Carluccio's Caffe
52 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 , City Centre South, Dublin

We had lunch here - main courses pretty good - pasta, green salad, gnocchi good. Rosemary potatoes not great - slightly uncooked. The pannacotta was good despite a bad newspaper review. The biggest disappointment was the chocolate meringue with blackberry - 2 of us had ordered this - big, big mistake. A huge splodge of a meringue, over cooked and really hard, 5 blackberries and the tiniest amount of blackberry sauce. We asked for some cream which helped a bit. This looked so good on the menu and was extortinately expensive at about €7.35. It could have been so nice and just looked a mess. Wine was fine but expensive enough. Service was pretty good considering it was St. Patrick's Day and they were heavin with a queue out the door. Not sure I will go back which is disappointing as I love Carluccio recipes.

Harrys Kitchen Restaurant
22, Dawson Street, Dublin

We went for an early bird and were very impressed. Really good choice and we were all happy with our choices. Good service and €21 for 2 courses is good. Looking forward to the next visit!

South William
52 South William Street, South William Street, Dublin

This is my new favourite lunch place! Excellent pies - try the chicken and leek. Perfect pastry with a really good green salad. Service with a smile and even asked if the music was too loud!

Mao Restaurant (Chatham Row)
2-3 Chatham Row, Dublin 2, City Centre South, Dublin

Glad that Mao is back. New lunch menu is pretty good, a little pricy at times. I had the spicy chicken wrap which was very good along with a large salad and a couple of spicy crackers was perfect for lunch. The cha han is better than the competition. Good place for a crowd - not the place for a romantic meal.

The Lobster Pot
9 Ballsbridge Terrace, Dublin 4, Ballsbridge, Dublin

Had dinner there last night. The waiters were really friendly and helpful and the service was impeccable especially as it was Valentine's night which generally means the most appalling service. The food was excellent - only one quibble - the vegetable wasn't great. The selection was seasonal and therefore hopefully Irish but the cheese sauce on the cauliflower wasn't cooked properly and tasted really floury and the cheese was missing! Very expensive but worth it. I will definitely be back.

Hugo's
6 Merrion Row, Dublin 2, City Centre South, Dublin

Hugo's has just opened - We had lunch here last week. The service is excellent - a really lovely waitress. Really good lunch menu - reasonable prices and great selection. We tried out pretty much the whole dessert menu - really good. Presentation was excellent. Only quibble was that the steak was a little tough. We will definitely be going back!

Saba
26-28 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2, City Centre South, Dublin

I have been here for lunch and dinner. Food is excellent and the cocktails good. Atmosphere is great but the service lets it down especially in the evening. The bane of Dublin - 2 sittings. We were handed our bill at 8.30 after waiting quite a while for pudding as well as taking plates before everyone is finished their course. And why do they have such cheap chopsticks. I ended up using a fork, as I couldn't bear them. Even the cheapest street restaurant in Vietnam and Thailand have better quality chopsticks. A real pity because the food is really, really good.