Restaurant Review - S Caviston@Goggins - Closed Before Review Published!
Tuesday 18 March 2014
I guess you are skating on fairly thin ice when you set out to review a new food element in what has been your local pub for the last 30 years. You are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don't!
Actually, what has happened here is (hopefully) a marriage made in Heaven, with two established names, in the spheres of booze and seafood, banding together to turn the legendary Goggins pub in Monkstown village into a gastropub.
Publican Maurice Keegan of Goggins, and Stephen Caviston, of the famous Glasthule fish family, have, between them, turned our favourite watering hole into a place where the punters can now enjoy pints and poissons galore. Both the pub and new S Caviston Seafood Bar have had a revamp using cool colours, transforming the whole ambiance. In addition, Stephen Caviston has also opened a new deli-cum-fish-shop next door in what was Goggins's former wine shop.
How bad can it be to sit down in your local boozer to starters that include Maryland crab dip (Castletownbere crab) with Parmesan gratin and crusty bread; Roaring Water Bay mussels in spicy coconut milk broth; house-cured rainbow trout with candied cashew nuts, olive oil-marinated grapefruit and rocket salad; pata negra with honey figs, roasted hazelnuts and spiced orange aioli, not to mention smoked and fresh Clare Island salmon rillettes with a tomato tartare and bread wafers, all priced between €7.50 and €13.95.
However, on our visit, I was focused on one thing only – the Bullock Harbour mini lobster roll (€10.95). This was a rather elegant number, which saw the roll presented on a slate in three delicate, bite-sized pieces, interspersed with a light tomalley (lobster liver paste) mayo cocktail melange, topped with micro herbs.
Normally, Brendan would go for the Carlingford oysters – available au natural; Bloody Mary granita; or with a tomato bearnaise and Parmesan gratin. However, he was distracted by a rather smart foie gras torchon (€12.95) topped with Lough Neagh smoked eel, apple brulee and apple gel, which was absolutely delicious.
Mains (€14.95-€26) included fish specials, as well as menu dishes including Hannan's 28-day, 10oz shorthorn, salt-aged, rib-eye steak with roasted bone marrow, duck-fat fries, duck egg bearnaise and truffle ketchup. Gloucester Old Spot cider-brined pork belly was paired with thyme-infused mash, spinach, apple and bacon hash; while Clare Island caramelised organic salmon was served with a crab, tomato and chorizo risotto.
Brendan went old-school with beer-battered haddock (€14.95), which featured a couple of decent chunks, served with a cone of fries and a dish of mushy minted peas. I had a Dublin Bay prawn risotto (€18.50) 'tomato fondue', with basil and Parmesan, which was disappointing. An unattractive brown colour, it had a very good flavour and was topped with five halved cherry tomatoes, but finding the Dublin Bay prawns took a bit of effort. After a dig around, I found six teeny prawns, which I mentioned to Stephen on enquiry. "I didn't want to put too many in," he replied optimistically. "I bet you didn't," I replied.
He tweeted me later that evening, saying, "Thanks for popping in tonight, next time we will have the nice big juicy Dublin Bay prawns. #shortage." This made me wonder why one would serve and charge for the dish if you hadn't got the goodies?
Service was delightful from a young man, who told us he was a hospitality student, and, with a bottle of delicious organic 2012 Costadoro Bianco Passerina Trebbiano Malvasia, a fresh, fruity blend of three grape varieties at €24, our bill, with optional service, came to €88.35.
It certainly beats the old toasted ham and cheese pub-style special of yore.
S Caviston at Goggins,
101 Monkstown Road,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.
Tel: (01) 280-1991
www.facebook.com/ S-Caviston-at-Goggins
www.lucindaosullivan.com
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
S.CAVISTON@GOGGINS HAS CLOSED.