Roundwood Inn - Roundwood

An oasis in the Wicklow Mountains, the eighteenth-century Roundwood Inn is also an Irish legend. German-born Jurgen and Aine Schwalm are now into their third decade as licensees and they have made the pub a favourite bolthole for hill walkers, foodies, celebs and travellers from Dublin.

Long-serving chef Paul Taube by-passes fashion in favour of no-frills food with homespun Irish and European influences. Punters come here to feast on Hungarian goulash soup, plates of Galway oysters, traditional Irish stew, homemade gravlax and platters of fresh seafood. After that, there are sweet temptations in the shape of blueberry pancakes, apple strudel and triple liqueur parfait.

The separate restaurant is only open on Friday and Saturday evenings, plus Sunday lunch, and it offers more ambitious dishes with a strong mid-European bias (smoked Westphalian ham, wiener schnitzel, ragoût of Wicklow venison, roast goose etc). A top-flight selection of German wines - including many rarities - is the highlight of the Euro-centric list.