Bóbó's

I think it was about 8 years ago that Ireland experienced its first burger revolution. Inspired from afar by crazy mavericks having the wacky idea to put fresh ingredients on top of their ground beef there ensued a boom in high-end burger joints. For a people reared on chip shop burgers made out of floor sweepings this was a like an electric shock. Restaurants sprang up all over the place with alluring names like “Real Gourmet Burger”, “Gourmet Burger Company” and “Real Gourmet Burger Company”.

This meat sandwich fad managed to last quite a few years until like any boom, there was a bust, a burger bust. Dublin’s meat scene had had its Icarus moment and mass closures ensued. The reality was these places were offering was sub-standard food and it was actually the quickly evolving tastes and increasing sophistication of Irish customers that were cottoning on to that fact. What resulted was a kind of ground beef Darwinism where only the very strongest of diners endured and in some cases, multiplied.

So it was that after working at the Dickie Rock show I found myself falling into one of those survivors: Bóbó’s. Beside Whelan’s on Wexford Street Bóbó’s is a veritable institution. Opened during those halcyon days of early noughties burger hegemony it has prospered ever since. They recently opened a new outpost on Dame Street only 400 yards from their original incarnation, there must still be money in hamburgers somewhere.

In the pouring rain and still with the dulcet tones of Dickie in my ears I entered the doors of the new Dame Street branch with excitement, for some strange reason I’d never eaten a Bóbó’s burger before.  I’d always liked their image and branding because it seemed more organic and Irish (or Oirish in some sense) than the other generic gourmet places which, like some processed American cheese, seemed to melt into each other.

Upon entering the first thing I noticed is just how shabby the place is. It’s supposed to be a variation on a beat up dive bar but any sort of design nuance and subtlety has gone out the window. It’s far too subtle. Grubby tiled floors with rickety chairs and tables (and dirty toilets) don’t make for much of an eating experience and unfortunately this proved to be case with the whole meal. The owners obviously think that paying no money on your interior and having it look like your school canteen circa 1993 is what the kids want. No sir, it’s not. They should take note from some of Dublin’s other eateries operating within a similar genre that this look and ambiance is achievable if you know what you’re doing.

So many choices

Presented with the large laminated menu you are offered a choice of about 25 burgers. Why would one need to choose between 25 burgers? Each item on the menu is essentially a variation on the same burger, only differing with for example, the addition of mushrooms. The owners have also taken the time to give each of these original 25 an Irish themed name (“The Cashel” for blue cheese etc).

I decided on “The Cheese Burger” (good name) as I believe this is the only option when it comes to a burger. I hate the idea of loading something with pointless ingredients that detract from what you’re supposed to be tasting: the meat. I ordered it medium rare and waited all of about 3 minutes for it to arrive. Part of me thought that it was impossible for it to be ready so quickly, another part thought brilliant, it’ll have to be medium rare. It came medium well. The meat itself was dry and brittle, listless and sad. Little or no seasoning had been applied and the whole thing seemed depressed. One of the chefs flourishes had been to apply the miserly amount of cheese underneath the meat which I think confuses the texture when you’re taking a bite. That may sound pedantic but try it yourself.

The burger came with a smear of their own house relish under the beef, I don’t think they’ll be selling it in supermarkets anytime soon. It was like an overly acidic tomato jam which did nothing to complement anything. The salad and pickles (charging you €1 for pickles! a jar is 80c) seemed like they’d been sitting out for too long as they had a strange dry texture which only added to the melancholy surrounding this griddled meat patty. The only redeeming quality of this was the outstanding bun. Light and aerated, it easily compressed without losing stability. When I’m banging on about the buns being the best part of the dinner you know you’re in trouble.

You call that medium-rare?!

This came with what they describe as “proper skinny chips”. These were your usual straight out of the freezer bag fries with the addition of dried rosemary, I don’t know what “proper” is supposed to mean. All fine and not exactly objectionable but hardly saving proceedings.

Because of Bóbó’s enduring popularity and expansion I expected much more. Maybe my expectation was too high. If they made a few essential tweaks it could be adequate, this is burgers we’re talking about. While not bad value at €11, I’d consider Eddie Rockets to be superior. They would want to start thinking about upping their game as London has gone burger crazy over the past year and it’s only a matter of time before that hits here (see my MEAT Liquor post to observe one man losing his mind over grilled meat and cheese). All in all a pretty poor offering I’m afraid. The first burger revolution died, I don’t think the second one’s started yet

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*/***** 

Fade Street Social

Let me start by saying I have issues with Dylan McGrath. From the moment I saw him on the RTE special “The Pressure Cooker” about his quest to win a Michelin Star in his now defunct restaurant Mint, I was hooked. I thought this is our champion, the food was miles ahead of anything Ireland had ever seen: intricate, bold and crazy beautiful. His psychotic attention to detail and ability to go through over 200 chefs in under a year announced that this was year zero for Irish cooking, nothing that came before was remotely good enough . The star duly followed and recognised him as THE force in Irish cooking. Then it all fell away. Mint closed due to the ridiculous overheads involved in running a starred restaurant in a suburban neighbourhood away from the city centre. Irish cooking momentarily went back into the dark ages and Dylan disappeared.

