Seven Irish restaurants have reason to celebrate today as it was revealed that they have been awarded prestigious Michelin stars.

The announcement came via Twitter a day before the news was expected to break.

Loam in Galway and The Greenhouse in Dublin were two new additions to the respected list.

House in Ardmore, Aniar in Galways, Campagne and Lady Helen in Kilkenny and Dublin’s Chapter One and L’Ecrivan all retained their Michelin star status. Patrick Gilbaud in Dublin 2 remains the only Irish restaurant to have two Michelin stars.

Owner and Head Chef at Loam, Enda McEvoy (who previously worked at Aniar) told the Independent that the award came as shock when he considered that they have only been open since 2014.

“I think what we do is up to that standard but I wasn’t expecting this. We’ve only been open for about 20 minutes so things worked quickly.”

There was some bad news for Irish chefs however as it was revealed that Bon Appétit in Malahide and Thornton’s at the Fitzwilliam Hotel did not retain their Michelin status.

Chef Oliver Dunne of Bon Appétit remarked earlier this year that he did not expect them to retain their status after undergoing some changes:

“It became frustrating trying to live up to people's expectations and their inaccurate expectations of what a Michelin restaurant should be.”

Meanwhile, we are busy Googling menus and adding dishes to our wish lists because there are certainly some amazing dishes to be had around the country.

This news has certainly made our dinner of last night’s leftover seem just a smidgen less appealing.