Despite promising ourselves that we will go to Zest for dinner some night we again headed there for breakfast. And what a breakfast. As good as I have tasted. Fresh tasty with no grease, its a full Irish with little guilt. My wife had poached eggs on a bagel and they were perfect. The orange juice was lovely and the service prompt and friendly. The only reason its not five stars is the fact we havent been more adventurous. Maybe when we get over for dinner. Which again this morning we promised ourselves we would.

Zest is a great little bistro. Open all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We eat here several times month and the food is always good quality, well prepared and very tasty. I would say it's a little bit pricier than a similar bistro would be in Dublin, but that's to be expected, as they don't have so much competition. I'd also recommend the takeaway pizza, much higher quality than you'd expect from a takeaway.

Happened upon this place while out cycling with a friend and we popped in for brunch not expecting too much from somewhere tucked out of the way. We both really enjoyed our eggs benedict, excellent hollandaise sauce which can often be quite poor in places. Brought my fiance back for dinner and we really enjoyed our evening there, food was great. My chocolate desert was everything a chocolate lover could hope for! I had the pate brioche and it was quite good, and the chicken for main. I hardly ever order chicken but it sounded so good I just had to this time and I was not dissappointed. My partner ordered the asparagus to start which was gorgeous and the lamb kofta for main which I did not taste but he assured me was delicious and filling. We both had a glass of the house red and it was good. Zest represents great value for money, a nice ambiance and staff/service were great. I could not fault them. This restaurant will definitely become a regular for me.

On our recent visit to Zest we were delighted to see that all the elements that make it a great restaurant are still there; excellent fresh wholesome food, fantastic wines, friendly staff and buzzing atmosphere. We were even more delighted to see that their menu is even better value than before and thankfully this hasn't compromised portion sizes or food quality. My only complaint was biting down on a completely frozen potato wedge in my side order. It was very off putting and I couldn't eat any of the wedges after that. Having mentioned this to the waitress, I was disappointed to find that I was still charged for the side order.

Brought my in-laws to Zest cafe for pizza and beer. The crust of the pizzas are thin and crispy and there are plenty of toppings on the pizza. We actually found that pizza was all we needed as they're big and very tasty. Have been there before and the food and service has always been to a very high standard. Would recommend!

My partner and our toddler ate lunch here on Tuesday after a lovely walkin Donadea forest, we have eaten hee many times, both for lunch and dinner and have never been disappointed by the service, and the quality of the food. In particular the wraps with salad or chips at ten euro are a lovely lunch. I had the Cajun chicken salad(special) which was fresh and light, my partner had the Hake (fish of the day) which was lovely and fresh, our two year old had the tomato and mozzarella pasta (enough to feed several children, and delicious). For dessert we had the warm chocolate pudding with coconut ice cream and the lemon tart with clotted cream, both excellent, lovely meal, friendly staff and great value.

myself and my husband were lucky to stumble across this lovely bistro.We were in Clane over the weekend having secured a great value boards deal for the lovely Westgrove hotel. After arriving too early for checkin we took a walk through the village. I saw the sign for Zest. We like eating in small bistro type restaurants as opposed to franchises. We were not dissapointed. My husband had the soup which was thick and creamy, I had a club sandwhich with chicken and bacon. The decor is light and airy and the staff friendly and efficient. We enjoyed our lunch so much we went back the next day for our dinner before heading home. Again we were not dissappointed with our choices. Good portions of well prepared tasty food. If I'm ever in Clane again I would be happy to return to this lovely bistro

I had a great meal with my family in Zest last Sunday evening. The service was impeccable, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the food was delicious. We shared portions of the calamari and the garlic bread to start. Both were very fresh and tasty, the calamari having no chewiness that is so common in restaurants that serve the frozen stuff. The ribeye at €17, including chunky floury chips, is brilliant value. It was cooked to perfection, chargrilled on the outside, pink and juicy in the middle. My pizza was to die for. The wine list is well thought out. I cannot rate this place highly enough, and I just hope the standards are maintained for my future visits!

Highly recommended. This is by miles, one of the best restaurants around and I feel so lucky to have it so close by. The atmosphere, staff and food are all outstanding. We were a party of 4 and I had my 25% off voucher with me also. I can safely say that there was virtually nothing I could fault. My steak, ordered medium rare was to die for and perfectly cooked. The carmelised onions and bernaise sauce made the meal. The chunky chips were amazing and definitely home made. My only tiny quibble would've been the bernaise sauce being served on top of the steak as it continued to cook and was just about to curdle so maybe ask for it on the side but if that's my only complaint I'm happy. They have new banana/cinnamon and melon ice-creams which are unbelievable too. I cannot wait to go back. Thank you Zest!!

Went to Zest for lunch on Monday and had a lovely meal. I had the chef's special which was a delicious pasta dish and my partner had the goats cheese salad with a side order of gorgeous spicy wedges. Had the pear and almond tart with two lovely hot coffees for desert all of which were delicious. This place is very good value and the food is excellent. My only compliant would be the grumpy waitress, she obviously doesnt like Mondays!!!!!! but we will return for the lovely food.

