Putting on the nosebag...

Some recent eating

I rarely find myself in Dublin at the weekend but a recent visit yielded two very pleasant experiences. One of them was no surprise at all, a return after too long to China Sichuan in Sandyford, where Kevin Hui and his team produce the finest Chinese food in the country.

.It was pure nostalgic joy to revisit the Sichuan camphor tea smoked duck that I remember eating with my children when they were still quite small and China Sichuan was in Kilmacud and the world was a simpler place. This very distinctive dish is still as good as ever, very crisp and its richness cut by a thrillingly sharp and sweet plum sauce on the side.

Sichuan boiled spicy beef is done no favours by that title. In reality, it’s a savoury, spicy, warming delight with slices of tender beef in a liquid alive with Sichuan pepper, dried chillis an garlic, fabulously savoury, tinglingly delicious. And, even though I’ve had hotter versions elsewhere, this refined version is not for the faint-hearted.

A Saturday lunch in Delahunt with my great-nephew proved to be pretty outstanding and we were almost the only customers. There was inter alia smoked whipped butter with leek oil (wow!) and good crusty bread, grilled quail (and new one for the youngster and very well received, cooked just rare enough), Comeragh mountain lamb and other delights.

Delahunt, under chef Johnny White (late of Bastible and other serious spots) is doing serious food without fuss, a lovely balance and, of course, in the splendid Victorian shop environment that makes Delahunt so special. We ate in the snug at the window, watched the world go by and had a ball. (Coke Zero for the boy, a “freezer martini” for the senior citizen)

There was a time when Bresson was “just” an excellent neighbourhood restaurant serving the needs of the well-heeled of Monkstown. Well, I can report that it’s a lot more than that now. If you want exceptionally refined French bistro cooking - refined but never losing sight of its function - this where to head in Dublin. And being on the DART (nearest station is Salthill) it’s easily accessible from anywhere around the greater Dublin Bay area. Much more than a neighbourhood place.

There was a very pretty celebration of roast chicken - serious refinement and assertive chicken-y flavours - and a rediscovery of chef Temple Garner’s take on coquilles saint Jacques, a classic and a fixture on the menu since he first cooked it here in 2018. And there’s a whole Negroni menu plus the chance you will be served by the daughter of the legendary John O’Byrne of Dobbins.

I had a sharply contrasting but still rather fun lunch in Soup Ramen Dun Laoghaire where, I must admit, I have yet to have the ramen; when I’m in a ramen frame of mind in Dublin I go to Nomo where the ramen, I believe, is the best in town. Lunch featured brilliantly crunchy Korean fried chicken and a “spice bag” (in a bowl, actually), that uniquely Irish combination of chicken, chips, spices and bits of veg. Admittedly, I gather that this regional speciality is best consumed as “soakage” after what is technically known as “a feed of pints” but it’s not bad when stone cold sober at lunchtime.

Soup Ramen may be a bit rubbed at the edges (the menu cards certainly are) but the food is good, punchy and spicy, the staff are friendly and they have great homemade kombucha. There are times when we all need that. Oh, and the pickled salad is absolutely ace.

As a further bonus, you can have your Soup Ramen takeaway in one of Dun Laoghaire’s great pubs, Lockie’s or, more prosaically O’Loughlin’s just a few doors along the street and where the pint of Guinness is a thing of beauty. That’s a winning combination.