Introduction to Dublin’s Steak Scene
Irish beef is famous worldwide, and Dublin’s steakhouses offer everything from cosy pubs to upscale restaurants, all serving up delicious cuts sourced from local farms.
What Makes a Great Steakhouse
A great steakhouse experience is about more than just the meat on your plate—it’s a combination of several key elements that come together to create a memorable dining experience.
Meat Quality: At the heart of any great steakhouse is the quality of its meat. Premium cuts sourced from reputable suppliers or local farms ensure that diners enjoy the best flavours and textures.
Ageing Processes: Aging is a crucial step in enhancing the flavour and tenderness of beef. Dry ageing and wet ageing are the two primary methods used by steakhouse chefs.
Cooking Techniques: Cooking steak to perfection requires skill and precision. Whether you prefer your steak rare, medium-rare, or well-done, a great steakhouse will have expert chefs who know how to cook each cut to the desired doneness while preserving its juiciness and flavour.
Accompaniments and Sides: A great steakhouse knows that it’s not just about the steak—it’s also about the sides and accompaniments that complement the main dish.
Expert Recommendations: Dublin’s Premier Steakhouses
Hawksmoor was inspired by a labour of love to find the best possible beef and perfect the seemingly simple art of cooking steak. After years of dreaming, planning, tasting and touring. The menu revolves around the best ingredients they could find – whether it be beef from small Irish community farmers, dry-aged for 35 days and simply grilled over charcoal
FIRE Steakhouse & Bar is a multi-award-winning venue located in the heart of Dublin city centre, in the popular Dawson Street and St. Stephen’s Green vicinity.
Your personal server will be happy to explain the origin of all of the dishes, pairing them with wine recommendations should you wish from the extensive new and old-world wine selection that won’t disappoint. Their signature dishes of Wood Fired Jumbo Tiger Prawns, and their succulent award-winning Irish Hereford Prime Irish Steaks come highly recommended.
Featherblade restaurant is a unique steak-only eatery using the best techniques to turn the often overlooked yet delicious cuts of meat into something special. The creative techniques applied to the meat allow for regular changes to the menu.
Marco Pierre White’s idea of simple is old school: elegant dishes prepared using the finest ingredients by chefs trained in London by Marco himself. The deceptively simple menu demands every dish earn its place: the choicest cuts of meat, freshest fish, classic sauces. The restaurant offers a grown up, relaxed, playful vibe in an opulent setting. Come for lunch, early bird, dinner and arrange group lunches and dinners.
Boeuf & Coq is situated on Suffolk Street in the heart of Dublin. They only use prime-cut Irish beef and free-range Irish chicken. All their steaks are aged between 28 – 35 days. Each steak is cooked to your preference. Their chicken and steaks are brushed throughout the grilling process with virgin oil blended with Boeuf & Coq signature seasoning. Presented on a hot seasoned cast iron plate with sautéed French onion croutons.
They also have two more restaurants
Boeuf – South William Street
Boeuf & Frites – Temple Bar
Welcome to Dublin’s newest dining venue, brought to you by Executive Chef Roberto Rapisardi. Bringing a unique style of flame-fired cooking with Ireland’s first Hornos HBE® charcoal oven and the best locally sourced produce, Hellfire aims to bring you the finest smoked, flamed and roasted food experience.
Millstone Restaurant is located at the heart of the city centre on Dame street. Specialising in steaks, they offer 7 different cuts of meat with a great variety of other choices on their a la carte & early bird set menu.
Bovinity opened its doors in June 2022. Located at 123 Capel Street, Bovinity launched as the only ‘Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar,’ North of the river. Perfectly capturing an intimate yet vibrant ambience, Bovinity created a cavern-style space for you to relax and enjoy. Irish ingredients are at the core of Bovinity creations, from succulent cuts to signature cocktails.
At the Trocadero, they pride themselves on being Dublin’s theatre restaurant. They have attracted stars of the stage and screen for over sixty-six years and diners from Dublin and beyond are brought back to St. Andrew Street time and again by excellent food and a wonderful atmosphere. Their cooking style is simple and meticulous. Visitors are treated to wonderful fish dishes, excellent steak, lamb, and enticing desserts. Irish suppliers are encouraged and locally sourced food is favoured.
