I am going to be judging a competition on Truvo.ie to win a trip to lisbon! How exciting! Truvo is basically a review website, which you can pretty much review anything on, but what is particularly interesting for me, is the restaurant reviews. I have stuck up a few reviews of some of my favourite places to eat in Dublin which you can check out and if you are interested in entering and winning, sign up for a profile on Truvo.ie, check out the video below of me hamming it up in Fallon and Byrne and then head over to the competition website for more details!
Wow! What a week it's been, I have seen 14 record stores and been on 17 radio stations with Industry throughout the country! I finally arrived home Saturday afternoon and have been in bed since. Myself and Sofie woke up late this morning and decided to go for a walk down to the farmers market in Howth, to pick up something for breakfast.
By the time we had finished looking around the market, breakfast became brunch and we ended up in the new Seafood Tapas bar, Octopussy, which is the latest little eatery to appear on Howth's west pier. It's a pretty funky cafe/bar which serves tapas sized seafood dishes, such as calamari, crab claws, paella, Dublin bay prawns, and Thai prawn curry. The dishes are all fairly reasonably priced for what you get, all under €10, and will definitely leave you full. I ordered the Dublin Bay Prawns, which were simply griddled in a little butter, they were a little messy to eat, but totally worth it.
Chilli, Garlic and Lime Dublin Bay Prawns I use a microplane grater to mince the garlic and chilli, its a really handy kitchen gadget. To butterfly a Dublin bay prawn, run a knife from the head to tail, being careful not to cut all the way through, then gently flatten it out.
Serves 2 8 Dublin bay prawns or langoustines, butterflied 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 red chilli, minced 1 tablespoon of olive oil juice of 1 lime lime wedges and chopped coriander, to serve
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss the prawns to coat. Heat a large griddle pan, and add the prawns. Cook for 2-3 minutes either side or until cooked through. Transfer the prawns to a serving plate, sprinkle with a little chopped coriander and serve with some lime wedges.
Cookes Restaurant,14 South William Street , Dublin, Ireland
A quality restaurant, very tasty and inventive food.
We went out for dinner in Dublin on Thursday evening, to celebrate Sofie getting a job! We hadn't booked anywhere so we ended up going for a bit of a walk to find a place we both liked!
After a walk down South William St, up Georges St, and through Georges St. Arcade we ended up stumbling into Cookes, who were offering a set menu of, starter and main course for €21.95, probably the best priced set menu for it's class we came across that evening.
Unlike my last meal in town, the waiting staff were extremely professional and very attentive. I was asked three times if I was finished my starter but in general they paced the courses quite well, leaving time to digest and have a good chat!
For a starter I had a Caesar salad, and Sofie ordered a Beef Carpaccio with rocket. The Caesar salad was very tasty but lacked croutons and had just that bit too much cheese. Sofie's Carpaccio was excellent, a perfect balance of taste and texture. For me the perfect dish is one that has a variety flavours that combine to become the perfect mouthful!
For mains, in a bit of turning of the tables Sofie went for the Caesar salad, and I chose the Duck Confit with Beans. The salad was standard again with the same criticism, however the duck was very tasty, I felt that the beans could have been stewed a little longer in the sauce as they were still a bit hard and didn't really compliment the texture of the dish.
All in all the meal was really enjoyable and perfect for an early meal out. I would definitely recommend Cookes, it definitely has a feel for food.
Pizza Stop - Ristorante Italiano 6/10 Chatham House, Chatham Lane, Off Grafton Street, Dublin 2
We had visitors this weekend so things got very touristy! We visited The Boyne Valley, New grange, Malahide castle, Howth head, and even ended up going to river dance which was staged at the Gaiety theatre in Dublin which is a pretty small venue and I felt took away from the colossal event, the name river dance normally conjures.
After River dance we were stuck for a place to eat and everyone was in the mood for Italian so I remembered a little place nuzzled at the back of HMV off Grafton Street. I had been to Pizza Stop - Ristorante Italiano a few years ago and enjoyed the meal then. The restaurant itself has got a bit of charm if not a little grubby, but the staff are very friendly and there was lots of laughing and joking.
Our guest and I ordered a Pizza du chef (which the menu promised a blend of tomato sauce, salami, mozzarella, peppers and pepperoni sausage) and my girlfriend had Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino. Most Italian restaurants are traditionally owned and run by Italians and pizza stop is no exception. We were seated right beside the bar and while waiting for our food to be served, a fight broke out between what looked to be the owner and one of the chefs. From what I could overhear the chef had been filling in his time sheet wrong and the owner was shouting "You do not make the time, I do!" after which he threw down the time sheet.
The rest of the staff looked very uncomfortable as the owner then proceeded to viciously restock the wine, practically throwing the bottles in to their slots! Although highly unprofessional it was quite amusing to watch, and gave us a great source of conversation as we waited for the food.
When the food arrived I was not that impressed, the pasta was over cooked and the dish itself didn't seem to have any strong flavor. The pizzas were a lot more promising with a nice crispy classic Italian base, there was a bit too much cheese but overall quite tasty.
The meal was quite cheap at 43 Euro, so I guess it's priced correctly for what you get! Not to mention the entertainment!
