The Two Minute Review: Nino's, Portrane
- Lisa Cope
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
What’s the story with Nino's?
Endless ingenuity came out of the Covid 19 pandemic, and that's how Nino's started life. Originally food truck Doughbox, opened by former dental clinic manager Anthony Power, they migrated into a full restaurant attached to The Brook Pub in Portrane in 2024. The same team are also behind Pronto on Pearse Street, serving handmade pasta and Neapolitan pizza out of Moss Lane.
North Co Dub isn't exactly overflowing with inspiring restaurants, so we had this one earmarked for a while as an excuse to venture north, or maybe a post beach summer bite.
What's the drinks menu like?
This is a pub menu. Pub wine, pub cocktails, even a "selection of shots" if you're that way inclined.
All the regulars are there, and there's nothing very inspiring, but a pint of Madri and simple glass of Montepulciano did the job. There's a good range of N/A options too.
Onto the proper stuff, what should we order?
There's starters, fresh pasta, and wood-fired pizza, with some sides too, and a definite sway from the authentic towards local tastes - you won't see spaghetti bolognese or pepperoni pizza on menus in Rome.
We started very strong with starters. A crisp, fluffy potato crocchette came with a rich slow-cooked beef ragu, stracciatella and grated Parmesan (€10). A ball of burrata came with tomatoes that actually tasted of tomato (that time of year), toasted pine nuts, zingy drop peppers, and little dollops of pesto (€10). So far so lovely.
Cacio e pepe arancini (€10 for three) is a winning recipe too, a light crispy crumb filled with al dente rice, bursting with cheesy, peppery flavour.
Things took a bit of dive from there. While we have endless respect for anyone making pasta fresh, the spaghetti in the Carbonara (€16) was overcooked, breaking apart under every twirl of a fork, and forming into a pasta cake as it cooled. Guanciale needed longer in the pan at a higher heat, and the sauce was thick and gloopy. Roman carbonara this was not.
Prawn bisque linguine (€18) had similarly bite-free pasta, each forkful falling apart before it reached a mouth, the prawns tasting frozen and cheap. A shame because the flavours were there, the execution wasn't.
The mortadella pizza (€18) arrived with a miserly amount of toppings - is that one slice of mortadella for the whole thing? Is that even a tablespoon of stracciata? Did they need to be that tight with the tapanade and pistachios? We ate this through a grimace, tasting mainly dough.
We ordered the hot pink pepperoni which was supposed to have yellow cherry tomatoes, pink peppercorns and hot honey, but realised afterwards they brought the regular pepperoni - fine but forgettable. Dips on the other hand, garlic mayo and ricotta with honey were wiped clean.
What’s the verdict?
If you're out this way and want a decent feed Nino's will tick the box, but would we travel far for it? Not on the basis of this meal. They're doing a roaring trade with locals, for dine in and takeaway, but we couldn't help compare to a meal at Grano the previous week, which cost marginally more for a far superior experience.
Nino's
The Brook Pub, Quay Road, Portrane, Co, Dublin
