Top food for under a tenner? Head for The House in Howth, writes TOM DOORLEY
THE WORDS “Irish restaurants” and “imagination” rarely appear in the same sentence. During the boom years, creativity was largely confined to dreaming up prices. And now, all over Ireland, restaurateurs are thinking outside that wretched box of which people with a very limited vocabulary speak (usually loudly, while pushing the envelope).
At least as far as prices are concerned. But a lot of restaurateurs still think we came down in the last shower. Not only are some of them flagging up tempting prices and then charging a couple of limbs for so-called side dishes, virtually all of them have failed to do anything with wine prices.
I mean, we’re not thick. We know we’re being mugged when we’re charged €22.50 for industrial junk when there are proper wines, that are not made in vast factories, that can be sold for less. Hotels, by the way, tend to be the worst offenders in this respect.
There was a time when hotels were glamorous. When I was a small boy, the Royal Hibernian and the Russell represented the pinnacle of sophistication. Nowadays, most hotels are sterile, dull places with dreadful food, selling crap wine at prices that require anaesthesia.
Nobody could accuse Alfie’s (on Dublin’s South William Street) of being a rip-off. It may smell strongly of over-used frying oil and the decor may be a nightmare but the staff are friendly and the food is . . . plentiful. You can have three portions of different dishes and a small soft drink for a tenner. The hamburger was good, the meat balls terrible. The fish cakes were perfectly edible, the BLT a bit like an all-day breakfast. In my student days, I would have eaten here twice a day. Now that I’ve grown to man’s estate . . . er, no thanks.
A tenner is what you pay for the dish of the day at The House in Howth. And on the evening we visited, this comprised half a small chicken. There were no free-range or other claims made for it, but it came with smoked rosemary oil (new to me but remarkably savoury) and a very rich, smooth, buttery mash. For €10, this delivered a lot of pleasant sustenance.
We shared a tasting plate of antipasti that showcases much of The House’s starters. This turned out to be an inspired idea.
There was Bluebell Falls goats’ cheese on warm figs with a drizzle of old balsamic vinegar; there was air-cured Connemara ham and beef from McGeough’s, beautifully dry and wafery, with a beetroot and caper slaw; there was home-cured trout, rather like gravad lax, with salsify fritters and anchovy mayonnaise; there was ripe Cooleeney and rich, sharp peach chutney; there was hot-smoked seabass, browned outside, white and moist within; and there was plenty of crusty, malty bread and good salad, including lamb’s or miner’s lettuce (or mache as they call it in Dublin 4), mibuna (or was it mizuna?) and baby-beet leaves in a subtle, delicate dressing.
After all that, the chicken was a bit of a struggle. But it did underline how the notion of dinner for a tenner is actually dinner for a tenner.
Our other main course, Galway mussels (an important reassurance here, this being Howth), with crab cream, mixed herbs and fries, was a joy. This is essentially moules marinière, as we call it in Tallow, but with extra cream and lots of white crab meat, which drapes itself throughout the mussel shells, delivering nuggets of additional, sweet flavour. Finely chopped, fresh herbs are sprinkled generously on top. A side of French beans were fine, the fries a little on the limp side. Finding a decent chip in Ireland, the world centre of spud consumption, seems to be getting harder. Anyway, sweet things were out of the question. We waddled down to the Dart, very content. The House is a gem. We need more places like this. The bill, including a bottle of Whitstable Bay Organic Ale, a generous glass of white wine, a bottle of chunky Spanish red and a bottle of mineral water, came to €99.60. tdoorley@irishtimes.com
THE SMART MONEY
Dinner for a tenner, with a glass of wine and a coffee, comes to a shade over €16.
See also “Howth safari” on opposite page.
Read Megabites, Tom Doorley’s blog on all things foodie, at irishtimes.com/blogs/megabites
This is a short list, printed on two sides of a single sheet of A4. There’s a decent Prosecco for €32, a Champagne that I don’t know (but a premier cru) for €55 and table wines starting at €20 or €4.50. The dearest wines are Burgundies at €55. Highlights include fresh Castano Macabeo/Chardonnay (€24), citrussy Corte Giara Pinot Grigio (€25), crisp Loimer Lois Grüner Veltliner, toasty Mount Horrocks Semillon (€42), delicate Alpha Zeta Valpolicella (€22), chunky Hecula Monastrell (€27), rich Vesevo Aglianico (€30) and powerful, full-on Seghesio Zinfandel (€43).