Restaurant Review - The Hen House
Tuesday 02 August 2011
We have all been getting back to basics in Ireland, no where more so than restaurants where the trend is towards the casual, so the new Hen House restaurant at The Pavilions in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, has you chowing down all American style folksey. This is the new concept of the people who, in the early 90’s, were ahead of the fusion confusion posse in launching the chain of Mao restaurants which thereafter had us all addicted to their oodles of noodles and chilli squid. With branches in Chatham Street, Dun Laoghaire, and Dundrum Town Centre, Graham and Rosie Campbell subsequently expanded to Glasgow and Capetown in South Africa, however, just over a year ago the group was placed into receivership and sold to new owners.
The Campbells are generally on the nose when it comes to trends and, with a certain sense of irony, their new Hen House is right next door to the Dun Laoghaire branch of Mao in a premises which previously housed Roly’s at the Pavilion and Olivetto. It is quite a big area to fill but they have resisted the temptation to pile in too many tables and chairs and we were sitting on one of the grassy green banquettes with plenty of space around us.
An American Wood Burning Grill, lots of chicken, contemporary rustic décor with red brick details and wooden floors, a big bar adorned with a couple of perky deorative hens, barrels and blackboards, is the story here - all we needed was music from the Grand Old Opry. A casual restaurant for all ages from chicks to, dare I say, old boilers, they also do Sunday brunch! Their chicken is Irish free range and their cedar planked 8oz sirloin and fillet steaks come from Buckley’s, the renowned butchers. They also have a fish special and a duck dish.
With starters €6.50/€7.50, chicken wings, I guess, were de rigueur. Chicken liver salad, corn fed confit chicken terrine, and smoked chicken salad with quails egg also featured, but its not all cock a doodle doo for there are also eclectic influences, including a cataplana of moules mariniere, grilled Greek Halloumi cheese. Carmen started with really good wood grilled asparagus spears (€7.50) drizzled with lemon, olive oil, and shavings of Parmesan, whilst I had tasty dry salt spiced gambas (€6.50) standing proud in their shells, with a chilli coriander dip to the side, but three bone dry rocket leaves brought nothing to the hoedown.
Mains were €12.95 - €23.95 apart from Caesar Salad at €8.95. You can have your chook spatchcocked with lemon oregano and crushed potatoes, Coq au Vin, Piri Piri, Morocan or Malaysian style. Carmen had Malaysian chicken (€14.95) which she thoroughly enjoyed being a gentle coconutty curry. “Morrocan Spiced (€15.95) Chicken served with pine nut, apricot couscous and harissa sauce”, whilst sporting plenty chicken pieces, was a weak and watery tagine effort with unbilled carrots and a few leathery dried apricots which smacked of being thrown in at the last minute which negatived their purpose..
‘Mother Hen’ needs to look seriously too at her Hen House puds. At €5.95/€6.25 a tweet they were not what they were cracked up to be. Our server said the icecream was not homemade so Carmen had ‘chocolate cheesecake’ – a tian of very mundane cheesecake with a blanket of chocolate sauce. Eton Mess (€5.95) traditionally a flamboyant ‘bash up’ of meringue, cream and strawberries, was a tame boat shaped arrangment of commercial like meringue and cream dotted with a few strawberrie halves and some berry compote.
There is a good selection of wines by the glass, by the bottle from €20, and a house wine dispensed from their barrels at €17.50 per bottle or €12 per carafe. With a bottle of New Zealand Hunky Dory Sauvignon (€26), a double espresso (€2.20) and optional service, our bill came to €93.50. They had an Early Chick’s Menu of 2/3courses €18.95/€22.95 which actually included our two main courses but we arrived in just after 7pm on a Tuesday evening and we were too late for it.
Gather your chicks and chook it out…..<
The Hen House,
Unit 8 The Pavilions,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co. Dublin.
Tel: (01) 663-6611
www.lucindaosullivan.com
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY JULY 31, 2011.