Town Bar and Grill, Dublin

...out that Easter Sunday. Town was one of 2 in Dublin. As the rest of the team seemed happy to go wherever for lunch we booked Town up a few hours before we were due to go. There were 15 of us in the party in total so we thought it was good to get it at such short notice. It was one of the best random finds ever so I asked Ciao to add this restaurant to their list as I think any of you going to Dublin in the near future would enjoy eating at this fab ...
...second thing I noticed about Town was they seem to only employ gorgeous people. The woman who was our front of house was clearly model material, really tall and willowy with great clothes. And all the staff male and female all looked fab.

The food

As we were seated at our table the waiter immediately came over and gave out menus and wine lists. We were at this time the only people in the restaurant which surprised me, ... more

Background
I spent the Easter bank holiday with my hockey team in Dublin at a hockey tournament. On the Sunday we were sick of hotel food and just generally being at the hockey grounds or at the hotel so we decided to go into Dublin for a late lunch.

I had been reading the Irish Independent at breakfast and noticed that they recommend 3 top places in Ireland to eat out that Easter Sunday. Town was one of 2 in Dublin. As the rest of the team seemed happy to go wherever for lunch we booked Town up a few hours before we were due to go. There were 15 of us in the party in total so we thought it was good to get it at such short notice. It was one of the best random finds ever so I asked Ciao to add this restaurant to their list as I think any of you going to Dublin in the near future would enjoy eating at this fab new restaurant.

The restaurant

The restaurant is on Kildare Street which is just around the corner from Grafton Street and St Stephens Green. The restaurant itself is housed in a three storey Georgian building on the lower ground floor so you enter from the road and go down some steps into the restaurant.
As soon as we walked in I was impressed, the only information I'd had to go on about the place when booking was that it was an Italian restaurant with a New York theme. You could see where they were going with that description as soon as you walked in. The ceilings were low and in places the floor was uneven, the lighting was low and the seating was a mixture of tables and side booths. The colours were very neutral, creams and beiges but there was a very definite high end feel to the place. This came across in small touches like the art work on the walls, modern and bold, the choice of bare walls and dark wood seats. The second thing I noticed about Town was they seem to only employ gorgeous people. The woman who was our front of house was clearly model material, really tall and willowy with great clothes. And all the staff male and female all looked fab.

The food

As we were seated at our table the waiter immediately came over and gave out menus and wine lists. We were at this time the only people in the restaurant which surprised me, it being Easter Sunday and this clearly being a great place to eat. That was at 4pm.
One of the things that had attracted me to the restaurant in the first place was that it said you could have 3 courses for 26.95 euros which I thought was very reasonable. The menus were great there were lots to choose from. On the list of starters there was: Manhattan Chowder with smoked fish, prawns and saffron aioli crostini, Prawn cocktail on a bed of rocket, Town Bar and Grill anti pasta plate, and lots of other yummy things. Most of our group chose either the chowder, the prawns or the anti pasta. They all looked amazing. The chowder was quite a filling starter so I'd just be aware of that if you are thinking of having a dessert too. I choose the prawn cocktail which was fab, lots of yummy juicy prawns in just enough sauce on a bed of spicy crunchy rocket. They also had brought out this lovely foacacia bread in individual portions at the start of the meal which they kept coming during the starters, that was delicious.

As it was one of our parties birthday that day I asked the waitress if she would mind taking a photo of our group. She was more than happy to oblige and in fact said she would come back and take a group shot at each course which I thought was really good of her.

When the mains came out faces were a picture, everything just looked so good. The presentation of food in Town was of the highest standard. On the choice for mains had been; Connemara Salmon Fillet with grilled asparagus, roast strip loin of beef with roast root vegetables, sage and mustard mash and red wine jus, roast rump of lamb with sweet red peppers, roast potatoes and minted salsa verde, Char grilled corn fed breast of chicken with creamed corn, buttered spinach and red onion
I chose the beef myself and was definitely not disappointed. It came out a massive long piece of thick beef, with a lovely long marbled fat edge, slightly rare towards the middle and well done at the edges to give it a crispy juicy taste. The beef was balanced on a large bed of mash with smaller pieces of roasted butternut squash underneath. Just looked amazing. The meat was wonderful and everything was very tasty indeed. Everyone else's food looked great and I didn't hear a single moan around the table.
By this stage at least 3 people who knew I'd chosen the restaurant were thanking me for choosing such a great place, although in fairness its not like I had really planned it or anything, just that the review in the paper obviously was a good one.
We stayed on and most of us went for the third course option. The desserts were heavenly, from beautiful crème brulees served with teased out caramel surrounding the plate looking almost like a tiny fancy hat that women wear to Ascot. You know the sort of tiny three feathery affairs that stand out from the head. The caramel looked just like that, don't have a clue how they got it like that mind.
I chose the meringue with blueberries and raspberries and it was delicious. The meringue was gooey and chewy as it should be, the berries were so fresh and full of taste and the cream on top was thick and perfect. I must say I and the other girl who chose this dessert did get a fair amount of jealous looks. Particularly from my friend to the left who had just chosen the ice cream selection and felt a plain Jane in comparison to my splendid affair. People even took photos of the desserts as they looked so fab.
Some people had coffees and we ordered a spirit chaser for our birthday friend, I was totally stuffed by the time the bill came.

I wasn't drinking that day but most people were on red or white, I belive the cheapest white was pinot grigiot and cost around 18 euros a bottle, the only niggle that the people in the party had was that they felt the bottled water was very expensive at something like 10 euros a bottle. However in a top London restaurant this would be par for the course so I personally didn't have an issue paying that. Particularly as the rest of the experience had been so amazing.

Cost

The drinkers among us put in 50 euros each to cover the wine, and I paid 40 to cover my expensive water!
If you didn't go on the set menus at Town from their dinner menus I can see you'd probably end up spending around 30 euros for three courses, but again this doesn't seem that bad.

Other things I liked about Town, apart from the great décor and food the bathrooms were very good. As anyone who reads my other reviews will note I do like a nice bathroom. Theres nothing worse than paying to be somewhere special and then finding out the loos are like something from Slough town centre. Anyway Town certainly didn't suffer from this problem. The women's bathroom was discreetly tucked away at the front of the restaurant and consisted of three separate stalls all with their own sink and supplies. They had lovely Gilchrist and Soames soap and hand cream, lovely white hand towels rolled up and stacked in a cream basket on a ledge behind the loo. There was a linen basket supplied under the sink for when you'd finished with the hand towel. The toilets were well lit but not bright which is essential in a place where the lights are low in the restaurant. No one wants to be dazzled and come back from their loo experience like a startled rabbit. I think the darkest loos I've ever been into were at Yauchata sister restaurant to Hakkasan where you could barely see your hand in front of your face. There's trendy and then there's stupid.

So go to Town and treat yourself, it's a perfect example of town class Dublin dining where they really look after you and make you feel like they only live to please you.

A huge 10 out of 10 for Town! Thanks for reading..

Town Bar and Grill, 21 Kildare Street, Dublin - Telephone 353 1662 4727 

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