Jacques Bistro at Greenacres - Restaurant Review
Tuesday 20 July 2010
We had one of the best dining experiences of the year so far in a French Bistro in Wexford Town.
Having done the shops, Wexford is a great town for boutique shopping, we headed initially for lunch to La Dolce Vita, Roberto Pons’ popular Italian café, where you can also sit outside. Brendan had a delicious Insalata di Pollo Piccante (€10.90), a big cloud of dressed mixed leaves, onions, sundried tomatoes, spiced chicken and fresh tomato. I indulged in Penne alla Puttanesca (€9.95) – a quick cooking sauce of tomatoes, capers, black olives, anchovies and chilli - attributed to the prostitutes of Naples who could toss it up before the next client arrived! “Don’t hold back on the chilli”, I had said - being one time a hot thing – and he didn’t. I should have added anchovies and capers to that criteria for they were scarce, but it was delicious and we were revived. With a half bottle of LDV own label Cabernet (€11.90) it made a tasty lunch with service at €36.
Our next port of call for dinner was Jacques Bistro, part of Greenacres wine shop, deli and art gallery. Boy has this place expanded. I wrote about James O’Connor’s Greenacres, originally a fruit and vegetable shop, years ago in its old location, when they were just dipping their toes into the art world with a few paintings in an upstairs room. Now there is 7000 square feet of ultra modern art gallery along with deli, wine shop, and enoteca on the ground floor. The atmosphere is confident casual, and the walls are lined with some of the 2500 wine bottles in stock. Jacques Carrera is the chef, and has previously worked in the Commons, Bruno’s, and Pearl Brasserie, and his menu offers a helluva lot more than your bog standard bistro.
Starters €6.95/€10.50 really appealed. Warm green asparagus and artichoke salad was with smoked duck and Hollandaise sauce, whilst baked Dublin Bay prawn was paired with Bayonne ham, tomato coulis and garlic butter. Seabass with herb risotto had an orange and saffron sauce, whilst foie gras terrine with Armagnac is served with roasted plum and port jelly. I opted for a Tartiflette Savoyarde (€8.95), a really heartwarming scrumptious comforting carbo laden dish of potato with Reblochon cheese and saucisson, a favourite with skiiers after a hard day on the piste, but sure I’d had a hard day shopping. Brendan too loved his superbly presented half dozen Ballyhack Rock Oysters (€9).
Again, the main course selection €18.50/€24.95 was cracking. Braised suckling pig was with apple and Calvados, whilst a grilled veal cutlet was served a la Provencale with ratatouille and rosemary jus. Magret de canard had a red berry sauce, filet of Hereford beef was with Aligot pomme puree and shallot sauce, whilst supreme of guinea fowl had lemon and tarragon sauce. You can see our pleasant dilemma! I opted for a blackboard special of sole on the bone (€26), perfectly cooked with a little bite, bathed in a lemon butter and chives, with a piping of really heavenly silky mash, a little bundle of bacon wrapped beans, and cherry tomatoes. Brendan had scallops and Dublin Bay prawns (€26), again rich and delicious, in an intense prawn sauce on more of that sinful butter laden mash. This is pure classical old school French cooking, lots of sauces, and just indulgent. The wine list is extensive but you can also choose a bottle from the retail section and just pay €5 corkage, which we did with a cracking bottle of Cape Mentelle Margaret River Shiraz 2004 (€26.99).
To finish we shared a Lemon Tart (€6.95), suitably tart, topped with crème anglaise and little red berries, and we finished off the day with a glass each of Pineau de Charente (€8) bringing our bill with optional service to €136.89
My trip to Wexford may not have done my waistline or pocket any good but it sure as hell did my heart good!
Jacques French Bistro,
Selskar Street,
Wexford,
Co. Wexford.
Tel: (053) 912-3004
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON JULY 18, 2010.