[Review] Fuel...Fit Food, Clontarf, Dublin 3

This morning, I woke up feeling foggy and not rested. When I feel that way, one of my favourite cures is a brisk walk in the fresh air to flush out the cobwebs. Usually I head towards Sandymount or one of the around the southside of the city. Today however, I wanted to take a look at the ongoing renovations at Clontarf Baths, so we headed north. 

45 minutes walking later, I was feeling much better. Looking around Vernon Avenue, we spotted the very small and cute Fuel...Fit Food. The best word to describe the interior is compact, with many small tables neatly tucked in. The focus here is clearly on healthy tasty food, with a young clientele who appear to like their coffees flat and white. 

Mexican eggs

[Review] Ali's Kitchen, Rory Gallagher Place, Cork

As a student in Cork City, I spent many afternoons browsing the bookshelves of Connolly's bookshop on Rory Gallagher Place. I couldn't, and still can't, get enough books in my life. When I learned than Alan Connolly had retired and closed his bookshop, I was disappointed to see a little of the old fabric of Cork disappearing.  

I need not have worried however, as the opening of Ali's Kitchen in this beautiful old building has given Cork a vibrant cafe and bakehouse which has quickly developed a reputation as the place for brunch and baked goods in the city. Even browsing their Instagram feed induces salivation. 

Coffee at Ali's Kitchen

[Review] Brick Lane, South Main Street, Cork

I've groused about the current brunch trend in previous blog posts, as I'm feeling completely overrun by the brunch-mania that's sweeping over the capital. But like all good things, you don't really realise how good you have it until you no longer have it. And while brunch may be two-a-penny in Dublin city, it's still got some way to go in Cork City.

For many years now, my weekends at home in Cork have been slightly diminished by the lack of options for a good Sunday breakfast or brunch. But the situation is much changed down Leeside, and slowly but surely, Sunday options are improving. (By the way, for a list of all breakfast options in Cork, check out this blog post from 40 Shades of Life). 

Brick Lane sits at that very mysterious point where North Main Street transitions to South Main Street. It occupies the premises that I knew in my student days as Rosie O'Grady's and which my younger sisters knew as The Classic. In the first phase of the Classic development, the interior has been completely overhauled in the modern style of mis-matched vintage chic. With the front windows wide open, the parquet flooring was glowing in the morning sunshine, making the venue feel welcoming and comfortable.

The bar at the new Brick Lane

Vintage doors at Brick Lane

The brunch menu is pretty straightforward at first glance but a deeper reading reveals some touches of brilliance. Firstly, there is no bacon, but honest-to-god, rashers. Other little touches appear like the addition of cinnamon to waffles or pancetta and sourdough French toast to an eggs Benedict. The menu also clearly calls out the price for additional orders (such as rashers, sourdough toast or maple syrup). 

Sister No 1 chooses the Monte Cristo Benedict (€8.50) which consists of sourdough French toast topped with crispy pancetta, Hegarty's cheese, free-range poached eggs and a creamy hollandaise sauce. Sister No 2 chooses the chunky Belgium cinnamon waffles with crispy, smoked thick rashers and maple syrup which is great value at just €7.00. 

For myself, I choose the potato chorizo breakfast (€8.50) which is quite similar to one of my favourite dishes to cook at home. A large bowl of sautéed potatoes mixed with spinach, chorizo and sweetened with a drizzle of maple syrup is topped with a softly fried egg. It's utterly delicious, right down to the small, golden-brown crispy bits sitting at the bottom of the bowl.

Monte Cristo Benedict (with rashers)

Potato chorizo breakfast

Belgium cinnamon waffles with rashers and maple syrup

Brunch was finished off with a sample of superb pistachio shortbreads and an incredible dense, chewy peanut butter brownie. Service is just the right level of friendly throughout (as you'd expect in Cork) and we really enjoy our meal. The only exception is the bizarre stuffed ferret (?) which stares at us from within his cage. Sometimes vintage chic just goes a little overboard.

We arrived for brunch at approximately 10.30 am and even at that time, there were groups of diners scattered around the bar and tables. It seems pretty clear that there's a market in Cork for early morning brunching and Brick Lane is benefiting. If the casual and comfortable vibe is continued throughout the day and into the nighttime, it's pretty easy to see Brick Lane being a success in Cork City. 

