A highly contentious category, we're sure you'll agree!
It can be tough to put a finger on what makes the best café... well...
the best café. They obviously have to make great coffee and other hot drinks, but it has to be more than that. Do they also have to make amazing cakes and pastries to go with those hot drinks? Yes, but it has to do more than that, too! There usually has to be an amazing menu of hot and small food, too. And it all has to be GREAT.
So, yeah, being a great café means having to be great a lot of different things all at the same time, so when the Food & Wine Magazine single out one particular café as being the best café on the
entire island of Ireland, we immediately sit up and take notice.
And so, the 2023 Café of the Year in Ireland is... (drum roll please)... the
Warehouse Food Mark Café in Dublin. The runner-up in this category is the
Izz in Cork, with that county also clearing up with some of the bigger, nationwide awards of the night:
Wine Experience of the Year - A Fianco (Dublin)
Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year - St Francis Provisions (Cork)
Restaurant of the Year - Dede at the Customs House (Cork)
Newcomer of the Year - Homestead Cottage (Clare)
Hotel Restaurant of the Year - Terre (Cork)
Cocktail Experience of the Year - Bar 1661 (Dublin)
Innovator of the Year - Cork Urban Soil Project (Cork)
To check out the full list of winners, including the best restaurants, cafés and cocktails in Leinster, Connaught, Munster and Ulster, you can head
right here.
Images via Instagram/@WarehouseFoodMarketCafe
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