3 superb restaurants in Dublin that won’t hurt your wallet

Dublin is a fantastic place to go out for an evening meal but Dublin is not a cheap city to eat out in.

Nobody likes to cook when they’re on holiday, we’d much rather spend our time outside, experiencing the sights and sounds of whatever wonderful place we’ve ended up in.

However eating out every night can really begin to add up, especially if you are holidaying somewhere for more than a couple days, and as said before, Dublin isn’t cheap!

Here at Primabl I like to write about places where people can secure a decent meal for a decent price.

The travel price checker website: priceoftravel.com denotes a budget meal to cost from around €8-15 and that’s exactly where these following places lie.

O’Neill’s

I first ate at O’Neill’s on Christmas Eve last year. While I typically don’t like to go out and eat that close to Christmas because I feel bad for the service workers who don’t really know what it is to have days off over the Christmas season.

However this year I was busy working as a bartender in the city and this was actually one of the few days I had the chance to actually go out, so I did!

O’Neill’s is in such an easy location to find. Just off Dame St and before South William Street the popular pub and restaurant is a synch to locate.

What I like about O’Neill’s is that it is very clear on what it is – a warm and welcoming Irish pub & restaurant that makes you feel like you’re having dinner in your grandmother’s house, except with potentially more booze.

One cuisine Ireland pubs and restaurants do very well is a carvery. I have enjoyed my share of carveries so far in my life but nothing compared with what O’Neil’s had on offer.

Beef, ham, turkey, and lamb shanks decorate the chopping boards like a foire of meat. . . that might just be the carnivore in me talking but the carvery looks seriously delicious.

Carvery isn’t the only thing on the menu however with cooked to order courses for all palettes. I am not the only one singing O’Neill’s praises with Lonely Planet rating them as one of the top five places to find real Irish food in Dublin 

Mexico to Rome

Just like O’Neill’s I only discovered Mexico to Rome recently with my girlfriend and I couldn’t believe how nice the food was for the price of it.

The restaurant is intimate. This isn’t a sprawling restaurant with booths that could fit eight or more people but rather a perfect close setting, perfect for a date night.

Located in the heart of Temple Bar chances are you’ll walk right past it when you are in Dublin. Main course here again are in the €13-15 range but what really makes this special is their early-bird menu.

From 12-7pm Monday-Sunday you can get a starter and main course here for €13.95, with the option to add your first glass of wine for €4.

I don’t know about you but I love Mexican and Italian food and if you are going to give me a place where I can order quesadillas followed by pasta carbonara I’m going to go there a lot!

The carbonarra here is rich but light in texture at the same time and the quesadillas bring me back to NYC – where I tried quesadillas for the first time! Honestly this place is a gold mine. You’re getting popular cuisine, in the heart of Dublin City, a warm and welcoming atmosphere, AND two courses for just under €14, you’d be mad not to go here!

Yamamori

I am a big fan of seafood in particular sushi and norimaki. Yamamori have a spattering of restaurants around Dublin but Yamamori Sushi is situated on Ormond Quay. Looking from the outside in you wouldn’t expect this restaurant to be as big as it actually is when you walk in.

Yamamori offers some wonderful specials and sushi specials that can go up to €20 and over. However if you want fresh seafood without breaking the bank you can get a Norimaki roll for just under €10.

I usually get the Ebi Tempura Masago with Wasabi Mayo Norimaki and it is amazing. I can be a creature of habit sometimes in my favourite restaurants but I wouldn’t hesitate to try the other amazing menu items this restaurant has!

The point of this article is to prove that eating out in city-centre restaurants doesn’t have to cost a lot if you know the places to go! Whether you are travelling through or have lived in Dublin all of your life, these three restaurants are perfect for a great night out that is easy on the pocket.