EATING OUT: Tom Doorley enjoys Peploe's despite the glitterati
I wanted to like Peploe's, but knowing that this Stephen's Green basement is by far the most fashionable restaurant in town - if you leave aside the big guns - weighed heavily upon me. There's something about fashionable restaurants that makes me want to run a mile. Very often it's the clientele. What passes for the glitterati in Dublin cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be regarded as appetite enhancers. All that gravity-defying hair (among the women) and the mortal stylistic sin of wearing a coloured shirt with white collar and cuffs (among the men) mixed with the cloying whiff of very, very new money is a recipe for anorexia.
So, just to be clear. Peploe's is bloody good. It has to be, because it's full of people like that. And still the gastric juices flow, the appetite marches boldly along, undeterred. Undeterred even - and I think you'll agree that this is something of an acid test - at the sight of Mr Liam Lawlor as large as life (which is more than adequate, thank you very much) tucking in to my starter at the next table. Ooops! One must reckon with Mr Lawlor's skills as a barrack room lawyer so perhaps I had better stress that the dish mentioned above was the same as my starter and not my actual starter, paid for by me. Big Liam kept his mitts off our grub all night.
There was a marmite of white china containing a generous amount of that hoary old favourite, French onion soup. But here, it was exceptionally good. The dark stock had a silky, gelatinous sheen to it, a rich, lingering taste and the wholesome sweetness of long-cooked onion. Floating on top was one slice of toasted French bread topped with gruyere. No silly garnishes, no fripperies, just an excellent and faithful version of a bistro favourite.
The brie wrapped in filo which Liam and I scoffed was much better than it sounds. Soft cheese, wrapped up and baked or deep-fried, brings back painful memories of the 1970s. There was a time when deep-fried whole camemberts were served with raspberry jam for ... er ... sweet, even in Ballsbridge. Lest we forget...
But the version Liam and I enjoyed was delightful. The cheese had melted right through, the filo was crisp and dry, and the whole lot was served with Agen prunes in a reduction of their own cooking liquid. Simple and quite delicious. Liam had his with a Barolo, which would not be my idea of fun.
Now, the eccentricity kicks in. We decided that we were in the mood to keep going with starters. And the menu at Peploe's is such that the distinction between starters and mains is attractively blurred. There was a remarkably good tarte tatin of beetroot - nicely seasonal - in which the vegetable's natural sweetness was enhanced by being lightly caramelised. It sat on a disc of buttery pastry and was sharpened with a dollop of crème fraïche. Confit of oxtail, rich and dark and intense, made an outer circle on the plate. All elements worked outstandingly well together.
A generous plate of impeccably paper-thin carpaccio of beef was, once again, simple and perfect. The meat had real taste (and a good marbling of fat), it was anointed with good olive oil and sprinkled with just enough fresh Parmesan (in tiny crumbs). This was faultless. We enjoyed a bowl of thin, crisp, ready salted chips and some intensely buttery colcannon made with curly kale and scallions, with these sharply contrasting dishes.
Lemon tart was thin, sharp and perfectly crisp both on the base and in its bruléed topping, an example to all those restaurants that persist with the flabby, sweet version. Apple clafoutis was fine but a little bready in the batter department; its cinnamon ice cream was first rate.
Okay, so we pushed the boat out. Every now and then we all need to. We had two glasses of white, one bottle of red and two glasses of dessert wine and the bill came to a highly justifiable €121.95.
WINE CHOICE: We had one glass of zesty, fresh Jose Parriente Rueda (€7/€37.50) and one of Domaine Talmard Macon-Uchizy (€6.50/€31), a crisp, dry white Burgundian Chardonnay. Our Corriole Diva (€37) was a multicultural McLaren Vale blend of Sangiovese and a touch of Shiraz with good backbone. Other highlights include Nicolas Potel's fragrant Côtes de Nuits Villages (€43), the fleshy Chateau Bellevue-Farereau 2000 (€34) with masses of Merlot fruit, the minerally-nosed but round Chateau Panet St Emillion 1999 (€48), the elegant Chateau Gloria 1997 (€57) from Saint-Julien. Our Echeverria Late Harvest Sauvignon (€10.50/glass) from Chile was honeyed yet zippy.