Nowhere gets on this list of Ireland's best fish restaurants – part of our 100 best restaurants, cafes and places to eat in Ireland 2018 – through anything other than a commitment to great food. These are the places we have loved, that made us swoon, grin, relax, and feel hopeful, awed and, above all else, happy.
We've marked this year's newcomers and used a € to flag every place that serves a main course for less than €15.
The Seafood Cafe € NEW
The third and biggest fish in Niall Sabongi's Klaw empire, this brings the best of the crab shack on nearby Crown Lane and PoKe on Capel Street together under a slightly more roomy roof. Your fish and chips will be made with sustainable fish from Irish waters. The When I Was Six cold-water prawns fried in butter on a skewer might convert more of us islanders to the magic of our watery larder. CC
The Seafood Cafe, 11 Sprangers Yard, Upper Fownes Street, Dublin 2, 01-5153717, facebook.com/klawcafe
Fish Shop Benburb Street € NEW
Last year's list had the Queen Street Fish Shop on it. This year I've swapped my allegiance to the Fish Shop around the corner, on Benburb Street. Both are owned by Peter and Jumoke Hogan. One is a restaurant with a brilliant tasting menu, the other is a posh fish-and-chip shop with a menu that tastes brilliant. Juicy scallops roasted with seaweed butter were a memorable snack, with fish toasts made with house-smoked mackerel, anchovies and oysters in feathery tempura batter. CC Fish Shop, 76 Benburb Street, Dublin 7, 01-5571473, fish-shop.ie
Two Cooks
They don't only cook fish, but they do it particularly well in this canalside restaurant, where the two cooks are the husband-and-wife team of Josef Zammit and Nicola Curran. Turning cod skin into something as moreish as a Pringle and sousing mackerel so the skin sweetens to a beautiful shimmering silver are at least two of the beautiful things they do to fish and seafood here. CC
Two Cooks, 5 Canal View, Sallins, Co Kildare, 045-853768, twocooks.ie
The Global Village NEW
Nuala Cassidy and her husband, head chef Martin Bealin, handle their beloved local produce with the utmost care and attention. You'll find Dingle brown crab and west Kerry lamb on the menu alongside turbot with Glenbeigh mussels and black sole served with garden vegetables. The Global Village garden is on Mount Eagle, the most westerly mountain on the Dingle Peninsula. Vegetables grown on this sandstone bedrock are watered by the rain coming in from the Atlantic and served up in Cassidy and Bealin's restaurant. Bealin's classic cooking is a real-life lesson in seafood cooked to perfection. AMcE
The Global Village, Main Street, Dingle, Co Kerry, 066-9152325, globalvillagedingle.com
Reel Dingle Fish Co NEW
Waiting in the queue at the Reel Dingle Fish Co – and there's always a queue – can be an exercise in Zen patience. These fish and chips are so flipping delicious that even a few minutes' wait can feel unbearably long. The chips are golden and crisp on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. The fish ranges from cod to hake to smoked haddock to monkfish, not to mention the calamari, cooked in a golden batter. Grab a can of Cidona to go and eat straight from the bag. AMcE
Reel Dingle Fish Co, Bridge Street, Dingle, Co Kerry, 066-9151713, facebook.com/pages/Reel-Dingle-Fish-Co/215625311809768
