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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
We don't need to tell you that Dillingers is amazing.
We don't need to tell you it does probably the best brunch in Ranelagh; that the atmosphere is tight, buzzing and constantly brilliant; that the staff have got personality; or about the famous nachos.
We do, however, need to tell you about the new additions to the brunch menu there. And, in particular, the absolutely awesome shakshuka – a dish I absolutely adore, but find in painfully scarce supply in this city.
Or shakshouka, if you fancy. A Tunisian dish containing eggs poached in a tomato sauce, with chilli peppers and onions and whatever you're having yourself – in this case, Merguez sausage, feta, swiss chard and chopped spinach.
Indeed.
In a pot. A pot that you're not allowed touch, because it's absolutely ROASTING. Which is basically the one exception to the rule that food should just be served on a fucking plate.
Oh it is. It really is. And it tastes absolutely, insanely, unbelievably, epically delicious. The sort of dish you want to order again after you've finished it; the sort of dish that could be used as the basis for deciding where to get brunch.
Well, you start off tucking into the eggs, which sit on top of the dish and have been poached to that sweet little spot where the yolks are neither gloopy messes nor rock- solid lumps of yellow powder. But it's after you pull them back that you get into the real magic.
The Merguez sausage is submerged down the bottom, a hidden gem surrounded by feta and the swiss chard – and what a hidden gem it is. And its flavour isn't confined either; its oils mix with the melted feta and the tomato sauce to provide a rich, flavour-intense blend that's perfect for dipping your sourdough bread into once you've plucked out all the good bits.
Oh man, take me back.
Let's put it this way. My pal Aoife got the huevos rancheros – a dish done so damn well in this place that I sometimes attempt to order it in my sleep. And did I have food envy?
Did I what.
There's no topping this; not in this part of town anyhow. I'll be there this weekend for more, and if you want to add a new dish to your Death Row Dinners shortlist, you should be too.
