Temple Bar in Dublin is hardly a gastronomic heaven, ok there are many, many restaurants but, let’s be honest, most of them are pretty average. It’s all about getting tourists in, ripping them off and getting them out as quickly as possible. Which is one aspect of real modern Ireland, just not the ‘real’ Ireland most tourists have come to see.

It’s good to know then, that there is one place in Temple Bar which serves good food at reasonable prices, and the staff are excellent.

Botticelli is one of those places that I hold close to my heart. My partner and I went there on dates back in the day, held our hen’s night there and also our child’s brithday party. So I’m pretty much a regular. Now, you can get better Italian food elsewhere and the loos are just awful, but restaurants are about more than the food and Bots is more than the sum of its parts.

You’ll be welcomed and brought to your table by an actual Italian (or Sicillian) and so starts your authentic Italian experience. The menu is the usual pasta, pizza job but the food is better than most with real sauces and homemade pizza and pastas prepared in the kitchen by real chefs. No buckets of plastic sauces and rubbery pasta here.

My partner and I dropped in last night for a quick supper. We ordered Bruschetta (still the best I have ever come across in Dublin) between us to start. For my main I went for Gnocchi Al Funghi and my partner opted for the Penne Arrabbiata. The gnocchi was delicious, plump dumplings covered in a delicious porcini cause. Lip-smacking stuff. The penne was perfect too, spicy and picante with plenty of flavour.

We didn’t go for a dessert but the ice creams in Bots are supposed to be divine, I’ve never succumbed myself.

With a decent bottle of Chianti, the bill came to an affordable €52.

Offiicial website

Menu Pages page

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