The exterior of Darwin's, there is ample seating outside for smokers all under the watchful eye of Charles Darwin himself.
Darwin's have been around for nearly 10 years now, they have their own butcher who sources their Angus beef, lamb, poultry and game. Surprisingly for a restaurant with such a heavy emphasis on meat they also have a good selection of fish and astonishingly an entirely separate vegetarian menu. The restaurant is a family affair. Our first visit was shortly after they had moved into number 80 and our lovely hostess explained how every bit of the renovation was done by family members right down to distressing the wall panels. It's easy to forget in Dublin city center how wonderful a family run restaurant can be to eat in. Darwin's reminds me every time.
In previous visits we've ordered bread and dips before the starters but we've learned not to fill up, to order light starters and save ourselves for the main event which is, of course, the steak! Our visit on Saturday was no exception, M went for the butternut squash with chickpeas and goats cheese while I opted for the tempura prawns to start.
The butternut squash with chickpeas and goats cheese salad.
The butternut squash was served warm, proportion wise there was a good ratio of squash to chickpea to goats cheese. The dish was dressed with some tasty greens which added a nice crunchy element to the starter. Overall it was a light, almost carefree dish that prepped the taste buds for the main course!
Tempura prawns with sweet chili dipping sauce.
The batter on my tempura prawns was probably a bit heavier than I would have expected but it didn't take away from the dish too much, the prawns were light and juicy and not over cooked in the slightest. It was a perfect light prelude to the main course!
A perfectly cooked rare steak with mushroom sauce and a small quinelle of mashed potato.
And on to the focal point, we both opted for fillet steak! In the past when I first started going to Darwin's I would order the fish of the day, it was always lovely but I'm glad that my eyes have been opened to their steak dishes, they are really top of the range. The steaks came with a choice of sides, we shared chips and onion rings, neither of which disappointed, the accompanying sauces of peppercorn and mushroom were both also very good. The steaks themselves were fantastic, they were so tender that I barely needed to slice into mine to cut it in half, not quite like butter but getting there! They were tender and juicy and full of flavor. The outside of the steak had a glorious charred crust with a wonderful smoky to-die-for flavor. One of the other fantastic things was that I requested it be cooked rare and what arrived was a rare steak (not medium rare or medium as happens in some restaurants where I want to walk into the kitchen and beat the chef with it) It was cooked to absolute perfection.
Our amazingly good platter of desserts!
Dessert was totally unnecessary but we ordered it anyway. We shared a platter for two which included a chocolate brownie, rhubarb crumble, Eton mess, cheesecake, strawberry ice cream and a poached plum. All were very good, the Eton mess was my favorite while M was impressed by the rhubarb crumble. He opted for an espresso while I had a decent tawny port. It really was a sublime ending to a near perfect meal. Including a bottle of Cabernet Savignon our bill came in just over €100 which, considering the quality of the food we had just eaten, was a reasonable price.
Darwin's is full of oddities and curiosities, in every nook and cranny there is something interesting to look at! A friend asked if I found The Beagle, I did not but the lovely interior does give me the feeling that I could be dining at the captains table of the ship!
One of Darwin's greatest assets is it's staff. Even when booking the restaurant I felt welcomed. The hostess greets everyone like personal friends, it's easy to tell that it's a family run business when there's this attention to detail. It is said that management should lead by example and no where is this more evident than in Darwin's, the family behind the business have inspired some wonderful staff. It adds to the joy in going there. We'll be back soon!
Darwin's Restaurant
80 Aungier St
Dublin 2
01 475 7511
http://www.darwins.ie/