Brick Lane, 1-3 South Main Street, Cork.
Tel: +353 (0)87 271 0710
URL: bricklane.ie
Twitter: @Bricklanecork

[Review] Farmer Browns, Bath Avenue, Dublin 4

A cold Saturday morning in Dublin demands a hearty brunch. A good breakfast warms from the inside out, perfect when your breath is visible in the frosty air. Even though it was a rugby Saturday and we could see the Aviva glittering in the morning sunshine, the surrounding streets were still quiet in anticipation. The Bath pub was bracing itself for the inevitable onslaught while across the road, Farmer Browns was nicely packed with the breakfast crowd. 

Farmer Browns is twee, cutesy and retro but in a way that works (as opposed to the kind that causes your teeth to grate together). Images of flat caps and baler twine popped into my head, helped by the use of linoleum and mismatched delf. With dishes called "Starvin Marvin" and "The Farmer Wants a Wife", it's clear that there is a strong tongue-in-cheek humour. Despite the chilly temperatures, there was a decent crowd eating in outside area while the cosy inside was chock-a-block. 

A cheerfully bright mimosa

Coffee in retro glass mugs

A mimosa  (€6) was ordered, along with two coffees (€2.50 each), to help combat the effects of the night before. A large glass of bright orange sunshine was delivered to the table along with coffee in 70s-chic glass mugs. Himself ordered the very manly sounding steak, hash and eggs (€15) while I went for a daily special, a croque madame, kindly made on gluten-free bread for me (€9).

The croque madame came packed full of old-fashioned, crumbly home-cooked ham, with a generous layer of melted cheese topped with the required fried egg. The chunky ham (or 'hang' if you've ever cut turf in a bog) was stellar, a real throw-down to shop bought hams, and I liked how the accompanying fries were served in an old-style enameled mug. His steak, hash and eggs was equally impressive. A well-executed steak sat astride a pile of hash, topped with fried eggs, served with an excellent Béarnaise sauce. Both portions were firmly in the American-sized (i.e. huge) camp. 

My gluten-free croque madame with fries

Steak, hash and eggs with Béarnaise sauce

I've yet to eat at Farmer Brown's for dinner, but I've been told that it's good value and tasty. If the brunch is any indication, then I'm confident of a return visit. Yes, the interior is cosy, a little too cosy perhaps, but the staff are the right side of chatty friendly, the food is quality and the prices are friendly. Surprisingly, the shabby chic decor works very well. I didn't look at the walls very closely, but I wouldn't have been surprised the see the holy trinity of Dev, JFK and JPII looking down on the diners. 

And like a true country girl, I'm still dreaming of that 'hang'.

Farmer Brown's Market and Eatery, 25a Bath Avenue, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 (0)1 660 2326
URL: www.facebook.com/farmerbrownsdublin
Twitter: @farmerbrownsdub

Beckett & Bull, Dublin 6

Once upon a time there was a restaurant in Hanover Quay called Riva. It opened an outpost in Rathgar but now neither restaurant survives. I recollect some reasonably good food in the HQ location, so I don't think that the cooking was the reason for closure. It just goes to show that restaurants can close for a multitude of reasons. The closure of the Rather venue however, gave Jonathon and Amanda Kirwan a chance to open their American-inspired Beckett & Bull eatery.

I've recently bought myself a bicycle, the first I've owned since I was a teenager. And I am having such fun with it. We've cycled to dinner, with a bottle of wine in my basket to take advantage of the BYOB policy at Seagrass. I've done short grocery runs to the shop, rather than taking the car out of the driveway. Even the looming presence of winter doesn't hugely deter me. It just feels so virtuous to cycle for brunch, and so we left our bicycles locked to a signpost outside Beckett & Bull.

First impressions are very good, as the small front space opens out into a long room with a sunlit area at the rear. A kitchen pass sits in the middle of the long room, giving clear visibility of the chefs at work. I loved the touches like the white butcher tiles and the recycling of a butcher block into a table top. Kitsch images hang on the walls, and the menus are printed with suitably hip fonts and typesetting. Even the logo image of a horned man with a cigarette hanging from a manly square mouth is infinitely cool.

The interior at Beckett & Bull

I want this so much - Wonder Woman!!

This review is based on two visits to Beckett & Bull for brunch. On our first visit, we found the service to be painfully slow, but things went much more smoothly second time round. On both occasions, Himself ordered the Short Stack of pancakes with eggs, crispy bacon and maple syrup (€9.00). You simply couldn't get more Apple Pie than this. 

