Restaurant Review: Note Bar & Bistro serves a meal that hits all the right notes

• Note Bar & Bistro Dublin
• 26 Fenian St. Dublin, DO2Fx09
• Tel: [phone]
• www.notedublin.com 
• Instagram: @notedublin

The sound of clapping improves when it’s raining — no this is not a Confucius quotation or a physics problem or an art project, it’s a “natural” wine made from a blend of grenache noir and blanc from the Ardèche sold by Note Dublin’s wine bar. The wine world is changing and we need to change with it.

The younger generation of wine drinkers do not care for words like “château” or “gran reserva”, they are buying wines with colourful labels called “Splash” and “Crazy Cat” (Chat fou) — they don’t want a wine cellar, they want to drink it now.

And they are probably right — wine is, after all, just a drink that aids digestion. It can taste complex of course, but let’s not forget that it also has “the power to banish care”, to quote wine writer Hugh Johnson. Wine can be serious if you want it to be, but to be honest I’ve never enjoyed the company of people that take wine too seriously. Note Dublin is aiming to make sure that enjoyment comes first.

The redoubtable Katie Seward is in charge of Note’s wine and you can trust her. I do. Wines by the glass range from €9-€14 with good choices such as Lapierre Morgon and Occhipinti Frappato. Bottles start at €30 for that old reliable Ciello Blanco Cattarato from Sicily (although Ciello Rosso is missing for some reason). Sadly that’s almost it under €40. Natural wine is expensive, I know this, but come on lads, there must be a few more under €40 out there! So that’s my criticism out of the way.

Katie suggested Le Petit Canon (€49), a juicy French Syrah made by Irishman Killian Horan that was vibrant and lush, and pleasingly served lightly chilled so it coped well with everything from pickled courgettes to pork to bacalao croquettes.

Note’s menu has a broadly Mediterranean feel with a good selection of small- and medium-sized dishes for sharing, plus larger main courses.

Service and plating are relaxed but confident, and I loved the big bunch of radishes (€8) that arrived complete with leaves and roots still attached — plus a bowl of pungent bagna cauda to dip them into. Fruity sweet-sour pickled courgette slices (€4) were also just about perfect, and these two snacks are probably my favourite meal openers this year.

Next came razor clams (€13) in a Mexican aguachile ceviche with cucumber and onion — the fruity sweet shellfish contrasting naturally with the lime and jalapeño acidity. Bacalao croquettes (€11) were crispy without and fluffy and salty fresh within; while vitello tonnato (€14) had silky, almost luscious, veal slices contrasted with the focused intensity of a pitch-perfect tonnato sauce.

Had we stopped at this point this review would still have been a rave, but next came richly flavoured Iberico pork; served pink and sitting atop yellow (French) beans with a lightly sour creme fraiche coating. The pork was perfect but the beans were transformative and changed the game, crisp and flavour-packed, barely cooked (if at all), and acting more like al dente pasta than beans — they made a good dish extraordinary. On the side: Some fluffy skin-on baby potatoes were slathered with salty zingy trout roe, and sitting on a rich garlic sauce (a genius creation worth ordering on its own) perhaps with the extraordinary Ganevat Vin Jaune flor-influenced savignan.

For dessert my crumbly, almondy frangipane (€9) tasted not unlike my mother’s version (a very good thing) while black cherries with a chocolate creme (€9) had fine contrast between satiny rich chocolate and darkly fruity cherries.

We washed these down with Niepoort Ruby, a light take on young port from the great Dirk Niepoort. Tasting of black raspberry and cooked cherries with a pleasing punch of sweetness and spirit — it matched perfectly.

Note Dublin is a blast — the food and the wine are seriously tasty and thought-provoking but you won’t realise until later — you’ll be having too much fun.

The Tab:

Dinner for two with several small plates and starters plus a shared main course, two desserts and a bottle and two glasses of wine cost €181.

How To:

Thursday-Sunday: 5pm-late

The Verdict:

• Food: 9/10
• Wine: 9/10
• Service:9/10
• Ambiance: 8/10
• Value: 8/10

In a Sentence:

Note Bar & Bistro is a blast, seriously tasty food and wines in a fun atmosphere.