Give some gift grub

He doesn't have the data to back up his hunch, but Adrian Cummins suspects a lot of men buy restaurant vouchers as Christmas gifts. The chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) says he "hates shopping". It may be down to men like him or shopping-phobic women – but the restaurant voucher business has seen big growth, with a 40 to 50 per cent increase in the past two years, Cummins says.

Do restaurant owners dread seeing voucher-carrying customers arrive in January, typically the toughest month? “At least you have customers coming in your doors,” Cummins says. “January can be a very grim month.” Not everyone rushes to spend the voucher in January, he says, so the business can be spread throughout the year.

Why the boom in restaurant voucher giving? “You can cater for all tastes and all customers. Eating out is a treat. That’s what’s behind the explosion in new restaurants and it’s across all demographics.”

The RAI recently signed up over 100 restaurants countrywide to accept the One4all Wheretoeat gift card which can be bought on the One4all website in denominations from €1 to €250.

There’s still plenty of time to buy vouchers directly from restaurants, with many selling them online. Lots of restaurants also do accommodation and run cookery courses so you can buy a really generous gift.

Erik Robson of Dublin’s Ely Wine Bars sees a big rush in voucher sales in the two weeks before Christmas. “I think the fear of vouchers being unsecured, if a business goes bust, is not as prevalent and vouchers are back on Christmas lists. We don’t put an expiry date on ours, which seems to make them a bit more attractive.”

So in answer to the perennial question of “what do you buy the person who has everything?” we say: “Dinner.” And here’s a pick of the best among the stars, stalwarts and new arrivals of 2013.

Aniar, Galway
Buy a restaurant voucher for JP McMahon's Michelin-starred Aniar restaurant in Galway and you could win a place on one of its cookery workshops for two people. Next year's workshops feature a "planning a dinner party" day including lunch, where up to six students learn how to make bread, prepare a starter, fish and meat main course and dessert.
52 Dominick Street Lower, Galway, tel: 091-535947;
email: food@aniarrestaurant.ie

Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin
At Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud (pictured) they'll post your voucher gift to the lucky recipient, send it to you, or have it ready for collection at the restaurant. The amount you spend will be an issue here if you don't want your recipient to have to dig deep in their own pocket to cover the final bill. They can use it for whole or part payment "any time", the restaurant says. Lunch is always the best value if you're on a budget, but weekend lunch sittings get booked up quickly.
21 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2;
tel: 01-6764192;
restaurantpatrickguilbaud.ie

Thornton's Restaurant, Dublin
A nice round figure of €100 buys you a voucher that will get two people midweek dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. This covers three courses and a "glass of bubbles" .
1st Floor, The Fitzwilliam Hotel, 128 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2; tel: 01-4787008

Chapter One, Dublin
There's a minimum €50 spend for vouchers at Ross Lewis's Michelin-starred restaurant. If you don't want to pin the person down to a specific venue or maybe give enough for a couple of restaurant visits, Chapter One is one of several restaurants listed in The Blue Book along with Thorntons, L'Ecrivain and Guilbaud's. The minimum spend for a Blue Book voucher is €100.
19 Parnell Square North, Dublin 1; tel: 01-8732266 irelands-blue-book.ie or chapteronerestaurant.com

Cafe Paradiso, Cork
Denis Cotter's lovely restaurant lets you build a gift voucher online in €10 units which they will then post to you or the recipient. The vouchers can be used in both the restaurant and the rooms overhead, where they do a dinner, bed and breakfast deal for €100 a head, Monday to Saturday.
16 Lancaster Quay, Cork; tel: 021-427 7939; cafeparadiso.ie

Ox, Belfast
This wonderful restaurant doesn't have an online voucher facility yet. Customers can buy the gift of an Ox meal by calling into the Oxford Street premises or send an email to info@oxbelfast.com with all the details including a shipping address.
1 Oxford Street, Belfast BT1 3LA; tel: 0044-28 9031 4121

Etto, Dublin
The great new Etto wine bar on Dublin's Merrion Row is selling gift vouchers online for all values which can be posted to the recipient "with a personal message from you".
18 Merrion Row, Dublin 2;
tel: 01-678 8872; email: liz@etto.ie

Ely, Dublin
Ely Wine Bar in Ely Place, CHQ and in Dublin's Docklands also sell gift tokens for all their venues online.
elywinebar.ie

Avoca and Fallon & Byrne
Avoca vouchers can be used in their cafes or restaurants, such as Salt in Monkstown. Fallon & Byrne gift cards can be used for a splurge in the food hall, downstairs in the wine bar or upstairs in the restaurant.

fallonandbyrne.com
avoca.ie