Tastes from my Travels - Green 19 (Dublin)

Dublin is one hell of an expensive city. After wandering around it for 2 days, my pockets were bare, but so was my stomach and it needed to be filled. One of the many reccommendations I received was to try out Green 19. Coined as "recession chic", Green 19 serves straightforward pub grub with strong Irish influences in a rather "too cool for school" bar/cafe setting.

On arrival, I'm not sure why I was surprised to see the rather young queue forming outside at about half seven on a Wednesday evening. We struggled to the front to put our names on the waiting list and were told tentatively that a table might be free in about an hour. So we set out to discover a few bars in the local area one of which was Anseo. This pub, situated just next door, has been standing here for many years under many different guises. It was so dark and dingy inside that on a couple of occasions, as I reached for my Guinness, all I managed to grasp was a fistful of air. It had managed to blend itself perfectly into its environment.



After an hour and a half, we made our way back to Green 19 and our table was ready. As always, I had a bit of a chat to the waitress and she explained to us how lucky we were to get a table. Since they had opened, they had been inundated with customers and now had a two week waiting list to get a table. Looking at the menu, I could see why. The prices were cheap in London terms, an absolute steal in Dublin terms, nothing was over 10€. I asked what the waitress what I should order, and without hesitation, she told me the corned beef.

Corned Beef, mash, cabbage and parsley sauce


My immediate reaction to corned beef are memories of sitting by a campfire when I was 12. There I would be simmering a tin of corned beef and some onions over the fire, and then finishing it off with a tin of beans. Well, this certainly wasn't anything like that! Two slabs of beautifully cured beef slathered in glorious parsley sauce. The beef was so tender that even a sniff of my fork was enough to flake off the delicate meat. Accompanied by the two traditional staples of cabbage and potatoes, this was Ireland in a slightly bowl shaped plate. Wonderful.

Chicken Supreme with Mushroom and Tarragon cream sauce, lemon zest mash


Simple but nice. Didn't really get a chance to get much of this, my cousin snarfed it all before I had a chance. The little bit I did get was still tender, sauce was good if a little thin.

In my humble opinion, it is pretty hard to fault Green 19. The food they are churning out of their kitchen is top notch and highly affordable. It is no surprise that this little restaurant has become so popular in such a short space of time, and I would highly reccommend a visit if you are ever in the neighbourhood. Just remember to book!

Green 19 (Website) - 19 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2

Tastes from Travels - Roundup of Dublin and other treasures

I discovered that you can fit quite a lot into 3 days. Not enough to fit in everything I was told to try, but I gave it a damn good go. Here's a very brief round up of some food and a few non-food highlights of my jaunt.

Dublin has a lot of pubs, this was just the first of many we visited. On receipt of our drinks I extended my 10 Euro note only for the proprietor to walk away. "Free drink?" I thought. When we left, I paid the man and asked him why he hadn't asked us to pay in the first instance. "You don't look like the sort who runs away" he replied. Nice to know.

Puntastic! Absolutely loads of these all over Dublin.

Home of very expensive drinks. Most expensive round, just under 20 Euro for 2 standard beverages.

Fallon and Byrne - An excellent deli on Exchequer street. Had a pretty average coffee but their deli was brimming with lunchtime customers. Their sandwiches looked superb. The deli itself had an array of goods from all over the world. I was probably most impressed by their bread and veg. In that picture alone, there are over 10 types of tomato. I didn't even know more than 10 types even existed!

Even leprechauns need a fag break

Grogans - Our final taste of Dublin. A traditional pub located just off Grafton street, it serves great food as long as what you are looking for are toasted cheese sandwiches. Simple tastes, simple pleasures.

Dublin is an interesting and vibrant city. Ethnically diverse, if you look hard enough, you can find something for everyone. As I embark on my culinary voyage of discovery, I found so many hidden gems I hadn't known about on my previous visit. It's really quite amazing how food opens up your eyes. It took me to areas outside of the tourist hotbed and helped me experience more of Dublin than I could have imagined. Once the pound strengthens against the Euro, I will be back. Otherwise I may well end up like that poor chap below.

Tastes from my Travels - L'Ecrivain (Dublin)

I've been to Dublin a few times in the past. Once on a weekend break about 7 years ago and once on a massive piss-up disguised as a "company offsite". When I heard my cousin, who I hadn't seen for about 7 years, was heading across the pond from Seattle, I decided to give him an experience other than London and booked a mini-break over to Dublin.

I was fairly clueless as to what to see, do and, most importantly, eat and was rescued by Twitter once again. I didn't even put the word out, I just mentioned I was off and the flood of recommendations came in. Best take this opportunity to thank @kehoeser, @thedailyspud, @icanhascook, @euzie, @eatlikeagirl and all the Irishmen in my office for supplying far too many places to pack into my short 3 day trip.

I really wanted to sample the best of Dublin and the name L'Ecrivain kept coming up. A little bit of research showed that Dublin has 5 Michelin starred restaurants, L'Ecrivain (meaning "the author) coveting one of these stars so it went to the top of my hit list.

