Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland
Intimate Dublin dining that earns a return visit.
A wood-panelled, intimate room in Dublin city centre with a Mediterranean-Irish menu and a 2026 Star Wine List recognition. Booking is straightforward, the service team is experienced, and the atmosphere works well for dates and small celebrations. Not the place for large groups, but one of the more quietly accomplished rooms in the city at this scale.
If you're choosing between Comet and somewhere like Glovers Alley for a special dinner in Dublin city centre, the decision comes down to scale and register. Glovers Alley is a more formal, higher-production affair. Comet is smaller, warmer, and considerably easier to get into — and for a date night or a quiet celebration, that intimacy often works in its favour. The wood-panelled room, the compact menu pulling from Mediterranean and Irish traditions, and a service team that clearly knows what it's doing add up to a dining experience that punches above its modest footprint.
Comet earned a Star Wine List recognition in 2026, which signals a wine programme taken seriously — a meaningful credential for anyone planning a celebration dinner where the bottle matters as much as the plate. That puts it in a specific lane: this is a room where the food and wine are in genuine conversation, not an afterthought on either side.
The atmosphere at Comet leans warm rather than hushed. The room holds a good buzz on busy nights , enough energy to feel alive, but the compact scale means it never tips into the kind of noise that kills conversation. Wood panelling absorbs some of the ambient sound, and the overall feel is closer to a neighbourhood restaurant that happens to be very good than a destination that knows it's a destination. For a date or an anniversary, that's a genuine asset: you get celebration-grade food without the stiff formality that can make a special occasion feel like a performance.
The kitchen's approach is Mediterranean-influenced with a clear Irish core. Dishes are said to shine at their simplest , a bowl of plump baby tomatoes served in their own juices is cited as a marker of the kitchen's confidence in restraint. Start with the sharing snacks: the liver parfait with fermented blood orange is noted as a robustly flavoured opening move, and it sets the tone for a menu that takes its influences seriously without overworking them.
Seasonal rotation is the logic underneath the menu. Mediterranean-leaning kitchens that also draw on Irish produce are particularly well-placed to shift their offer through the year: spring vegetables and early-season Irish lamb in one quarter, late-summer tomatoes and stone fruit in another. If you're visiting in peak summer, the produce-forward simplicity of the kitchen's style should be at its most compelling. That's when dishes built around a single central ingredient , good tomatoes, good fish, good greens , have the most to say. If you're planning a birthday dinner or anniversary meal, summer and early autumn are the windows where the menu is likely to be at its strongest. Winter visits are still worth it for the wine list and the warm room, but the seasonal logic favours warmer months.
The service team is experienced and runs the room with skill , a relevant detail for special occasions, where a misread table can undermine an otherwise good dinner. At Comet, the size of the space means the team can actually attend to each table rather than manage a crowd.
Comet is a popular spot in Dublin city centre and fills up, but booking difficulty is rated Easy , which means you don't need to plan six weeks out the way you would for Chapter One or Patrick Guilbaud. A week's notice for a weekend table should be sufficient in most cases, though for a specific anniversary date you'd be sensible to book earlier. Reservations: Book ahead, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings. Dress: Smart casual is appropriate for the room , this isn't a black-tie setting, but it's not a jeans-and-trainers situation either. Budget: Price range is not confirmed in available data, but the Star Wine List recognition and the style of cooking suggest a mid-to-upper mid-range spend; factor in wine generously if the list is a draw for you. Address: 3 Joshua Lane, Dublin, D02 C856.
See the comparison section below for how Comet sits against its Dublin peers.
Outside Dublin, Liath in Blackrock, Aniar in Galway, and Bastion in Kinsale are worth knowing if your trip extends beyond the city. For a broader look at where to eat, drink, and stay, see our full Dublin restaurants guide, our Dublin bars guide, and our Dublin hotels guide.
Smart casual is the right call. The room is wood-panelled and intimate rather than formally dressed, and the service is polished but not stiff. A jacket isn't required, but this isn't a casual drop-in spot either. Think dinner-out clothes rather than office-casual , especially if you're coming for a birthday or anniversary where the room's warmth is part of the appeal.
The compact size of the room and the attentive, experienced service team make it a reasonable choice for solo dining. A small, well-run room in Dublin city centre with a strong wine list gives a solo diner something to focus on, and the buzz in the room means you're not eating in silence. If solo dining at a counter is your preference, check availability when booking , the layout isn't confirmed in available data, but smaller rooms in this style often have bar or counter options. For solo dining with a more Nordic, counter-friendly format, Host is also worth considering at a lower price point.
The room is described as compact, which typically means groups of six or more need to plan carefully. For a small group of three or four celebrating something, Comet works well , the intimate scale becomes an asset rather than a limitation. For larger groups of eight or more, the space may not flex easily, and you'd be better served looking at venues with private dining options. Chapter One and Patrick Guilbaud both have private room capacity if a group celebration requires it. Call ahead if you're planning a party of five or more , contact details aren't publicly confirmed, so enquire via the restaurant's booking channel directly.
The room runs warm and buzzy rather than formal — the wood-panelled interior and compact scale point toward relaxed confidence over black tie. A neat, put-together outfit works fine. Nothing in the Star Wine List recognition or the intimate, snack-and-share format suggests a strict dress code applies.
The compact size and counter-friendly buzz of a lively room make Comet a reasonable solo choice — you won't feel marooned at a large table. The sharing-snack format, including dishes like the liver parfait, translates well to a single diner ordering selectively. If solo dining is your main reason to go out, it works; if you want a quieter, more solitary experience, the good room buzz noted by Star Wine List may not suit.
The compact space is not designed for large parties — groups of five or more should call ahead to confirm availability, as the intimate scale makes big bookings tight. For a group dinner in Dublin city centre, it's a better fit for tables of two to four who want to share snacks and a bottle from what earned Comet a Star Wine List 2026 nod. Larger groups needing a private room or banquet setup should look elsewhere.
Comet is primarily known for its core concept and execution in Dublin.
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