Short stack with eggs, crispy bacon and eggs

On my first visit, I went for the Smokies, which is essentially a smoky fish gratin (€13.00). Served with a choice of house salad or chunky fries, this is pure comfort food. I'm already looking forward to ordering this on cold, winter weekends. 

Smokies with salad and fries

On our latest visit, I decided to challenge my love/hate relationship with eggs by ordering the Green Eggs & Ham (€12.00). There were no Dr. Seuss antics here, but deliciously soft and creamy scrambled eggs, flavoured with pesto. Two thick gammon steaks and a fantastic slice of grilled pineapples meant that this plate was substantial eating.  I'll just have to hate eggs another day, as these green eggs were some of the best that I've ever eaten. 

Green eggs, ham, grilled pineapple and salad

What's puzzling about Beckett & Bull is how relatively little coverage it has had to date. It's cool, the atmosphere is relaxed and there is (mainly) cool music on the stereo. There are nice touches that indicate a level of care. On our first visit, the staff had the good sense to put all parties with children in the bright rear space, leaving the darker tables to the thankful sore heads of the childless diners. My only petty gripe is the large, fat wedges that are labelled "fries"on the menu. They are excellently cooked, but people, ultimately a spade is a spade. 

Beckett & Bull is exactly what every neighbourhood needs - a friendly, casual dining experience. I'm left with just one question. What was the inspiration behind the cool name and logo? I hope that there is a suitably cool answer. 

Beckett & Bull, 53 Rathgar Avenue, Dublin 6
Tel: + 353 (0)1 498 0011
URL: www.beckettandbull.ie
Twitter @BeckettBull

Noshington, South Circular Road, Dublin 8

I love waking up on Saturday morning in Dublin. Firstly, it means that I'm at home and secondly, that I'm not working. I enjoy shuffling bleary-eyed into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee in our Nespresso machine. I love getting to sit on my sofa with said cup of coffee, with gorgeous views from our apartment's bay windows out over the Victorian park across the way.

And then there's the pleasure of planning the day's activities. On one recent Saturday, we had tickets for the evening session of Taste of Dublin. The only problem was that the tickets were across Dublin, in Himself's brother's apartment. And the brother had to leave at midday to attend a wedding. This was the kind of pressure that I don't need on Saturdays.

Anyway, with the tickets secured, we turned our attention to breakfast. As we were on the South Circular Road, we decided to try the weirdly English-sounding Noshington. It's situated on the junction of Washington Street and South Circular Road and doesn't seem very big from the outside. Indoors, it's bright and open, with a fantastic salvaged counter. Our initial good vibes faded though as we continued to wait to be seated. We eventually took a table next to the door and forcibly got the attention of a waitress for menus.

We received two breakfast menus, a regular weekday menu and a weekend brunch menu. The selection on the brunch menu read well with prices ranging from €8.50 to €11.50. There's a full Irish on offer, but disappointingly tea/coffee didn't seem to be included in the price. We ordered from the one waitress who seemed able to see us, but that wasn't the end of the erratic service.  The wrong dish arrived twice for Himself, delivered by one of the blinkered servers. First time, the server blamed Himself, insisting it was his order, while the second time she blamed her colleague. 

Homemade beans on toast with chorizo and smoked cheese

Sausage & black pudding roll

Service issues aside, the food itself was pretty good. My homemade beans on toast was suitably comforting, enhanced by pieces of chorizo and a snowdrift of grated cheese (€8.50). His sausage and black pudding roll with mustard mayo was tasty although the meat had an over-processed texture (€4.50).  Both plates were served with a side salad with a pesto dressing. Coffees were good, properly sized (i.e. not soup bowls) and accompanied by a milk jug with enough milk for two people.

In a breach of restaurant etiquette, I was tweeting while waiting about the poor service. I received back several responses, all labeling Noshington as a resort of the pram pushing yummy mummy. But this does indeed seem to be the case. Noshington does seems to be popular with a wide range of customers, from OAPs to yummy mummies. A chalkboard offers daily specials and that fabulous old-shop counter is stuffed full of baked goodies. It's a pity about the scatty service. No customer needs to deal with servers who are overdue a trip to Specsavers. 

Noshington, 186 South Circular Road, Dublin 8
Tel: +353 (0)1 410 0414
URL: noshington.wordpress.com

[Review] The Chophouse, Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4

I'd been eyeing up the Chophouse which sits quietly at the corner of Shelbourne Road and Bath Avenue for a while. It's got a kind of uninteresting exterior which had never tempted me to cross its threshold. Occasional rumours had surfaced of good gastropub food and drinks, but my usual source of information (Twitter) was staying mum. And then I saw a tweet from The Chophouse itself announcing a new brunch offering. 

