The Limerick Food Bloggers & 101 Talbot

Keen readers of the new Bridgestone Guide will have noticed that Valerie O'Connor is one of our contributing editors. But you may not have known that Valerie first came to our notice thanks to her sharply opinionated and funny writing on her blog, www.valskitchen.com.

And, now that Valerie has relocated back to her native Limerick, it turns out she has joined up with the most bloggerful group of food lovers you can find anywhere: The Limerick Food Bloggers. Check these guys out:

I finally met up with the Limerick bloggers for dinner during the week at Copper & Spice in Cornmarket Square. The food was fine as always, but, to be honest we could have just as easily gone to the pub, we just yakked and yakked, like women do, for hours. We left only because they were closing down the shutters. Mary T is gone to Oz for six months, Maz from Style Treaty was great to chat to, it was great to put a face to Lorraine from the Italian Foodies and Laura I already know.

But it isn't all Shannonside stuff for Valerie. Here is her report of a tremendous Saturday night in Dublin's iconic 101 Talbot.

When I called the 101 to make a booking I told Pascal, who took the call, that I had a choice between his restaurant and my friend's choice of Eden in Temple Bar. He chirpily told me that Eden was a fancier restaurant and that his wife Margaret goes there when she's off work. He also added that the food in 101 was "Good and reasonable and that the place had a great atmosphere". He went on to lament the fact that they hadn't spent any money doing it up since they opened seventeen years ago and that it could do with a bit of an update. I was in and intrigued.

When this place was opened back in the darkness of the early 90s Dublin was not the shining economic light that it is now. Surely they had no idea their place would be situated right beside the controversial "Spike" on O'Connell St, but it makes it easier to find as all you can see from the street is a little sign. You go up a simple staircase and open the door on what seems like the best party in town. The place is packed with diners chatting loudly and passionately and, it seems, enjoying their food heartily.

Yes the décor is basic; it's a throwback to the 90's when there was no style at all. The amphitheatre or disco layout of a drop in the middle of the floor breaks up the busy crowd. An exhibition of busy oil paintings of Dublin street scenes is crammed onto the walls; they even hang over the mirrors. It's feels like a proper city place, full of life. The tables and chairs are chosen for functionality and even the glasses are those small wine glasses you had in your college flat. The staff are young and funky with nothing but enthusiasm for the food. If they don't know something they will quickly find it out from someone who does.

The menu is generous with the staples of sirloin steak with garlic butter or whiskey cream sauce, slow roast shoulder of lamb, goat's cheese salad and more adventurous-than-usual sounding veggie options. I had pathetic intentions of having a light meal but chose the Crispy Pork Belly wrapped in Savoy Cabbage served with a plum and ginger sauce as my starter. It was a joy to behold on the plate. A perfect round mould was created from the bright green cabbage leaf, the pig was inside, and it sat contentedly in a bright pink pool of its sauce, like a pig in sauce. When I cut into it the cabbage still had plenty of bite, it and the pork were warm, and the pork was a little crispy and shredded into chunks. The cold sauce contrasted well with the meat and the vegetable to give a great contrast of flavours and textures, with a fruity almost oriental twist.

My date's choice (rather my second choice) of starter was the warm duck liver salad with roast pine-nut and balsamic dressing. The livers were very rare and deliciously tender, almost runny in the middle; I ate most of them as Date was a bit squeamish. The accompanying salad was a bit unimaginative but everything in it was fine and it worked with the livers, which don't need much dressing up anyway.

For mains I chose the char-grilled swordfish with smoked garlic and chilli butter. I was asked how I'd like it cooked, I went for medium. It came served simply on a bed of roasted baby new potatoes with its butter running down its sides. It was juicy and delicious, falling apart at the touch of my fork. The smoked garlic butter had none of the usual tang of garlic butter and didn't murder the fish's delicate flavours. My bowl of side salad was pretty standard with cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. The star of the show was the date's main of Pan Roast venison served with sautéed bacon and cabbage and redcurrant jus. The venison, cooked to medium, was melt in the mouth and so rich. It's dark red colour with pink centre oozed sexiness on the plate, enhanced by the fruity, heady jus. The bed of bacon and cabbage sounded strange but the cabbage was finely shredded and barely sweated with the smoked bacon to make an unusual but uplifting marriage to the meat.

