The Pig’s Ear is the type of name that must make vegetarians feel ill. For meat-lovers like myself, it’s basically a siren’s call to a restaurant.
The Pig’s Ear has been snuggled above The Runner Bean vegetable shop on Nassau Street since 2008. The only evidence of it at street-level is a black door with a little pink awning over it and an inviting board stating the day’s deals.
You walk up a flight of stairs and find yourself, rather suddenly, at double doors that open into a large and bright room, overlooking The Pav at Trinity College. My boyfriend Niall and I were seated close to the window. Perfectly situated to gaze out upon the revellers partaking in a bit of Dutch Gold action on that sunny Friday evening. My, what a long way we had come, we congratulated ourselves.
But not too far. The Pig’s Ear is a smart place, but not too smart. Not uncomfortable smart. Not pretentious smart. It has a relaxed atmosphere where jeans are welcome and the food is served with care, but not fuss. We were well looked after by our servers throughout the evening, but not overbearingly so, with our main waitress getting more politely familiar with us our meal went on.
My starter was a delicate Castletownbere Crab Mayonnaise with Celeriac, Orange & Fennel Salad (€10.95), exquisitely light and summery. Niall went for the more robust Burren Smokery Wild Mackerel with Potato Salad, Beetroot and an outrageously creamy Horseradish & Walnut Dressing (€10.95). Our waitress recommended two glasses of the French Picpoul de Pinet (€6.95) to compliment our fish. And compliment it did.
It’s a long yet entertaining trek where you pass the restaurant’s second room on the second floor, which was buzzing at 8pm on a Friday night. When I asked our waitress about it, she explained they divided the rooms to couples on the first floor with bigger groups and families on the second floor. How considerate is that?
For my main, I was drawn to Maurice Kettyle’s Dry Aged Rib-Eye Beef served with Truffle Mash, Stuffed Bone Marrow and Mushroom Ketchup (€26.95). It was thoughtfully served on a chopping board, with the steak taking centre stage with each side surrounding the meat. The Truffle Mash was served in a baby-sized copper saucepan, and although it got a little too oily towards the end thanks to the truffle oil, it was a wondrously creamy mash. The Stuffed Bone Marrow was filled with a rough mushroom pate and the Mushroom Ketchup was like a posh Chef’s Sauce. The star of show, however, was the meat, cooked stunningly rare as I had ordered. Really good stuff.
Niall went for The Pig’s Ear Lough Erne Milk Fed Lamb Shepherd’s Pie. He could have opted for a choice of sides such as Duck Fat Roast Potatoes or a Pea and Mint Bacon Salad (€3.95 each) but this Shepherd’s Pie needed no accompaniments. It drew a very profound statement from Niall: “If all shepherd’s pies tasted like this shepherd’s pie would have a shit hot reputation.” Quite.
Our waitress chose two glasses of the Tinto de Toro Semi-Crianza (€8.95 per glass) to wash down our mains, keeping us in high spirits until dessert time.
I was tempted to get the The Bag of Sweets of Chocolate Mice, Cola Bottle and Flying Sauces for my dessert. And at €4.95 a pop, in hindsight I wish I had to ensure those chocolate mice were made in-house. Instead I opted for the Gold River Farm’s Organic Strawberries with Whipped Mascarpone served in a large glass of Rosewater Jelly and Mini Meringue (€7.95). It was like tasting a romantic summer’s day at Wimbledon in a by-gone era.
Niall went for the more hurling-style dessert of Brown Bread Ice-Cream with Crushed Yellow Man and Garibaldi Biscuit (€7.95). I don’t know who the Yellow Man was or what a Garibaldi is, but there was definitely honeycomb sprinkled within the brown bread ice-cream, adding some childish crunch to the old staple.
With three courses each, four glasses of wine, one bottle of sparkling water and one macchiato, our bill came to the rather hefty amount of €121.40. I mean, you could buy, like, 100 cans of Dutch Gold for that. What I would recommend is going for their Lunch deal (2 Courses €15.95 / 3 Courses €19.95 served from 12pm to 2.45pm) or perhaps the Early Evening deal (2 Courses €19.95 / 3 Courses €24.95 served from 5.30 to 6.30pm). If the food is even close to what we enjoyed on our visit, that’s very good value indeed.
The Pig’s Ear
4 Nassau Street
Dublin 2
01-6703865
info@thepigsear.ie
http://www.thepigsear.ie/
