Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland
Atmospheric cellar dining at a fair price.
Peploe's is a Michelin Plate-recognised Mediterranean restaurant in a former bank vault beneath St Stephen's Green. At €€€, it delivers consistent cooking, a serious Old World wine list, and one of Dublin's most atmospheric dining rooms. Booking is easy and the value is genuine — a strong choice for visitors who want quality without the €€€€ price tag of the city's top tables.
Yes, book it — especially if you want a Mediterranean meal in Dublin that delivers real quality without demanding a special-occasion budget or a month-long wait for a table. Peploe's holds a 2025 Michelin Plate, sits on St Stephen's Green, and has earned a 4.4 from nearly 940 Google reviews. For a relaxed, warm room with a well-trained team and a serious Old World wine list, it punches above its price tier. First-timers should know: the cellar setting and clubby atmosphere make this one of Dublin's more atmospheric dining rooms, and the cooking backs it up.
Peploe's occupies the former vault of a bank beneath 16 St Stephen's Green — a subterranean room that carries the weight of its past in the leading possible way. The walls are solid, the proportions are intimate, and a large mural of the owner gives the space a personal character you don't find in hotel dining rooms or newer restaurant fit-outs. The name references the Scottish Colourist painter S.J. Peploe, and the artistic sensibility runs through the room's warmth without tipping into pretension.
The kitchen runs a classic Mediterranean menu: the kind of cooking that prioritises technique and ingredient quality over trend-chasing. This is not a place reinventing what Mediterranean means for a Dublin audience , it's a place doing the fundamentals well, consistently, for a clientele that returns because it works. The Michelin Plate designation (2025) reflects exactly that: good cooking, properly executed, worth knowing about. It's not a star, but a Plate signals that Michelin inspectors found the food worth flagging, which at this price tier carries weight.
The wine list leans Old World and is taken seriously here. For a room at the €€€ price point, the depth of the list is one of Peploe's genuine differentiators in Dublin. If wine matters to your evening , not just as background to the food but as part of the decision , this is the right room. For comparison, you'd pay significantly more for equivalent wine programme depth at [Patrick Guilbaud](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/patrick-guilbaud-dublin-restaurant) or [Bastible](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bastible-dublin-restaurant), both of which sit at €€€€.
Walk in knowing the room is downstairs , it's a cellar restaurant, so expect low ceilings, candlelight weight, and an atmosphere that feels genuinely enclosed in a way that works in winter and on wet Dublin evenings. The team is described as well-drilled, which in practice means service that moves with purpose and doesn't need to be chased. For a first visit, that consistency is reassuring: you're not rolling the dice on an off night.
The setting on St Stephen's Green puts Peploe's in easy reach of the city's central hotels and most tourist-facing accommodation. If you're staying nearby and want a dinner that feels like a proper evening out rather than a tourist trap, this is a sound choice. Visitors who have already done the obvious Dublin restaurants and are looking for something with more atmosphere and cooking substance than the city-centre mainstream will find Peploe's delivers on both counts. For a wider view of where Peploe's sits in the city's dining picture, see [our full Dublin restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/dublin).
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is one of Peploe's practical advantages over higher-profile Dublin dining rooms. You don't need to plan weeks ahead to secure a table, though booking a few days out is sensible for weekend evenings given the room's size and the venue's reputation. The Michelin Plate recognition for 2025 will push demand modestly, so the further into the year you're planning, the more lead time is worth building in.
If you're visiting Dublin during peak tourist months (June through August) or around major events, treat the Easy booking rating as a baseline rather than a guarantee , check availability earlier than you think necessary. For context, a comparable Mediterranean experience with Old World wine depth at this price tier elsewhere in Ireland includes [Campagne in Kilkenny](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/campagne-kilkenny-restaurant) and [Bastion in Kinsale](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bastion-kinsale-restaurant), both of which can be harder to get into during busy periods.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Leading For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Guilbaud | Modern French / Irish-French | €€€€ | Special occasion, full Michelin experience |
| Bastible | Modern Irish | €€€€ | Serious tasting menu, adventurous palates |
| Peploe's | Mediterranean | €€€ | Atmosphere + quality at a step-down price |
| mae | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Contemporary, lighter touch |
| Host | Nordic / Modern | €€ | Value, informal, weeknight dining |
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peploe's | Mediterranean Cuisine | €€€ | An atmospheric cellar restaurant – formerly a bank vault – named after the artist. The comfy room has a warm, clubby feel and a large mural depicts the owner. The well-drilled team present classic Mediterranean dishes and an Old World wine list.; Michelin Plate (2025) | 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 Peploe's stacks up against the competition.
The cellar room has a warm, clubby feel that suits groups well — the intimate atmosphere works in a private-dining direction rather than against it. The Michelin Plate-recognised kitchen is set up to deliver consistently across a table, which is reassuring for larger bookings. For parties of six or more, call ahead to confirm seating configuration. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so coordinating group reservations is less fraught here than at higher-profile Dublin rooms.
Bastible in Portobello is the closest match in tone: serious cooking, accessible pricing, no performance anxiety. If you want to step up to a full fine-dining format, Patrick Guilbaud is Dublin's two-Michelin-star benchmark, but expect a significant price jump and harder booking. Host and mae are both worth considering if you want something more contemporary and less Old World in feel. Matsukawa is a different category entirely — Japanese rather than Mediterranean — but competes for the same mid-to-upper spend bracket.
The kitchen focuses on classic Mediterranean dishes, and the Old World wine list is a genuine draw alongside the food. Lean into both: the wine list is described as a strength, so ask the team for a pairing recommendation rather than ordering blind. Specific dishes are not published in available detail, so check the current menu on arrival or check the venue's official channels at 16 St Stephen's Green.
At €€€, yes — Peploe's holds a Michelin Plate (2025), which signals cooking that meets a recognised quality threshold without the surcharge of a starred room. For that price in Dublin city centre, you're getting a properly atmospheric setting, a well-drilled service team, and an Old World wine list that punches above the room's profile. If your priority is value-to-quality ratio over novelty, it competes well against similarly priced Dublin options.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so a few days' notice is typically sufficient rather than weeks. That said, weekend evenings on St Stephen's Green fill faster than midweek, so book three to five days out to be safe. The ease of booking is one of Peploe's practical advantages over higher-profile Dublin dining rooms where demand outpaces availability.
Tasting menu availability and format are not confirmed in available venue detail — check the venue's official channels at 16 St Stephen's Green to check current menu structure. What is confirmed: the kitchen delivers classic Mediterranean cooking at €€€ with a Michelin Plate (2025), and the team is described as well-drilled. If a tasting format is available, the Old World wine list makes it worth pairing properly.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