I had the Char grilled venison sausages, smoked bacon, rosemary & thyme cassoulet - very elegant meal tasty also

We regularly sit in or order takeout and Zest has the best pizzas in Clane. Their Lamb pizza is the best and my daughter loves the chick and bacon. very polite and professional staff. Though it can take a bit long to get your takeout pizza.

We ve been coming here since it opened and Zest is highly regarded as a good local restaurant. The menu at 23 euro for three courses offers good value .The GLFs chicken dish was good while my steak was cooked as ordered. We both enjoyed the calamari starters,very tasty. The wines by the glass here offer great value and a chance to enjoy a variety of decent wines at a good price. Perhaps the skate has been too long on the menu as the fish choice but the Zest always offers great value with good service in a pleasant atmosphere.

Visited Zest for early evening dinner at 6pm with a friend of mine who lives in Clane. I was instantly taken by the lovely decor in the place, beautiful and relaxing without being fussy. I was also surprised by the number of people around for a Tuesday evening, and there was a steady flow of diners arriving throughout our meal. We both opted for the early bird (all evening Mon-Thurs), 3 courses for €23. As I had steak there was a €2.50 supplement which was still good value as some of the mains on regular menu were nearly that price. We both had lovely soup to start, I had the steak for mains and my friend had a really tasty duck pizza, something we'd never had on pizza before. I finished with a lovely creme brulee which was not on the set menu so I had to pay extra for it. The only thing I didn't really like was that my steak came completely covered in bearnaise sauce which was quite heavy, I'd have preferred if it came on the side and I could pour it over as much or as little myself. Overall a very pleasant evening.

Once again, Zest scores 10 out of 10. Well done management & all staff, it is always a pleasure to visit your lovely Restaurant.

very nice restuarant, the food is good , nice wine list , service is very good and is the type of place that i will frequently visit .

We came across this café bar by accident after a visit to the dentists in Clane Hospital. We were looking for somewhere to eat lunch and this was conveniently located next to the central car park, so not expecting much we decided to give it a whirl. WOW! Hurrah for Zest - a café bar that gets it all RIGHT! The restaurant itself is beautifully clean, fresh and modern with an airy continental feeling. Like a Paris café. The waiting staff, in spite of being busy to the point of run of their feet, had everything well under control and the flow of the meals was timely, but at no point did you feel harrassed by them. They were mannerly, prompt, and anticipated our needs well. The food is utterly delectable. I ate the Penne Arrabiata, which the kitchen kindly adapted without fuss to remove the chili so that my young daughter could eat a portion of it, and it was delicious. For dessert I had the Pear and Almond Tart with cream. I just don’t know how to recommend this highly enough - like heaven on a plate! Seriously the best one I have ever eaten, and I have eaten many! My partner said his food was equally fresh and fabulous - he had the Home Made Vegetable Soup, the Crab Cakes and the Chocolate Cake dessert. We cannot recommend this place highly enough, it was excellent and we will certainly be eating there again. We might not even wait for our next scale and polish!!

This is a great restaurant and a regular haunt of mine. Always good value, great food and friendly service. There were two of us on the last visit. We had the tartlet and pate for starters - both excellent. Excellent pasta to follow and a delcious creme brulee to finish. A nice thing about this retaurant is it has a fine selection of sparkling, white, red and rise wines avialable by the glass - a great idea when one of you has to drive. I have been hear many times over the years and have never been disappointed

Another fantastic meal – we generally visit for on Sunday evenings early but we decided to treat ourselves this time and go the whole hog!! What a meal – we began with pea & Mint soup for himself and duck roll for me – finger licking. For mains we had sirloin steak – it arrived just as we ordered and accompanied with CRISP sugar snaps and broccoli and pomme frites. I had the pork with daphnoisse potatoes. The potatoes were awesome best I have ever tasted. It is so good to get freshly cooked veg that is not carrots and turnip! Everything is cooked freshly here and you can tell by its flavour, taste and smell. We couldn’t end the night without a taste of dessert and decided to have the lemon tart and ice cream to cleanse the palate!! It was perfect and we had a latte and cappuccino to end the evening. We also had a glass of house wine (a little expensive but it was a treat) and a bottle of table water – this was free and chilled. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our night out, the restaurant was busy and the service was very attentive and efficient. We would recommend Zest to everyone for a romantic, family or friends night out.

There again last night but this time for a take-away. Super super food. Caesar salad, Greek salad, carbonara Italian potatoes, banoffi. good service, yummie Food: Great for the price Atmosphere: Top Marks Service: Poor BUT. I had a really bad customer service issue here and raised it with the owner. He dealt with it expertly. So overall a B Value: Very good I will go

ate here last night for the early bird and they had a really good selection. and very tasty. good value for money and the staff are very nice and friendly

I have only eaten here once for lunch and I have to say it was lovely. the food was so fresh and tasty. I had a lovely salad and the others had pasta and club sandwich, all of which seemed nice. Can't wait to try it for dinner!

