Restaurants like Roly's in Ballsbridge, Bon Appetite in Malahide, Downstairs and Kinara Kitchen in Clontarf and even The Eastern Seaboard in my hometown of Drogheda have all been attracting city dwellers in their droves. Now there's a new one to add to the list, Bijou Bistro in Rathgar Village.
Bijou has been on my radar for some time, of late I have seen some pictures of beautifully presented and interesting sounding food, so I was delighted to be invited to try chef Ian Usshers cooking. When researching how to get there I was surprised to see that it was relatively easy, despite being in what I have come to consider "The Wilds of the Southside", both the 14 and the 15 buses stop nearby. Unfortunatey the weather had turned sour and what I hoped would be the last day of summer turned into the first day of winter so we hopped in a taxi and for a little over ten euro we were dropped to the door.
The dining room is actually two rooms with the dividing wall partially knocked through, it's a warm comfortable space. Low lighting is provided by one of the most beautiful chandeliers I have ever seen. It softens the room but you can still see what you are eating.
The lovely warm interior of Bijou, check out that chandelier!
We started with a lobster tail which was accompanied by some pigs head beignet and pickled ceps. Recently in another review I stated that I don't eat lobster very often and here I am indulging again! All I can say is if it's always this good I may order it more often! It was luxuriously juicy with lovely flavours of butter, lemon and, I think, dill.
Lobster with pigs head beignet.
The lobster was followed by a seafood melody which included mussels, prawns, salmon, hake and a perfectly cooked scallop. It was all surrounded by a bouillabaisse which, though I'm guessing, may have had a hint of lobster in it. The dish was amazing but if just one of those wonderful scallops had been placed in front of me I would have been just as happy! It was a thing of beauty!
Seafood with bouillabaisse.
The third dish was veal sweetbreads which I had never tasted before. I actually had to Google it to be certain of what exactly it was! They are the thymus of the calf some further research revealed that this is a gland. I have to admit I am a teeny bit squeamish. I ate the first mouthful with slight trepidation. I needn't have worried though, they were delicious, pan fried with a soy glaze they were salty on the outside and earthy on the inside.
Veal sweetbread with mushroom.
The cod dish which came next was so light and airy, it was perfect to follow the sweetbreads. The cod was wonderfully cooked, the skin perfect, it was on a bed of gnocchi and accompanied by some celery puree. I'm really not a fan of gnocchi but these were really good, probably one of the best I've had. If only they could all be like this.
Cod with gnocchi.
The beef with oxtail ravioli was M's favorite. I loved it too but I was getting a bit full at this stage (imagine!) The ravioli was amazing and I loved the little fried shallots sprinkled on top, they added a really lovely texture to the whole dish. The beef was very tender, I literally had to wave my fork at it and it fell apart. It was a perfect dish, wholesome and warm, to combat the cold and rain outside.
Beef with oxtail ravioli.
We finished off with a huge cheese plate full of Irish goodies. One of my favorite parts of it though were the handmade crackers, so much more interesting than generic shop crackers! They were nearly wafer thin but brushed with honey (or something sweet at least) and then sprinkled with seeds and nuts. Such a tasty idea and they looked really cool too. I'm definitely going to try and fancy-up some of my stop bought crackers with this idea!
Cheese plate with handmade crackers.
I'm no wine expert, I know precious little about wine but I do know of a few gems that I like. The wine list in Bijou is well populated and contained two of my favourites which we tried, an Italian Gavi (are all Gavi's Italian?) and a French Pinot Noir.
The service was a charm, it was, to use the cliche, the icing on the top. We left feeling warm and fuzzy and full, a combination of good service, great cooking and lovely wine! We were lucky that a taxi was waiting right outside the door so we dodged some raindrops and clambered in for our short journey back to the city center. I suppose it's better late than never that I discover the world does not revolve around Dublin City Centre!
Bijou Bistro
46/47 Highfield Road
Rathgar
Dublin 6
01 4961518
Website
Note - I was invited to Bijou by fellow blogger Robert Jacob to try Ian Usshers cuisine. I haven't been paid for this review, nor was it requested that I write it. The opinions expressed are my own.