The Wicklow Heather (Laragh, Ireland)

Glendalough Road, Laragh

Ireland

353 + (0) 404 45 157

www.thewicklowheather.com

Greetings, hounds. I just spent a few days eating my way through Dublin and the areas surrounding, where I had the good fortune of dining at some excellent establishments, including the Winding Stair, Pearl, Roly's, and Dunne & Crescenzi. Probably the best restaurant for overall food, service and decor (in that order) I came across during this time was not in Dublin at all, but in the small town of Laragh, about 45 minutes south of Dublin at the complete dark horse, the Wicklow Heather.

The Wicklow Heather is hidden away in the Glendalough Valley of the Wicklow Mountains, close to where St. Kevin founded a monastery in the wilderness in the late 500s AD. It's still a beautiful area for hiking -- and eating, evidently! -- and a good escape from the worst of the the throngs of (other) tourists who still overrun the capital city this time of year.

We walked in without reservations at 7 p.m. and were seated promptly, though the medium-large space was beginning to get crowded. The atmosphere is that of a gentleman's hunting lodge, chock full of old knick knacks, walls hung with poems from old books, hunting implements and the like. We ordered the warm chicken and bacon salad to start, followed by butterflied rainbow trout with garlic potatoes (scalloped potatoes in the US) for me and chicken and pork served with stuffing, mashed potatoes, boiled veggies, and cranberry sauce for my dining companion. The salad was lovely, assembled from slices of moist, high quality chicken, smoked bacon, and excellent, tender greens, all perfectly dressed.

The trout was a wee bit overcooked and was supposed to have come with Mediterranean vegetables, according to the menu, but the tiny bits of vinegared red peppers and cucumbers were more a garnish on the plate than anything else. Nonetheless, there was no disguising the freshness of the fish -- and the rich, buttery potatoes that came with it were remarkable. My companion's chicken and pork dish was well prepared and moist in all the right places. The only downside was a common one at restaurants all over the country, it seems: the side of vegetables was boiled, unsalted and so utterly lackluster the buttery sauce served over top couldn't save them. (Boiling really seems to be some odd preference for veggie preparation in this country I just can't get into.) Mashed potatoes, served alongside, however, were wonderful, neither too rich nor too dry, and made of good, floury potatoes.

For dessert, we had a meringue nest filled with cream and fruit, a light confection made with such high quality cream and other ingredients that this simple dessert was elevated to something approaching divine.

The most standout part of the dining experience, however, was the truly excellent service, which really did live up to the Irish reputation for hospitality in a way we didn't experience in the more jaded capital city. Wait staff was sincerely kind and cheerful and in their pleasant presence, the stresses of the day (driving left handed stick shift on the 'wrong' side of the road down narrow country lanes!) melted away like they'd never existed.

This food and two "quarter bottles" (single serving bottles) of wine added up to 52 Euros, which felt like a bargain given the quality of food, service, atmosphere and the Dublin City sticker shock we'd so recently escaped. I hope others of you find your way, here. Sláinte!

The Winding Stair (Dublin, Ireland)

40, Ormond Quay
Dublin 1
Ireland

Telephone : (+ 353) 1 8727320
Email: mailto:restaurant@winding-stair.com
Website: http://www.winding-stair.com/
We had a mixed experience at this cozy restaurant, up a winding stair from a bookshop (hence the name). Mostly, the food was very good (with one notable exception). Service was a bit overextended.

We started with appetizers of smoked salmon, served with bubble and squeak (non traditional recipe with all mashed potato, no other discernable veggie), greens and a poached egg; and tomato / leek soup with brown bread.

The smoked salmon appetizer was really quite fantastic. Egg was perfectly poached and just lovely (much better than the eggs I'm used to i NYC, even the free range ones). Greens were very fresh and vivid tasting, though they were a bit tough. Smoked salmon was among the best I can remember having. Bubble and squeak had a nice crust.

My companion's soup, on the other hand, was fairly uninteresting. It would really only have taken a little bit of something -- butter, salt, pepper, perhaps basil -- to transform the dish from a bland, mediocre one to a good one, but as it was, I would give it a pass next time. My companion and I love soda bread, generally, but he had the unfortunate experience of taking a first, bitter bite where the baking soda had not been mixed in properly. Ugh.

I'm sad I didn't have the smoked haddock based on Curmudgeon's report! But my lamb chops were pretty good. Medium rare, very tender, well flavored, if a bit oversalted. They were also extremely fatty, which doesn't bother me, but might bother others. They came with a delicious, layered potatoes casserole prepared with cheese and butter (a bit undersalted, but absolutely forgivable given the high butter content of the dish :) and haricots verts. The haricots verts were, like the greens, very fresh and flavorful, but a little tougher than what I'm used to. Perhaps there just wasn't a lot of rain this year, where these vegetables were grown?

My companion's steak was of excellent quality meat, simply prepared (just flavored with salt, it tasted like), pan fried, rather than grilled or broiled. They came over a bed of home fries (like chopped up steak fries), which were fine, but not really remarkable in any way.

Now, the service... There were three people working the floor, with a great deal of overlap in tables and areas worked. I think this caused some unnecessary delays and a stressed-out staff. (Each person seemed to be watching the entire restaurant.) It took a long time to take our order and a VERY long time to get us our check after the meal, after we'd asked for it. We actually had to get up and chase it down, I think because the woman we'd asked (the manager?) forgot. Some of the feeling of slowness and delay may be a result of cultural differences: We are New Yorkers and used to being able to catch someone's eye for the check when we want it; here, we felt studiously ignored after our meal. But part of it may not have been cultural. The Irish couple next to us also got a bit impatient because of the long wait for their food, and another table of four behind us, also Irish, came in after we did and left before, with seemingly no difficulty.

In any case, the food was good, occasionally great (very similar to Market Table in NYC). If we return, I supposed we'll just have to plan on a much longer meal next time.