Restaurant review: Boqueria, Dublin 7
CIVILISATION came about as a result of the sharing of food around the fire in ancient caves — roasted calf legs and clams baked in the embers led to conversations, that led to storytelling.
Dogs guard their food jealously, but humans often share and it breeds compassion and empathy.
Whole psychological theories have been built on how and why we share food — or so my psychologist dining companion told me anyway and I believe her!
A meal out is always going to be a more intimate experience than going to the movies where you sit in silence, and the psychologist reckoned that tapas was probably the perfect meal out for this — fingers brushing off each other as you fight for the last calamari, both insisting the other takes the last croquette.
My visit to Boqueria was obviously not a date but a work assignment to visit this modern tapas restaurant that opened in Stoneybatter in 2015.
Finding a good city- centre location for a restaurant these days is not easy as chains such as the Mercantile-Gleeson group (Pichet, East Side Tavern etc.) have much more power than an owner operator.
Chef Matt Fuller is behind Boqueria and spent a number of years in Valencia in Spain, as well as running some interesting restaurants in Dublin (Citron in the Fitzwilliam and Conrad Gallagher’s last Dublin venture Saveurs — it should be noted that this last did not fail because of the cooking which was excellent).
The cooking here is Spanish (with the odd outside influence as you would also find in Spain) and Boqueria was a deserved winner of the Best World Cuisine award at the recent Restaurants Association awards — one of the few times a European restaurant has won this award.
Our menu had a choice of 15 tapas dishes but also a set menu which saved us having to choose.
The different courses were medium to large in size and some lent themselves to sharing better than others but as expected this enhanced the enjoyment.
Our dishes arrived as they were cooked but were nicely paced. First to arrive was “Barrel Chips“ which was actually 18 perfect crispy cubes, each with a tiny dollop of roast garlic mayonnaise on top and arranged in neat lines like soldiers, with a spicy tomato sauce separating the ranks.
This was actually a kind of deconstructed patatas bravas — and probably the best I’ve tasted (out of maybe a hundred).
The fried potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy within, the garlicky mayonnaise perfectly pitched and the tomato sauce with a proper kick of chilli and smoky-sweet tomato — we ate them with gusto.
The two large veal tortellini with a truffle cream had fine meaty flavours (but no physical evidence of truffles), plus some lemony fresh gremolato and decent parmesan — the flavours were good but the pastawas a little coarse — I’d have preferred a silkier texture to meld with the other flavours.
Leek and Quail Escabeche Risotto was loaded with creamy sweet leek flavours and some nice citrus contrasts.
Artichoke and Macroom Buffalo Ricotta Salad with Wild Greens worked well and the roast Sea Bream with Apple and Fennel Salad worked even better with the rich fish flavours contrasted with the salad and an extra kick from a mussel vinaigrette plus dollops of spicy oil from cooked chorizo.
For dessert we were given some petit-fours ‘sweeties’ with jelly, chocolate truffles and macaroons and the house special dessert of Burger and Chips — a macaroon to mimic a burger, a coconut and mango filled disc to represent a fried egg — jokey, but with fine flavours.
The wine list is not long but is carefully chosen and includes an excellent selection from regional Spain.
We chose a Mencia for €32 but could also have chosen Monastrell from Valencia a fine Toro or even the list highlight — Flor de Pingus at the barain price of €110 — not cheap exactly but I’ve seen it priced higher in retail.
The chef’s ambition is to have fine but informal dining and thanks to gorgeous friendly staff, fine flavours and a warm setting this is exactly the place you should go to share some food and get some compassion into your system.
The Tab
Dinner for two including two set menus of €35 (eight tapas dishes to share), a bottle of red wine, tea, coffee, and some bottled water and extra olives — €110.50 (excluding tip)
How To
Open every day; 5pm to late
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8/10
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8/10
Creative, focused, and fun Spanish cooking from a talented Irish chef — warmly recommended.
Boqueria, 3 Prussia St, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7,
01 8683575, www.bocqueria.ie
