Best Tapas in Dublin – Gambas Edition

Best Tapas in Dublin – where to eat gambas al ajillo and gambas pil pil in the capital.

Prawns in garlic oil and prawn in garlic and chilli oil are one of my favourite tapas dishes. I even have my very own Gambas al Ajillo Tapas Recipe. When I am craving a terracotta dish of gambas al ajillo or gambas pil-pil, these are the restaurants in Dublin that I visit to tickle my tapas tastebuds.

This list is short but that’s because I go back to these places all the time but I will be adding more places to the list as and when I find more wonderful dishes of Spanish style gambas in Ireland.

But for now, these are the three restaurants in Dublin that do excellent Gambas al Ajillo and Gambas Pil Pil…

Las Tapas de Lola, Wexford Street, Dublin 2

Gambia al ajillo

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Las Tapas de Lola is a traditional Spanish restaurant where you can order deliciously plump and sweet gambas al ajillo cooked with garlic and chilli. The prawns are cooked in a gloriously golden and grassy Spanish olive oil and are served in a traditional cazuela. You can also order Gambas a la plancha (grilled prawns in their shell) and you are encouraged to suck the heads! Oh yes. This is one of the best Spanish food restaurants in Dublin and you can wash all these lovely tapas down with one of the many Spanish beers, wines and sherries.

La Bodega, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

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La Bodega is a Spanish and Mediterranean tapas restaurant and here you can order a small tapas-sized dish or a larger sharing racion portion of both gambas al ajillo and gambas pil pil. These prawns are pan-fried and served in a cazuela swimming in pungent flavourful oil. In fact, you need to order another basket of freshly baked bread to mop up all those heady juices. Don’t bother with forks here, just pick up the gambas by the tail and savour every mouthful. La Bodega also has a great Spanish wine menu.

San Lorenzos, South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2

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Although San Lorenzos is an Italian restaurant, on its menu you will find a very Spanish-style dish of pan-fried gambas with white wine, chilli and garlic. The gambas are presented head- and shell-on lying on a slice of fresh crusty white bread that is bathing in an oily golden nectar. The dish is perfectly balanced but has so much flavour it makes your mouth call out for more and as soon as I was finished I wanted to order another serving.

Riba, Stillorgan, Co Dublin

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Restaurant Riba is one of my favourite restaurants in Dublin. It has friendly staff, a chilled atmosphere and a great seasonal menu. One of my favourite dishes to order is prawns in garlic oil and chilli with homemade sourdough bread. The gambas are sweet and succulent with a decent amount of heat and bold garlic flavour. The homemade sourdough is perfectly soft for soaking up the deep rich oil and the serving is very generous indeed.

“Bon Nomnom”

So, what do you think of my list of the Best Tapas in Dublin – where to eat Gambas al Ajillo and Gambas Pil Pil?

Did you try any of these out? Where would you recommend? Leave any feedback and comments below, I’d love to hear from you.

Heading to Madrid? Check out my Madrid food and drink guide.

Cooking tapas at home? Check out my Spanish food and wine pairing guide.

Need a tapas recipe? Check out my gambas al ajillo recipe.

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