ROLY SAUL, one of the most seasoned restaurateurs in the business, has had to give names to several establishments. His first was called Trudi’s. I don’t know why, but I’m sure there was a good reason. Actually, back in the 1980s names didn’t matter much; restaurants were strange, rather alien things, sprinkled with fairy dust. It was in Dún Laoghaire and served good, honest food, and accounted for about half of the wine consumed in the greater Leinster area. It was a fun place.
Then Roly joined forces with some other catering industry bods and started a restaurant in Ballsbridge, of which you may have heard, and called it Roly’s. Which was a mistake, as there was a falling out and he no longer has anything to do with the restaurant that bears his name.
And then he opened a place in Dún Laoghaire (now gone) at a time when e-mail was very new and edgy and called it Roly@The Pavilion, which I suspect didn’t thrill his former partners.
And now he has a new restaurant in the Dundrum Town Centre and he has called it . . . ahem . . . Roly Saul. The Restaurant. As distinct, one supposes, from Roly Saul: the big bloke with the beard and the distinctive laugh. Just in case of confusion. Or, heaven alone knows: Roly Saul: The New Fragrance for Men.
I have quite a soft spot for Roly, ever since I first ate in Trudi’s in . . . gosh, it must have been 1988. But I wish he would change the name of the new place and have another look at the prices.
The prices reflect, I think, the fact that restaurateurs need to get out more often (in order to keep an eye on each other). A 10oz sirloin steak at €28.95 is not in tune with the times. Nor is a crab cake starter at €10.50, even if it does come with wasabi aioli (so that’s wasabi and garlic, then?) and carrot and beetroot namasu (which I think means lightly pickled in rice vinegar, but don’t hold me to this).
On the other hand, Roly’s Smokies (everybody claims these as their own, right back to John Howard at Le Coq Hardi, latterly Eden and now Roly), were very, very pleasant. This is, essentially, a small but rich dish of smoked haddock, cream and cherry tomatoes.
Chicken and ham hock rissoles were rather good, even if they were certainly not rissoles. The meat was encased in pastry and served on a bed of frisée with a pleasant, creamy dressing. There’s some good cooking here.
The companion’s slow cooked pork belly (yes, I know, it’s almost as common as gloom these days) had been marinated with maple syrup, and it was perfectly fine as pork belly goes (which, I suppose is what a lot of us want pork belly to do).
My budget main course (for €16.50) was described as “Jane Russell Original Irish Sausage with Bubble and Squeak, Dijon Cream” and was small. Very small.
Okay, gather! The two sausages were sausage-like and a bit dry inside. Original? Original to what? The bubble and squeak was a small hillock of mashed spud with some cabbage (and, thus, not bubble and squeak at all) and the Dijon cream? Oh, it was fine.
But two sausages on a small cushion of spud? In 2009? For €16.50? You can have sides of course, at €3.75 each, which would bring the cost of two bangers, a bit of mash and, say, some green salad to €20.25. Makes you think.
Desserts are €8.50, including a Chocolate Nemesis (a rather 1990s name for a perennial top seller) which is “adaptable for ceoliac” and possibly for dyslexic too.
We skipped coffee and puds. With a couple of glasses of white, a bottle of red and a bottle of water, the bill came to €103.15, service not included.
WINE CHOICE
A terrific list with some brilliant value and worth a visit for this alone. Our two glasses of San Michele Pinot Grigio (€7.25) were the real deal, tasting of Pinot Grigio rather than just dry white wine. There are 17 wines by the glass, all of them good stuff and priced between €5.50 for a South African Sauvignon/Chardonnay and €11 for Savigny-les-Beaune from Domaine Louis Dufouleur. The best value is at the top end (Roly been a champion of this commendable kind of pricing for years) with gems such as Château La Pointe Pomerol 1999 (€58), Lynch-Bages 1999 (€95) Bouchard’s Clos Vougeot 1996 (€95) and, amazingly, Hermitage La Chapelle 1996 for just €65. Try finding that elsewhere in Dublin.