John Butler found a warm welcome and some fine Middle Eastern fare for surprisingly reasonable prices, at a restaurant beneath the Islamic Cultural Centre
A few years back, if you were looking for exotic food in Goatstown, you went to Joe's Take-away and got the man himself to fix you a spice burger. But a few things have changed in the old neighbourhood since then. Joe is still running the finest chipper in Dublin, but The Olive Tree restaurant beneath the Islamic Cultural Centre on Roebuck Road has upped the stakes in exotic food, serving fine Middle Eastern fare every day, and at surprisingly low prices.
You can't miss the mosque. It's an immense, pale-brick building set back from the main road. The temple faces south-east in the direction of Kaabah, the sacred temple of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and is bounded by railings at the front. This imposing facade can seem forbidding to a passer-by if you miss its friendly welcome emblazoned in big letters on a banner at the front gate: "The Islamic cultural centre welcomes you." Heed those words and you'll find the restaurant and shop, each facing the road, nestled under the front of the temple. This aspect has its advantages, as sunlight floods the restaurant.
The Olive Tree can seat up to 100 people at informal long wooden tables. The food is on display behind the counter, while the walls around are decorated with old photographs of Jerusalem taken from the surrounding hillside, and unique Islamic tapestries. The shop and restaurant are open from noon until 9 p.m., closing three times a day for prayer at roughly 2 p.m., 5.30 p.m. and 8.45 p.m. However, you needn't bolt down your food and make for the exits if you've just been served at prayer time. The staff simply leave you to tuck in, and return 10 minutes later to pick up where they left off.
On my last visit I ate a tender chicken shawerma plate. It is made of chicken leg meat deboned and marinated overnight in vinegar, garlic, lemon, black pepper and cumin. The chicken is served on a bed of seasoned rice with a cool yoghurt sauce to temper the mild spice of the meat. I finished with an assortment of sweet almond baklava, tea and coffee. On a previous occasion, we went during the fasting period of Ramadan in January, not expecting to eat, but the chef kindly brought us fresh dates on the branch before serving us excellent curry. Both meals cost less than £5 per person.
It begs the question, why do they do it for so little? Ibrahim Phelan, the amiable manager with the Irish surname, is the first to point out that a restaurant in the Temple Bar might charge almost double the price for food such as theirs. Were you to scour town for a sit-down chicken tandoori meal under £4, you'd not have much luck. But this is the Islamic Cultural Centre, and as part of the centre, The Olive Tree operates not so much on a profit-making basis, but more with the intention of giving a little something back to the community. Something edible. Ibrahim stresses that by community he means the Dublin community as a whole, not just the Islamic community which provides most, though not all, of The Olive Tree's custom. "It is wrong to say `no, you can't eat here if you are a woman, or if you are Jewish, or if you are a child'." The Islamic community travels from as far as Finglas and Bray for a home-style feed, but sitting shoulder to shoulder with them knocking back tea and baklava are septuagenarian local ladies and, most tellingly, gaggles of students from neighbouring UCD, drawn like moths to the bright light of good, filling food. They favour vegetable samosa (a large pastry filled with peas, potato, onion and fresh herbs), in itself a full meal for 70p. In this gathering of diverse groups brought together by food a friendly relaxed atmosphere prevails.
Before moving to Ireland two years ago, Ibrahim ran a restaurant in Crete, and at The Olive Tree he varies the menu from day to day with the ease of a man used to cooking a variety of food for the tourist trade. He uses a system of rotating chefs, with each chef favouring different dishes. The most popular of these are baba chanoush, main courses of couscous lamb, kofta and rice (minced lamb mixed with black pepper, garlic onion and green chilli, lightly grilled) and lamb and chicken shawermas. Each dish costs less than £4. The vegetarian palate is always catered for regardless of which chef is playing centre-forward. Hummus, generous Lebanese salads, and tabouli (cous-cous with parsley, spring onion and olive oil) are staples on the menu.
If the restaurant piques your desire to try some of this at home, you'll find the adjoining shop outrageously well-stocked. It's open until 9 p.m., and serves small snacks such as halva, a sweet crumbly biscuit made from pulped sesame seeds and syrups. You can get fresh meat cut until 8 p.m. and an amazing array of spices, vegetables and sauces. Ever wondered where you might find ground cumin, coriander seeds or brown tahini? This place boggled the mind of someone who didn't realise Tabasco was a brand name until he saw 10 different types of pepper sauce displayed beside fresh dates, and what can only be described as a sack of cous-cous for £8.
Abdul Trim, the manager of the shop, is always on hand to answer questions about what goes with what. Besides food, the shop has an array of literature, some of which demystifies aspects of an emerging culture in a part of the world previously denied this diversity. Books on sale include The Lawful And Prohibited In Islam and A Guide To The Koran. However, if you only came in for the exotic delights of a Bounty bar, you'll find that too.
Friday is the busiest day at the Islamic Cultural Centre because of Friday prayers at around 1.30 p.m. This is Islam's closest equivalent to Sunday Mass, so you could be queuing with 300 hungry diners after service. You should really go for dinner at The Olive Tree in the evening. You can see the sun setting and there's a hum of activity around you. From your seat in the restaurant you can't see the neighbouring houses, and could almost be on a holiday.
If you want to find it, The Islamic Cultural Centre and The Olive Tree restaurant are both on Roebuck Road. That's just around the corner from the German school and the Quaker church. Ah, Goatstown. The old neighbourhood is fast becoming a suburb of the future.