Coppinger Row

Myself and Niall enjoyed a slightly squiffy Saturday lunch at Coppinger Row in Dublin earlier today.

Coppinger Row is a newly opened restaurant on a little lane in my favourite part of Dublin. It’s housed in the lane that runs between South William Street and Clarendon Street. For more Dublin style directions, it’s the lane between Magill’s Meat and Grogan’s Pub (toasted special and pint of Guinness, beautiful).

The vibe in Coppinger Row is somewhere between chilled out and super chic. The interior of the place is done out in old-school utility type chairs and bits and bobs of antique pieces, lending itself to the cosy feel of the space.

We sat outside and pretended we lived in Europe for the afternoon. It was sunny and we had the best seats in the house for watching the folk walk by in their summer gear.

As you can see in the pics above, we started with some beautiful fluffy home-made bread and shared a bowl of Fried Whitebait and Lemon (€4.50). The wee fishies were delightful; they were very lightly fried with a subtle batter that was so tasty, it distracted us from the fact that our little fishies had eyes. Staring at us. Sorry, fishies, you were too delicious to take pity on you. Had to eat ya. Get in me belly.

Niall had the Goat’s Cheese, Fennel, Radish and Pear Salad (€10.50). I was kind of surprised that he ordered it because, let’s face it, Goat’s Cheese salads are boring. They’re pretty standard fare in cafes/restaurants and most of the time they’re nothing special and rather dull.

You know you’re in a good establishment when they get basic, good old fashioned dishes right. Niall’s salad was proper gorgeous. I would love to know where the restaurant source their Goat’s Cheese, as it was creamy and crumbly and beautiful. Paired with the pears (*ahem*) it went down very well indeed.

I’m a savoury eater, which explains my love of liver, as well as my appetite for Guinness and fondness of crisp sandwiches. Being savoury, I went for the Grilled Lamb’s Liver, Borlotti Bean, Bacon and Sage Salad (€13) for my lunch. I realise most people think liver is gross, and I can see their side of things but….it’s really tasty. It’s salty and sturdy and hearty and sooooo full of flavour. You’d love it if you tried it. If you’re a savoury eater, that is.

This dish was really flavoursome and homey and rustic. Totally my kind of grub. The beans were just the right side of crunchy, the bacon wasn’t overpowering, and the sage set off the liver fantastically.

It was interesting that, initially, we were both disappointed with our mains. When they were placed in front of us, they looked on the stingy (small portion) side and mine was dark and murky, not beautifully presented. One forkful in and we shut the hell up. It was gooooood.

The dessert of Tea Poached Pears with Creme Fraiche (€6) wasn’t the best. You can see from the pic that it was kind of a sloppy soup of a dessert. It did taste like tea as well. Not in a good way. It tasted like the bad part of tea, the tannin. Perhaps because of the muesli floating around in the tea/pear soup, it felt like a fancy breakfast rather than a lunch time dessert. Bit of a fail.

We washed it all down with a bottle of Pinot Grigio (€22) and the bill came to €58, with €2.00 going to the Movember Charity.

I may have found a new favourite place. Indeed, my favourite part of Dublin runs between George’s Street and Grafton Street and so I’m delighted to have another place I can go to for a fancy lunch on a splurgy Saturday.

The lunch menu offers around 15 dishes and their Sunday Service brunch menu looked great. Will have to pop down of a Sunday to sample it asap. I didn’t see a dinner menu but perhaps the lunch menu runs through til the evening? Again, I’ll just have to go back to find out. Ahhh, the trials of a food blogger…

Although our very sweet waitress was a little slow and forgot to bring a few things to our table (like our bottle of sparkling water, which we had to ask for twice), it kind of added to the friendly and informal atmosphere. The place was relaxed enough to allow us to sit under their awning for around three hours. No pressure to move on. Perfect.

We headed to The Secret Bar after lunch and had a sneaky cocktail each before rolling home, happy and content. Ahhhh Saturday….