The wine list was very reasonably priced from €22 to €32 for the most expensive. I don't drink white but often choose the fish and the server suggested the Sardinian Bombarde which was light enough for the dish but still held up well to the rich meaty ones.

Though the Date insisted he couldn't manage desert after all the rich food I told him he had to, it was part of the brief. He chose the dark chocolate cheesecake with strawberries while I had the fool of blueberries over blackberry compote. The cheesecake was one of those ones that make you cry, it was so rich and dense it almost crumbled. Strawberries peeked out from its insides and oohs and aahs could be heard from other diners in the same state of bliss who had ordered it. My fool was light and fluffy and came in one of the little wine glasses; it looked like something from a Marguerite Patten cookery card. It was good to eat something a bit lighter than the rest of what we'd indulged in, though I must admit that I had most of the cheesecake too.

We were so full we had to have brandies and coffees. Lots of diners were lingering over pints of Guinness and drinks. It seems you can have your whole night out here and never get flung out.

The meal for us both came to €124.00 including beer, wine and brandies (well it was Saturday…)

101 Talbot, 101 Talbot Street, Dublin 1
Tel: 01 874 5011
Web: www.101talbot.com

Restaurant Review: Bon Appetit, Malahide, Co Dublin

Oliver Dunne is making his mark in Malahide. Caroline Byrne has a thoroughly wonderful time.

Restaurant Bon Appetit is a totally different affair from its bistro style counterpart, Café Bon, downstairs. In its classic style, the manner of its front of house and most of all its food, Oliver Dunne demonstrates his deep understanding of what a fine dining experience is. To begin with we enjoyed a glass of wine in the bar, ascending to the dining room when we were ready. Our host was gracious and never attempted to hurry us in spite of the fact that we were running a little late. The room upstairs is elegant, combining classic and modern elements to create a stylish yet comfortable space. The only thing detracting from the ambiance was the choice of background music that seemed very out of place and bordered on being too loud. Once seated our drinks were returned to us, the menus were distributed along with the ample wine list and we were left to make our selections.

Looking through the repertoire of classical French dishes, there was plenty of the current season in evidence. Irish new season lamb, beetroot, a range of woodland mushrooms, roasted hazel nuts and a variety of game made for tempting options. We chose boudain of skate and braised pork belly with girole purée and crispy capers, and roast breast of quail and confit legs with red onion purée to start. After we'd chosen the mains I selected a bottle of Meursault Côtes de Beaune, Faiveley 1989 but then, on recommendation from the sommelier, I switched to the 1997 Moray, also Côtes de Beaune, for that extra bit of weight. This proved to be very good advice and there was no difference in price. After a palate cleanser of sparkling apple with elderflower foam we were treated to a little amuse bouche - a boudain of confit rabbit with beetroot puree and roast artichoke dressed with a balsamic reduction - a delicious morsel to whet our appetites for what was about to come.

The starters were perfect. Each plate was elegantly composed to place emphasis on the many combinations of flavours and textures that comprised each dish. The fatness of succulent pork belly and creamy girole purée was cut by the sharpness of the capers, and on the other side of the plate, meaty skate combined girole purée, or a bite of crisp, salty pork crackling created a completely different experience.

Our main courses, the slow cooked rack of new season lamb and braised shoulder with rosemary jus and creamed potato, and pan fried Dover sole in a red wine sauce with fondant potato, were equally good. This time the main ingredient of the dish took centre stage. Both the lamb and the fish were cooked to perfection and neither meal was overcomplicated, containing a perfect balance of flavour and well judged portions.

Once the empty plates had been cleared away we were offered an interesting pre-dessert of passion fruit purée and Szechuan pepper foam on top of white chocolate crème anglais, followed by the main desserts - coconut parfait and caramelized pineapple, accompanied by whiskey crème anglais and coffee ice cream served on the side, and 'apple assiette' which was accompanied by a glass of apple juice and elderflower foam. Whilst all was delicious we did feel that the 'sidecar' elements of this course were unnecessary and contributed little to their respective dishes.

We finished dinner with a selection of French cheeses with which I opted to have a glass of Sandeman 1977. This was a perfect end to a perfect evening - my only criticism is of the lack of Irish cheese included in their selection. It may be a French restaurant but that's no reason to ignore our own excellent products. The entire bill came to €274 which we felt was a fair price for a fantastic dining experience. This is an exceptional restaurant.

Web: www.bonappetit.ie