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8th March 2018
04:54pm GMT
Malahide is known to have a vibrant collection of restaurants, ranging from cosy French wine bars to more upmarket bistros, but the latest foodie haven on the block blows them all out of the water.
Old Street, a modern neighbourhood spot, has risen from the restoration of two of the oldest houses in the village that have been beautifully transformed into a rustic-but-super-trendy hot house of flavour.
I'd been waiting for ages for this place to open, mainly because one of the houses was in fact the old cottage where my granddad's grandmother lived, and where he grew up as a kid, so as a family we were all fairly eager to bring him back to the scene of many a frantic childhood memory.
"The hen run used to be right over there", he said as soon as we walked in.
In its place is a stunning sleek bar that runs half the width of the restuarant: this place is all exposed brick, bright wood and copper accents, an interior to envy any buzzing establishment in Brooklyn.
The menu aims for elegant dishes without all the pretentious fuss that sometimes comes with such high quality ingredients, and a la carte options include Scallops, Black Garlic Gel, Truffle Mayonaise, Apple and Celery (€15) and Chicken, Mushroom Caramel, Charred Lettuce, Asparagus, Caesar Emulsion (€23).
We went for the lunch/early bird menu, available Wednesday to Saturday 12-3pm / 5-6.30pm at a solid two courses for €24 or three courses for €29.
Fresh sourdough bread with (hurrah - spreadably soft!) farmhouse butter was dropped to the table after ordering to keep our group of savages pacified.
I went with the Chicken Liver Parfait, Pear and Raisin Chutney, Sourdough Toast to start, a gorge whipped, almost mousse-like, plate with just the right amount of chicken livery flavours.
A White Onion Soup with Black Truffle, Chive and Burnt Onion got Grandad O'Meara's vote, creamy and hot.
Mains were Cod with Smoked Potato, Leeks, Mussels, and the Herb Gnocchi, with Mushroom Caramel, Asparagus and Aged Parmesan.
The cod was flakey and as pretty on the plate as a piece of art (can I mention how in love I am with all the plates btw? The nicest earthy pottery I've seen in a long time!), and not one single morsel was left.
Dee-lish.
The gnocchi, which can sometimes be a bit hit-or-miss, were perfect almost otherworldly dumplings that were light as air and heavy in droolworthy taste.
Service was fantastic throughout, with the manager indulging us by asking lots of questions about the original cottage layout, and the waiter keeping my glass of Picpoul nicely topped up - a must on a sunny day ammirite.
We finished off with a Passionfruit Tart for dessert, which came with Marshmallow Fluff, Pistachio Crumb and Basil Sorbet, and while the marshmallow mellowed it out quite a bit it was slightly too 'tart' and not enough passionfruit for me.
Despite only having opened in the past month or two, this place already feels like it's been there forever and has comfortably settled into its own groove.
"It brings me back", G-Dad said, and I had to agree. This place will bring you back to purely amazing food time and time again.
Put this on your to-do list for the summer.
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