Going out: Catherine Cleary's favourite places to eat al fresco

This is a place named for three Basils, two of them men, one of them the herb. We’re at the end of a terrace of houses on Dublin’s Ringsend Road, sitting in a garden. The house was home to Basil Whelan for decades, and now his son, also Basil, has turned his childhood home into a pizza restaurant. The gable end poster has a large hand-painted pot of basil in the logo.

It’s a restaurant that looks like it was put together by the A-Team after they were locked in a shipping yard with several litres of pastel paint. Enough decking timber to build an ocean liner got painted duck egg green and made into benches. We’re sitting under an awning at the gable end of the house, with gingham oilcloth on the tables. Underfoot is rollout fake grass. Indoor seating is in the ground floor of the house or, on a less balmy evening, a well-appointed man shed. The pizza oven is in a shipping container.

Mushroom ravioli is fine. But the pizzas are where this place comes into its own. They are cheaper than Domino’s and several notches better. We get two nine-inch pizzas, papery crisp bases made from good dough and toppings charged for by the sprinkle-ful, depending on whether they’re veggie or meat. It’s BYOB for €5 corkage.

A final bill of €37.50 means we’re tucking in to what is probably one of Dublin’s best budget meals, with a couple of caveats. I’d skip the olives option next time. They’re the black as car tyre dyed olives, cheap but definitely not cheerful. And when 8pm strikes, we’re told there are no desserts, apart from ice-cream, as the kitchen is closed. The Nut Job is a favourite with small customers. It’s a pizza slathered with Nutella and topped with banana and raspberries. But not tonight Josephine, the gates are closing. Weekend opening hours are later.

The other, happier, thing about Basil is how outdoors it all is without being too much outdoors. There are fences and plants to keep you from the busy road and that awning to weather the summer squalls.

What can we call these places? They’re not beer gardens; courtyards sound too monastic and saints preserve us from outside rooms. These indoor-outdoor spots are springing up everywhere. Some were born of the smoking ban, but the best ones have matured into something better than outdoor ashtrays.

Basil, 95 Ringsend Road, Dublin 4; Tel: (01) 2325600
Facilities: Fine Food provenance: None Vegetarian options: Good Music: None Wheelchair access: Yes THE VERDICT: Cheerful budget eats in a quirky pizza restaurant

Here is my pick of the best places to eat under the almost-open skies...
 
Kelly's black pudding is everywhere in Newport, Co Mayo and in The Blue Bicycle Tearooms it comes with seaweed. They also do freshly baked scones and cakes which can all be served in a beautiful walled garden for a pre- or post-Greenway cycling treat. The Blue Bicycle Tearooms, Main Street, Newport, Co Mayo (098) 41145

There's an oasis-style rooftop terrace at Gill Carroll's 56 Central Restaurant on Galway's Shop Street where you can nearly get away from the street buzz. With plants, a wall of water and Buddha themed decor, you could be anywhere, until the gulls and the sounds of a spoon player remind you it's Galway. 56 Central, 5 Shop Street, Galway (091) 569511

The Bite Club is all ice cream pastel palette downstairs, but on the roof there's a food truck feel to it, with a bar and long, shared tables. The fish tacos are fiery and the burgers are very good. Their black pepper and basil margarita is a must-try cocktail. Bite Club, 36 Abbeygate Street Upper, Galway (091) 565976

They were early adopters of turning part of their footpath frontage into an extension of the restaurant, and the comfortable outdoor tables at Las Tapas de Lola are in use year round. The food keeps evolving as Vanessa Murphy and Anna Carbrera travel between Spain and Ireland to find the good stuff. Las Tapas de Lola, 12 Wexford Street, Dublin 2 (01) 4244100

Gaillot et Gray have taken a while to get their outdoor area off the ground but the small yard is now ready, with tables to enjoy the excellent French pizza or a croissant with good coffee for breakfast on a sunny morning. Gaillot et Gray, 59 Clanbrassil Street Lower, Dublin 8 (01) 4547781

At Suesey Street they keep their outdoor space as swish as indoors and it's a great place for a sunny shirtsleeves lunch or balmy evening eating. Suesey Street, 26 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 (01) 6694600

Like magic, a moveable roof can slide into place when there's a shower over Chez Max's large garden, which extends over two tiers at the back of the Baggot St restaurant. Chez Max, 133 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2

Where once were cars now are chairs and tables at Kevin Aherne's Sage restaurant in Midleton. The young chef, who cooks a 12-mile radius menu, extended his restaurant this year by colonising the courtyard. Sage, The Courtyard, 8 Main Street, Midleton, Co Cork (021) 463 9682