Travel Reference
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gravy. Desserts are worth saving room for. The fixed-price lunch is a
particularly good value.
Meeting House Sq. (entrance on Sycamore St.), Dublin 2. & 01/670-5372. Main
courses
19 ($23). AE, DC, MC, V.
Daily 12:30-3pm and 6-10:30pm. Bus: 51B, 51C, 68, 69, or 79.
18-
28 ($22-$34); fixed-price lunch menu
Jacob's Ladder MODERN IRISH When a talented,
confident chef knows what to do with the exceptional quality of Irish
produce, the results can be superb. Inspired cooking by chef-owner
Adrian Roche and a stylish dining room with great views overlooking
Trinity College make this one of the most consistently packed places
in town. Roche's forte is taking old Irish stalwarts and updating them
into sublime signature dishes. His Dublin Coddle is a soupy seafood
stew of onions, potatoes, mussels, clams, Dublin bay prawns, salmon,
carrots, and turnips. He serves his excellent braised wood pigeon with
colcannon—an old Irish favorite of potatoes and cabbage mashed
together with plenty of butter—that is fluffier and more refined here
than perhaps anywhere else on the island. Service is terrific and you
get great value for your money, especially as this is one of the few
upscale restaurants that hasn't upped its prices in the past year.
4-5 Nassau St., Dublin 2. & 01/670-3865. www.jacobsladder.ie. Reservations
required. Main courses
Value
37 ($45). AE, DC,
MC, V. Tues-Sat 12:30-2:30pm; Tues-Fri 6-10pm; Sat 7-10pm. Closed Dec 24-Jan
4. DART: Pearse. Bus: 7, 8, 10, 11, or 46A.
20-
30 ($24-$36); fixed-price dinner
Mermaid Café MODERN The Mermaid Café—known to
locals as simply the Mermaid—has attained cult status in Dublin.
Like a certain mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet, this could
be something very ordinary. But it's not. Ben Gorman, who started
the Mermaid back in 1996, now spends less time behind the stove.
Not to worry: Chef Temple Garner's cooking is downright terrific in
its own right—think classic cooking with a fresh, eclectic twist. As a
starter, the orange, feta, and watercress salad with beetroot and mild
chile dressing offers a good launch without threatening your appetite,
though the Mermaid antipasti (especially when combined with the
dangerously appealing assortment of freshly baked breads) may leave
you with the will but not the way for the generous entrees soon to
emerge from the kitchen. The New England crab cakes, grilled sword-
fish with mango relish, roast duck breast on curried noodles, and
chargrilled monkfish are all flawlessly prepared and quite memorable.
On top of all that, the wine list is one of the best in Ireland and the
desserts—especially the pecan pie—are divine.
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