When you eat around as much as I do, you start to get to know the really good waiters. There are a few seasoned servers around the city who pop up at all the good spots. Ludo is one of those waiters. He’s a French vegetarian who loves living in Ireland. He’s worked in Ard Bia and The Woollen Mills, and when it’s him who takes my reservation over the phone for my first visit to Söder and Ko, I know I’m going to be well looked after.
Ludo’s not the only seriously skilled staff member of Söder and Ko; behind the helm at the kitchen is Chef Kwanghi Chan, formerly of the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore. They’re part of a team of who renovated The Dragon Bar on South Great George’s Street and reopened it as a restaurant and bar in March of this year. On their website, they describe themselves as being ‘inspired by Scandinavian creativity and chilled out sophistication, matched with Asian purity and passion on a plate.’
We’re seated in a booth the front part of the restaurant, where the light reflects off the beautiful red brick building of George’s Street Arcade and spills back into this high-ceiling space. We’re watered and menued within minutes; I love that. It’s so easy to do but so many places fail to do it. I’m thirsty and hungry – give me water and a menu and I will calm down! Simple.
The Scandinavian connection isn’t immediately apparent to me but I do see the Asian influence on the menu. It’s neatly divided into clear sections; raw, dim sum, hot, sides, special steamed buns, bowls and sharing platters. There are sub-sections of the main ingredients in each dish; salmon, tuna, scallop, beef, pork, bok choi and so on. Maybe this tidy categorisation is the Scandinavian influence?
We go for their three dishes and a side deal for €25, in which you can order three small plates and a side. The scallop ceviche is first to arrive and it turns out to be our favourite. It’s sweet and delicate in flavour and so pretty in appearance, served in a scallop shell, which should look naff but somehow looks gorgeous thanks to Chef Chan’s team and their fervent application of microgreens. The crispy chicken pot sticker dumplings from the dim sum menu are winners too; nice and juicy on the inside, silky and crispy on the outside. We share a platter of chicken wings that are coated with a crunchy batter, delightfully lacking in oil and accompanied by a well-measured spicy sauce.
We’re let down a little by the special steamed buns, which range in price from €4 to €6 and come with fillings that include kimchi, pulled pork and ox cheek. I’m expecting the traditional plump and sticky buns with filling stuffed into their fluffy bellies, similar to what I’ve eaten at Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown in New York City. Instead we get mini burgers with sweet and sticky burger buns. Their fillings are good, especially the kimchi bun, but they’re unremarkable in comparison to what I was expecting.
I get a lovely ginger and basil mocktail (€5) that’s not just a courtesy for non-drinkers; it’s a thoughtful, refreshing drink. There’s a glass of Malbec Dante Robino (€7) that’s so quaffable we soon call for a second glass.
Ludo takes us on a tour through the space; there’s the open kitchen bar that reaches along the right side of the restaurant with more booths and tables to the left. Upstairs there are tables on a balcony overlooking the open kitchen, and a mezzanine area with branded cushions. Out the back of the upstairs is a chic smoking area, fully equipped with cushions, blankets and heaters. It’s an impressive space, and a long enough time has passed since I danced in The Dragon that I don’t feel too weird about eating there.
Desserts are exclusively by Nobó, a brilliant Irish-produced, dairy-free ice cream. It’s €4 a tub and that’s what they come served in – their tubs. This reminds me of some of my other favourite Asian restaurants, in that their starters and main course are full of homespun flavour and then they just call in the desserts (sidenote: why is that Asian restaurants in Dublin don’t really do desserts very well?). Is this a deliberate nod to that by Söder and Ko? If it is, they’ve chosen to call in dessert from one of the most interesting Irish companies so I applaud them for that.
Our bill came to an even €75 for dinner and drinks for two.
Söder + Ko
64 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2
01-4781590
www.soderandko.ie
Words: Aoife McElwain
Photos: Mark Duggan
