Restaurant Review - PHX
Monday 11 March 2013
Restaurants tend to cluster in groups, a good thing as a choice of eateries draws more people to an area. The latest little cluster of eateries is between Benburb Street and the Quays. First in here was Seven Social, a really good spot for delicious and innovative food, and which is feeding half the Law Library! Wuff opened diagonally across the road on a corner, and the latest opening is PHX Bistro on Ellis Quay. Located in what was formerly La Cala Tapas Bar, the new PHX Bistro certainly didn’t lack in enthusiasm and joy in providing my friend Mary and I with very well executed wholesome food. Facing out to the River Liffey, the décor is fairly simple with dark wood tables and black leather dining chairs, but what did catch our attention were some really lovely quite complex framed pen and ink drawings by our bubbly Lithuanian waitperson, Karolina, who is also a Graphic Art student.
Cocktails were €5 which made us wonder why they are so expensive everywhere else! They were really clever, someone had used the imagination, because they were all wine based, and a Nelson Blood for Mary was delicious, having Crème de Cassis, Prosecco and a shot of Ruby Port. The menu was simple, proffering a quintet each of starters €4.80/€7.70; mains €12.95/€21.50, desserts at €4.95; or 2 courses for €18; 3 courses for €22; and a 50ml carafe of wine available at €10 should you so wish. Mary opted for a special on the board of Gambas Al Pil Pil (€7.95) which proved a cracking terracotta dish of big juicy Tiger prawns, bathed in a good whack of garlic and chilli oil, and snuggling up to three hunks of toasted sourdough bread, mixed leaves and lemon. Tweaked with julienned strips of red pepper and chives, they really were finger lickin’ good. Passing on free-range spicy Irish chicken wings with a Cashel Blue cheese dip, or poached pear in red wine with Cashel Blue cheese and walnut salad, I opted for a brace of crispy fish cakes with lemon aioli and mixed leaves (€6.70), a different twist on the norm, being made from quite pungent smoked mackerel. Excellent too, but you would have to like smoked mackerel – and I guess I was slightly envious of the prawns!
Mains included Ale Battered Haddock with skinny cut chips, house tartare sauce and lemon, and an 8oz homemade beef burger with red onion jam, chilli mayo, fries and mixed leaves. Linguine could be had with chicken and chorizo, or Mediterranean vegetables, whilst an 8 oz New York striploin (top of the price range at €21.50 and carrying a €4 supplement on the 2/3 course menu prices) came with Iceberg lettuce, mixed leaves, skinny cut chips, pepper sauce or garlic butter. Mary again went with a blackboard special of pan-fried Irish chicken fillet (€12.95) served on smoked mash, root vegetables and a Madeira jus. You know instantly that somebody here knows what they are doing in the kitchen, the carrots and parsnips were nicely chunked and cooked, the smoked mash adding a rich touch to the chicken and Madeira jus. My baked fillet of hake (€15.95) was a sizeable tranch, again hitting the top note, herb crumbed with a crunch on the top, moist in the middle, sitting on green beans, with green fennel shoots, sauté potatoes and an excellent lemon cream sauce. All in all a topping dish that one might find in the fine dining eateries of Dublin 2. With these we shared a side of skinny fries at €2.95
Thyme infused crème brulee (€4.95) for Mary was also perfectly executed whilst Cooleeney cheese with chutney, red onion marmalade, and seeded mixed biscuits was a steal at €4.95 – never mind the 3 course set menu prices of €4 each.
With a bottle of New Zealand, Marlborough, Sileni Vintage Selection Sauvignon Blanc (€22.95) and a brace of coffees (€2.50 ea) our bill with optional service came to €88.90.
Check out their lunch, weekend brunch, and bites menus. This little phoenix is rising……..they deserve to do well.
PHX Bistro
Unit 2 & 3 Ellis Quay,
Ellis Court,
Dublin.
Tel: (01) 611-1161
www.lucindaosullivan.com