CHRISTMAS SHOPPING LUNCHES
Monday 07 December 2009
‘Tis that time of year again folks when we hit the streets for the Christmas pressies. Memories are made on such family days out to see the Christmas windows and lights in Grafton Street. And where else would you get the likes of the traders in Henry Street, its still “get the last of the long decoration chains”! It’s magic.
So, where do you get the bite to eat to keep you going and maybe something that is a little different to your normal fare! Let’s start with Grafton Street. In The Restaurant at Brown Thomas main course prices run from €12.50 to €18.00 including seasonal specials of ham hock and turkey pie with chive mash potatoes, honey roasted turnips and pancetta sprouts at €15, and roast loin of venison, parsnip puree, sautee spinach, roast chestnut stuffing, cranberry jus at €18. At the The Restaurant @ Marks & Spencer across the road they are doing a Christmas ‘Dine Out for €17.95’ menu to include roast turkey with smoked bacon rolls, pork cocktail sausages, braised red cabbage, button sprouts…..all the trimmings plus dessert and tea or coffee, or a veggie option of Brazil nuts, almonds and apricots with mulled wine, cranberry and orange glaze, plus trimmings. On Coppinger Row, a cut through between Clarendon Street and South William Street, is the eponymously named Coppinger Row which is about as laid back as it gets. You can have the likes of grilled sardines escabeche or Merquez crostini with apple and horseradish yoghurt for under a tenner, or larger dishes such as pan fried calves liver with Borlotti beans, bacon and sage salad at €13, or grilled lamb chop with a pomegranate and orange gremolata at €15. Nearby at Castlemarket is La Maison which does really nice French food. Try the plateau de pates du jour at €8.50 served from a butler’s tray so you can choose what you want. Follow that up with their Poele de la Mer at €16.50 which is a skillet of fresh seafood including salmon, cod, cockles and mussels. Fancy a flight to Morocco, well not quite, but to DaDa a new Moroccan Restaurant in South William Street where they have a special Christmas Lunch menu at €29 to include starters such as ‘mini cigars’ of sardine, black olives and spices, wrapped in filo pastry, followed by couscous with chicken breast, sultanas, sweet onions and cinnamon, or tagine of spicy lamb with sauteed French beans, preserved lemon and harissa. This is followed by a selection of Moroccan desserts and mint tea.
Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse & Grill on Dawson Street is also very handy and worth a visit. I love the Soho feel with black and white pictures of old movie stars around the walls. Their ALC main course prices run from €17.95 to €34 but they do a daily lunch special such as MPW’s Fish Pie at €12.95. Their Christmas lunch menu is €40 plus 12.5% service and kicks off with a choice of smoked salmon, potted duck with peppercorns, soup or a beetroot and goat’s cheese salad. Mains include free range turkey, or grilled ribeye steak with sauce Bearnaise and handcut chips – they do very good steaks – and follows up with Eton Mess or Christmas pudding. Down on Nassau Street at The Pig’s Ear, Stephen McAllister of RTE’s The Restaurant fame, has an excellent lunch menu doing wholesome Irish fare with a modern touch. Starters around €6.95 include such items as potted crab with oat meal crisp and real mayo, or a country style terrine with pineapple chutney and toast. Mains at €9.95 might be smoked haddock omelette with Gubeen cheese, old fashioned pork and barley meatballs, mashed potato and buttered carrots, or fish cakes with fresh clams. They have a set Christmas Lunch at €30 per person for a minimum of eight people. Further up on Clare Street is the little French “Blackboard Bistro” where you can get a decent Boeuf Bourguignon for around €12.50 or a grilled rib-eye steak with baby roast potatoes for €13.50. Try their seasonal Gateau Marron – love chestnuts.
On the other side of the Liffey both Arnott’s and Clery’s have instore restaurants. In Arnott’s Café Aspire they are doing a traditional roast stuffed turkey and honey baked ham dinner with cranberry sauce and roast vegetables and potatoes at €12.95 and for €2 extra you get a mince pie with brandy cream and tea or coffee. In Clery’s Rooftop Restaurant you can have a three-course Christmas lunch with starter, turkey, ham, and plum pudding, all for €12.95. In Clery’s first floor waitress service Tearooms they offer seasonal dishes plus Champagne breakfast Christmas week at €10. A lot of Chinese restaurants around central Dublin are doing “all you can eat buffets”. Some are grim. I have found the best to be Swai on North Wall Quay, overlooking the River Liffey, where on Thursday and Fridays they do the buffet for €12.50. Monday to Wednesday they do a three course lunch for €10. The Full House Chinese on Middle Abbey Street is very minimalist décor wise, but a good selection of food on their buffet at around €9. A few doors down is the Epicurean Food Hall there is the Brother Chinese buffet at €9.95 – also good. There is a wide selection of cuisines in the EFH including a good Greek buffet. In Talbot Street, just two minutes from the Spire, at the very popular arty eclectic 101 Talbot, you can have a delicious Christmas lunch for €26 to include main courses such as chargrilled breast of free range Irish chicken stuffed with Gruyere cheese and spring onion, served with a wholegrain mustard cream sauce. They add many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern touches to their food and are good too for vegetarian options. If you want to try Japanese food there is a new Sushi place on Lower Liffey Street called Kokoro Sushi Bento where you can make up your bento box – a Japanese style lunch or takeout box – with a good selection of well priced sushi. Lastly, on Ormond Quay is a little bit of Italy called Bar Italia – try the risotto al frutti di mare blanco – Arborio rice, fresh Irish clams, mussels, prawns, squid, angler fish, chilli, Cognac, extra virgin olive oil. That will put a spring in your step!
Good shopping and good eating!
www.lucindaosullivan.com
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON DECEMBER 6, 2009.