You think you know what you’re getting – a young chef from Wexford, six years at Michelin-starred Kadeau in Denmark, a stint at Le Doyenné outside Paris, back in Dublin with his wife, Laura Chabal, to open Comet. What you don’t see coming is pollock poached in beef fat and quail on toast.
Kevin O’Donnell can really cook. I’d never met him – but I’d heard plenty. He started out in Bastible, did the mandatory years abroad absorbing other people’s brilliance, and now he’s partnered with Bastible’s Barry and Claremarie FitzGerald to open Comet – tucked beside the RIAC club off Dawson Street in what used to be La Ruelle Wine Bar. A smart refurb shows that the bones were always there.
House-made sourdough and Saltrock butter (€6.50) with a lactic, near-fermented edge might read Nordic-by-numbers at first – but by the end of the meal, it all feels more like Irish tradition sharpened by French technique. And the taste backs it up.
It’s an à-la-carte menu built around plates that rise in size and price, or there’s a €78 four-course carte blanche (where the customer gives the chef freedom to choose what to make) served family style. Chabal’s wine list covers grower Champagnes, low-production bottles and plenty by the glass. We pick a lightly chilled Casa Aurora La Nave (€48), a naturally fermented Mencia blend from Bierzo in northwest Spain.
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From the snacks section, the spring onion tempura with Meyer lemon and anchovy (€9) wrapped in a sorrel leaf lands with a jolt of acidity. The onion is cooked just long enough to lose its raw edge but keep its bite.
Next up, a bowl of summer. Peas from Abercorn Farm and beans from Castleruddery (€15) sit on top of crème cru with a touch of fermented plum. Finely chopped pistachios run through the legumes, bringing more impact than expected with a soft earthiness.
The squid (€21) lands as diamond-sliced pieces, cured in kombu and grilled on the konro. The kombu is braised with black pepper for the dashi, but there’s no strident koji bludgeoning through. The flesh keeps a bite, the tentacle ragu is deep and savoury, and the grilled peach lifts it just enough to stop it drowning in brine and smoke.
Pollock (€29) comes next – a proper test dish. It’s a sustainable fish, but rarely an interesting one. O’Donnell makes no attempt to trick it up with vin jaune or a mound of shellfish. Here it’s poached in beef fat. He knows it’s not turbot and pushes the meatiness instead, bringing round, generous flavours with girolles, maitake, a few hazelnuts and a butter sauce built off the mushroom juices. Cooked just right – no sous vide – it’s tender and full of flavour.
The quail (€32) comes split down the middle – deboned except for the legs and wings, stuffed with sautéed leeks. It sits on a thick slice of home-made milk bread, the whole thing lacquered till it glistens with confit garlic and honey. There’s a nod to St John’s pork jowl on toast here and the old French trick of roasting a bird on bread so the fat drips straight in.
A foamy vin jaune sauce is poured tableside, a sauce more often seen with fish – bright enough to keep each bite sharp. You get meat, toast, sauce and the crunch of bone if you’re the sort to gnaw. Every bite is sticky, savoury and worth the mess.
Pommes boulangère (€8) is a must – O’Donnell’s nod to Le Doyenné and Wexford potatoes. A long strip of potato is rolled, cooked with onions and chicken stock until the edges are tinged and frazzled. Buttery, soft and savoury – it’s French and Irish comfort in one bite.
Dessert is coffee ice cream with caramelised milk (€9). The milk is soaked in Bell Lane coffee oil, spun into ice cream, then topped with a reduced goat’s milk caramel from Killowen Farm in west Cork. The coffee stays subtle, the caramel deepens it, and the meringues add just enough crunch. Sweet, light, satisfying.
Comet is the work of a skilled, mature chef. There’s individuality to the dishes here. It’s not a Nordic-adjacent cut and paste; instead it’s intuitive, ingredient-led, and subtle where it counts. The menu is designed so that you could drop in for an interesting glass of wine and a few plates or go for a feast with a gang.
There will be a lot of eyes on this restaurant, considering the provenance of the chef and his partners. It is very much at Michelin star level. If it was in London, it would get a star. Let’s see what happens here.
Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €177.50.
- The verdict Ingredient-led cooking by a highly skilled chef.
- Food provenance Glenmar, Fiorbhia Farm, Abercorn Farm, and Castleruddery.
- Vegetarian options Dishes can be adapted for vegetarians.
- Wheelchair access Fully accessible with an accessible toilet.
- Music Eclectic and full albums.
