Irish Restaurants: menu guide

Angels on horseback
A traditional appetiser you'll find at an Irish restaurant—oysters wrapped in bacon on buttered toast.

Barmbrack
A spicy fruit bread which is best enjoyed with an afternoon cuppa. Ideally, chefs at Irish restaurants soak the fruit in strong tea before baking it into the bread.

Boxty
Potato cake fried on a griddle. Modern Irish restaurants have updated the boxty by using ingredients such as beef, chicken and seafood as fillings.

Champ
Mashed potatoes and spring onions cooked in milk and butter—another traditional dish served up at Irish restaurants.

Cod Cobbler
Fish pie—fillets of cod baked in a cheese sauce topped with pastry scones.

Colcannon
A bit like champ, but with cabbage replacing the spring onions.

Devils on horseback
Once eaten as a cheaper alternative to angels on horseback, with the oyster replaced by a pitted prune stuffed with chutney. Many Irish restaurants have given this once humble dish a delicious 21st-century makeover.

Drinks
There are plenty of tipples you can enjoy with your meal, including many famous Irish stouts. Another dark beer which has traditionally been popular at Irish restaurants is porter. Alternatively, there are innumerable single malt and blended Irish whiskies.

But for many food lovers a warming Irish coffee—whiskey, coffee and sugar topped with thick cream—provides the perfect conclusion to a delicious meal at an Irish restaurant.

Dublin coddle
A tasty staple of Irish restaurant menus—pork sausages and streaky rashers cooked in their own stock on a bed of sliced onions and potatoes.

Genies on horseback
Another variation on angels on horseback—this time, the oysters are replaced by bangers.

Irish stew with Guinness
Beef or lamb stewed in stock with vegetables and a healthy measure of stout. It's a mouth-watering highlight of many an Irish restaurant menu.

Mulligan stew
Lamb or beef, potatoes and vegetables cooked together. Many years ago it was regarded as a poor man's Irish stew and you would've been unlikely to find it on Irish restaurant menus.

Soda bread
This bread has a unique taste and aroma because the yeast has been replaced by baking soda. It's classic Irish food, and many Irish restaurants provide it as a side dish.

Ulster fry (or "Full Irish")
Many Irish restaurants have updated this traditional breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, black pudding and potato cakes by using the very best ingredients.