Early, late and same-day restaurant bookings in Dublin and Cork

Early, late and same-day tables are the easiest bookings to get in Dublin and Cork, because most people want the same hour and the same night. Search for your date, time and party size and look at the times either side of the one you wanted; check kitchen hours rather than opening hours for anything late; and for today, look at tables that have just been given up after a cancellation. A small number of places also attach an early bird perk to their first sitting.

Why the edges of the evening are easier

A typical independent fills from about half seven to nine on a weekend and is quiet either side. The five-thirty table and the nine-fifteen table are the ones a place is most pleased to sell, and the ones you are least likely to fight for. If your evening has any give in it, moving forty-five minutes is worth more than any other trick in this guide.

The same is true of nights. Sunday to Wednesday is far easier than Friday and Saturday in both cities, though many independents close on Mondays and some on Tuesdays, so check before you plan around one.

How do I find an early dinner in Dublin or Cork?

Early tables suit families with young children, pre-theatre and pre-gig plans, anyone eating before a train, and people who would just rather eat at six.

• Search by time, not by place. On the Reserve page in the Mosey app, set your date, time and party size and you see places with a table at that time, and those with one close to it.
• Look for early bird offers. Some places attach a perk to their earliest slots, such as a glass on arrival or a dessert, and it is shown on the slot itself while you choose a time. There is no code or voucher: book the slot, turn up, and the place honours what the slot said. The wording is saved onto your booking, so what you were promised is what staff see.
• Say when you need to leave. If you have to be out by seven-thirty, put it in the booking notes. A place that knows can pace the kitchen accordingly.

For eating early in the day rather than the evening, Mosey's Dublin breakfast page gathers places people tagged for breakfast in their ratings.

How do I book a late table?

Late dining in both cities is more limited than in many European cities, and the detail that catches people out is the kitchen. A place can be open until eleven with the kitchen closing at nine or half nine.

• Check kitchen hours. Where a place has set kitchen hours separately from its opening hours, Mosey shows both on its page. Where it has not, ring and ask "what time is your last food order?" rather than "what time do you close?"
• Book the last sitting, not after it. If the last booking slot is nine, take nine. Arriving at twenty past expecting to be seated is how you end up with a bar menu.
• Expect a shorter menu late. Some dishes run out, and some places switch to a later menu. That is not a bad sign.

For genuinely late food, after the kitchens close, see where to find late-night food in Dublin and late-night food in Cork.

How do I get a same-day reservation?

Today's tables come from two places: the ones that were never booked, and the ones that were booked and then cancelled.

1. Search your time. Set today's date, a time and your party size, and check the nearby times as well as the exact one.
2. Check last-minute tables. When a diner or a place gives up a booking, it can be offered on Mosey as a last-minute table that anyone can claim. If the original booking had a deposit, you pay your own and the person who gave it up is refunded in full.
3. Set alerts. Turn on cancellation alerts for the two or three places you most want, and you are told when a table there is offered up. Tables can be offered until two hours before their time, so the afternoon is when most appear.
4. Join a waitlist. Where a place runs one, put your name down for the date with your party size and preferred time, and the place offers you a table if one frees.

If none of that works, walk in early. A table at half five is often available to anyone who can promise to be finished by seven.

Sundays, bank holidays and Christmas

Hours on Sundays and bank holidays are the most likely to differ from the usual pattern, and listings on any app or map can lag behind. Many places on Mosey started as entries in public map data, so if a place has not claimed its page, treat the hours as a guide and confirm before you travel.

Christmas is its own thing. Plenty of places close on Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day, and the ones that open usually run a set menu, take bookings well in advance and ask for a deposit. If you want Christmas Day out, start looking in the autumn, not the week before.

Dublin versus Cork

The principles are the same; the scale is different. Dublin has more places open early and late, spread over more neighbourhoods, so a same-day table is often a question of how far you will travel. Cork's centre is compact, so you can try several places on foot in a few minutes, but the late options are fewer and fill faster on weekends. In both, midweek is generous and the weekend rewards booking.

To build a shortlist, start from places to eat in Cork or the Dublin equivalent, both built from what people have rated with their own photographs.

Deposits on odd-hour bookings

Most early and late tables need no deposit. Where one applies, it is usually for a large party or a peak night, it comes off your bill, and Mosey takes nothing from it. Read the cancellation terms when you book: places typically refund in full up to a cut-off before the booking and less after it.

Open the Reserve page in Mosey, set your time and party size, and look either side of the hour you wanted.