Le Bon Crubeen Talbot St. - delightful D1 dining
Lucinda O'Sullivan finds Le Bon Crubeen to be a welcome, reasonably-priced addition to Talbot Street; one that will even suit the tight tourists
Dublin's Talbot Street would never have ranked in the gourmet- dining stakes, or any dining stakes, apart from the odd few places such as 101 Talbot, Il Vignardo on nearby Store Street, and Sheries Cafe Bar on Abbey Street. Hence, those of my Sunday Independent colleagues who are based in the office do find their lunchtime options somewhat limited. I am sure your heart bleeds! Consequently, there was a whiff of anticipation among the hungry scribes when a new brasserie, Le Bon Crubeen, opened near their Talbot Street offices.
Le Bon Crubeen is part of the Celtic Lodge guest house, which also houses the traditional music venue, the Celt Bar. With a long, modern bar to the left, there is comfortable banquette seating, granite-topped tables, and Rat Pack-style music. In fact, there was almost a Parisian feel, helped by the fact that we were surrounded by French tourists, with one lot declaring it was the best meal they had had in Ireland.
It was night-time, but a very helpful barman gave us the option of the a la carte menu or the less expensive lunchtime menu. Prices are not bad, so this place could do really well. A la carte starters were €4.95-€7.95. Mains were €17.50-€24. The lunchtime menu had a good range of hot specials at €11.50-€12.50.
The French diners were eating off the lunchtime menu -- the French are not known for spending wildly on the tourist trail. I heard a story recently, from a top Dublin restaurant, of eight French tourists who came in one night and ordered eight bowls of chowder, eight portions of potatoes and tap water -- and demanded bread on the table before the soup! Another night this summer, the same restaurant had six Italians booked for dinner and when the last of the party arrived he had fish and chips under his coat. The American tourists apparently say: "We're not really that hungry, we'll share a main course." And that was before the credit crunch.
My son, Aidan, had a vegetable soup (€4.95) which was delicious. His friend Bayveen had Caesar salad (€7.95) with parmesan shavings, which she enjoyed once she dispensed with the ironing board-hard, superfluous feather of bacon. I had a very pleasant duck and spiced-pear salad (€7.95) tossed in mixed leaves. My only comment would be that this had clearly been in a cold room and was a bit too chilly.
The lunch menu had good brasserie food such as pork and leek bangers with herb mash and onion jam; confit duck leg with red cabbage and champ, as well as ribbon pasta with smoked salmon and dill cream, and white beans with a calamari salad. It also had a French-style 8oz sirloin steak (€12.50) with herb butter, salad and fries. The a la carte menu had steak frites (€24) -- sirloin steak with Bearnaise sauce, onions, mushrooms and shoestring fries. Bayveen and Aidan decided to try the steak from each menu. Both were excellent, not a lot of difference, and one couldn't help feeling that the lunchtime steak was really cracking value.
Included on the a la carte menu was grilled spatchcock of chicken with spiced couscous and harissa, as well as medallions of beef with truffled foie gras butter and horseradish duchesse potatoes. Brendan and I both fell for the comfort zone of five-spiced pork belly (€17.80), a dish of three very ample cubes of deliciously tender belly of pork; there was so much, neither of us could finish it. Accompanied by a sweet and sour julienne of peppers and onions, plus a big dish of potatoes, it would be perfect for the sharing, caring tourists.
We liked the laid-back, helpful atmosphere of Le Bon Crubeen and the innovative touches on the menu.
Aidan had a delicious apple crumble (€5.95) and we all agreed we would go back. With a bottle of Graham Beck Viognier (€27) our bill, with optional service, came to €143.45. A great addition to D1 dining.
Le Bon Crubeen, 82 Talbot St, D1.
Tel: (01) 878-8755
www.lucindaosullivan.com
- Lucinda O'Sullivan