Our first night out since our daughter was born and a good spot to have gone to. We arrived on the nail for our booking and were shown to our seats straight away - not something that can always be said. The menu was fairly extensive and I cannot remember one thing on it that I would not have been happy with and I am not always that easy to please, so a surprise. That said, I caught the smell of grilled steak on the air when parking the car behind the restaurant, so there was only ever going to be one outcome. The starters were delicious and to my delight my fillet steak was exactly as ordered - medium rare means pink all the way through, not cold in the middle and the chef here clearly knows both his cuts (not a morsel of fat) and his meat cooking. My wife was equally pleased with her chicken dish and the variety of flavours that had been combined. All in all a great night. I was tempted to mark down on atmosphere because there was a table of women that were very raucous, but then again they were race goers and that would not be the case every night thankfully.

exceptionally tasty food. loved every mouthful. even though im not from kildare. definitely will be back. not as expensive as dublin OF COURSE!

A little gem, have been here on a number of occasions and have never been disappointed. Lovely "clean" food, only one criticism, veg of the day (as described on the menu) always seems to be ONE veg, mangetout, that's a bit lazy in my estimation, as well as misleading. Otherwise, great and I'll keep coming back!

Posted a reasonably favourable comment a number of months ago about Zest, but with a few 'room for improvement' comments Had a good experience before Christmas- food for 4 -starters and mains- with a mix of choices, were all good- the venison especially (although was a bit over done) - will go back again soon to see but happy to recommend again- note to restaurant- keep up the creativity of dishes and stick to whats good and in season.

Doesn't live up to other reviews. I visited this restaurant with my partner after reading reviews on this site. My initial impression was positive. The restaurant itself is pleasantly decorated and the seating plan is good. It was very warm inside though. The staff were friendly, perhaps a little over-friendly. I don't like to listen to someone I don't know talking about their recent holiday. The menus were handed to us and we spent about 10 minutes perusing its impressive contents. After we made our choices, we were informed that one of our choices (tuna starter) had been off the menu since the previous Friday - 2 days ago! I told the waiter that it was a poor show not to have told us this before we made our choices. I was then told that they had just run out which contrdicted the previous statement. Why lie? I teasingly asked was there anythng else off the menu only to be told that the champ was also off. This annoyed me. We made our choices again - Grilled Oysters and Baked Tartlet to start with 2 rare fillet steaks for main. The starters were very nice indeed. Both the steaks however were Extremely salty which ruined the dish. I complained about it. We asked for the bill. It was incorrect - they charged us for water that we hadn't ordered. We paid and left. Overall experience was very poor. A horrible steak for 30 Euro and mistakes galore!! I definitely won't be back.

I love love love this place! You have to have the calamari and then the choc pud....mmmmm

Myself and my wife were passing through clane and ate here. We had a starter of Garlic bread, which is impossible to get wrong, but somehow they did. The main course was ok but not particularily impressive for the price.

I love this place for lunch, athough haven't been for dinner. Really great service - attentive and helpful when the children are with us! The food is really tasty and a little different and reasonably priced too.

Have eaten dinner here on a number of occasions and we love it! Even the breakfast - a great start to a Saturday and a big treat.

My husband and I dined here twice while staying at the nearby K Club. The first meal was a Sunday lunch. I had potato and chorizo soup, followed by pork roast stuffed with a bread and fruit stuffing, and my dessert was lemon tart. My husband had the soup as well and grilled salmon, and organic Irish ice cream for dessert. We returned the next day for dinner. We both had chicken and basil soup, and I had a pasta with pesto, olives and grilled tomatoes, and my husband again had grilled salmon. All the dishes were extraordinarily fresh, beautifully prepared and served piping hot. Delicious! The wine selection is interesting and varied. And I must add that the service was so warm and friendly. Compared to the dining at the K Club, this was much better in terms of taste, freshness and innovation, and certainly offered more value for money. The atmosphere is contemporary bistro, comfortable and informal. I would definitely recommend the Zest Cafe for lunch or dinner.

My family and I eat here on a regular base. It perfect! Friendly and obliging staff, great food and with a do anything for you attitude which I love with I have the family. A must go to restaurant in Kildare!

I had a meal here on a Friday evening a few weeks ago after reading a few reviews on menu pages and I must agree this place is a little gem. Starters of Calamari and Crab Cakes were on the money as where the main's of Swordfish (perfectly cooked) and 10oz Sirloin. My only complaint would have to be the creme brulee, very disappointing. On a positive note though, the chocolate pudding with coconut ice cream was delicious. Staff were excellent, knew their job very well and I will certainly be back again....

Ate in this café today and was impessed with the mood, food, decor and service. A little gem in a busy town.

Have eaten here on many occasions and have found the food and service to be good. On this visit however the service was not acceptable i.e. my husband had to ask for my starter and my accompaniment to my main course was sitting on the service counter for five minutes. This was just one quibble from numerous visits however. My husband loves their breakfast bagel with bacon and egg and relish.

Always lovely to eat here in Zest - the staff are friendly and the food tasty - would really recommend it if you can get a table!