Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland
80% regulars. Book before they do.
Dax is a Michelin Plate-recognised cellar restaurant in Dublin's Georgian quarter, with a French-influenced menu built on prime Irish produce and a repeat-customer rate that speaks for itself. At the €€€ price tier with easy bookings and a 4.7 Google rating, it is a dependable choice for a special occasion dinner without the high-pressure formality of a starred room.
Dax is the right call for a long, unhurried dinner with someone you want to impress: a date, a client, or a family occasion where the room needs to match the moment. The Georgian cellar setting on Pembroke Street Upper, near Fitzwilliam Square, does exactly that — white tablecloths, leather upholstery, and the kind of low-ceilinged intimacy that makes conversation feel deliberate. If you are after a buzzy, modern dining room, look elsewhere. If you want a restaurant that has clearly earned its regulars, this is a strong candidate. First-timers should know that Dax operates at the more formal end of Dublin's €€€ tier, with a French-influenced menu built around prime Irish produce: Wicklow Gap sika deer, Celtic Sea scallops, and the kind of sourcing that signals a kitchen taking its ingredients seriously.
Walking down the steps into Dax's basement is the first signal that this is not a passing-trend restaurant. The décor holds a classical quality , think white linen and leather rather than exposed brick and pendant bulbs. The room is characterful and, according to Michelin's own language, clamorous in the leading sense: this is not a hushed, intimidating space, but one with genuine life to it. For a first-timer, that distinction matters. Dax sits in Dublin's historic Georgian quarter, and the setting earns that address rather than merely occupying it. Service is a notable part of the offer here. Michelin specifically names front-of-house as a reason diners return, which is an unusual detail to surface in a guide entry and worth taking seriously when you are deciding where to spend at the €€€ price point.
The French influence on Dax's menu extends naturally to its wine list, and a restaurant of this profile and longevity in Dublin's Georgian quarter typically runs a wine program that matches the kitchen's ambition. For diners making a drinks-led decision, Dax's French-leaning menu is a reliable indicator of a cellar weighted toward Burgundy and Bordeaux styles, with the kind of list that rewards a conversation with the sommelier rather than a quick scan. The bar program here is not the primary draw in isolation , this is not a venue you visit for cocktails alone , but as part of a full dinner, the drinks offering is coherent with the overall positioning. If you are comparing against Dublin venues where the wine list is a genuine differentiator, Dax belongs in that conversation. For a pre-dinner drink in the area, our full Dublin bars guide has current options near Fitzwilliam Square.
The detail that approximately 80 percent of Dax's diners are repeat customers is the single most useful piece of information on this page for a first-timer deciding whether to book. Restaurants at this price point in Dublin compete for the same discretionary spend, and a repeat rate that high is not accidental. It reflects consistent kitchen output and front-of-house reliability over time, not a single strong review cycle. Dax holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, which confirms quality cooking without the pressure-cooker expectation of a star. For many diners, that is actually the more useful credential: you are booking a restaurant that Michelin considers worth flagging, in a room that regulars choose to return to, without the tasting-menu formality that a starred room often requires.
Dax is located at Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2, D02 AK20, a short walk from Fitzwilliam Square in the city's Georgian quarter. The €€€ price tier places it in the mid-to-upper range for Dublin dining, below the top tier occupied by Patrick Guilbaud and Matsukawa but above the accessible end of the market. Booking is rated easy, which is useful context: unlike some Dublin restaurants at this quality level, you are unlikely to be hunting for a table weeks in advance, though a special occasion booking should still be made with reasonable notice. For a broader sense of what is on in Dublin, see our full Dublin restaurants guide, our full Dublin hotels guide, our full Dublin experiences guide, and our full Dublin wineries guide.
If you are combining a Dublin trip with travel around Ireland, Dax sits in the same quality bracket as several strong regional options. Liath in Blackrock is the closest suburban comparison. Further afield, dede in Baltimore, Bastion in Kinsale, Terre in Castlemartyr, and Homestead Cottage in Doolin represent strong options if your itinerary takes you outside the capital. For comparison at the international level, the French-influenced modern cuisine that Dax represents has its clearest counterparts in venues like Maison Lameloise in Chagny. Within Dublin's own fine-dining tier, Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, Glovers Alley, allta, Variety Jones, and D'Olier Street each offer a different angle on what serious Dublin cooking looks like in 2025. Dax's distinction is consistency and setting rather than conceptual ambition , a meaningful difference depending on what you are after.
Book Dax if you want a reliable, atmosphere-rich dinner in a Georgian cellar, French-influenced food built on strong Irish produce, and front-of-house service that Michelin considers worth naming. At €€€ with an easy booking window and a 4.7 Google rating across 639 reviews, the risk is low. It is not the most forward-looking restaurant in Dublin, but it is one of the most consistent , and for a first-timer or a special occasion, that is often more valuable.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dax | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Dublin’s historic Georgian quarter is home to this well-established restaurant, located in the cellar of an old townhouse near Fitzwilliam Square. The décor has a classical quality to it, with white tablecloths and leather upholstery. There’s a French influence to the menu, which offers simple yet flavourful dishes that make the most of prime Irish produce like Wicklow Gap sika deer and Celtic Sea scallops.; Michelin Plate (2025); Eighty per cent of the diners in Dax are regular customers. This seems like an astonishing figure, until you eat Graham Neville’s food, and enjoy Olivier Meissonave’s service, and realise that you would like nothing better in life than to be one of those happy folk regularly walking down the steps to this characterful, clamorous basement.; Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Patrick Guilbaud | Irish - French, Modern French | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Bastible | Modern Irish, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Host | Nordic , Modern Cuisine | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| mae | Southern, Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Unknown | — | |
| Matsukawa | Kaiseki, Japanese | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
How Dax stacks up against the competition.
The venue database doesn't confirm a standalone bar or counter-dining option at Dax. Given the classical, white-tablecloth setup in a Georgian cellar, this is a sit-down dining room rather than a drop-in bar. Contact them directly via the Pembroke Street address before planning a bar-only visit.
Dax is a cellar restaurant with a classical, intimate setup — not a space that scales easily for large parties. It works well for small groups of four to six where a proper table dinner is the plan. For larger corporate or celebration groups, check availability directly; the room's character suits a private hire format better than a shared dining room.
Book at least two to three weeks out, and further ahead for Friday or Saturday evenings. With roughly 80 percent of diners being regulars, the room fills with returning customers who know the schedule. Last-minute availability exists, but don't count on it for a specific date.
Dax holds a Michelin Plate for 2025, which signals cooking that meets Michelin's quality threshold without reaching star level — solid value at the €€€ price point if French-influenced Irish produce is your format. The menu draws on ingredients like Wicklow Gap sika deer and Celtic Sea scallops, so it suits diners who want seasonal, produce-led cooking rather than elaborate multi-course theatre.
Yes — it's one of the stronger calls for a special occasion dinner in Dublin. The Georgian cellar setting, white tablecloths, and service led by Olivier Meissonave give it the atmosphere a celebration dinner needs, and the Michelin Plate recognition backs up the kitchen's consistency. For a lower-key occasion, Bastible offers a similar quality level in a less formal room.
Patrick Guilbaud is the move if budget isn't a constraint and you want two Michelin stars; it's a different tier of formality and price. Bastible in Portobello runs a shorter, tighter menu at a lower price point with a more relaxed atmosphere — good if the cellar formality of Dax isn't your preference. Mae suits diners who want a plant-forward approach at a similar €€€ bracket.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