After a year or so of lying low he returned with Rustic Stone, a “health-food” gimmick concept restaurant that is in my opinion just a contrived money making operation. Any menu that reads “xxxx is brushed with a superfood” with hokey colloquialisms such as “The oul chicken wing” makes me want to punch myself in the face. Dylan had done a Johnny Rotten and was now doing his version of appearing in butter adverts. This is my issue with him, the greatest chef we’ve ever produced was now just slinging steaks served on  stones (another bullshit concept, read anywhere about how to cook a steak and everything says the same thing: incredible heat followed by resting away from heat, how does that work if its cooked and served on a warm stone?)

Dylan McGrath: hard working genius or absolute psychopath?

So it was that I approached his new operation Fade Street Social with great trepidation. First of all I didn’t like the name, Gordon Ramsey protégée Jason Atherton opened a restaurant in London just over a year ago called “Pollen Street Social” with a similar small plate theme. This may be a coincidence or plagiarism (or even homage to put a better spin on it). Was this venture to be the recapturing of Dylan’s culinary crown or was he to sink further into the vapid swamp of his desire for Yankee dollars?

We arrived 15 minutes early for our booking and were immediately shown to our table, the idea here is to get you in and out as quickly as possible. The Tapas bar consumes most of the downstairs area with a drinks/cocktails bar upstairs (I’m hearing there’ll be a fine dining restaurant in the area downstairs behind the tapas bar). In front of you there is an open kitchen in where you can watch the legion of chefs firing out an array of small plates at lightning speed (with Dylan screaming into their earpieces via his personal microphone – no swearing in front of the customers here). Open kitchens are a cool concept as they immediately impart a sense of buzz and urgency to a restaurant, this obviously doesn’t work in fine dining but fits perfectly in what this place is aiming for. The only thing I wasn’t mad about regarding the interior was the pale perfect wood finish everywhere, seems slightly naff to me.

The menu is divided into different sections such as Snacks, Grilled/Charred, Coated & Fried and Carpaccio. Most are between 6 and 10 euros with some of the main course size portions going upwards of 20. First up was a “Bacon & Cabbage burger”, actually pork belly with crispy cabbage and smoked pudding. It was unbelievably good. The pork belly was beautifully caramelised and melting with a perfectly crisp cabbage ball sitting on top of it. This is exactly the kind of dish I’m into, well executed comfort food with a bit of wit thrown in. Although a touch on the small side for €7.50 I couldn’t fault the cooking. Outstanding.

We followed this with a round of “Mini Lobster Hot Dogs”. This was a miniature version of the now ubiquitous lobster roll. While it was absolutely delicious the amount of Lobster meat inside was on the mean side considering it cost a tenner and was barley longer than your index finger. When the overriding flavour is the brioche bun you know there’s a slight balancing problem (can’t fault the brioche though, anything approaching 50% butter gets my approval). I don’t want to be too hard on this as it’s a great dish, I just felt it could have been really special.

Arriving at the same time as the rolls was our order of “Soft-Shell Crab with Miso Mayonnaise, Crab and Lemongrass dipping sauce”. The crabs themselves were stunning, coated in a delicious slightly spicy seasoning with just the right kick in the background. Perfectly seasoned, I tore them apart in seconds. However the sauce, while nice, lacked the acidity needed to really lift this dish into the stratosphere. Top notch crabs though.

As I had devoured all my food in minutes my friend obliged me by offering some of his order of “Crispy Chicken cooked in Tapioca Flour with Truffle Popcorn”. This was an interesting combination I hadn’t heard of before: Chicken & Popcorn? Sounds disgusting if you ask me. The idea is small, very crispy pieces of chicken contrasting with the softness of the popcorn. The only problem is both can be quite bland so Dylan’s idea is to chuck some truffle mayonnaise on top of it, if all else fails lob the truffle on eh? I really liked this though and was pleasantly surprised as I’m not huge on mayonnaise loaded with pungent truffle oil. Turns out chicken and popcorn is quite a winning combination and continued the consistency of quality cooking on display here.

Our courses were joined by some perfectly passable chunky chips with decent Hollandaise. Grand.

Realising we weren’t full and having only been sitting down for 30 minutes we thought we’d better get some desert. I decided on “Basil Sugar Donuts with Lychee and Mango Dipping Sauce”, this was the only mediocre dish of the evening. When you’re paying €6.50 for 4 tiny donuts you’d at least expect them to be warm. They arrived straight out of the fridge with some of the basil sugar on each end. The sauce itself was a little too sharp and just not very pleasant if I’m being honest. I have to add that some of my friends had an absolutely stunning banoffi so the donuts are probably just an aberration.

The food at Fade Street Social is well thought out and almost perfectly executed. Dylan certainly knows how to create a menu as there wasn’t one thing that didn’t grab my attention and try to seduce me into ordering it. The only problem is the rushed speed of the food service, we had been in the place barely 45 minutes and we’d finished four and a half courses each. This is the issue when it comes to the concept, as a place to enjoy a relaxing meal in time and comfort it fails as you are out the door faster than your jacket can make it to the cloak room. But as a place to drop in and enjoy some small plates after going to a movie or out on the absolute piss it works perfectly and that’s what he’s going for. And of course it just happens to be an unintended benefit that this concept turns the tables over quickly, especially when you’re paying €45 for not a lot of food.  I suppose Dylan’s entitled to make some money. He’s still our hero, albeit a flawed one.        

 ****/*****