2008 Award Winners ETHNIC RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2008

Furama Restaurant

Recent years have seen such an explosion of ethnic restaurants, now encompassing dozens of international cuisines - many of which would not have been at all familiar in Ireland a decade ago – that it is easy to overlook the ‘old friends’ who may lack the novelty value of some of the more exotic newcomers, but have been doing a consistently good job for many years.

Rodney Mak’s long-established restaurant is one of those - Freddy Lee, who has been head chef since the restaurant opened in 1989, produces terrific food with an authenticity which is unusual in Ireland. With the dining room reached over a curving bridge and water features, the quietly elegant interior is free of the hanging lanterns and oriental kitsch that mark out so many Chinese restaurants - and, unlike some of the cooler new fashion-led restaurants, there is warmth to this place, where the waiter stationed beside the entrance opens the door and welcomes customers on arrival, setting the tone for excellent service that is as friendly as it is technically correct.

Faithful regulars are drawn here by the reliably authentic take on classic Chinese dishes, which - although Chinese restaurants are notoriously weak in the dessert department – includes superb banana fritters.