As everywhere in Europe, the economic slump of 2008 hurt Dublin’s tourism and business travel so that there was a shake-up in the hotels, with the inevitable change of hands. The Four Seasons became an Intercontinental;  Bono and the Edge still own the building that houses the Clarence Hotel in Temple Bar, but it is now part of the Press Up Entertainment’s portfolio; The Marker Hotel in Docklands has been bought by Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, owned by German real estate company Deka Immobilien; and Marriott re-opened the Shelburne after 18 months of renovation, a year before the slump came. Now, with the economy of Ireland well back on track and post-pandemic tourism growing, all the hotels have been spruced up and the best are as modern as any in Europe, albeit with a fine degree of Gaelic history.
      On my previous visit to Dublin in 2019 I was so happy staying at the centrally located boutique Brooks Hotel on Drury Street that I stayed there again this spring. And nothing could have made me more comfortable than being greeted by the redoubtable concierge Conor O’Connell (left), who looks like a sprightlier version of Samuel Beckett and never forgets a guest, especially since eight out of ten of the hotel’s guests are regulars.
      In his well-pressed blue suit and gray vest, club tie and Les Clef d’Or gold pins, he always seems the first person you see each morning and the fellow who asks you how your night has gone. He knows every byway in Dublin and has a book crammed with the telephone numbers of every restaurant manager, museum official, haberdasher, street guide and taxi driver by name. Whatever needs booking, Conor will see to it at a moment’s notice, and his winking Irish wit is that of a man who puts everyone at ease.
     Opened  in 1996, Brooks Hotel now has 100 rooms, a bright breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant named Francesca’s under chef  Patrick McLarnon offering modern Irish cuisine including black pudding with a poached egg, East Coast chowder and pork fillet with onion stuffing. (Ask for his recipe for Irish soda bread.) The very well appointed, modern rooms have well lighted baths. As noted, it could hardly be more centrally located, within a short walk of Grafton Street, Nassau Street and Trinity College. There’s parking right across the street.
     At the moment the hotel offers a generous one-night stay (Classic Queen room) with a two-course meal and bottle of house wine and complimentary breakfast from $410. The hotel offers a “best rate guarantee” without the need to search the web for any better, so it’s wise to book directly. 

      New to me was the 168-room Westbury, one of the Leading Hotels of the World in the Irish-owned Doyle Collection, now one of the city’s most beautiful and ranking with The Shelburne and The Merrion upper echelon hotels. Up a grand staircase as you enter, there is a superb art collection arrayed in the second story Gallery overlooking Balfe Street, and its flourishes of seasonal flowers add rich color to an already shimmering room, flanked by the city’s most ravishing bar, The Sidecar, overseen by mixologist and sommelier Michael O’Shea, who regularly holds custom whiskey tastings.  
      Here you’ll enjoy a very fine complimentary breakfast as a capital way to shrug off jetlag when you arrive in the morning, with bright sun (if there is any) pouring through its tall windows onto plush loveseats and armchairs beneath coffered ceilings. It’s also a prime afternoon tea spot in town. There is a fitness center, on-site parking and business center.
     The Westbury’s rooms are spacious, the color tones muted and the bathroom is considerably larger than many other deluxe hotels’, more along the lines of a California style, with an excellent glass shower and extensive vanity. Rooms currently begin at about $520.
    Downstairs is a lively Balfe’s Brasserie with wicker chairs and marble tables, while upstairs is a very fine restaurant, WILDE, which I shall soon be writing about when I report on Dublin’s restaurant scene.

he big, brash Asian restaurant has become a genre all its own in big, brash cities like New York, Miami and Las Vegas, and in some cases the food seems secondary to the show, which is built around endless rounds of Technicolor cocktails and Techno music. Kyu has a far more serious intention to showcase the food, under Executive Chef Chris Arellanes (formerly of Eleven Madison Park and Per Se) and Chef de Cuisine Martell Fonville, who offer a wide-ranging menu that takes in China, Japan, Thailand and Korea, even American desserts, with considerable authority.    
        Kyu, which originated in Miami in 2016, is described as a Japanese yakiniku wood-fired grill, though the menu goes way beyond that. The restaurant’s name, used in Japanese martial arts and tea ceremonies, refers to levels of proficiency, although owner Alan Omsky admits it was actually a typo for “ThanKYU.” The New York operation is a cavernous one with a big Asian vibe, and there’s no question it’s set up to attract a crowd at the mirrored bar upfront and a twenty-to-thirty something crowd in the vast dining room, whose rear wall (though difficult to make out in the dim lighting) is a dramatic pair of women’s eyes surveying the night’s festivities.
    There’s an open kitchen to one side, bare tables, banquettes along three walls and a lot of tables packed into the center. The well informed service staff, managed by Bethany Lucas, is fleet-footed and quite amiable, even when the place is fullest, and the food comes out “when ready” rather than in courses, which makes it a lot of fun to share.
     Before I get to the highly appealing food, however, let me state that, unless they modify the sound level—which my handy iPhone app tracked at an excruciating 90 decibels—Kyu can be an ordeal over the course of a couple of hours, with everyone at every table shouting to be heard above the din. The high ceilings and hard surfaces don’t help, but the boom-thud-boom-thud of piped in music (which no one could possibly identify) makes for a lot more wear and tear on the eardrums.
      The menu is long—a little trimming wouldn’t hurt—and portions are generous and easy enough for a table to share. Under the cutesy-cutesy category of “Snacky Snacks” are two forms of shishito peppers ($14 and $17) and some velvety soft, fat steamed buns, filled with either rich pork belly ($20) or soft-shell crabs ($25) now in season. Under “Chilled and Refreshing” are pink morsels of wonderful tuna tataki with fire roasted peppers, fermented chili and a bite of citrus ($24). A real surprise was something the chef sent out  called “Chicories,” a big colorful salad with well-melded elements of yuzu, caramelized mirin wine and sesame bread crumbs for texture ($24).
    By that point in the meal,  I was hankering for some starch, so a generous stone pot of Thai fried rice, which can be had with either King crab ($42) or duck ($38) or by itself ($32), was very welcome.  Since it is wood-fired, the rice and the ingredients take on a light smokiness with plenty of spices and sweet flavors laced in. Baby back ribs with yanikuku and cilantro ($40) seemed requisite, and to use the cliché that they fell off the bone is absolutely true. Dry-aged lamb saddle with a sweet-tangy Mongolian glaze ($64) was a huge triumph, both in flavors and portion (our table of four took some home), served with an odd but tasty potato gratin that was more soupy than substantial. By the way, there are a lot of dishes that are quite sweet, which is fine unless you order too many of them.
      No one should resist the Korean fried chicken with braised spinach ($34), which is every bit as good as any you’d find around town, maybe even juicier.
      
One might not expect a kitchen like this to perform as well with seafood as with meats, but the bass with fermented Brussels sprouts, wood-fired dashi and interesting smoked bread ($40) and a superb pan-roasted halibut with brown butter, white miso sauce and pickled myoga slaw ($38) were every bit as good as the rest of the meal. Again, the portions were lavish.
        Desserts demand attention when they are as varied and interesting as “mom’s coconut cake” of many layers, with coconut ice cream ($18); a truly yummy dark chocolate s’mores cake with banana bourbon ice cream ($20); and a dauntingly good “soaked milk bread” with wood-fired pineapple and sticky soy toffee sauce ($22).
        It’s impossible not to love so much of this food, and were I in the mood, I’d visit once a month. But, given the assault on my eardrums, I think I’ll order pick-up if they offer it, at least until the din dies down.

Kyu is open nightly for dinner.