The Bear necessities

HERE’S an upside to the downturn.

A restaurant taking a raft of cheap, unfashionable and of t-forgotten cuts of meat, tarting them up with funky sauces and side dishes, serving them in the dimly-lit glow of modish interiors, and all for a bill that won’t break the bank.

Bear is a good idea. During the boom, the all-conquering fillet steak seemed like the foundation stone of Irish dining (Shanahan’s still charges €48.50 for a 12oz filet mignon). But now we are living in more creative and cost-conscious times, a menu that reads like a list your grandmother might have handed to her butcher — featuring rump, flank and skirt — is bang on the money.