Pub Food, with a Bit of a Show

One decision my wife and I made when we landed in Dublin was that we wouldn’t eat at the same restaurant twice. This was a hard decision, especially once we ate at Balfes and had that fantastic soup, but we felt it was the best way to experience as much of the Dublin eating scene as we could. We’d already eaten at two pubs for two different meals (The Landmark Pub for a breakfast and Lennan's Yard for a lunch), but the nice thing about Dublin is that there’s a pub on every street corner, so even if you aren’t going to eat at the same place twice, you can find plenty of places serving traditional pub fare everywhere.

Such was the case when we were looking for dinner on our third day in Dublin. Naturally pub food was available and always sounds good, and since we got a late start to finding a meal, there were only so many places open (we tried to go to a place called Captain America’s, just to be idiotic tourists, but despite the sign saying they were open ‘til nine, we were turned away at eight in the evening; needless to say we didn’t go back). Dublin really is weird being a large city that rolls up its streets for basically anything except pub food by nine in the evening.

We stumbled onto Doheny & Nesbit, a pub that had good music pumping out from their speakers and lovely smells from their food wafting out as well. They may have been a random find for us, as we were trying to find a place that was still open (even though there was still sunlight pouring down at half-past-eight), but we’re glad we came upon them because this was a solid pub meal that even days later we were still remembering.

For her meal my wife picked out the Cottage Pie. This was a fairly traditional meal, with minced Irish Angus beef, carrots, peas, and onions cooked together, served in a bit of gravy, and portioned under a seasoned (and toasted) “crust” of creamy mashed potatoes. It came served with a side of seasonal veggies, which ended up being cooked carrots with some peas thrown in. While this food was good, it was probably the weaker of the two options we got.

The beef pie could have used a little more gravy inside, although it was very tasty, with a lovely, smoky and rich flavor. Admittedly it did come with a side of gravy, but pouring it in when the pie dish was so full was a real pain.The carrots and peas, though, were kind of sad. They needed more to be interesting. It was a good dish, and probably the best traditional Irish food we got while we were there (which is kind of weird, really), but it needed just a little more kick to be truly exceptional.

Meanwhile I was a basic bitch and got a simple burger with fries. I was feeling basic, and I wanted some sandwich to redeem the day after that really awful chicken sandwich I got at Mr. Yummy (we still also talk about that meal, but because of how bad it was). While there were more exciting options on the B&N menu (Traditional Bacon and Cabbage, Beef and Guinness Stew, Traditional Coddle), the burger is what caught my eye and I figured, eh, may as well just go with what my stomach wants this time.

The Gourmet Burger (their title for it) was made with Irish Hereford mince prime burger, topped with bacon, mature Dubliner Cheddar, tomato, with caramelised onions and lettuce on a bun. It came served with chips and red pepper mayonnaise. The burger, honestly, lived up to its “gourmet” title. It was properly cooked (I asked for medium well, since I don’t like a lot of raw meat in my burgers) and extra crunchy on the outside. The sauteed veggies were delicious, and it overall had this earthy, toasty flavor, like it had come right off a proper grill. The burger was fantastic, and my wife stole more of it than I think either of us care to admit.

Oh, and the fries (well, they call them chips) were really good, too. Fluffy in the middle, with a nice crust on the outside, they were very tasty. I dipped them in the red pepper mayo (which was sweet and light), and in my wife’s beef gravy (getting close to that good poutine taste). I don’t usually eat all my fries in a meal, but these totally disappeared… as did everything else on both of our plates.

Right as we were finishing up our meal a couple of performers came onto the small stage in the room we were in and started playing decent covers of classic Irish folk songs. They weren’t bad, and it did add to the ambience (moreso than the football/soccer that was on the televisions around the room). They weren’t too loud, which I worried about considering the size of the room, so my wife stuck around and enjoyed a couple of their songs before we paid and moved on.

Overall it was a solid experience. Their food was really good, and the whole experience gave a very solid, upscale pub feel. If we’d wanted to revisit restaurants during our stay I totally could have seen going back. Instead this will be one of those places we’ll revisit if we ever make it back to Dublin again.