The Friday 5 #56 Irish special

3 good restaurants, 2 great pubs, 1 stunning gallery (oh, and an incredible pinot noir bargain ...)

Wow, what a week! Three nights in Galway, two nights in Dublin. I’m broken …

The reason for going was to attend the opening of Hawksmoor, Dublin (above) but I decided to make a (very) long weekend of it. 

I apologise for banging on about Hawksmoor but as most of you know it was founded by my son Will and his childhood friend, Huw Gott and I’m ridiculously proud of what they’ve achieved. 

They’ve taken over some great buildings but this may just be the best and most beautiful yet, housed in the former National Bank building on College Green.

If you’re a Hawksmoor fan, the menu will be familiar but there are a couple of new dishes you might want to try if you go there: the Irish coffee tiramisu and the wildly extravagant Dublin Lawyer (above) which is a whole lobster baked with whiskey, cream and Cáis na Tíre cheese which from both a cost and a cholesterol point of view you might want to share (as we did between the four of us!). Really outrageously good.

Oh, and not Ireland-related, but a tip-off that most UK supermarkets have a 25% off deal again this weekend including Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco (for Clubcard members). Seems like the only time to buy wine now is a bank holiday weekend. Haven’t got time this week to post a long list of recs but there’s one below you absolutely shouldn’t miss if you’re a pinot noir fan.

(Sorry, sorry! I know that’s an exasperating tease but it would be great if you’d upgrade to a paid subscription, even if only for a month … You’d save that on the pinot alone.)