I’ve put off writing about the Izakaya for a long time. It is, and has long been, one of my favourite places to eat and drink in Dublin. And I really don’t want you going there. During a rather intoxicating dream last year, where I spent a month falling in love with everything about Japan, [...]

I still dream entirely in complicated Japanese symbols. Jean and I had an amazing time there last May; I loved everything about the place. But I grumbled all the way home: Japanese food in Ireland could never match up to the real thing. I’d tried all the Japanese restaurants in Ireland and, frankly, none of [...]

Until recently the only Japanese food I tried was sushi and it turned me off the cuisine completely. My friend, who can’t and won’t cook, asked me around for dinner and produced a range of off the shelf sushi. It was a harrowing experience; I felt like one those z list ‘celebrities’ in the jungle [...]

Even though I work right in the middle of Dublin’s city centre, and have the choice of a huge range of places to eat, I still find feeding myself at lunchtime to be a hassle.  I’m usually looking for a lunch that balances convenience, value and nutrition; and unfortunately most cafe lunch offerings fall down [...]

We’ve mentioned the €9.99 salad lunch deal in Yamamori on the Quays in Dublin before, as I’ve thought for quite a while that it’s one of the best lunch deals around.  For your €9.99, you get a seasonal salad, a side dish (something like sushi or dumplings), a freshly squeezed juice and rice or miso [...]