There is, I’d imagine, a book of unwritten rules for natural wine bars, and topping the “food to serve” column is “anchovies”. It’s like Gut Oggau, the immediately recognisable cult wine, but for the small plates pantry. The signifier that, yes, this is a place that takes wine very seriously indeed.
In Note, Dublin 2, butter drips through the golden, soaked crevices of a toasted chunk of Roundwood sourdough. Rather than being strewn with anchovies, it is bathed in a bagna cauda-type mash-up, with pockets of pungent intensity triggering every olfactory pleasure receptor. At €4.50, it is a good start to an evening in this self-described “Bureau, Bar, Bistro”, matched with a glass of Terra de Cuques Blanc 2016 (€14), a textured white wine from the Priorat region of Spain.
Note has the confident air of a place that has had time to settle in since it opened eight months ago. There is now a full menu to satisfy the third “B” of its descriptor and a simple but lovely terrace where a glass of Ombretta Agricola Pedecastello (€13) seems like the perfect glass of bubbles to sip in the sun. The design is low key, with a long swathe of a bar and comfortable seating.
It has already hit the international radar, added to the Uno Mas, Etto, Fish Shop and Chapter One list that seems to be doing the rounds with UK wine writers and restaurant critics, four of whom have been through the doors already. The fact that Katie Seward, the GM and sommelier here, worked in Brawn in London for two years, as well as Forest Avenue, and more recently Neighbourhood Wine, no doubt has some bearing.
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The menu takes that wonderfully informal structure of snacks, small and large plates and a couple of desserts, which seems to be the way we all feel like dining these days. A ceviche of stone bass (€13), a fish that bears no relation to sea bass and is generally farmed, turns out to be well suited to the tart lime and jalapeno marinade that surrounds it, with precisely segmented pieces of orange adding a fruity note.
The bluefin tuna belly (€18), which hides beneath a pretty construction of red chicory leaves and finely sliced avocado, is less of a match for the powerful kick of anchoa chilli in the salsa macha. The Mexican influence comes as no surprise as Essa Fakhry, the head chef and one of the co-owners, worked in 777 for many years. A more robust fish such as mackerel would perhaps work better.
Dazzling wine list
The crab (€22) is deliciously simple, served out of the shell with a dollop of warm hollandaise on top and two pieces of toasted sourdough on the side. And similar restraint is shown in the gnocchi al tartufo (€24), which is dusted with microplaned Parmesan and some nutty summer truffle. The light gnocchi are twice the size I would have expected them to be, smaller would be better, but the notable absence of the synthetic flavour of truffle oil is commendable.
We share a dessert of rice pudding with Wexford strawberries (€9), which isn’t quite at the level of the earlier dishes. The mound of chilled rice, tiled with slices of strawberry, which encases a strawberry sorbet is just a bit stodgy, perhaps showing the strain of running a kitchen without a full complement of chefs. The staff shortage crisis is real, so for now it’s just two chefs, and allowances need to be made.
I find myself slightly conflicted on Note. It is a truly relaxing room, the wine list is dazzling and the food is tasty. It’s my sort of place, the type of wine bar you are likely to find in London, Paris or Copenhagen. But the prices are punchy.
While by the glass options allow you to explore the wine list more deeply, it is worth noting that the 125ml pours are equivalent to a sixth of a bottle and there’s some inconsistency. The €78 for six glasses of Ombretta Agricola Pedecastello is at odds with a bottle price of €51. Whereas the George Remy Champagne at €17 a glass tots up and is astonishingly close to retail at €99.
You can, of course, drop in for a single glass of wine and one or two plates, it’s a wine bar to the core. Just be sure to take a few moments to crunch the numbers before you order.
Dinner for two with four glasses of wine was €141.50.
THE VERDICT 8/10 Tasty food, a dazzling wine list and confusing prices
Facilities Smart with plenty of toiletries
Music Upbeat and unobtrusive
Food provenance Vegetables from Artizan and Caterway, Wrights seafood, McLoughlin’s meat, La Rousse charcuterie
Vegetarian options Dishes such as tomato, cucumber and lovage, alongside gnocchi al tartufo. Dishes can be adapted for vegan diets
Wheelchair access Accessible, with accessible toilet
