Dining Out

The 12 meals of Christmas: Our critics’ top meals of 2023

In this series, we are sharing some of our most loved and best-read restaurant reviews of 2023. To round off the set, here are the locations that topped the list of the 50 establishments reviewed

Ryan Jenkins of Roam
Big Mike’s Restaurant, Blackrock Shopping Centre. Picture: Fergal Phillips Photo by Fergal Phillips

Big Mike’s, Blackrock, Co Dublin

He came, he saw, he opened one of the buzziest restaurants in the country. Gaz Smith’s largest restaurant to date is located in the centre of Blackrock in south Co Dublin, and builds on the ‘great steaks, great seafood, great vibe’ formula that worked so well for him in his first two restaurants down the road in ...