We hope you’ve all made it safely to the 763rd week of January. Seriously, it’s still January. Dark days and grey skies aside, at least there’s been plenty of delicious food to keep our bellies happy throughout this month, and a Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate. Here’s what our eyes have been popping over this week – get your Google maps out and start pinning....
1) Fried Calamari, Pala Pizza & Trattoria
Foxrock’s Pala Pizza & Trattoria is slowly introducing new dishes to their menu of antipasti, pizzas, pastas and suppli/fritti (fried snacks), and one of the latest is this classic fried calamari and lemon. We can almost hear the crunch and are in a drizzly Dublin suburb no longer, but transported to the courtyard of a little trattoria in sunny Riomaggiore…
2) Massive Burgers, Meltdown
They’re heeeere! Meltdown, home to the cheesiest of toasties, has introduced burgers and we’re ready for it. First up is the ‘OG Meltdown Massive Burger’, featuring a double serving of Courtney’s beef smashed patties, smoked Applewood cheddar cheese, smoked streaky bacon, Meltdown’s special burger sauce, baby gem lettuce, Meltdown hot sauce and caramelised onion on a brioche bun. It's the size of a small child but we're up for the challenge.
3) Cherry, Pistachio and Chocolate Pastry, Noisette Artisan Bakery
We’ve been waiting impatiently for new artisan bakery Noisette to open in Rush for months (they're currently offering click and collect/local delivery), and we reckon these pastries would be worth the spin out alone. Filled with cherry compote, toasted pistachios and chocolate ganache, these treats are little works of art. We'll keep you posted on their opening date.
4) Rabbit Saddle, Woodruff
We couldn’t not include a rabbit dish in the year of the rabbit, so here it is. It helps that Woodruff's (always interesting) menu option is accompanied by black pudding, fermented barley, maitake mushroom (also known as hen-of-the-wood) and preserved blackberry. Think a trip to the neighbourhood bistro at the foot of the Dublin mountains is in order.
5) Winter Greens Salad, Nutbutter
One of the additions to Nutbutter's newly launched Winter menu is a twist on the classic Irish dish of bacon and cabbage. The Winter Greens salad serves up smoked Irish brussel sprouts, plant-based coconut bacon, rainbow carrots, candy beetroots, tamari pepitas and herbs, with a cashew dressing, plant-based Parmesan and furikake. It mightn’t be bacon and cabbage like your Mammy used to make, but it’s a solid (and vegan friendly) alternative.
