Monday, July 28, 2008

Carluccio's in Dublin


Since I am of fan of Antonio Carluccio, the London chef and T.V. personality, I couldn't resist trying his restaurant in Dublin. I own several of his cookbooks and think he has classic recipes down pat, so I was expecting authentic Italian food, especially since there is a large Italian community in Dublin and Italian imports are easier to come by. I was underwhelmed and very quickly realized it was a franchise restaurant, or at least I hope so.
The menu was cute, and the dining room was bright and cheery. If you click on the menu to enlarge, you may be able to see what was on offer. To be clear, my selection could have been better and may have contributed to my disappointment.
My partner in crime ordered the suppli, one with a meat filling and one with a cheese filling. Both were quite good now that I think about them again. My panzanella was good but not great. A vine ripened tomato would have made all the difference, But they may be few and far between in Ireland.

The mushroom soup was a bit flat, but the menu listed wild mushrooms, so perhaps they are less flavorful on the Emerald Isle. The focaccia was over baked and dry. The spinach gnocchi seemed inside out to me. I expected a gnocchi made of spinach, silly me.
52 Dawson Street
Dublin 2
Tel. +353 (0) 1 6333 957
Fax. +353 (0) 1 6708 612
Open: Mon-Fri 7-10, Sat 8-10.30,Sun 9-10

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