PINOT'S - RESTAURANT REVIEW
Thursday 12 August 2010
The restaurant scene in Beacon South Quarter in the Sandyford Industrial Estate is perking its head up again! At the tail end of the Tiger, there was a rush of young blood to open restaurants and interior design shops there. However, the walls came tumbling down, seeing off Japanese Restaurant Aya’s branch, as well as the Sichuan Chinese Restaurant, who had moved from Lr. Kilmacud Road. However, the restaurant to really hit the headlines, and the skids, was Ronan Ryan’s vast ambitious enterprise, South Bar and Grill, with its sweeping ‘Fred and Ginger’ staircase. Ronan told me afterwards that business in the ‘burbs was totally different to town. “Big cars, maybe with chauffeurs, would arrive up with guys, who would spend a fortune in Town Bar & Grill without blinking, wanting to know was the Early Bird still on - heading on if it wasn’t!” “I often thought if I stuck a Chinese Takeaway Menu in the window I would do a bomb!” added Ronan. As I said in my recent review of Gotham South in Stillorgan, when it comes to the suburbs, it is the ‘Desperate Housewives’ you have to impress, for it is they decide where hubby is taking them, and/or the sprogs, to eat!
Well anyway, with the developers grouping, birds of a feather style, in Quinta de Lago, “the recession is over”. The Sichuan Chinese Restaurant has re-opened on Ballymoss Road, whilst South Bar & Grill has been reopened as Pinot’s Café Bar & Bistro by long time restaurateur Tom Williams. Thomas Haughton, ex Head Chef at Harvey Nicks First Floor Restaurant, is wielding the pots and pans. He has a good pedigree - Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Peacock Alley, the K Club, and The Clarence. So, having departed the Haute Couture of dining and dressing for an Industrial Estate, will Haughton be able to draw the Ab Fab contingent to his doorstep? Let’s hope so. The Rich Bitches of South County Dublin more than ever want a bargain every time they put their no longer weekly pedicured and Manoloed tootsies outside their doors. Will Williams and Haughton give it to them?
Looking up through two floors, Brendan said, “it reminds me a bit of an airport”. Williams, like Michael O’Leary, must have a thing for Aircraft Hangers as he previously developed the vast Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook. The ground level all day café has an inexpensive menu doing everyday eclectic favourites such as Morroccan meat balls, Thai Chicken curries, Jane Russell’s jumbo bangers, pastas, burgers and so on, as well as Brunch at weekends, and is a very useful spot for a casual bite.
Downstairs the more formal Bistro had starters €8.50/€12.50. We kicked off with a Caiprinha (€8.50) and a Jameson (€5) at the bar whilst we took in the menu. A brace of rondelles of ballotine of duck and foie gras (€12), stood cartwheel style on a rectangular slate, each stuck with a crisp pain d’epice cracker, sidelined with a whizz of apple puree, and was top notch. I had a perfectly executed wild mushroom risotto (€8.50) retaining a little bite, wafting aromas of truffle oil, tweaked with herb Mascarpone, and a Parmesan Tuille. Mains were €14/€22. Pot roasted salmon (€16.50) atop saffron colour creamy mash topped with black olive tapenade was nice and moist, whilst Brendan had a succulent tranch of slow roasted pork belly (€17.50) over which were draped glazed baby carrots, baby navet, and broad beans. Perfectly executed side orders of baby new potatoes with sea salt, and green beans and herbs were €3.50 each.
For the pudding lovers amongst you, we shared a perfect slice of baked pistachio frangipane (€6.50) with chocolate mousse and confit pears, and an excellent assiette of Irish and French cheeses (€9.50). Wines are available by 187ml and 500 ml carafes – a great option - with a selection of more expensive wines by the bottle also. We enjoyed a bottle of Austrian Sepp Gruner Vetliner 2009 (€30) bringing our bill with optional service to €133.00.
Good food, good value, good luck.
Pinot’s Café Bar Bistro,
Blackthorn Road,
Sandyford Industrial Estate,
Dublin. 18.
Tel: (01) 293-6938
www.lucindaosullivan.com
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON AUGUST 8, 2010.