A late arrival into Dublin (due to a "clerical" error with Ryanair) meant we had time to dump our bags and freshen up before we headed to the restaurant. A short stroll along the canal, our first pint of Guinness and we were there.



Located in a small courtyard, hidden away from mainstream Dublin life, it took us away from the traffic gently bubbling along Baggott street and led us into the homely and ultimately welcoming interior. Its pretty hard to describe what this restaurant is like. It immediately oozes charm, with a small bar area and grand piano towards the back of the ground floor facing you as you enter, bordered by their private dining room. Most of the action takes place upstairs where there are various levels, although we were seated in the lofty main dining room. There is even a canopied outside balcony for additional seating, if the impulse for al fresco dining ever takes you.

In the evening, they do have a rather hefty a la carte menu, but we were very much settled on the 7 course dinner menu, reasonably priced at 65 Euro. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I was eager and hungry, an excellent combination in preparation for the impending feast!

(I'm going to apologise for the slightly dodgy pics to follow. It was dark. Not too dark, just too dark for my standard point and click)

Amuse Bouche - Carrot veloute, coconut foam



A sensational little opener. The slightly sweet velvety carrot soup slid down a treat, the coconut foam adding an extra dimension, almost transforming this into a subtle Asian curry. As it went down, I felt a slight heat tickling the back of my throat. A touch of cumin and curry powder perhaps? Did exactly what it said on the tin, lit up my taste buds in anticipation for the starter.

Starter - Goats Cheese beignet, caramelised walnuts, fine herb risotto and broccoli puree



Salty, salty deep fried goats cheese. May not be everybody's favourite cheese, but I'm a big fan. This little chunk was topped with a sweet relish adding balance (not forgetting the caramelised walnuts too, sweet and crunchy. Balance and texture!). Honestly, didn't think the risotto added a whole lot to the overall dish, felt a bit like padding. However, the deep green broccoli puree certainly delivered with a clean hit of broccoli, complementing the richness of the cheese with an aspect of freshness.

Palate Cleanser - Pink grapefruit granita with cranberry jelly



After the strong flavours of the last dish, we really needed something to give us that lift so we could move onto the main and boy did this deliver. The pink grapefruit granita was a sensation. It felt a bit strange to be having a sweet in between our savoury courses. But this was so fresh and zingy, every little mouthful just cleansed all the salty richness of the goats cheese right out of our mouths, yet kept those taste buds firing. The cranberry jelly was a little sloppy and felt totally lost in this dish, I couldn't even taste it. I didn't really care though, I just wanted more of that granita.

Main - Challans duck breast, confit leg crumble, beetroot and celeriac puree, Savoy cabbage, garlic foam



There were lots of constituent parts to this dish and started by trying each bit individually. The duck (both ways) was sensational, packed full with that slightly gamey flavour that duck has. The confit crumble just fell apart and packed in the essence of duck, I really wish there had been a tiny bit more. The beetroot puree tasted of the earth and its natural sweetness was a nice accompaniment to the duck, a nice contrast to ducks normal fruity bedfellows. Celeriac is one vegetable I don't tend to eat very often, but after tasting the puree, I want to go and buy some just in the vain hope that I may be able to replicate the sensational flavours. The garlic foam on its own was bitter and not very nice at all, but packing a little bit of everything onto the fork, it added that hint of garlic to the back of your throat, finishing off the mouthful. Phew! A lot to get through, but so worth it. Seriously good cooking.

Pre Dessert - Banoffee Pie Sundae



I often sit and wonder what in the world could be better than a banoffee pie (I really do). The answer I now know is simple, banoffee pie in a glass! A simple execution but why mess with perfection? One thing I did notice were the two different types of toffee. The one on top was much lighter and more of a caramel, a nice touch.

Dessert - Chocolate Pave with Pistachio Ice cream



OOF! The final course. Stuffed on the verge of bursting, I looked at my cousin and we said we would have to try and cross the finishing line. After all, we had already come this far. The last course was pretty straightforward in execution and relied on great ingredients to produce that wow factor. The chocolate was excellent, thick and glossy. Each mouthful coated every single taste bud on your tongue. Pistachio ice cream is by far and away my favourite flavour and was excellent, not an ice crystal in sight. This was accompanied by some pistachio praline, an interesting take on a traditional praline. I looked over at my cousin and he had hoovered his up. "I thought you were full", I said. He looked over at me guiltily and shrugged, "Couldn't help it, it was so good."



And he was right, the whole damn meal had been amazing. No dishes were particularly mind blowing, but the sequences of the dishes, the quality of the cooking and more importantly, the ingredients, the combination of flavours and textures, it all just worked.

As we sipped our coffee and stared at the petit fours (these would later be wrapped up and taken home. No more food was to pass our lips), we turned to each other and enthusiastically discussed what had just taken place. We talked about what we liked best, what we didn't like as much and what really surprised us. Two normal guys talking about exemplary cooking. Simply, that's what good food does, it makes people talk. If you're ever in Dublin, L'Ecrivain is definitely worth the visit. Get down there and prepare for a great experience, and hopefully, great memories.

L'Ecrivain (Website) - 109 a Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2