Restaurant Review - Soulful Bistro
Tuesday 14 May 2013
‘Some people are so poor, all they have is money’ and ‘the best things in life aren’t things’ are phrases scripted in gold on the walls of the new Soulful Bistro in Dublin’s Stoneybatter. A ‘real old’ area of Dublin, Stoneybatter is between the River Liffey and the North Circular Road. It has an undoubted charm and cool kudos which has attracted people and restaurants to this hip ‘hood over the years. There is a nice feel and neighbourhood ethos in Moira Gray’s eatery, and we emerged at the end of the evening feeling as if we’d bagged a bargain having enjoyed food and service for which we could have paid a good chunk more in other eateries around town. A really good neighbourhood restaurant is not just a way of enjoying local conviviality but can be a center for meetings and celebrations, or in some cases keeping an eye on people who might not be so fortunate. Moira Gray told us she has become involved in her community and is also in the ‘Suspended Coffee Ireland’ movement whereby you can, if you wish, pay for a coffee or a soup, which they in turn will allocate to someone, perhaps on the streets or who might call in, who cannot afford to pay for either.
Starters €5.50 - €8 included French style country pate with mixed greens salad, Dijon mustard and brown bread toast; Chicken Noodle Soup with freshly made noodles; Cod ceviche with red onion tomato and orange segments. Friend Mary had a cracking contemporary style starter of smoked kipper (€7) cut in four little chunks lined up like stepping stones, on parsley and basil crème fraiche, leading to a delicious potato rosti topped with a soft poached egg at the other end of the rectangular white plate. Warm mixed mushrooms (€5) for me with a little croute, topped with spinach and a Blue cheese drizzle, were rich and addictive, oozing flavour from a Sherry dressing.
Mains generally were €10 - €14 with an 8 oz rib eye steak being €19. Roast chicken stuffed with mushrooms and spinach, twice baked potatoes and a blueberry, apple and mixed green salad, was €12, whilst slow cooked Hereford Beef Stew in O’Hara’s Irish Red Ale was €13. Healthy Fish & Chips had fresh Irish cod pan seared with a brown bread crust served with saffron baked chips and Grebiche Sauce, whilst the Soulful Beef Burger was €10 – with a choice of toppings – as was Lasagna. Vegetarian and vegan food also features and Mary went with the evenings special which was an unusual sweet potato risotto (€10). This risotto did not in fact involve rice, nor was it a thing of particular stylized beauty on the plate, but it was really inventive and oh boy did it taste good with the sweet potato cut into tiny little rice sized pieces and cooked with onions and a creamy cheese mixture, fennel and sprinkled with goats cheese. Fresh salmon (€13) was on the menu in three ways, and I chose a fine tranch served on smooth horseradish mash, topped with deep fried carrot ribbons, and served sautéed fennel and courgette (€3.50) on the side.
Desserts were every bit as good at €5.50 each. I had ‘Pie In a Jar’ which had warm raspberry, rhubarb and strawberries, topped crumbly toasted oats, and crème Anglaise on the side, whilst Mary enjoyed a divine homemade pineapple sorbet.
With a bottle of Blanco Nieva Verdejo 2011 (€20) and two coffees (€2.75 each) our bill with optional service came to €81.
The Soulful Bistro opens for breakfast weekdays (apart from Tuesdays when it is closed) from 7.30 am, followed by lunch from 11.30 am to 4pm, and dinner kicks in at 5 pm. Weekend brunch 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. is followed immediately by dinner – and they do a Sunday roast.
The Soulful Bistro’s chirpy mustard yellow exterior is a beacon of light in the heart of old Dublin.
Soulful Bistro,
46 Manor Street,
Dublin 7.
Tel: (01) 868-8400