Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland
Serious Irish cooking, neighbourhood prices.
A Michelin Bib Gourmand pub in Dublin 8 that earns its reputation on honest Irish cooking at genuinely accessible prices. Two consecutive Bib Gourmand awards (2024, 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating confirm it punches well above its €€ price point. Book ahead for evenings; walk-ins work better midweek.
Yes — and if you're after honest, ingredient-led Irish cooking without the fine-dining price tag, Spitalfields at 25 The Coombe in Dublin 8 is one of the clearest recommendations in the city. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025) confirm what its 4.7 Google rating across 455 reviews suggests: this place delivers consistent quality at a price point that makes it genuinely easy to justify. For first-timers trying to calibrate Dublin's dining scene, Spitalfields sits in the sweet spot between a local pub and a destination restaurant — it functions as both, and it does so without pretension.
Spitalfields occupies a historic pub building in The Coombe, one of Dublin's older commercial streets in the Merchants Quay area of Dublin 8. The space reads as a traditional Irish pub in the leading sense: worn in, unpretentious, with the kind of layout that tells you it has served a neighbourhood rather than performed for tourists. Seating is the kind that encourages you to stay longer than planned. Drinkers are welcome , this is genuinely a pub , but the majority of people arriving are here for the food, which signals something important about how the kitchen has earned the room's attention.
The atmosphere is warm rather than formal, and the staff are consistently described as charming and genuinely welcoming. For a first-timer, that matters: you will not feel underdressed, over-scrutinised, or like you need to have done homework before arriving. Come as you are, sit where you're pointed, and pay attention to what's on the menu.
Chef Naz Hassan runs a kitchen focused on traditional Irish cuisine, and the Michelin recognition is specifically for value , the Bib Gourmand is awarded to restaurants offering good food at moderate prices, not a consolation prize for venues that missed a star. The dishes mentioned in Michelin's own notes include oxtail and bone marrow Parker House rolls, which tells you something about the kitchen's orientation: these are unfussy, direct dishes built around good produce and technique, not concept-led plates designed to photograph well.
The approach is fresh and flavoursome with an emphasis on value. At the €€ price range, Spitalfields competes on a different playing field than the city's tasting-menu destinations, and it wins on its own terms. This is food you want to eat rather than food you want to document.
On the wine side, the database does not include specific list details, so expect a pub-oriented selection rather than a sommelier-driven programme. If wine depth is your primary consideration for a booking, venues like Bastible or Glovers Alley operate with more deliberate wine pairings. At Spitalfields, the drink of choice is likely to be a well-kept pint alongside the food, which fits the room and the price point entirely.
Spitalfields works well for a wide range of first-time visits: couples who want something genuinely local rather than tourist-adjacent, small groups looking for a relaxed dinner that won't require a bank transfer, solo diners comfortable at a pub table, and anyone who wants to understand what Dublin's neighbourhood dining culture actually looks like outside the city centre's more polished venues. It is not the right call if you're planning a long tasting-menu evening or a special-occasion dinner that needs to feel theatrical. For that, look at Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen or Patrick Guilbaud.
The Bib Gourmand distinction also makes Spitalfields a reliable recommendation for visitors to Ireland who want to experience honest Irish cooking without paying €€€€ prices. For context on what else the Irish dining scene offers at various price points, see Liath in Blackrock, dede in Baltimore, or Bastion in Kinsale , all operating in different registers but all confirmed by award recognition.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. The venue does not publish booking details in the current database, but given its profile , a popular neighbourhood pub with Michelin recognition , arriving without a reservation on a weekend evening carries some risk. A weekday visit or an earlier sitting on Friday or Saturday is the safer approach. The address is 25 The Coombe, Dublin 8, in the Merchants Quay area, which is walkable from Dublin city centre and accessible by several bus routes.
Dress code is unpublished, but the pub format makes the answer obvious: smart casual is more than adequate. There is no reason to dress up for Spitalfields, and doing so would feel out of place with the room.
For more on what else is worth booking across the city, see Pearl's full Dublin restaurants guide. If you're planning a wider trip, our Dublin hotels guide, our Dublin bars guide, and our Dublin experiences guide cover the rest of the city's most bookable options.
If you're exploring traditional cuisine at the Bib Gourmand value tier elsewhere in Europe, Cave à Vin & à Manger in Narbonne and Coto de Quevedo Evolución in Torre de Juan Abad operate in a similar spirit. Closer to Dublin, Homestead Cottage in Doolin, Terre in Castlemartyr, and The Morrison Room in Maynooth are worth tracking if you're moving around Ireland.
Quick reference: Spitalfields, 25 The Coombe, Dublin 8 , €€ pricing, Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 and 2025, Google 4.7 (455 reviews), booking difficulty Easy.
