Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

About The Restaurant

The well known restaurateur, Tom O’Connell, who was previously in Ballsbridge, came up with a fantastic location for his new restaurant O’Connells in Donnybrook – in the former Madigan’s pub on Morehampton Road and corner of Belmont Avenue.
Madigan’s was for many many years a great haunt of RTE T.V. presenters, producers, and hangers on. The stories of off duty craic, imbibing, and hi jinks were legendary. Here he has created a fantastic brasserie atmosphere yet retaining many of the old features of the building.

Along with creating a lovely space, Tom O’Connell has geared his menu for the times we are in yet not taking from the quality of food on offer in any way and his menu reflects his careful sourcing of top quality ingredients using the best of Artisan and regional produce. Not only that he has come up with some great ideas of which I will tell you later.

Starters include smoked haddock and cod fish cakes with salad leaves and lemon mayo, whilst spinach and smoked Gubbeen bacon salad come with a Caesar dressing. Nora Egan’s Inch House black pudding has an apple compote and mustard sauce, whilst Bill Casey’s Shanagarry smoked salmon is with the traditional accompaniments of lemon, capers and shallots. Terrine of Tipperary wild boar is with Janet’s Country Fayre Fig & Apricot chutney and a herb salad and old fashioned toasted bread. A white crab, avocado and citrus salad with mixed leaves is delicious, as is grilled Castletownbere landed mackerel (or the day’s fresh fish) is with warm potatoes, Savoy cabbage, crème fraiche and chives.

Main courses include Charcoal Oven Grills, Really Fresh Fish and More Main Courses. The grill offers an 8 oz rib-eye steak with crisped onions, red wine, tarragon and shallot butter or medallions of fillet steak. Free range chicken is roasted and butterflyed for 2 persons and carved from the trolly at your table – it of course has a delicious thyme leaf bread stuffing, cranberries, pan –roasting gravy and Grandma O’Connell’s bread sauce with marjoram. They also do a free –range (from County Meath) Bison Burger! Fish includes the fish of the day, or panfried fillet of Irish plaice, and Galway Bay Moules Mariniere. Slow cooked shank of lamb is there, as is a mildly spiced vegetable curry, and an Irish beef steak pie with scallion champ.

Lunch and Sunday lunch are available with many of the above dishes but also with the addition of a daily roast carved from the trolley from 12 noon to 2 pm. Sunday lunch features a wider selection of roast dishes – fantastic – why stay at home! Starters are served from a buffet, and main courses are table served. It might be delicious roast rib of Hereford beef roasted on the bone and served with horseradish cream, or maybe roast loin of Irish pork, or roast breast of turkey – I love that any time of the year.

Now in addition to a wide selection of menus, Early Bird, Sunday lunch, they have the innovative idea of Late on Sunday Evening at O’Connell’s from 6pm – 7.30pm last order with a One/Two/Three course Early Bird Supper menu! Also four days a week from Tuesday – Friday from 16.00 hours to 17.30 hours they do a Senior’s Dinner 1/2/3-course €14.50-€19.50 – how fantastic is that. It even has a Minute Steak with a €3 supplement. To be an O’Connells Senior you have to be born before 1/1/1951! At the other end of the spectrum at Sunday lunch children are charged €1.50 per year of age! I think that is brilliant thinking.

Puds too are scrumptious so do leave space – I love the warm pear and almond pudding, and the coffee crème brulee, and the great Irish Farmhouse cheeses – in fact I love it all at the new O’Connells in Donnybrook.

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