The chattering classes have a new meeting place. Fallon & Byrne, a grand monument to food and wine, is made for those in whose lives single-estate extra-virgin olive oil and arborio rice, smoked Spanish paprika and sun-dried Indonesian coriander root loom large. Okay, I made the last one up, but you see what I mean, writes Tom Doorley.
Fallon & Byrne is designed to be the ultimate deli for Dublin, on a scale commensurate with the pockets of those who were probably brought up on Bird's Angel Delight (weren't we all?) but who now like to serve slow-food ceviche with sourdough bread in their €250,000 designer kitchens. What's a quarter of a million when the house is "worth" €5 million? Actually, Fallon & Byrne has broader appeal. The ranges of deli produce and wine are exceptional, the fresh fruit and veg are seriously attractive, and prices, strange as it may seem, are reasonable. This is very much a place for people who want to cook, to eat and to drink well.
A vast wine shop in the basement doubles as a wine bar where you can choose from hundreds of bottles and pay €10 corkage. A cheese platter for one costs €7.50, for two €10. Cheese and charcuterie for two costs €14.
Upstairs is a large restaurant in a bright, airy room. The service is excellent and the buzz considerable. Fallon & Byrne is clearly a bit of a social centre at the moment.
The food is decent enough, but I reckon it will get better. On my lunchtime visit, French onion soup was excellent. Served in a decently-sized marmite, it was based on rich stock, sharpened with a little white wine. The onions were just caramelised enough, and the croutons with toasted Gruyère were classic. All in all, a very good take on a bistro favourite.
A spinach and frisee salad with crisp pancetta, chunky black pudding and poached egg was sound. It may seem a little like breakfast, but the runny egg, combined with the tomato vinaigrette and crisp, slightly bitter salad, was, again, quite classic, simple and tasty.
Main courses were less successful. We sent back the first attempt at seared tuna with Thai noodle salad, on the basis that the noodles were barely cooked. The second attempt was fine, as far as the noodles were concerned, although the dressing needed a dash more lime juice, and perhaps a chilli kick. The thin slice of tuna scored well on flavour, but it was too thin to retain moisture. It was rather hard. A smaller slice at twice the thickness would have allowed the interior to remain rare rather than pink.
A croque-madame was a good rendering of this brunch dish - essentially a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with a rich and very cheesy mornay sauce, topped with a soft-fried egg. I would have tidied up the crusts a little, but there was nothing wrong with the flavour. At €9 it would make an excellent lunch with a glass of wine, a salad, perhaps, and a good strong coffee to finish. Our espressos were first rate.
Fallon & Byrne and Venu, Dublin's two most recent high-profile restaurant openings, feature keen prices. I wonder if the tide is starting to turn. However well heeled people are these days, they are increasingly conscious of value. If and when a crash finally comes, consumers will remain loyal to restaurants that have done their best to offer fair prices in a difficult environment.
This little snapshot of Fallon & Byrne shows a restaurant still getting into its stride. I may well break with tradition and report again on it in a month or two, because I have a feeling that it will get better. And it's not bad as things stand. I particularly like the wine list - and the policy of putting a straight €20 mark-up on dearer wines. It means the list is highly competitive, and we are not penalised for wanting the good stuff.
Our bill, excluding excellent service but including a bottle of superb Riesling, mineral water and coffee, came to €84.25. Definitely one to watch.
WINE CHOICE:
A lovely list with lots of value, especially at the higher end. Wines by the glass range from €5 to €11, with cheaper wines from €18 a bottle. Lovely Mâcon La Vineuse is €28, Meyer-Fonné's ripe Pinot Blanc is €26, Santa Duc Vaucluse is €20 and Lyeth Merlot, from California, is €27. The Mount Horrocks Riesling is superb at €36. Outstanding value is offered by Girardin's Santenay 1er cru (€47), Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 1982 (€280), Château Pétrus 1985 (€1,170), Allegrini Amarone (€85), Penfolds Grange 1999 (€240), Seghesio Zinfandel (€40), Napanook 1999 by Moueix (€65), Chassagne-Montrachet Domaine Pillot (€65) and Yves Cuilleron's Condrieu La Petite Côte (€70). The Pétrus is a steal.
Fallon & Byrne, 11-17 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, 01-4721000