A day of wandering in Bruges

Bruges. Canals.

I recently travelled to see my accomplice in dining in Brussels, and while he was in work one day I decided that I would take the train to Bruges.

As I whizzed through the (not so) scenic Belgian countryside on the train, quotes from “In Bruges” whirling around my not so PC brain, I looked forward to visiting a spot that has been on my radar since I saw the film. Bruges looked like the kind of place I would like. Getting from the train station to the center of the city is painless. €1.20 for a single journey and there are a number of routes that will get you to the town center. Easy. The bus I was on, dropped me right in the main square.

I then went wandering, I wanted to avoid the touristy restaurants on the main square that seem to charge the same exorbitant prices for what I would imagine is pretty ordinary fare. I happened to wander down a side street and I stumbled upon an absolutely wonderful coffee shop Li O Lait. Free wifi, delicious cappuccino and a little plate of (free) biscuits to accompany it- All in the surrounds of a very cosy coffee shop.

I then toddled around some more, saw the canals, climbed the tower that forms the basis for this little diplomatic incident in the film. He was right. It is narrow. Very narrow.

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Traditional Flemish toilet

Unfortunately I seemed to be a week or two early for the Christmas market in Bruges (and in Brussels), they were only setting it up. I am assured the town gets even prettier closer to Christmas, when it gets the snow globe treatment.

I stopped into Patisserie Prestige for a mid afternoon jolt of caffeine. It was like eating in your granny’s front room (with your granny’s friends). I think in all honesty they were all a little bemused why this bearded youngfella wanted to eat a raspberry tart amongst them all.

All of it please.

Bruges is filled with an assortment of very nice cooking shops, good food shops, many chocolatiers and beer shops- so it is very possible for someone so inclined to while away a few hours perusing the shops and indeed to lighten your wallet.

I would love to go back again, it would have been ideal to spend a night there, but my timetable did not permit such. Before I knew it, after a very relaxing day, I was back on the train whizzing towards Brussels.

Ananda, Dundrum

Well. Have I told you food blogging is a chore? Well it is. Trust me. Can you imagine having to spend a Wednesday evening trying out a 7 course tasting menu in  restaurant you have ben looking to try for some time? Yes, a real chore.

Having received the very kind invitation to attend an evening in Ananda to sample the tasting menu, I toddled along to Dundrum. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I had heard good things, from people who are hard to impress.  While I knew the restaurant was an Indian restaurant, I wasn’t expecting to encounter what we (mistakenly) consider to be Indian food.

There was an awful lot to like about this menu, it read very well. There was a visible fusion (in the good way) of local Irish ingredients given an exotic treatment. There was St. Tola’s goats cheese, Wicklow lamb, free-range Irish chicken. These were ingredients that suggested you were onto something good.

St. Tola and potato cake cosying up with the walnut chutney

The amuse bouche of St.Tola goat cheese and potato cake was served with a delicious walnut chutney, which provided both flavour and a very pleasant crunchy texture to complement the potato cake. A small burst of acidity came in the form of a cube of roasted pear. Delicious.

The delicious guinea fowl.

One of the meat courses, which I may or may not have stated on twitter I would trade my first-born for, was the tandoori guinea fowl. It was a guinea fowl supreme in Kashmiri chili and carom seeds. Served with avocado raita and perched on parmesan and curry leaf rubbed Parsnips. Now, I’m not sure how the parsnips felt about that, but I certainly enjoyed it. Disclosure: I don’t really like parsnips. They seem to attract bad cooking. This was not so here. They were crunchy, chewy and had a fantastic flavour.

The Jardaloo Murgh Korma was where the free range Irish chicken popped up. This was a tasty dish, and looked a lot simpler on the plate than it tasted. The sauce was creamy and the stuffing of wild mushrooms, apricot and spinach gave enormous flavour.  It was served with naan breads that were a delight to eat.

Lamb with spiced chickpeas, almond and mint pesto. Pomegranate emulsion.

The Wicklow lamb popped up next. This was served with garlic naan, again delicious. The lamb was cooked slightly more than I expected, however it was so tender and had been treated so well, it was utterly delicious when eaten with the accompanied spiced chickpeas. The almond and mint pesto was a very fresh sensation and is something I will try to reproduce at home.

Dark chocolate mousse. Kumquat macaroon and passion fruit sorbet.

By the time dessert came out I was starting to feel rather full- but I struggled on and gave it my best. The coffee liqueur infused dark chocolate mousse was just delicious. At this stage in the evening, after 6 other very very good courses, the food critics in all of us were trying their damndest to escape. The term nostalgic was used, to describe the texture of the base of the mousse. Yes, I am hanging my head in shame. This was served with a very tasty and well executed kumquat macaroon and a very delicious passionfruit sorbet.

All of this was accompanied by wines that were paired with some attention with the food, by Benny who made sure we were well looked after all night.  Worthy of particular mention was the red which came with the lamb, Herdade dos Grous.

