Restaurant review: Library Street Restaurant offers proper cooking in a relaxed environment
- Library Street Restaurant
- 101 Setanta Place, Dublin 2
- Tel: 01-6170999
- librarystreet.ie
- Instagram: @librarystdublin
It’s been a tough year for restaurants and chefs but thankfully they are a resilient and creative lot so don’t despair, I foresee exciting times ahead.
Take Kevin Burke, former chef at Michelin star ‘Ninth’ restaurant in London who has just taken over Allta’s old spot off Nassau St in Dublin - he might be claiming to serve “classic dishes done simply for sharing” but don’t be fooled, serious thought has gone into everything.
Take the wine list which is in the very capable hands of Ann-Marie Duignan - it’s just two pages but is one of the most eclectic creative lists I’ve seen. Anne-Marie suggested we begin with Ami Bourgogne Aligoté (€13 per glass) the creamy, oily, other white grape of Burgundy which is having a bit of a renaissance - it was the perfect match for us and for the early courses.
A Crispy Chicken Wing (€6) sounds innocent enough but this one had been stuffed with chicken mousse, chanterelles, confit shallots, and then breaded and deep-fried. The crisp exterior contrasted nicely with the rich filling and was off-set by tangy Tarragon Mayonnaise and of course our Aligoté. Marinated Bell Peppers (€4.50) had been livened up with a spiky salsa verde and once again good old Aligoté coped fine.
Crusty Tartine sourdough with Abernathy butter was used to mop up our plates and dipped in the Delica Pumpkin Risotto (€12.50). Almost all Irish diners and half of Northern Italy likes their risotto exactly as this came, pungent, rich, creamy and packed with flavour. I too adored the flavours, the rich pumpkin contrasted by nutty seeds and rounded out by deep-fried sage leaves - the Engineer almost literally lapped it up. What I was less keen on was the texture, it was just too soft for me - I’m one of the minority that likes my risotto ‘all-onda’ (like a wave) where the rice grains sit up plump, stiff and proud and have a noticeable bite.
Bitter Radicchio and Endive leaves had been brilliantly offset with slices of sweet fermented pear, crunchy walnuts and Velvet Cloud sheep cheese and enveloped with punchy sheep yoghurt dressing - the discordancies and harmonies of the bitter, sour, salt and sweet flavours was like a symphony, albeit one with enthusiastic percussion.
Our Alligoté had served us well to this point but it was time to move on. Domaine du Cros ‘Lo Sang del Païs’ (€42) is from the tiny Aveyron wine region of Marcillac with its blood red, iron-rich soils and penchant for the obscure grape Fer Servadou. A brave choice for any wine list but I was thrilled to see it as I love its red fruit flavours and sleek mineral core. As it happened we visited this winery on a trip to Aveyron around 20 years ago and the wine has only recently been imported by the fine folk at Neighbourhood Wine.
Chargrilled Pork Chop (€30) had sweet, juicy-meaty pork flavours and a rich gravy which was rounded out by bitter dandelion leaves and a pitch-perfect chimichurri. On the side our Romanesco broccoli, apricot and preserved cucumber worked well but I did feel the Seville Potatoes Lyonnaise had strayed much too far from the classic dish to deserve the name.
Dessert is pleasingly taken as seriously as everything else, and our sheep’s milk and cardamom ice cream with clementine sorbet (€10) was fluffy, creamy and zesty all at the same time. Paris-Brest Choux pastry (named for the cycle race, hence its wheel-shape), had been expertly made and filled with a whipped Guinness cream and offset with some yuzu jam and espresso ice cream - as complex and delicious as it sounds.
Library Street had only done around seven services on the day we visited and my couple of niggles above were completely overshadowed by the sheer exuberance and joy to be found in everything else we tasted. This is proper cooking in a relaxed environment and is exactly the kind of restaurant the world wants. Good luck getting a booking.
