Tom Doorley found plenty to like at Pearl Brasserie, near Government Buildings
We ended up in Pearl by accident rather than by design. I had intended to try Alex, the new seafood restaurant at the Conrad, but it was closed to punters because of a private function, which seemed to consist of a lot of men in grey suits looking miserably at each other and not saying very much. They might have been happier sharing the restaurant with a few members of the public.
The men (and one woman) sitting in Pearl were somewhat more cheerful in appearance, but they all looked mildly conspiratorial, as perhaps befits people dining within spitting distance of Government Buildings, and very possibly connected with them.
Pearl was not top of my list of lunchtime destinations because I had a pretty miserable meal there some years ago, shortly after Sebastien Masi's restaurant had replaced Conrad Gallagher's egregiously awful establishment, the name of which I cannot remember. This is possibly due to the human survival instinct that blocks out memories of trauma.
The first thing to note was the excellent rustic bread, served with butter and a pesto dip. If they make it themselves, well done. If they don't, they probably do what I would and buy it in from La Maison des Gourmets. It makes no difference to the customer.
A pea and mint soup was smack in season, tasting intensely of summer, and moderately chunky, with some whole petits pois. If you want to make this yourself, unless you grow your own peas and have the time to pod them, I suggest you use the frozen version. This is because peas, once picked, start converting sugar to starch very rapidly.
Prawns wrapped in filo pastry are available, frozen once again, from a number of catering suppliers and they crop up frequently on pub menus. Here at Pearl, they seem to make their own version and it's superior in every way. Deep fried until crisp, these small cylinders were arranged in a stacked lattice above a shallow pool of sharp but sweet mango sauce. They were really very tasty.
Main courses were rather more mixed. The companion, who appeared to have an appetite honed by fasting for at least 24 hours, managed to despatch all of his scallops served with . . . I have to pinch myself here . . . belly pork risotto and a thick brown sauce that looked like Goodalls YR but, in fact, tasted quite pleasant, if rather mysterious. Now scallops need to be bloody brilliant to be worth eating and these were not bad. Scallops that are not bad are a bit of a waste of space in my view. Pairing them with, and indeed, even thinking of making a belly pork risotto is, again in my humble submission, a pretty bizarre thing to do. I think it didn't work, but the companion was less grudging.
My fillet of cod with a Parmesan and breadcrumb crust was brilliant. Now, I've had more Parmesan and breadcrumb crusts than I care to remember, and this was the best in that it was a proper crust and it tasted of Parmesan. And there was enough of it to lift the tender and moist cod, at each mouthful, into something exceptionally pleasant. The accompanying lentils were okay, if a little bland.
Vegetables were large, aggressive heads of sensitively cooked calabrese (the sort of broccoli that George Bush senior is on record as detesting) and rather good, small, buttery new potatoes.
The bill, with a bottle of Muscadet (yes, Muscadet is making a comeback, and this was an exceptionally good one), a bottle of mineral water and a couple of double espressos brought the bill to €75.40.
Pearl Brasserie, 18-20 Upper Merrion Street Dublin 2, 01-6613572
WINE CHOICE
Not a bad list, but there are some cheeky prices, such as Domaine de Bouissiere Gigondas at €51, as against €48 in Dax and, remarkably, the Four Seasons hotel. A glass of wine, ranging from €6 for a French Sauvignon Blanc to €12.50 for the Gigondas, means a quarter bottle here. A Monbazillac sticky and a Pineau des Charentes (unfermented grape juice fortified with Cognac) are €5.50 and €6 respectively. Tempted as I was by Gustave Lorentz's Alsace Riesling at €32, and even more so by Domaine des Baumard Savennières at €39, we went for a Muscadet sur Lie with the relatively new superior grand lieu qualification, in the ripe 2003 vintage. This wine, Domaine du Haut-Bourg, is a sound buy at €26.