Zhicao F.
Yelp
A modern restaurant and wine bar located in the restaurant district near the Saint Stephen's Greens. They do take walk-ins but I reserved a table. Walked into the restaurant at around 17:30 and found the waitress chatting with kitchen staff. All tables were available and I was quickly seated.
Environment: Wall and ceiling decor as well as table set-up were more classic/Georgian, but seats and cushions had modern vibe. Ample lighting. Music is a bit too loud for me.
Service: generally friendly and attentive. Both my waitress and the bar man (?) came to ask about my feelings of the restaurant and the dishes.
Drink: Old-Fashioned with Teeling single malt. Standard. A bit on the bitter side.
Starter: grilled quail, quail egg, mushroom, and sauces. I was going for the scallop when I browsed the online menu, but apparently they added this dish so I tried it. Three pieces of quail meat (two breast, one tiny leg) was cooked to perfection, tender and juicy with a vibrant and nutty flavor. Mushroom and two types of sauces (sweet & savory) lifted the dish by adding that wild, outdoor vibe, bringing that forestry feeling to the mouth
Entree: venison loin, venison croquette, mushroom, samphire, celery, and black pudding. Another surprising dish as it replaced the pork belly on the online menu, but a pleasant surprise again. Venison grilled to pink (medium rare), slightly charred on the outside, buttery, tender, with that beefy but less fatty bite. Mushrooms, puree, and sauces again did their job well. Another higlight of the dish is the samphire, adding a refreshing, crunchy, and briney seaside taste, adding more complexity to the dish. Croquette tasted good as well. The black pudding is a bit redundant; I am not sure if it is also made of venison ingredients. But overall, a well-thought-out dish.
Dessert: Hazelnut and fig parfait, yogurt ice cream, chocolate mousse. Consistent, not too sweet, contrasting and interesting tastes from all ingredients.
Overall: 4-4.5 stars. When it comes to the food alone, the place was perfect for me tonight. A meticulously designed menu,creative dishes, not-so-common ingredients, all the garnishes doing their job right, consistent in quality. However, given this is a fine dining restaurant, I would like to lift the threshold and address a few service issues. First, the online menu could be updated more frequently to reflect latest changes. Second, I hope there is a dedicated receptionist at the front so that the waitress need not worry about greeting and leading customers and sending dishes at the same time (I've seen her busy pacing around all night). Third, the music could be toned down, and new selections of music should be considered; given the overall decor, I'd rather have more classical background music than pop and electronic music.