Fast forward to a bright, cold May Saturday morning, with both of us wearing medically-required sunglasses and sorely in need of some tasty, soul-nourishing food. The entrance to the Chophouse leads directly into a sunlit conservatory and something in our addled brains insisted that we should take a seat at the sunny tables. Despite the friendly staff, it took quite a few minutes for menus to be delivered, but when they arrived, it was to the accompaniment of a basket of fresh brown bread. 

The main brunch menu is short, with just 6 courses, but is supplemented by the specials board where Chophouse Rarebit battled it out with New York style steak and eggs. Of course, brunch isn't brunch without cocktails, and the Chophouse is no exception. My bellini came with a full snipe of bubbles and a generous pour of freshly squeezed peach juice (€6.50).  Despite the restorative nature of the prosecco, we were literally feeling the heat in the conservatory so we moved indoors to shadier climes.  

Prosecco bellini with fresh squeezed peach juice

The interior is charming and simple, with clean colours and muted painted panelling. Cookbooks from famous restaurants and chefs are arranged on shelves along with a wide selection of red wines. We relaxed into a deep leather sofa (with our backs to the sunshine) and got on with the hard job of reading the papers. 

Himself had ordered the seared rump of prime Hereford steak, served with grilled tiger prawns, crushed avocado, tomato relish & twice cooked fries (€16.00). It was beautifully chargrilled, and served sliced on top of a piece of crusty bread to soak up all the juices, with a generous drizzle of hollandaise sauce on top. I had chosen a special, the New York style steak and eggs, or ribeye, caramelised onion, chips and dips with truffled mayo (€22.50). Ribeye is my favourite steak cut, and this didn't disappoint. The thick chunky chips were perfect for dipping into my selection of sauces, particularly the tangy and pungent mustard-truffle mayo.

Seared rump of Hereford steak with grilled tiger prawns

New York style steak and eggs

Both of us were very content by the time we had cleared our boards (yes, the steaks are served on wooden chopping boards), but when a steak costs €22.50 for brunch, it should be good. To be honest, I thought that his cheaper meal of turf 'n' surf style steak and prawns was the better dish. While we were eating, we could see a chalkboard advertising a very tempting porterhouse steak for 2, which definitely sounds like a reason to return. I don't plan on a herbivore lifestyle anytime soon. Two Americanos rounded off the meal at €2.50 each. 

Famous chef Anthony Bourdain is a fan of The Chophouse, having eaten there on several recent visits to Dublin and it recently took the gong for best Gastro Pub in the 2012 Irish Restaurant Awards. Proprietors Kevin Arundel and Jillian Mulcahy have definitely achieved a lot with a venue that has only been open for just over 2 years. In short, it's a grown-up gastropub.

The Chophouse, 2 Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 (0)1 680 2390
URL: thechophouse.ie
Twitter: @the_chophouse

Coppinger Row, Dublin 2

Coppinger Row is the new kid on the block on the Dublin restaurant scene. With it's super-chilled relaxed vibe, along with cocktails, tempting bar bites and comfort-food menu, it appears to be carving a niche for itself.

I finally got to visit last weekend... months behind everyone else. All the staff appeared to be comfortable and relaxed with each other, joking and chatting as they went about their business We ordered from the Sunday Brunch menu. Himself chose the Kedgeree with poached egg while I broke with tradition and went for the broad bean and chorizo ragu on toast. A bit carby for my liking but it sounded delicious. Unlimited filtered still and sparkling water is available for E1 per person, with a portion being donated to the Movember charity.

A blackboard behind the bar promised bar bites served with toast for E3 so we chose the marinated anchovies. A large dish of anchovies arrived along with several slices of toasted rosemary flavoured sourdough bread. Absolutely delicious, especially when combined with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar available on the table.

The kedgeree turned out to be more of a smoked haddock risotto but was creamily smooth and unctious. The broad bean and chorizo ragu was filling and nicely flavoured from the smoky chorizo. The toast soaked up all the juices from the ragu - mmm. A side order of home-cooked fries completed this perfect Sunday brunch.

Overall, I was highly impressed with Coppinger Row. I could easily see myself sitting along the bar, relaxing with a glass of wine and some more of those delicious, great value bar bites. Coppinger Row is a restaurant that is doing all the right things.

Coppinger Row, Coppinger Row (off South William Street), Dublin 2. 01 - 672 9884