Hartley's is giving people what they want, at the right price, writes Tom Doorley
THE PEOPLE behind Hartley's, in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, who also run Dali's in Blackrock, seem to understand how to fill a restaurant. According to my dining companions, it's so hard to get a table there on a Saturday night that your telephone inquiry is likely to be greeted with an amused chuckle.
This is not good. Restaurateurs should know that the customer is always right, even when they don't have a chance of a table at the time when they want one. I managed to get one, booked under another name as usual, by agreeing to turn up on a Friday at 6.15pm and to vacate within two hours. I know many readers are allergic to table-turning, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
The Hartley's formula appears to be a combination of good food, keen prices and a big, airy dining room with plenty of space between the tables. The price of grub seems to be in inverse proportion to the space, which makes a refreshing change. This used to be Restaurant na Mara and it has been transformed into a very cool place to eat.
The curious thing is that most of the diners, on our Friday night excursion, live in houses that are worth, in theory at any rate, many millions. But they are there because they want to eat well without having to bite into their staggering mortgage repayments. Which is fair enough.
I have to say that I liked it a lot. There were a few quibbles, right enough, including the thumbscrews that were applied to get me to order a drink at the bar and which I resisted, insisting on a large bottle of still water (knowing Dún Laoghaire tap only too well). But, overall, Hartley's seems to be doing a very good job.
Three of us sat down to an early dinner, and the second quibble concerns one of the starters: Roquefort and fig salad involved figs that were as unripe as they were flavourless. Salt and pepper squid with a Vietnamese dipping sauce is just the sort of thing that a non-ethnic restaurant can usually be relied upon to get very wrong. Here it was terrific: very tender squid encased in a delicate cornflour batter, dunked in a zesty, sour, salty and fresh liquid. Simple and delicious.
Barbecued pork ribs, liberally doused in a marinade that seemed to involve garlic, ginger, chilli and maybe coriander, were tender and tasty, and served with an admittedly slightly starchy creamed sweetcorn. All of these starters weighed in at €8.
Grilled tuna was nicely pink, still attractively moist and served with the smoky aubergine puree that is known as baba ganoush. Its cumin scent blended nicely with spicy potatoes which were enriched with coconut milk.
The triumph of the evening, however, was a leek, Gruyère and smoked haddock gratin, which was very rich and cheesy, and in which the dominant flavour was nevertheless delivered by plentiful naturally smoked fish. Our waitress mentioned that a lot of customers miss the day-glo orange of the industrial form of smoked haddock. Missionary work is clearly required. This was an eminently simple dish and terrific value at €16.
The eight-ounce fillet steak, on the other hand, was very small and cost €28. It was also very slight on flavour, which is a regular complaint when it comes to beef in restaurants, but the accompanying chunky, crisp chips, caramelised onions and decent Bearnaise helped to hide its shame.
Portions at Hartley's are generous and we contented ourselves with sharing a selection of Irish and French cheeses, all in good shape, and a pleasant apple and blackcurrant crumble with cinnamon ice-cream.
Eschewing coffees, the bill for three, including two bottles of wine and a large bottle of water, came to a very reasonable €158.50, excluding service.
Hartley's is trying very hard to do a good job and, on the evidence of our meal, succeeding more often than not.
The wine list
The list kicks off with Manzanilla and dry Amontillado, always a good sign, at a fiver a glass. Our two wines were old favourites: a Gros Manseng/Sauvignon from Alain Brumont of Château Montus fame at €28 and Azamor, a chunky, oaky Portuguese red for the same price. Other highlights include the delicious Grenache rosé from Mas de Bressades in the Costières de Nîmes (€28); the lively, fresh Basa Rueda (€26) from Telmo Rodriguez; Pieropan Soave (€29); ripe and oaky Alaia Rubiales (€25); and the serious Victorian Langhi-Ghiran Cliff Edge Shiraz (€42). Niepoorts lovely LBV is €40 a bottle. This is a quirky, well-thought-out list with plenty of pleasant surprises and absolutely no dross.