Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Dublin Restaurant With a Story to Tell

"What's the story?" — as the restaurant itself puts it — is a very Dublin question, and Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins is a very Dublin answer. Situated steps from the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre at Grand Canal Square, the restaurant occupies a light, airy room built around an open kitchen, intimate booths, and a wine cave with a particular focus on the Irish "Wine Geese" — Irish winemakers whose families emigrated centuries ago and whose descendants now produce across France and beyond.

The Chef Behind the Name

Gareth Mullins is a true blue Dubliner from Donaghmede, and his career reads like a map of serious kitchens. After qualifying from DIT Cathal Brugha Street in 1999, he spent five years in Sydney working at the W Hotel and the Radisson Plaza before returning to Ireland. Seven years as head chef at the Merrion Hotel's Cellar Restaurant earned two AA rosettes and a Michelin Guide recommendation for the bar. He then took on the executive chef role at The Marker Hotel when it opened in 2013, overseeing four kitchens and building a reputation that has made him a regular presence on Irish television and in the national press.

Forbes Street is his own chapter. Beyond the pass, Mullins is head of Euro-Toques Ireland — the community founded by the great Myrtle Allen that connects chefs, producers and educators around the best of Irish food and drink. That network of relationships is visible on every plate.

The Producers Are the Menu

The contemporary Irish cuisine here is unapologetically ingredient-led. The beef comes from John Stone in County Longford — dry-aged in glass cabinets in the restaurant itself, so diners can select their own cut. Oysters are Flaggy Shore Dainties from County Clare, served natural with mignonette or Vietnamese dressing, or as Oysters Rockefeller. Goatsbridge cured and smoked rainbow trout, Andarl pork, Kerry lamb, and Toonsbridge Farm burrata all carry the same logic: find the best Irish producer, let the ingredient speak.

The flame grill section — strip steak, fillet, rib eye, and a signature Châteaubriand aged with Pearse Lyons whiskey for two — anchors the steakhouse side of the menu, while mains like roasted turbot with razor clam chowder and roast stuffed quail with white pudding and pistachio show the range of the kitchen. The Irish farmhouse cheese course arrives on stones Mullins himself foraged from Dublin beaches and carved by hand. The Bollinger sorbet, served in a base carved from the champagne bottle itself, is the kind of detail that earns a restaurant its reputation.

Wine and Recognition

Sommelier Maxim — who has visited 80 countries and developed a particular passion for champagne — oversees a list that earned Forbes Street the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025, a recognition that reflects both the depth of the cellar and the care given to wine-by-the-glass pours. The restaurant has also been named Good Food Ireland Hotel Restaurant of the Year 2024, continuing a run of recognition that includes two AA rosettes and back-to-back Best Hotel Restaurant in Dublin awards at the RAI.

The pre-theatre menu nods to the location; the à la carte rewards those who linger. Either way, the contemporary Irish cooking on offer here is grounded, generous, and entirely its own.