Quite simply a menu designed to support the very best of homegrown produce. The food is assembled in an uncomplicated way that relies on its freshness to shine through as a real hero. They are committed to bringing to the plate all that is great from the best of Irish produce, at a time when it is important to support the value, effort and commitment of Irish producers and farmers
The attention to detail with every meal is fantastic. Their rib-eye steaks, homemade sausages and calamari just have to be tried. Their expert chefs use only the finest ingredients, sourced locally from the most reputable butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, and artisan bakers, and internationally from carefully sourced specialist food suppliers. The beef is hung for 21 days for optimum flavour and tenderness.
Focused on crafting thoroughly modern Irish cuisine, our chefs are masters of the art. This is only appropriate given the gorgeous ornamental interiors, inflected with Art Deco stylings, that make Morelands Grill a delightful eatery.
Quality is where we begin. Perfectly plated dishes showcase the finest locally sourced ingredients, paired with expertly selected wines. Our meat is sourced from Rick Higgins, a fourth-generation Master Butcher, based in Sutton Cross, County Dublin. Steaks are cooked on a Josper Grill at over 500 degrees Celsius, the intense heat locking in the natural juices for optimum flavour.
One of the best American-style steakhouses in the country situated on Stephen’s Green overlooking the park, this is the place to come for a perfectly done filet mignon. Housed in a beautifully restored Georgian building, Shanahan’s comprises the downstairs Oval Office bar and the first and second-level dining areas.
A true meat-lovers paradise, FX Buckleys have four different restaurants and grills dotted around the city centre.
Offering an extensive range of Irish craft beers, numerous international bottled beers, and a large selection of whiskeys, the FX Buckley collection is one for beer lovers and whiskey connoisseurs alike. All of their fresh meat comes directly from their butchers on Moore Street. The beef is dry-aged so that with each bite your experience in the cosy surroundings becomes more enjoyable!
Darwins Restaurant is an intimate 130 seater restaurant located just five minutes from St. Stephen’s Green. It has been nominated for numerous awards, including Best Restaurant, Best Steak and Best Customer Service.
A Cut Above
When dining at Dublin steakhouses, you’ll find a variety of steak cuts, each with its own unique characteristics in flavour, tenderness, and texture.
Popular Steak Cuts
Ribeye
Characteristics: Known for its rich marbling, which contributes to its robust flavour and tenderness.
Preparation: Best enjoyed grilled or pan-seared to medium-rare or medium to allow the fat to render and enhance the flavour.
Flavour Profile: Juicy, beefy, and flavourful with a buttery texture.
Sirloin
Characteristics: A leaner cut compared to ribeye, with a good balance of tenderness and flavour.
Preparation: Suitable for grilling, broiling, or pan-searing. Often cooked to medium to preserve its tenderness.
Flavour Profile: Less fatty, slightly firmer texture, with a mild beefy flavour.
Filet Mignon
Characteristics: Cut from the tenderloin, this is the most tender cut of beef with very little fat.
Preparation: Best cooked quickly over high heat, such as grilling or pan-searing, to rare or medium-rare to maintain its tenderness.
Flavour Profile: Mild, buttery, and melt-in-the-mouth tenderness.
T-Bone/Porterhouse
Characteristics: Combines two cuts: a tenderloin on one side of the bone and a strip steak on the other.
Preparation: Ideal for grilling due to its large size. Best cooked to medium-rare to medium.
Flavour Profile: Offers a combination of the tenderness of filet mignon and the flavour of a strip steak.
Exotic Steak Cuts
Tomahawk
Characteristics: Essentially a ribeye steak with a long bone left intact, resembling a tomahawk axe.
Preparation: Grilled or roasted, often served medium-rare to medium to ensure the fat renders properly.
Flavour Profile: Similar to ribeye—rich, juicy, and flavourful with an impressive presentation.
Fire Restaurant & Grill – Tomahawk Steak
Picanha
Characteristics: Popular in Brazilian cuisine, it’s cut from the top of the rump and typically has a thick layer of fat.
Preparation: Often grilled whole on skewers or sliced into steaks. Cooked to medium-rare to medium.
Flavour Profile: Rich, beefy flavour with a juicy, tender texture, enhanced by the fat cap.
Featherblade- Picanha Steak
Map: Navigating Dublin’s Steakhouses
Conclusion: The Evolving Landscape of Dublin’s Steakhouses
Dublin’s steakhouse scene thrives, blending traditional Irish roots with modern culinary trends. Steakhouses will offer diners an exciting mix of local, sustainable, and globally inspired dining experiences as they continue to evolve.
