La Maison des Gourmets cafe has morphed into a restaurant, writes TOM DOORLEY.
THERE’S AN ARGUMENT that critics should leave well alone until a new restaurant has bedded down, got through the teething problems and made whatever unavoidable mistakes it’s going to make. Theatre productions do previews, at reduced prices. Most restaurants don’t. So, you could argue, restaurants are fair game from day one. They are charging full whack, so therefore the punters are justified in expecting the full, unexpurgated experience.
Having said that, it certainly was not my intention to review La Maison less than 24 hours after it had opened its doors for the first time as a bistro – as distinct from La Maison des Gourmets, the cafe and boulangerie that preceded it. However, it kind of just happened. There I was, strolling along Castle Market, wondering where I was going to put on the nosebag, when I meet one of La Maison’s staff, whom I know from some of his previous incarnations. And we exchanged a few words. And he showed me the menu. And I suddenly developed an appetite.
And so I lunched. I lunched with my youngest daughter and, when I realised how good La Maison really is, I dragged in my eldest daughter and her friend to eat. It’s that kind of place. It fires you with missionary zeal.
La Maison is transformed now that the counter is gone from the old shop. It’s a bright, high-ceilinged room with well-spaced tables, linen table cloths, sparkling glasses and napkins that are, in fact, linen glass cloths.
It’s simple, comfortable, elegant and cheerful. You would never have imagined that the old La Maison des Gourmets could have morphed into this.
Our story won’t take long to tell, partly because the food here is eminently simple and I wasn’t actually taking the kind of notes, usually mental ones, that attend pre-planned reviewing expeditions. Let’s just call it impressionistic.
Anyway, my tarte provençale comprised a disc of buttery puff pastry topped with onion confit, then very thin discs of barely cooked courgette and almost equally thin slices of tomato, all anointed with basil oil and topped with wild rocket (ie the slender, tender variety). It was refreshing, comforting and delivered on taste.
Roberta’s skillet of seafood (Poêle de la Mer) was huge: a deep frying-pan packed with cockles, mussels, salmon, monkfish (I think) and miscellaneous creatures of the deep all bathed in a lovely, creamy broth, served with a great big slice of toasted sourdough bread.
Amy’s andouillette (which comes, it appears, from the artisan andouillette maker to end all artisan andouillette makers) was big, juicy, meaty and bathed in a very luscious and pungent grain mustard sauce.
Andouillette may look like a sausage but it’s really the tightly rolled intestine from the less attractive end of the pig, and is not something of which I would generally eat a lot. But I can confirm that this was the best version I’ve had. And the Lyonnaise spuds were yummy.
Sarah's seabass "en croute sur sa ratatouille au fenouil"was actually a pie: beneath a large expanse of proper, home-made pastry, there lurked a very generous chunk of fish which had cooked in the steam from the fennel. Quite splendid.
That was it, bar three glasses of wine, some Evian and two coffees. But we can report that the côte de boeuf for two (€55) looks quite astonishingly good, and that every luncher there, on its first full day in business, seemed to wear an expression of beatific contentment.
La Maison is owned and run by Olivier of Oliver’s Eatery in Terenure, another restaurant that appears to have its finger on the pulse of the market. Our bill, for four, came to €87.
I have a feeling that this little restaurant, because of its honesty and straightforwardness, is going to make a big impression. It’s exactly what we need right now, and if the recession brings us more opportunities to eat like this, it can’t be entirely a bad thing.
THE SMART MONEY
White asparagus with poached egg and foie gras, a glass of white wine and a coffee will set you back €14.50.
WINE CHOICE
The very short list is sourced from Simon Tyrrell, Charles Derain and Enrico Fantasia and, as a result, cannot be faulted. There’s a Sauvignon Blanc and a Grenache/Syrah for €4.50 a glass or €22 a bottle. The quality is good, the prices are average to high. Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône white is €35, the straight Bordeaux Château Bellevue Lugagnac is €27, Château Troquart Saint-Georges Saint-Emilion is €46. The real value is at the lower end. Domaine des Nugues Beaujolais Rosé is a decent buy at €25, Herbis Rueda is good stuff at €26 and there’s a Montepulcianio d’Abruzzo with character at €26. Prosecco is €31 a bottle or €6.50 a glass, which is encouraging.
Read Megabites, Tom Doorley’s new blog on all things foodie, at irishtimes.com/blogs/megabites