Tom Doorley is impressed by the Cellar Restaurant at the Merrion hotel in Dublin, where he didn't mind eating alone
There's a lot to be said for the solitary lunch. Mind you, it's not the sort of thing you can plan. It has to be spontaneous, and a generous portion of the afternoon must be available, not for lingering but for wandering aimlessly around as you digest. And it really does help if the sun is shining.
All these circumstances happened to come together for me the other day as Dublin basked in a burst of Indian-summer sunshine. I could have sat in St Stephen's Green, made phone calls and hammered away at the laptop while munching a sandwich. Or I could have wandered down to Moore Street and had something interesting in one of those Chinese restaurants where they serve "fried guts". But neither option is relaxing.
And so I repaired to the Merrion hotel and - oh, hell, I'll admit it, with luck destroying any notion of my being a carefree boulevardier - had a very quick business meeting in the rather wonderful, cavernous and attractively gloomy Cellar Bar. Then I tucked myself into a corner of the Cellar Restaurant and got stuck into the, at €24.95, attractively priced lunch menu. Attractive, that is, because the food is bloody good.
At 12.45pm, about 15 minutes after I arrived, the place was suddenly packed with earnest-looking men in suits. They had all gone by 1.45pm. Such discipline. The lingerers were few but included a couple of retired people who had the loud drawls that suggest old Irish money - in other words, money acquired before 1990.
There's something very distinctive about food cooked simply by a talented chef, and as soon as my starter hit the table I knew I was in safe hands. A little high-sided tart of Bluebell Falls goat's cheese was fashioned from crumbly, buttery pastry, filled to the brim with molten, sharp, clean-tasting cheese and topped, in a stroke of unpredictable smartness, with a blanket of hollandaise sauce. That was it, apart from a miniature salad of bitter, crisp endive, slivers of crisp, sweet apple with some crumbled goat's cheese and the subtlest of walnut-oil dressings. See what I mean about the chef? Talented and confident.
Next came fish and chips. The fish was haddock, meaty, moist and encased in light, crisp batter. It was served with a little bowl of pretty average chips, but the accompaniments were great: a chunky, proper tartare sauce and a dollop of deliciously buttery, sweet pea puree. This was described on the menu as "mushy peas" - not to anyone who has ever been to Lancashire, they weren't.
A very helpful sommelier persuaded me to have a glass of Sancerre with the cheese tart, as Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect partner for fresh goat's cheese. It was de Ladoucette's La Poussie, and, like all of the wines from this stable, it was a bit underwhelming. It lacked zing and pungency, especially at €12.25 for a (generous) glass.
The cheaper Domaine Talmard Mâcon-Uchizy (€8 a glass), with its slightly buttery Chardonnay fruit and faint touch of oak, hit it off with the fish and chips to great effect.
With a large bottle of mineral water, the two glasses of wine and a coffee, the bill came to €49.95.
Cellar Restaurant, the Merrion, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2, 01-6030600, www.merrionhotel.com
WINE CHOICE The Merrion's list isn't cheap, but it is interesting. A big selection of wines by the glass includes the superb Domaine Talmard Mâcon-Uchizy (€8), Herederos del Marqués de Riscal Rueda (€6.75), the spicy red Mas Collet (€8.75), Château la Baronne Corbières (€7.50) and Domana Estate Pinot Noir (€11.25). Guigal Côtes du Rhône is a bit steep at €30 a bottle, but, of course, this is the best hotel in Dublin. On the other hand, Taittinger NV at €68 (€16 a glass) is not bad for a grande marque champagne. Good buys include Chatsfield Mt Barker Shiraz (€40), from Western Australia, Mitchell's Watervale Riesling (€34) and José Pariente's Verdejo (€32). House wines, at €27, include Fleur du Cap Chardonnay, from the Cape.