The Queens Dalkey

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The Queens in Dalkey, a large hostelry set in a commanding Georgian building, has reigned supreme over the town since 1745. It has always been a colourful spot, from the outside in, starting with the well-tanned and glamorous regulars who adorn the streetside terraces, surveying all who pass in or out.

After all, Dalkey is a village that carries a certain cachet, being the celebrated home of many famous, arty and literary people down the years, including Maeve Binchy and Hugh Leonard. You might well bump into Bono in Jaipur restaurant having his favourite Keema Naan, and it’s not unheard of to spot the odd 007 frequenting the town, whether it’s Pierce Brosnan strolling the streets or Timothy Dalton sitting quietly on a bar stool. Tom Hanks participated in last year’s Literary Festival and even Judge Judy “I’m speaking”, chowed down quietly on seafood in a local restaurant. Nobody here bats an eyelid, they’re all so used to it, celebrities can room free.

Taking on a legend like The Queen’s puts any new owner under the microscope, but it seems he who carries that title, successful Donegal entrepreneur Paddy Doherty, with his Doherty Hospitality Group, has been on a spending spree buying SoCoDu hostelries as faster than I buy handbags.

He's also simplified matters at The Queen’s which now just does walk-ins – and so – having ‘walked the plank’ under the scrutiny of the aforementioned outside dining crew we were greeted with a very friendly Dublin welcome from the Maitre d’, telling us to sit anywhere we liked.

It's a big place, with various comfortable seating areas, including a rear terrace, and lots of smartly attired young staff on the floor, and on the ball. We were there for Sunday lunch and the place was abuzz, with multigenerational family groups who, more used to seeing small plates in salubrious Dalkey, were faced with large Donegal portions. Was it my imagination or were there a lot of smiling men in the audience? Had they been let out of the prison of the wife’s diet regime?

Kicking off with Caprese salad, a diagonal line up of alternating slices of vine ripened tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and basil leaves, drizzled with a balsamic olive oil pestoey glaze, and Crispy Panko Calamari with a mixed salad were both excellent. The eyes popped out of my head at the mound of tasty roast beef on a bed of chunky mixed vegetables with roast potatoes approaching ours and other tables – half of which I took home with me! Across the table, was another starter, a trio of crispy delicious golf ball size crab cakes with a citrus aioli. There were steaks – 8oz fillets and 10oz ribeyes with all the trimmings, burgers – beef, chicken, and vegan, plus fish & chips.

Desserts too were reasonably priced, and included Tiramisu Tart, Sticky Toffee Choux, Peach Pannacotta, and what we shared, a very nice brownie-based chocolate Basque cheesecake with a fruit sorbet ball.