Davidson, who's ex-St John and Chiltern Firehouse.

40-day-aged burger with Woodtown Jerseys beef, shitake miso butter and a fermented potato bun from No Messin bakery in Dublin.

Dinner at Forbes Street

The main hotel restaurant at The Marker turns into Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins in the evening. Having sat down for a chat with Gareth the day before, he was at pains to tell us that the restaurant sets great importance in its relationship with some of the best producers in Ireland. So the beef comes from Longford's John Stone butcher (which sounds like a character in Game of Thrones but is actually a 50-year-old business specialising in amazing dry-aged Irish beef). The oysters come from Flaggy Shore over on the West Coast and even the ricotta in the salad is Irish-made from Toonsbridge in Cork.

Each of the Anantara hotels offers what they call a spice market experience, dropping guests right into the heart of the country's food culture. If you opt for that here in Dublin, Gareth will take you out fishing in the Irish Sea, then to a smokehouse just outside Dublin followed by a bakery lesson back at the hotel so you can make soda bread.

Scallops with Granny Smith apples and hazelnuts

Our waiter, Made, presenting the restaurant's tomahawk steak, aged with Pearse Lyons whiskey, before cooking

The same steak, served up with asparagus and peppercorn cafe au lait sauce.

After-dinner cocktails at BAR 1661

1-5 Green St, Rotunda, Dublin, D07 YT6H

This amazing bar needs to be on everyone's Dublin list. Owner Dave Mulligan is behind poitín brand Bán and the drinks list here celebrates Irish makers (the name itself references the year that poitín was declared illegal by the British). It's an extremely friendly spot that's also super popular, so you'll need to book in advance.

Look out for their new, more central bar, The Sackville Lounge, which opened a week after our trip and is already getting good press.

Round Towers - Glendalough gin, Micil , aquavit, kiwi, lemon sherbert and celery (15 euros). We also had a Barrel & Bone made with Jameson Black Barrel, Irish black butter and bone marrow which we can strongly recommend.

Day 3 - Pre-lunch pint at The Palace Bar

21 Fleet St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 H950

Our last day in Dublin started off rather quietly after a late night out the night before. But we rallied by watching others exerting themselves in the inaugural Dublin City half marathon, which was taking place. Having worked up a thirst vicariously, we headed into the centre of town to check out one of the pubs recommended to us by The Devonshire's Oisin Rogers.

Looking for a perfect central Dublin pub? If you head to the Palace Bar, you can't go wrong.

Osh had urged us to come early and sit at the bar with a paper, enjoying all the chat. But we timed our visit too late, so had to settle for a standing pint in this historic pub. Back in the day, this was the watering hole of folk such as Brendan Behan and Seamus Heaney and today's owner Willie Ahearne maintains the pub brilliantly. The Guinness, as you might imagine, was incredibly good.

Lunch at The Seafood Café by Niall Sabongi

Unit 11, Sprangers Yard, Unit 11 Fownes St Upper, Temple Bar, Dublin, D02 EC60

We were first introduced to this seafood spot in the heart of touristy Temple Bar by Dublin Food Tours a few years back. Chef-owner Niall prides himself on serving up amazing sustainable seafood and for our last meal in Dublin, we had a pretty perfect fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce that set us up nicely for the trip home to London.

A perfect cod and chips in Temple Bar to send us on our way.