Spitalfields does not operate as a tasting-menu restaurant. It is a Michelin Bib Gourmand pub dining venue in the €€ price range, which means the value case is built around à la carte or set dishes at accessible prices rather than a long tasting format. If a tasting-menu experience is what you're after in Dublin, Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen or Glovers Alley are the right calls. At Spitalfields, the value is in ordering well from the menu rather than committing to a set progression.
It is a working pub that takes its food seriously, not a restaurant that happens to serve drinks. Most people who arrive are there to eat, but drinkers are welcome too. The atmosphere is warm and the staff are genuinely friendly, so there is no need to feel intimidated or over-prepared. It sits in Dublin 8 at The Coombe, slightly off the main tourist circuit, which keeps it feeling local. The Michelin Bib Gourmand (awarded in both 2024 and 2025) tells you the kitchen is cooking at a level above its price point. Go hungry, go relaxed, and avoid peak weekend hours if you haven't booked ahead.
Smart casual is the ceiling, not the floor. This is a traditional Irish pub with Michelin recognition for value cooking , nobody expects a blazer. Jeans and a clean leading are entirely appropriate. If you arrived in Dublin for a business trip and are heading straight from a meeting, you'll be slightly overdressed but not conspicuously so. Save the formal wear for Patrick Guilbaud.
The venue is a pub-format space, which generally allows for flexible group arrangements, but specific seat counts and private dining availability are not in the current database. For groups larger than four, it is worth contacting the venue directly to check arrangement options before assuming walk-in capacity. The €€ price point makes it a good-value option for groups compared to Dublin's higher-end venues, where a group dinner can escalate quickly. For groups who want a more structured private-dining experience in Dublin, D'Olier Street may be worth checking.
At the €€ price range with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards, the answer is clearly yes. The Bib Gourmand is Michelin's explicit stamp on restaurants that offer good food at moderate prices, and Spitalfields has held that recognition two years running. Compared to Dublin's €€€€ dining options like Bastible or Patrick Guilbaud, you are spending significantly less for cooking that Michelin inspectors still think is worth your time. For the price tier, it is one of the stronger value cases in the city.
The oxtail and bone marrow Parker House rolls are the dish explicitly called out in Michelin's own venue notes , that is as close to a house signature as the public record gives us. Beyond that, the kitchen's focus on fresh, flavoursome traditional Irish cooking suggests following whatever the kitchen is pushing on the day rather than anchoring to a fixed list. Ask the staff for their current recommendations; the welcome is warm enough that the question will be answered properly rather than deflected.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spitalfields | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Set in a historic area of this city is this fittingly traditional-looking Irish pub, where the charming staff offer a warm and friendly welcome. It’s deservedly busy – drinkers are welcome but most are here for the food. Enticing dishes are fresh, flavoursome and great value, with the likes of oxtail and bone marrow Parker House rolls.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (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 Spitalfields stacks up against the competition.
Spitalfields is not a tasting menu venue — it operates as a neighbourhood pub dining room with a traditional Irish menu priced at the €€ level. The Michelin Bib Gourmand, awarded in both 2024 and 2025, specifically recognises good cooking at moderate prices, so the format here is à la carte value, not a set tasting progression. If a multi-course tasting format is what you want, look at Bastible or mae in Dublin instead.
Spitalfields is a working pub first — drinkers are welcome — but most tables are there for the food, and the kitchen under chef Naz Hassan takes traditional Irish cuisine seriously. It sits at 25 The Coombe in Dublin 8, a historic street away from the tourist centre, so it draws a local crowd rather than a visitor one. Michelin has flagged it for value two years running, which sets the expectation correctly: this is ingredient-led cooking at a fair price, not a destination splurge.
Spitalfields is a pub with serious food, not a formal dining room, so there is no dress code pressure here. Come as you would to a good neighbourhood pub — casual is entirely appropriate. The room is described as charming and welcoming, not white-tablecloth.
Spitalfields works for small groups — the pub format and neighbourhood crowd make it an easy fit for parties of four to six. For larger groups, check the venue's official channels to confirm availability, as popular Bib Gourmand spots at this price point tend to fill quickly. It is not the venue for a private hire evening or a large celebration with set menus.
Yes. At €€ pricing with a Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded in both 2024 and 2025, Spitalfields delivers some of the clearest value in Dublin dining. The Bib Gourmand category exists precisely to flag good food at accessible prices, and Spitalfields has earned it twice. For comparable value in Dublin 8, Bastible sits nearby but pitches slightly higher in format and price.
Michelin's own notes single out the oxtail and bone marrow Parker House rolls as a highlight, which is a reasonable starting point for any first visit. The kitchen focuses on traditional Irish cuisine with fresh, flavoursome dishes, so expect seasonal produce-led cooking rather than anything globally fusion. Beyond the rolls, follow the staff's recommendations — the team is noted for being warm and genuinely helpful.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
