A restaurant that offers value for money and hits the spot
SLOW FOOD, HOT SPOT is the slogan of Fallon Byrne's restaurant. And there's something in it. The big dining room is lovely - rather New Yorkish in feel and style - and buzzes pleasantly when full.
But the hot spot is actually in the basement, where you can buy a bottle of any number of wines from the vast selection, pay a modest corkage, and hoover it up with plates of cheese and charcuterie. It appears to be where, as they say, everyone is going these days.
And why? Well, it's central, it's not expensive, the range of wines seems limitless and, if you live in a particular kind of milieu, you will be bound to meet someone you know. It belongs to a category of meeting places which travel guides like to flag up as the "in" places, usually just too late to be accurate.
Anyway, it seemed a shame that FB's lovely upstairs dining room was virtually empty when we repaired there for the set lunch the other day. You may have noticed that the set lunch is becoming quite the thing in these uncertain times. There seems to be healthy competition between Dublin restaurateurs to corner this particular market. It is as if they have calculated that, on the average day, there are just enough active lunchers to fill a typical dining room, and they want them in theirs.
FB more or less got this ball rolling with a menu at €18.50 for two courses, or €23 for three. Bar one extraordinary oversight, we had a good lunch - very good in parts.
Minted broad-bean soup with creamed feta was as flavoursome as it was generous. True, broad beans are not exactly in season at the moment, but they provided a good base for the mint, which was pungent, and for the sharp, saltiness of the semi-liquid feta. This was a soup that you would notice eating. Too many of them just slip down without a trace, don't they?
A salad of ham hock and lentils was just the thing for a menu like this, which needs to deliver good value but plenty of taste. The meat had been cooked long and slow so that it had become strands, then pressed into a roll and sliced. The lentils were al dente and, like the salad leaves, tossed with a nicely sharp dressing and a touch of mustard. This is not rocket nor even arugula science. It's good, simple, cheap food. Why do we not see more of it? (The more I talk to chefs, the more I realise that the answer to this question must invariably involve the notoriously conservative Irish palate).
A big hamburger, which tasted strongly of real beef, came with melted red cheddar, thin slices of crispy bacon and a vast amount of good, handmade chips, thin and crisp. It's rather more than most of us want at lunch but it was generous, full of taste and well-executed.
And then a tart of leek, mushroom and blue cheese, which was much more delicious than it sounds - largely thanks to the vegetable elements having been bathed in an ocean of creamy, cheesy intensity.
But, what was this? The pastry case was burnt. It was not just rather well done. It had reached that stage of brownness when you simply know that it's going to taste bitter and unpleasant. And so it proved.
Now, my question is this. Somebody picked up this pastry case and thought it was okay, before putting the very pleasant filling in it. What were they thinking? In a properly run kitchen, that pastry case would have gone in the bin the moment it came out of the oven. That's what worries me about FB. A very pleasant lunch spoiled by . . . what? A spectacular lack of awareness? A fear of being accused of waste? A notion that the punter simply wouldn't notice? I have no idea.
With two bottles of mineral water, a bottle of red wine, a cappuccino and a shared cheese board (good condition, well presented), the bill came to €78 before service.
THE SMART MONEY
Two courses, a glass of wine, a coffee and tip will still leave change out of €30. Stick to tap water and you will get out for €20.
WINE CHOICE
FB's list is a lovely one: quirky, eclectic and with no dross whatsoever. Plenty of wines by the glass, including crisp, zesty Gaba do Xil (€7/€28), juicy, quite complex JC Regnaudot Bourgogne Rouge (€8/€32) and a selection of Lustau fine sherries - always a good sign. There are 14 wines under €30, including a ripe, oaky Evohe Garnacha (€28) from Navarra. Mount Horrocks Riesling (€43) from Western Australia is one of the best and Ned Henry's Hewitson Shiraz/Mourvedre is an off-beat Aussie red for €46. The turbo-charged Abadia Retuerta Seleccion Especial (€50), not to be confused with the basic version, is a blockbuster. Ridge Monte Bello 1999 (€285) is one of the Californian all-time greats.