WHETHER you want soup and a sandwich, a gourmet dinner or anything in between, you'll be well looked after in Dublin. The cafes are popular with young and old alike and are usually excellent value for a meal or snack. Many stay open until late at night. The most famous must be Bewley's Oriental Café in Grafton Street, with its Birds of Paradise windows on the ground floor and rooms on two floors above as well. I have it on good authority that the potato soup is delicious and substantial enough to last you all day. You get proper tea with leaves in it, too. There are two other cafes in the Bewleys group. Other recommended chains are Fitzers cafes and Beshoff's fish and chip restaurants. In the Temple Bar area the Bad Ass Café is good (Sinead O'Connor was once a waitress there) and the Elephant and Castle restaurant. But it's great to just browse the menus as there are so many places to choose from. Throughout the city there are restaurants and fast food outlets of every persuasion - a particularly good range of Italian ones. And if you've made up your mind to give the bank manager a coronary, take your pick from The Commons at Newman House, St Stephen's Green, the Patrick Guilbaud Restaurant in Merrion Street Upper or Peacock Alley at the designer-chic Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen's Green - all in the nouvelle cuisine style and best to book first. | 
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