Restaurant review: Faux Old-style Irish pub almost seems novel

What was a semi-industrial, pared-back sushi bar is now an old-fashioned pub like you might hope to stumble upon in rural Leitrim

MJ Wright Gastro Pub

17 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2

Our rating: 7.5/10

I'm writing this on June 17, the day after Bloomsday. Of course, I dressed up (any excuse) and wore a blazer and a Panama hat for a stroll around Dublin, and, yes, pints were consumed.

Not all the pubs Joyce mentioned in Ulysses still exist and most have changed substantially; he certainly wouldn’t recognise The Oval or Davy Byrnes.

At first glance, MJ Wright looks like it might be a contender for a Ulysses pub, being on the corner of Exchequer St and South Great George’s St. However, this was once Taste by Rustic, Dylan McGrath’s Japanese restaurant. What was a semi-industrial, pared-back sushi bar is now an old-fashioned pub like you might hope to stumble upon in rural Leitrim.

The transformation was made by the Wright Group, who own several Dublin bars, including The Bloody Stream and The Angler’s Rest. There is a snug, a well-worn, dark-wood bar, some battered, painted wood panelling, whiskey barrels and high stools, vintage advertising, and photos of celebrities; notably, a lovely one of Phil Lynott arriving at Slane holding the hand of his young daughter, Sarah, and one of Terry Prone and Charlie Haughey from the 1980s.

I should be critical of the fakery, but it is quite well done, so I was happy to block it from my mind and go with the flow. Besides the traditional downstairs bar, there is an upstairs restaurant and function room.

That is where I expected to be dining on a recent Thursday, but I was quickly shooed back downstairs by an excitable gaggle of Mexicans who had booked upstairs for their opening match of the Fifa World Cup.

Thankfully, the same menu is available throughout the building and space had been reserved for us downstairs.

The atmosphere in MJW is convivial and we had two brilliant servers, Kate and Carla, charming Dubliners of the sort that would have ended up with bit parts in Ulysses had Joyce met them. Head chef is Adrian Dragoman, who developed the menu with veteran chef and Wright Group’s ‘head of culinary innovation’, Kevin Arundel.

The menu is a typical mix of pub food classics — beef burgers, steamed mussels, and steak and salmon — but also includes some more innovative options, such as Korean fried chicken (€15), walnut shiitake bolognese (€25) for vegans, and pulled pork tacos {€19.95).

I tried the pork tacos on a brief lunch visit in April and liked them a lot; it was flavourful pork and properly made corn tortillas.

We began with a shared bowl of homemade MJ Crisps (€7) lightly doused in salt and vinegar and topped with slices of pickled onion. These worked well and would make for an excellent bar snack.

Hidden beneath the crisps was a lightly creamy, feta-cheese mousse. It wasn’t the easiest to access, but was a welcome addition.

Fish and shellfish chowder (€15) had a generous quantity of fish, including mussels, smoked cod, and salmon. I prefer my chowder thick and creamy, while this was more of a light, cream soup.

Texture aside, it did have the correct chowder flavours and I ate most of it; some crumbly Guinness brown bread helped it down.

The Engineer’s crab spring rolls (€19.50) were the better of the two starters; sweet, fleshy crab meat in crisp, spring roll pastry, drizzled with tangy, chimichurri mayo.

For mains, we decided to stick with the classics. The Engineer’s steak sandwich was cooked medium-rare, as requested, and came in crunchy, toasted sourdough bread with good salad leaves, lots of sweet onions, and, on the side, fresh-made chips with proper garlic aioli; I wouldn’t change a thing.

My fish and chips (€23) were solidly made, with fine-quality fresh haddock in a crisp batter, but I felt the batter could have been lighter; I’d love to see a bit of lager added to it to give it some airiness.

The wine list was short, with 10 typical options, ranging in price from €36 to €41. A large glass of Bordon Rioja cost €12.90 and a small one €10.90, a pleasant, fruit-driven, serviceable Rioja. I settled on a pint of Beamish (€7.40), the best of the beers on offer.

We finished with a shared, passion fruit crème brûlée (€10). It was well-executed, with a classic, burnt sugar top, a creamy, lush interior, and a good hit of pungent, passion fruit flavour.

So, we enjoyed our meal, although conversation wasn’t easy, thanks to the mix of football fans and the house band loudly playing Thin Lizzy and Abba covers two metres away.

I’m not sure what Joyce would have made of the noise, but I suspect that if he ordered a pint and some pork tacos he’d have left happy.

• Dinner for 2, €124.70
• mjwright.ie