Restaurant Review - Browne's Brasserie
Tuesday 16 April 2013
‘Hello’ said the tall man, dressed in a casual outdoor jacket and scarf, resting his elbow on the top of our booth as he looked down on us. ‘Hello’, we replied, a tad bemused as we had never seen him before. There was that awkward pause before he said “you were here last week sitting on the banquette over there in white.” “No, I wasn’t.” I replied. More silence. “Well what do you think of the food anyway?” He asked. “Who are you”? I enquired. “I only own the place.” He replied strolling off as suddenly as he had appeared.
We were in the recently opened Brownes Brasserie on Sandymount Green, which is an expansion, as it were, of Brownes Deli and Cafe, on the other side of Sandymount Green. Owned by Peter Bark, it seemed a somewhat unusual way of introducing oneself. Certainly he has a charming enthusiastic team on the floor here turning out decent brasserie style food. It is quite a sizeable place with banquette seating to the front and, to the rear, a train like row of discreet booths which, as friend Paul quipped, are “perfect for an affair. You’d never be discovered back here!”
Starters €5.65 - €9.85 included French Onion soup, homemade chicken liver pate with apple chutney and Brioche, and a confit de canard. Seared scallops, Thermidor sauce, courgettes a l’etuvee (€9.85) had but a brace of small scallops sitting on either side of a lake of sauce reminiscent of the big jars of Lobster bisque that one can buy in France. The molluscs themselves, scattered with micro cress and a turned mini baton of courgette, were nicely seared, but even a third ‘pal’ would have made a difference to the appearance - and the value. On the other hand, half a large aubergine (€6.85) cut lengthways, filled the plate from side to side like a beached whale. Not perhaps a thing of great beauty, this great cumbersome tranch of what our American cousins call the eggplant, was covered with Mozzarella, black olives and tomato, and had been roasted almost into delicious submission. Tweaked with a triangle of flatbread and drizzled with pesto, it would have made a good lunch on its own.
Mains were all under €20. Black cod was paired with roasted carrots, pommes au saffron, and more ‘sauce Homardine’. Rabbit was ‘a la moutarde’ with glazed winter vegetables whilst a 10oz Aged Sirloin, Sauce Béarnaise, included ‘frites’ and green salad. Paul opted for Slaney Valley lamb (€17.85), which proved a good piece of tender rump in a delicious mélange of minted tomatoes and chickpeas. With this, from ‘Les Sides’ at €3.85 a pop, he had ‘pommes roti’ and braised red cabbage “cooked reeeallly slowly with apples and white wine.” Kicking around between Madagascan prawns with olive oil chilli, garlic, rice and Aioli, I went for an almost caramelized roasted magret de canard (€17.85), which had been glazed with Teriyaki and honey, topped with fresh orange salsa, sliced and laid over, a base of French style peas and potato halves.
‘Les Afters’ at a universal €5.95, included Hot Chocolate Fondant and a scoop of v icecream, apple crumble with ditto, or the full whammy ‘Dame Blanche’ of vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce and crème Chantilly. Giving the icecream a wide berth on a cold evening, pot au chocolat with kiwi and minted jelly proved a perky choice. Each element looked really cute in two little retro style pots, the chocolate in a blue number topped with strawberry quarters, and the jelly topped with blueberries in a mini glass jar. A separate spoon was provided for each, including a mini one for the glass jar, which was a really natty touch. Paul indulged in a crème brulee, topped with kiwi, raspberries and a blueberry, which didn’t let the side down either. Licking his lips, he said it was worth the trip from Kilkenny!
With a bottle of Famille Perrin Vacqueyras (€36), coffee (€3 ea) and water (€3.85) our bill with optional service came to €129.85
Brush up your Franglais…..
Brownes Brasserie,
7 Sandymount Green,
Dublin. 4.
Tel: (01) 260-2956