Restaurant Review: All change for Ranelagh's cracking Kinara Kitchen

• Kinara Kitchen
• 17 Ranelagh, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, DO6FP82
• Wednesday: 4 - 11.30pm; Thursday-Friday: 12 Noon - 11.30pm; Saturday: 4 - 11.30pm; Sunday: 12 - 10pm
• Tel: [phone]
• www.kinarakitchen.ie

For once in my life, I’m early. I should probably have reviewed Kinara in a few week’s time as changes are afoot, but sometimes I think it’s nice for Irish Examiner readers to be ahead of the game.

The Kinara group was founded just over two decades ago by Sean Collender and Shoaib Yunus and now has three restaurants in Dublin serving classic Pakistani and Indian dishes. 

The reason for my review is that Sommelier and Mâitre’d extraordinaire Talha Pasha has joined the group and will be completely revamping the wine lists and adding some new life to the food menus.

Talha began his career with Kinara but really came to our attention during his years with Gaz Smith at Michaels and Little Mike’s in Mount Merrion.

Mount Merrion’s loss is Ranelagh’s gain, and patrons of Kinara Clontarf and Kajjal in Malahide will also encounter Talha as he works his magic.

Kinara’s menu does contain classic Pakistani dishes at the moment but there are also dishes from other parts of the sub-continent (e.g. Chicken Korma and Goan Fish Curry) that I feel sit uneasily on the menu given that they are available from every Indian takeaway in the country.

We began with cocktails chosen for us by Talha, one of only a couple of people in the country I trust in this way - as usual he didn’t disappoint. The Engineer’s Pineapple Rickey was fruity and fresh, a slightly sweeter take on the classic Gin Rickey; while my Caribbean rum-based Corn Oil was balanced and smoky with a pleasing bitter kick.

Poppadoms in all their brittle perfection arrived with the cocktails, but these were made ennobled considerably by some excellent dipping sauces - a fruity mango chutney and a pungent and complex fermented vegetable pickle. I had asked Talha to choose our menu as I wanted to try the dishes that I know will be staying on the menu.

Our plate of starters included richly flavoured grilled marinated lamb chops cooked over charcoal, textured Aloo Tikka potato cakes, tandoor roasted fragrant and tender Malai Tikka Chicken marinated in yoghurt with garlic and turmeric and grilled marinated prawns which were plump, sweet and juicy with a lime and garlic tang.

For mains Nihari Gosht arrived with its traditional accompaniment, an enormous naan bread (Roghinin Lachcha) which had been rubbed with butter both inside and out. Nihari Gosht is the national dish of Pakistan and involves Beef (or camel) chunks cooked slowly for up to 12 hours with ginger, garlic and papaya leaf - the rich spicy sauce had heat but also sweet earthy, nutty flavours and pleasing depth and intensity. Chicken Garam Masala (‘hot spice mix’) had distinct black pepper, cardamom and clove flavours as you would hope, and offered interesting contrast and compare flavours. 

For wine, I chose Flower and the Bee (€39.50), a fruity and textured Treixadura-based white wine from Ribeiro in Galicia that worked well with the food. The wine list will be changing soon but is actually quite serviceable and fairly priced as it stands. Knowing Talha I expect to see some organic and natural wines added and some more creative choices from less visited wine regions.

Dessert is a new dish that will be appearing on the regular menu soon; Ras Malai dumplings with Kulfi ice cream. Ras Malai is made from milk curds and I’ve eaten them before but they are rarely as delicate and light as the ones in Kinara; the kulfi was also among the best I’ve tasted.

So over the next couple of months expect to see Pakistani street food dishes on the menu and a bit more creativity on the wine list. But you know what, if the menu stayed the same I think I would still be going back very soon and you should too.

The Tab:

Dinner for two with cocktails, a bottle of Spanish white wine, two glasses of red, a selection of starters and mains and a shared dessert cost €154.20.

The Verdict:

• Food: 9/10
• Drink: 9/10
• Service: 9/10
• Ambience: 8/10
• Value: 9/10

In a Sentence:

Kinara Kitchen is still on form after two decades serving the tastiest of Pakistani and Northern Indian food - but with a star Sommelier/Mâitre-d' newly arrived, stay tuned for a fully revamped wine list and some new dishes.