Restaurant Review: Kicky's in Dublin really has a lot of flavour
The interior of Kicky's, Dublin
- Kicky’s
- South Great Georges Street, Dubin 2
- kickys.ie
- How To: Mon & Wed, 5.30pm-10pm; Thur, Fri & Sat, 12.30pm-2.30pm, 5.30pm-10pm; Sunday & Tuesday, closed.
- The Tab: Dinner for Two including snacks, starters, mains, dessert, cocktails and a bottle of wine cost €166
Despite its population, Dublin is lucky to have such a compact city centre where you are likely to bump into people you know on any given Saturday.
Dublin city centre has not been having the best of times in recent months, but it will take a lot to stop people 'going into town', and a brand new restaurant on perhaps the city’s busiest street is a very good thing.
Kicky’s opened on the busy end of South Great Georges Street in November, probably my most visited street. It’s where the incomparable George’s St. Arcade begins, where I buy my computers (Back from the Future) and get my phone fixed, and where I picked up a silk and mohair Ermenegildo Zegna jacket for €10 (Oxfam).
And now there’s Kicky’s in what was formerly ‘San Lorenzo’, just a few steps from 777 Mexican, the only place to dine on a Monday (half-price margaritas!).
Kicky’s chef Eric Matthews was previously in Chapter One and is promising a busy-buzzy restaurant with an evolving menu.
The buzz has already been palpable, and based on the chef’s reputation not empty PR hype — good luck getting a weekend booking before March.
Kicky’s menu is short and split into bites, ‘sharing plates’, mains cooked over charcoal, plus sides and desserts.
I wanted to try 90 per cent of the dishes and I was delighted to see words like rabbit Bolognese’ and house morcilla, more timid palates will also find lots to please them.
Besides decent olives and smoked almonds (€4.50 each) our meal proper began with what has already become Kicky’s signature dish — potato focaccia with carbonara butter (€6).
A thick glistening wedge of dense focaccia bread (perhaps a little too dense?) with a genius whipped carbonara butter on the side topped with meaty nuggets of crisp guanciale.
The textured bread and the contrasting luscious carbonara-flavoured butter made this almost a meal in itself — a reason to visit Kickys on its own.
Next came some taleggio, leek and nduja croquettes (€8 for 4) in a crisp crumb that burst in the mouth with tangy cheese and lightly pungent nduja flavours. These worked best popped into the mouth whole. Two for two.
Pasta is a feature of Kicky’s menu and on the night we visited there was a choice between cacio e pepe (€14) with hand-rolled pici pasta (a rough thick spaghetti) or pappardelle with a 72-hour short rib ragu.
With arguably the best cacio e pepe in the city just yards away in Piglet I felt we had to see how Kicky’s version compared and it was favourable, creamy cheesy and rich if a little light on pepper for my taste (but with the pitch-perfect amount of pepper for my guest).
Monkfish on the bone with pickled red dulse, lemon butter and Lissadell cockles (€39) was our choice of main (over striploin) and inevitably some Ballymakenny potatoes on the side (€6).
The monkfish was tender with fine saucing and perfectly cooked and I loved that the cockles added flashes of meaty-briny goodness.
Star of this course however was the potatoes with their topping of confit garlic, grated pecorino cheese and rosemary; with shatteringly crisp exterior and fluffy interiors they will gladden every Irish person’s heart.
The drinks list includes a selection of house cocktails including good non-alcoholic options, my homemade ginger ale (€6) having a delicious kick of spiky ginger.
The cocktails are creative takes on classics such as the Kicky’s Martini made with Pparmesan infused gin and pickles, and my guest’s Tropical Sour (€14) made with ‘croissant Vodka’ which was fruity, creamy, and pretty in pink.
The wine list starts at around €35 for a decent Gascogne blanc and if you are feeling indulgent you can order a magnum of Marquis de Calon 2018 Bordeaux (second wine of famed Château Calon Ségur) for €250.
The list is pleasingly eclectic and split into rather vague categories such as ‘Ripe - Round’ and ‘Savoury - Bold - Firm’. Some descriptive text, especially for more obscure and expensive wines would be better.
Our bottle of Casa da Passarella Dão (€39) White proved to be a good choice and fairly priced with lots of floral notes and tangy apple fruits.
Just two desserts were on offer (€12.50 each) but the chef that presented them to us promised that new desserts will appear regularly.
A textured sweet sour spiced apple brioche-tarte tatin was topped with rather too much crème fraîche for my taste but worked well enough, and an Irish Coffee was in fact a macaron topped with rich coffee ice cream sitting on a toffee sauce that appealed more to my sweet tooth.
Kicky’s mix of creative thoughtful cooking and its focus on punchy flavours (those potatoes and that Carbonara Butter) will see them right. I’ll be back.
- Food: 8.5/10
- Wine: 8/10
- Service: 8/10
- Ambience: 8/10
- Value: 8/10
- Kicky’s is a fun and welcome addition to Dublin City Centre with an evolving tasty menu to encourage return visits.
