Dublin Dining chronicles my food & drink experiences during six months living in Dublin, Ireland.
Cheeseburger with all the toppings (pickle, onion, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, mayo) and a strawberry milkshake
So far, it’s been a lot of fun to live in a new city and learn about its most-hyped restaurants. From what I can tell, Bunsen burgers are to Dublin as Au Cheval burgers are to Chicago. They both serve a burger that uses the best-possible beef, keeps it simple with the toppings, and is so inexplicably good that it remains heavily sought after by locals (and in-the-know tourists). The medium-sized patty came as a true medium rare, so the juicy black angus beef made an even better impression with each bite. The brioche bun was spongy enough to soak in the cheese, lettuce, tomato, and classic sauces. Final verdict? Hype-worthy, to be sure.
And Bunsen’s business-card-sized menu made ordering easy – though I did have to throw in a (fruity, delicious) strawberry milkshake for good measure.
The menu came in the size of a business card
The details:Bunsen, 36 Wexford Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Dublin Dining chronicles my food & drink experiences during six months living in Dublin, Ireland.
Prawn and lobster cocktail with iceberg lettuce and Marie Rose sauce
I knew I wanted seafood during my first week in Dublin, and the seafood at Matt the Thresher impressed both in quality and quantity. We began with a prawn and lobster cocktail with rosy-colored Marie Rose sauce, which is apparently a traditional preparation in this region. It was lovely to look at, vibrantly colored and served in a martini glass. I was also glad to see that the seafood wasn’t too heavily dressed. It wasn’t until later that I learned that Michelle Obama and the girls ate here during their visit to Ireland in 2013, and that Sasha and Malia chose this same appetizer.
And then came the main event: the mussels pot. Underneath the heavy iron lid was easily the largest portion of mussels that I had ever been served (the photo doesn’t do it justice). I lost track of how many of the petite, meaty mollusks I pried out of their shells, but they were so fresh and simply prepared that it was well worth it. And then, of course, dunking the crusty garlic bread into the white wine broth completed the whole experience.
Roaring Water Bay mussels pot with white wine, cream, fresh herbs, and garlic breadO’Hara’s Irish Pale Ale (and the ubiquitous brown bread)
I decided to eschew the Guinness and instead tried a pale ale from O’Hara’s, a popular Irish craft brewery. It was quite easy-drinking and paired excellently with the mussels. I also kept getting distracted by all the details in the restaurant’s interior, whether it was the stained glass windows overhead, the sprawling, spiral-shaped light fixture over the bar area, or the multiple seating levels with tables tucked into every curve.
Stained glass windows above our upper-level tableStorefront of Matt the Thresher
The details:Matt the Thresher, 31-32 Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Dublin Dining chronicles my food & drink experiences during six months living in Dublin, Ireland.
Grilled 8 oz. fillet of Irish Hereford Prime beef with braised pork, herb crust, pommes dauphinoise, and red wine jus
I ate at The Chop House on what was both my very first night in Dublin and my birthday. In this case, a doubly celebratory occasion could mean only one thing: I would order a steak. Little did I know that it would be such an outstanding one. The Irish are serious about high-quality beef, and The Chop House sources theirs from Irish Hereford Prime. At The Chop House, all of the day’s cuts of meat are proudly presented by the server on a wooden cutting board. While it was a little startling at first to see a board covered in hulking pieces of raw meat, it did solidify my decision to order a beautiful 8-ounce filet mignon.
The beef itself was excellent, tender and full of flavor. The steak was then crusted with herbs and topped with a little braised pork – just enough to add sweetness and even more meatiness. The silky red wine jus coating the plate was exceptional, and the pommes dauphinoise (layered potatoes similar to au gratin) were a nice nod to classical French technique. I’ll just say between that steak and my first Irish pint of Guinness, I wasn’t so focused on jet lag anymore.
The day’s cuts of meat as presented by the server on the “meat board”
The details:The Chop House, 2 Shelbourne Road, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Dublin Dining chronicles my food & drink experiences during six months living in Dublin, Ireland.
Slow cooked duck leg with sweetcorn, truffle, grilled onion, and toasted oatsThe pink door at the entrance along Nassau Street
It’s hard to miss the bright pink door marking the entrance to The Pig’s Ear, a charming restaurant with two cozy upstairs dining rooms. The Pig’s Ear serves contemporary Irish cuisine that earned it Michelin Bib Gourmand status (a distinction shared by many of my favorite restaurants in Chicago as well). We chose from a 3-course prix fixe menu available only in the early evening, which turned out to be an excellent value. I enjoyed the whole meal, but the second course edged out the rest as my favorite. It combined familiar flavors with more surprising techniques: an oat crust on fall-apart-tender duck, and sweet corn cut from the cob in full slices. The grilled onion and truffle sauce made the dish even more savory.
But first came the bread basket, including the hearty brown bread that is ubiquitous in Irish restaurants. I’m sure I’ll have much more to say about brown bread in the coming posts, but The Pig’s Ear’s version was nicely dense and nutty. The round of butter alongside was also especially elegant with its marble slab and wooden spreader.
Leather bread basket, with traditional brown bread on the rightCitrus cured Irish salmon with Goatsbridge trout caviar, buttermilk, and cucumber
The salmon starter was light, refreshing, and texturally interesting. Cucumber came in two forms: more recognizable slices, and smaller orbs rolled in black ash. I’ve been impressed multiple times already at the quality of salmon in Ireland, and this dish showed off the fresh fish especially well.
We finished our meal with The Pig’s Ear’s signature dessert, presented to each person in a striped pink bag. Inside was a glass jar filled with three layers of cheesecake: raspberry jam, cream cheese filling, and crushed biscuits (similar to graham crackers). It must be the high-quality Irish dairy, because the filling was some of the creamiest I’ve tasted and made each spoonful heavenly. I might go back for the cheesecake alone.
The Pig’s Ear signature cheese cake with berry jam and crushed HobNob biscuits, jarred and presented inside a pink striped bag
The details:The Pig’s Ear, 4 Nassau Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
