2014 Award Winners ATMOSPHERIC RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2014

Trocadero Restaurant, Dublin 2

Irish diners place a high premium on atmosphere – often rating it even above the quality of food when choosing where to eat out – but this restaurant, although certainly atmospheric, has much more to it than that. As everyone familiar with past winners of our Atmospheric category will know, we seek out establishments that offer very high standards all round, with great atmosphere as the icing on the cake.

You could count on one hand the number of Irish restaurants that date back to the 1950s but this much loved golden oldie continues to thrive. And more than still going strong, a discreet Hollywood style facelift has injected new life into this theatrical grande dame of a restaurant, now in its 57th year.

Its connecting warren of rooms have retained their air of intrigue, service orchestrated by Robert Doggett, Dublin’s doyen of maitre'd's, remains as smooth and welcoming as ever, while provenance is to the fore in an elegantly pared down menu that retains old favourites (silky chicken liver paté of happy memory…) alongside up-to-date dishes.

Glamorous cocktails from a classic dry martini to Bellinis and daiquiris set the mood for the nearest thing you'll get to a Hollywood experience in Dublin - and, as ever, there’s no knowing who might walk in the door.

Updated perhaps, but the Troc remains one of Dublin’s - and Ireland’s - most atmospheric restaurants. A place to treasure.