Restaurant Review - House
Tuesday 05 November 2013
‘House’ is not the American medical TV series, nor is it a reality TV show but, I guess, you could say there will certainly be a lot of ‘people watching’ within its walls. Rather, ‘House’ is the sibling of 37 Dawson Street’, Dublin’s hot, hot, bar/eatery venue, which is packed with celebs and glamour every weekend. Now the people behind ‘37’ have come up with something new and rather special - so special it actually feels more like a private member’s club. But, it’s not private, so you don’t have to pay huge annual fees to pass through its Georgian doors and lounge around in the swish bars, or in the wine room on beautiful buttonback sofas, or enjoy the bar in the fabulous outdoor garden conservatory drinking afternoon tea or cocktails.
‘House’ is as cool as it gets. It is located on Lower Leeson Street in fine Georgian buildings; these were home from 1956 to the mid 80’s, to the late Mike Butt’s famous Tandoori Rooms, which subsequently became a nightclub. So, this is a premises with a history of hospitality and many tales to tell hiding within its walls.
“They’ve spent the gross GDP of a small nation here.” Exclaimed my friend Paul. I could see what he meant looking at the ‘distressed’ French and Caribbean influences in the conservatory areas; in fact it’s very chic Martinique – not to mention the sliding roof over the garden, lest a shower might spoil one’s day. We were there, of course, to eat, that is the job, but very often chefs forget that service and ambiance are keys to an overall dining experience too. Here both were excellent.
We kicked off with a cocktail in the garden - as we watched some fashionistas set up for a ‘shoot’. Paul’s ‘The White Lady’(€9.50) had Beefeater gin, Cointreau, egg white, sugar cane syrup and lemon juice. I had a gorgeous ‘Cherry Blossom’ (€9.50), which consisted of Fuba Cachaca, Morello cherry syrup, lime juice and orange bitters, topped with fresh blackberries. Tapas (served from 4 pm) are the order of the day food-wise, while a separate lunch menu offers a range of starters, salads, ciabatta sandwiches, cakes and so on. The food is being catered by in house chefs from the Gourmet Food Parlour chain, the excellent collection of eateries by Lorraine Byrne and Lorraine Heskin. The GFP’s always offer value, and it was no different at ‘House’ with prices running from €3.50 to €8.50, plus antipasti boards €9/€16.
We ordered five tapas between us to share and almost had too much. Really good prawns (€8) were perfectly fried in a light coconut batter, served with sweet chilli mango salsa and a chilli dip, whilst three cushions of the most delicious ravioli (€6) were filled with walnut and Gorgonzola, topped with a rich pesto cream sprinkled with Parmesan shavings. A trio of perfectly seared scallops (€8.50) sat on good, robust black pudding atop minted pea puree, whilst three chunks of pork belly (€7.50) came with a fried quail’s egg and a little stainless steel pot of apple sauce. Really natty! Our final dish, a bowl of Patatas Bravas ((€6) proved very substantial and we were soon stuffed. However - never fear - pudding lovers, we also sampled a really smart and sharp lemon tartlet (€4.95) which also included an icecream cone laid sideways with fresh strawberry and raspberry tweaks. As well as by the bottle, many of the wines are available by 25ml, 125 ml, and 175ml glasses and there is also a dispensing system in their wine room. We had a 175ml glass each of Austrian Huber Gruner Vetliner (€10 ) and with three espressos (€2.50 ) and bottled water (€5.20) our bill with optional service came to €102.65.
We really liked this ‘House’; we could have sat there forever – lovely ambiance – no cheffy pretensions or hysteria, yet really nice tasting plates and service in cool surroundings.
HOUSE Dublin,
27 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin. 2.
Tel: (01) 905-9090
www.lucindaosullivan.com
First published in the Sunday Independent.