No.62 Drury St

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I very often park in Drury Street on a restaurant or shopping mission with its warren of criss-cross streets en route across to Grafton and Dawson Street being lined with an always interesting mish mash of small boutiques, galleries, jewellery stores, cafes, pubs, restaurants, and so on. And, anyone who parks in Drury Street Car Park will be quite familiar with Brooks Hotel directly across the road.

I hadn’t been in Brooks in recent years but recently, prior to a reviewing visit, virtually next door, I arranged to meet up with my fellow diner there for an aperitif, and we were very impressed with what we found – an elegant serene bar area -– and so I made a mental note to come again for a more comprehensive visit. By the time we returned, Stefan Bejinaru had just been appointed as the New Head Chef. Born in Romania, he moved to Rome as a boy. After working as a chef in Italy for ten years, he moved to Ireland, initially working for Dunne & Crescenzi, before heading to The Marker progressing to Executive Sous Chef with Gareth Mullins and Salim Berrezag as his mentors.

Where Brooks really comes into its own as a City Hotel, besides from being a great modestly-priced central spot to stay in Dublin, is that you can pop in and have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon or maybe a 3 egg omelette for breakfast (7am-10.30am weekdays 7am-11am weekends) or dine from a comprehensive All Day Menu (12pm-9pm) of small or larger plates, including shepherd’s pie, prawn & mussels linguini, an 8oz striploin or a steak sandwich, plus a trio of sharing boards. 

Sticking to small plates on our visit, crispy fried calamari was paired with parsley aioli, while excellent sauteed tiger prawns in garlic butter, parsley, and chilli, came with Romesco sauce. Trish’s Parmesan arancini with a homemade arrabbiata sauce and Aged Parmesan were as perfect as you might get, bringing that whiff of Italy to the table, but from the moment I’d sat down all I could think of was Baked Cooleeny Farm Camembert which, in its little copper pot, was as oozy smelly divine as one could wish, served on a board with sautéed potatoes, smoked pancetta and baked baguette. I won’t be able to pass the place without going in for that alone!

We finished off sharing a Basque baked cheesecake with cranberry coulis, made in house by their talented pastry team. The service here, from a polished team, can only be described as excellent.

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