The Winding Stair in Dublin

Staff are lovely. Food was overpriced and limited choice. I left hungry.

My wife and I had the pleasure of dining here in September, on the recommendation of a friend. It was truly one of the best meals we've ever had.

The Winding Stair was originally an independent bookshop and cafe in the 1970s and 1980s. Named after the Yeats poem, and in honour of its winding staircase, it is perfectly located, overlooking the river Liffey, with an iconic view of the Ha'penny bridge ( but you really need a window seat to enjoy it). It was later converted to a restaurant, but retains the feel of a literary setting. The bookshop is retained on the ground floor. 
It's not fancy, but elegant casual dress is most appropriate. The menu has traditional offerings of good Irish food and seasonal, Irish produce; this is not a pub. For a starter, we shared the Potted Dingle Bay crab with pickled cucumber, toasted soda bread and organic leaves. We both ordered the traditional Doyle's hand-smoked haddock, poached in milk with onions and white cheddar mash — truly one of the best meals we've had. Their soda bread was the best we had in Dublin. It reminded us of the black canned bread we had as kids, but a whole lot better. 

The staff was attentive and friendly, making us feel welcome and appreciated. They have a fully stocked bar and very good wines.

If you're looking for a memorable dining experience in Dublin, The Winding Stair is the place to go. Note: Get a reservation. We were a walk-in, the last ones, and had to promise to finish within 90 minutes. We saw many people turned away.

Steak, good. Crab appetizer, good. Bread and butter pudding dessert, not good, passable. Friendly folks, nice atmosphere.

Really lovely place. Great food and lovely staff. And what a view!!!

Incredible food and an excellent Irish menu. Well, this is a Scotch Egg

Superb restaurant with a discreet atmosphere, delicious dishes and well-stocked plates. The prices are not given, but it seems to me that you get what you pay for, except for the alcohol, which I found relatively expensive.

Very typical and appreciated not only by tourists. It can be very noisy.

Not as impressed with this as I wanted to be. Very large and very noisy table.next to us made it difficult to hear each other on our table. Everyone was using phone torches to read menu as room was so dark but the staff didn't change anything...very expensive for the food provided which was also average.

Made to feel very welcome by the understated but always attentive waiting Felix. Three course meal was very enjoyable. Only criticism , the tender stem broccoli didn't live up to its name.

In un locale a cui si accede tramite una scala a chiocciola (da qui il nome) che dà l'impressione di essere in un libro di Harry Potter, abbiamo cenato con un gruppo di 30 colleghi nella saletta al secondo piano con vista Liffey. Divisi in quattro tavolate il piano era (quasi) tutto per noi. Sono rimasto piacevolmente impressionato dalla carta dei vini. 200+ bottiglie con opzioni Biologiche, Biodinamiche e Naturali principalmente da Italia, Francia e Spagna. Il menù di gruppo prevedeva 3 portate e il servizio ha fatto un ottimo lavoro servendo le persone sullo stesso tavolo contemporaneamente con un'attesa accettabile tra una portata e l'altra. Abbiamo mangiato bene e siamo usciti sazi e (mezzi) ubriachi.