Table 45

What should we know about Table 45?

What was formerly Bodytonic-run, board game-filled pub The Square Ball near Grand Canal Dock closed at the start of 2024, and die hard fans of Andy Noonan's Fowl Play chicken wept at not being able to get their Nashville Hot Chicken burgers and smoked wings in the area any more.

Two more people who weren't crazy about the news were married couple Daniel Kavanagh and Daniel Rivera who lived upstairs and were looking down the barrel of losing their apartment. Rivera worked for Bodytonic and had been in the hospitality industry for years in his native Chile, the US and Ireland, while Kavanagh is an interior designer and all round handy man. The landlord agreed to give them the lease for the whole building, and suddenly they owned a bar.

A classy South-American themed refurb, an inclusive (and dog-friendly) policy, and a commitment to building a home-like space for their community later, all alongside a menu of South American and Spanish tapas and drinks, and Table 45 was open. (The name comes from the nickname given to the dining table in their apartment, due to friends ordering food and drinks at the bar before joining them upstairs)

Where should we sit?

The main bar space is at the front with warm wooden floors, exposed stone walls, and brightly coloured furniture bringing a rustic-modern feel to the former pub.

There's a mixture of low tables with comfy upholstered benches and seats, high tables, and counter seating along a wall, as well as a cute little table for three in the window.

The back room feels more like a restaurant (image further up), with less natural lighting and more mood lighting, and there is the most adorable high table for two set back into an alcove which will get you major brownie points if you can secure it for your next date.

What's on the menu?

A pretty extensive selection of Chilean/South American inspired small plates, with bites, meat, fish and vegetarian sections. This is the kind of menu that's ideal if you're out with group with varying tastes, appetites and budgets - everyone will find something they want.

Start with the sopaipillas (€8) - deep-fried, disc-shaped Chilean pastries (here with the addition of squash), served with three sauces for scooping and dipping. A traditional Chilean pebre salsa seemed to be missing the vinegar, garlic and parsley, solely consisting of diced tomato, onion and green pepper. An avocado purée was also bland, but dipping deep-fried dough into wholegrain mustard honey with a spicy Michelada on the side is peak bar pairing.

Uruguayan chef Luisina Perdomo is their in-house “Empanadera”, making beef and cheese empanadas, as well as croquetas and churros. Beef empanadas (€13 for two) arrived with underbaked, doughy pastry - a shame as the richly flavoured interior dotted with hard boiled egg and olive was perfect (they should have looked like this). Again that Pebre salsa didn't hit like a good chimichurri (or a good pebre) would have.

Tacos come in fish, pork or veggie versions, and our pan-fried haddock ones (two for €10) came with flaky, unbattered fish, smoky sweetcorn and Madras aioli underneath for an unexpected flavour direction that really worked.

Patatas bravas (€9) were a homerun, the potatoes crispy outside, fluffy inside, the bravas sauce with just the right amount of heat, and the aioli on the side just garlicky enough, without leaving you paranoid about who you're speaking to for the rest of the day. We're so used to patatas bravas here being so bad that it's almost a shock to find a version this good.

Croquetas (€11 for three) come in Jamón and spinach versions, and we went for the latter on the owner's recommendation. Plump, crisp and oozing filling, the citrus aioli and beetroot sauce underneath was another unexpected addition, bringing more punchy flavour layers.

Chickpeas with black pudding (garbanzos con prietas, €10) is overdone on tapas menus, yet rarely done well, with chickpeas that haven't turned to mush and soft, crumbly morcilla-like pudding, instead of tougher, more commercial versions. Table 45's is immaculate, with sultanas, paprika, cumin, parsley and garlic oil tying everything up in the tastiest of bows.

The universally favourite dish was the Lomo Saltado (a Peruvian-inspired beef stir fry, €14) - braised diced beef marinated for two days in cumin, black pepper and soy sauce, served with fried onions and red peppers (perfectly al dente), served on "crispy" potatoes. The last part was moot as the meat's juices turned anything that was previously crisp underneath it into soggy mush (they would be much better served on the side), but the flavour here was unbeatable, showing how time is often a chef's best tool in the kitchen.

Chilean dessert means churros (€9 for four with two sauces), and while ours looked the part outside, they were raw inside. They made them for us again, and the second time were slightly more cooked through, but a sliver of raw dough persisted where a fluffy interior should have been - oil too hot perhaps. Chocolate sauce was good dipping material, but the dulce de leche was a solidified blob straight from the fridge, churros bouncing off on attempt to dip. It needed a knife for spreading like butter, instead of being the luscious pool of caramel we were expecting to stir with a churros baton.

Chilean Torta di Amor is similar to Spanish Miljohas or French Mille-feuille, with layers of pastry, cream, custard and fruit. Table 45's "mini torta di amor" (€9) came on a bed of raspberry purée, with dulce de leche, custard, and a thickened cream with raspberries on top. We had all the love for this little love tart, which felt like a perfect summer dessert (despite the non-summery rain outside).

What about drinks?

We reccomend sticking to cocktails and beer, which is what we'd wager the owners are most interested in. All the South American favourites feature, including Pisco Sours, Caipirinhas, Mojitos and Margaritas. A Pisco Sour was excellent, and a Caipirinha very enjoyable, but don't expect sugar crystals to flow up the straw like the ones you had on the beach in Rio de Janeiro - this one's smooth as ice.

If you're a fan of both beer and Bloody Mary's, you need to try their love child - the Michelada. A cocktail of beer, tomato juice, lemon, Worcester sauce and Tabasco, it's served in a chilled glass with a salty Tajin rim, and is just the thing if you're feeling delicate from the night before. or sleepy from the day that's just been. There's a full spritz menu too, and the T45 with Vermouth Rosso, Prosecco and Soda Water is an easy afternoon sipper.

The wine list is all South American or Spanish, and only marginally above your average pub in terms of interest. Draught and bottled beer on the other hand is way more interesting than your average pub, with plenty of less commercial brands, and good N/A options too.

How was the service?

Very pleasant if not effusive. We ordered a few plates at a time which seems to be the way to go in here, and they arrived nicely paced, never overwhelming the table (a constant complaint in reviews lately). A flat spritz (last night's Prosecco) and undercooked churros were replaced without question and with plenty of apologies.

What was the damage?

€141 before tip for seven small plates, two desserts, four cocktails and two soft drinks - a good amount of feeding and watering for three hungry adults, or two adults and two kids. €50 a head would be plenty to budget for a good night out here, but a Michelada, a couple of tacos and a filling plate of sopapillas and you could get in and out for €25 before tip.

What's the verdict on Table 45?

Table 45 is a sweet little taste of South America that's clearly tugging on locals' heartstrings and becoming a happy place for many - frequent posts on their Instagram account announce they're fully booked for the night, so don't expect to walk in at peak times and find yourself a table.

There's a very real and wholesome feel here, and with a bit more attention to detail in the kitchen it could easily develop from a "sweet place" to a "must eat in place", but their legion of regular customers don't seem to have any complaints with the current offering.