As I said earlier, I had heard Ananda was the home of some very fine cooking, evidenced by the fact that Sunil Ghai, the Executive chef was awarded Food & Wines ‘Best Chef’ award in 2009. What I have to say, having (finally) eaten there is that Ananda does not get the attention it deserves on the Dublin culinary scene. There are good ingredients, being treated very well in this kitchen. While 75 euro is not what you would spend on dinner on a daily basis, the value for money this tasting menu offers is second to none.

I will most certainly be back, this place is a gem that I wish I had discovered sooner.

 

P.S. If you want to see really pretty photos of the food- you should check out this post and see Malachy’s deadly photos.

Blogger evening at The Library at Dandelion

I recently had the opportunity to head along to a bloggers dinner in The Library restaurant in Dandelion on Stephen’s Green. Although I have been blogging for over a year at this stage, I very seldom get to meet other bloggers, in fact the first time I did, was at the recent ‘Goodall’s Modern Irish‘ launch. So when I was invited to toddle along to The Library I jumped at the chance. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I was a guest of the restaurant, as a result I did not pay for anything that evening.)

 

I was dining with David, Emily, Stefano and Jason (filling in for Edith).

 

We started by having a quick chat with Ewan McDonald, the owner, before getting to see the kitchen and meet Head Chef Robert Sabongi. We were seated and after perusing the new menu (which had only swung into operation that day) we ordered a selection of dishes. To begin with, we received a pre-starter of a scallop on celeriac purée- the scallop was cooked nicely, the only slight niggle was that the purée was a little too rich for my taste.

 

I started with the seared tuna, which was nicely cooked and served with a beautiful fragrant salad. There were bold, punchy flavours of ginger, sesame, pomegranate. I really enjoyed this, it was light and delicate course to start the meal and yet packed a punch in terms of flavour.

 

For the main course, myself and Jason opted for the duck breast. The duck was nicely cooked, and served with a purée of carrot flavoured with star anise. It was accompanied by some cabbage fried with bacon. It was a very good dish indeed. Simple food, done well.

Dessert. Yes please.

For dessert they brought us out a selection of the desserts that are offered on their new menu. The whipped mascarpone was by far the highlight for me. Light, served with raspberries. I would bath in the stuff. Apologies for that image. If I had to choose what to eat in that bath? The apple pie. It was like something your granny used to make. All of this was accompanied by some very nice wines, paired with the dishes by Karl, who was looking after us very well that evening.

 

There is some nice cooking going on in The Library. The new menu is packed with tasty and wholesome winter dishes, and everything, down to the burger buns (which we actually got to taste- after dessert) is done in-house. It’s most certainly worth a visit- poke your head in the door, walk across the bar and take a seat up in the restaurant amongst all the books!

Making a Pig’s Ear of it on Nassau Street

I recently turned 25. I have come to the conclusion that life is practically over. I am sure within weeks, maybe even days, I will start to look haggard, forget things and refer to simpler times, “When I was your age…”

But before all that happens, I decided to celebrate with a few friends over the weekend in The Pig’s Ear on Nassau Street. I could only get a 9.30 booking but as we all had commitments earlier in the day it suited us to eat later.

Ham hock terrine

For starter I had a ham hock terrine which I very much enjoyed. It was served with a chopped hen’s egg and a nice piece of toast. It was a very pleasant dish, perhaps the terrine could have had a stronger flavour but it was a very clean plate returning to the kitchen. Another starter highlight was the cured salmon. It was served sliced slightly thicker than I have seen elsewhere and was delicious. Despite the cure you could still taste the salmon. It’s owner, a confirmed foodie, was very satisfied. Another hit was the Jerusalem Artichoke soup, which I also tried and while it isn’t something I would ordinarily order, it was very pleasant.

 

For mains I had the halibut, served with cauliflower and some potato in some sort of delicious citrusy dressing. There were also glazed sultanas on the plate and nuts. I really loved this dish, the fish was cooked nicely, there were wonderful contrasts on the plate, textures, sweet and sour notes. A real winner. The confirmed foodie had the venison and was very impressed with the celeriac it was served with. Others had the chicken, which looked very pretty. Reports suggest it was a little on the bland side for their tastes.

 

Desert was death by chocolate. I went for the warm chocolate tart. Myself and the confirmed foodie differed on the need for popping candy on it (I liked it-blame the fast disappearing child in me.) The tart had a rich, smooth filling on a good crust. Delicious.  Others opted for ice cream which was well received.

 

Unfortunately after a very pleasant meal, the evening took a bit of a turn. Only an hour and a half after ordering, the staff started a clear up in earnest. As we had our coffees, tables were moved around us, any wine glasses drained were whipped from the table seconds after putting them down, no fear of being asked would you like another drop. An unfinished water bottle was also removed from the table. While I appreciate people have homes to go to, if you take a 9.30 booking on a Saturday night- you should give them the time to enjoy their meal without feeling like an imposition. When kitchen staff came out and started chatting and joking with the waiters behind us, as coat stands and tables whirled by (literally), we called it a day and asked for the bill. The total (for 5) with wine came to €276, was the food worth it? Absolutely. Would I go back- not anytime soon.