Where Zappone texted Varadkar: Leslie Williams' review of The Piglet
Piglet Wine Bar: a hip, city-centre wine bar in Dublin
- Piglet Wine Bar
- 5 Cows Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
- Tel: 01-7079786
- www.pigletwinebar.ie
‘Show me a good time’ was the simple instruction from my Galway friend who was doing the opposite of the rest of the country and holidaying in Dublin.
I decided to go old school and new school. We met at 5.30pm in the hip city centre wine bar that is Piglet with a later booking in the Intercontinental Hotel for a bit of ritz to finish our evening. Piglet is owned by Enrico Fantasia the man behind Grape Circus Wines who supply Sheridan's Cheesemongers and most of the best restaurants in the country. Enrico’s perfectionism shines through in everything about Piglet.
Piglet’s new Summer Menu was introduced just a month ago and costs a mere €35 for three courses with classics like Pork Ragu and Côte de Boeuf still there but also some new dishes. As you would expect there is a peerless wine list with great options by the glass and lots of unusual wines, almost all organic. You can spend €30 or €300 but you won't find any bad wines on Piglet's list.
Steak Tartare was as good as I've tasted and had clearly been freshly cut moments before and was topped with the traditional egg yolk, with toasted sourdough, anchovy mayonnaise, and homemade pickles on the side. My trio of baby Squid had been stuffed with stem broccoli and smoked pancetta with a lemon and sesame dressing. The meaty texture of the squid was lifted nicely by the crisp green zing of the broccoli and lemon zest and it was a fine match for my glass of Zweigelt.
Monkfish Tail was served with Couscous and Sultanas and dressed with a classic Breton Armoricaine Sauce - a solid dish, but the real star of the mains (and probably the menu) was my pasta. ‘Cacio e Pepe’ is the legendary Roman pasta dish made with Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, Black Pepper, and nothing else except a little pasta water to loosen it. Piglet’s version is extraordinary - ethereal, invigorating and one of the best things I’ve tasted all year. If Cacio e Pepe is not prepared carefully the cheese can clump but Piglet’s version was velvety and luscious with the spikes of pepper and pungent cheese giving the dish heft and complexity. I’m counting the days before I go back and try it again.
By now our time slot in the Intercontinental was approaching so a quick shared bitter-sweet Tiramisu cleansed our palates and we hopped in a taxi. Our bill came to €105.
- Garden Terrace
- Intercontinental Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
- Tel: 01-6654000
- www.intercontinentaldublin.ie
The five star Intercontinental in Ballsbridge spent the recent lockdown refurbishing their Garden Terrace in the Hotel’s courtyard and it is now fully equipped with heaters to cope with all weathers and a new menu perfectly suited to outdoor dining with meat, seafood and cheese platters, steaks and sliders (with brie and truffle mayo), and throwback dishes like Prawn Cocktail.
Parmesan Churros (€12) were crispy, cheesy and deliciously moreish and while a pesto dip worked well enough, my guest reckoned a Romesco sauce might work even better. The highlight of the Garden Terrace menu is the Seafood Platter Tower which came with generous amounts of dressed Crab, a whole Lobster, Oysters, Crab Claws, Smoked Salmon plus Dublin Bay Prawn Cocktail and dressed Crab. All this and good bread for the very fair price of €52 and true professionals that we are, we left only shells.
The Garden Terrace wine list is short and safe with a focus on crowd-pleasers such as Pinot Grigio, Sancerre, Chablis, and Malbec. Such a list makes sense for the venue and the wines were well-sourced from top-notch producers, but we were looking for adventure and asked for the wine list from the main restaurant. Our waiter was helpful and did his best, but he was unable to get his hands on the main wine list despite pleas to his manager on our behalf.
To be fair we were happy with our glasses of Laroche Chablis and Château Lacombe Noaillac Médoc 2017 but my frustration was rather evident and in the end we were not charged for our wine - a very fair gesture.
We did contemplate dessert (the Pistacchio & Raspberry Tart is excellent) but we could barely move. I'm glad we squeezed in both experiences, but next time I think I'll hunker down in Piglet and explore that wine list a little further, and keep the Intercontinental for a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon.
