The Two Minute Review: Pronto @ Moss Lane

Ronan Doyle
2 hours ago
2 min read

What’s the story with Pronto?

With no end of interest in our rundown of Dublin’s best pub grub as people look for thriftier ways to eat out well amidst the ever-tightening squeeze, we’ve had our eyes open for more outlets that might make the grade. Good word of mouth and an offering that goes above and beyond the usual fare are two of the quickest things to rouse our interest, and there’s no shortage of both about Pronto, inside Moss Lane on Pearse Street. Previously seen slinging their handmade pasta and Neapolitan-style pizzas out of a food truck, and briefly in the Bernard Shaw’s Eatyard, they took over the former Trinity Inn’s little kitchen for a 2022 pop-up and never moved out.

What’s on the menu?

Italian olives (€5) are at the upper end of the basic bar scale, but then they’d want to be at these restaurant prices. Nice, not necessary. Meatballs (€10) are a more advisable entrée, whisked out sharpish while you wait for the main event. Depth of flavour defines the evidently well-simmered arrabiata sauce, though we’d have welcomed a spice level more in tune with the angry translation. Middling meatballs often mask dry texture in an excess of sauce. Pronto’s just-right dousing tells you they’re confident – rightly so. A sprinkle of sharp grana padano seals the deal - who needs a cherry on top with cheese like this.

As a starter pack stalwart for pub grub all over Ireland, we thought carbonara (€15) the fairest place to pass judgement on the pasta. Purists might cry foul at pancetta in place of guanciale, but fret not – there’s not so much as a splash of cream in sight. This is the real deal, crisp browned belly bits crowning a mound of al-dente spaghetti, all bound in a silky sauce with cheese quality clear to taste, and the gentle heat of a generous grind of black pepper. This may not be Dublin’s best carbonara, but between the rare treat of homemade pasta in casual surroundings, and a price point well below most of our top Italian spots about town, it’s in with a solid shout of being the best value.

The modest little counter oven we craned our necks to gape through the kitchen door doesn’t look all too special, which makes even more impressive the results they get out of it – leoparding like this doesn’t come easy. The hot sweet pepp (€17) is a hit, the modest heat of pepperoni and hot honey tempered in a rich mess of mozzarella and the pickled pop of sweet drop peppers. Prices clock in just a bit above the average for the strongest competition in a fifteen minute radius, but if you’re headed here for the pasta and need to keep a pizza fiend happy, there's no way they'll feel hard done by.

Why should we go?

The premium on handmade pasta is real, and our recent efforts to find good value in this space have not proved fruitful. Pronto happily bucks the trend, with proper homely stuff at seriously sensible prices. We’ll be back.