Corinna Dunne

My rule of thumb is to use a whole egg with a blender, and egg yolks when using a hand held whisk. In both cases the oil needs to be added gradually, but there is more room for error with the blender approach. And yes, mustard is great for adding to the stability of the emulsion. The yolk only mayonnaise is more traditional and gives a richer, thicker result, lovely and wobbly! Although I love EVOO, I find it too overpowering for a mayonnaise. If you add garlic at the beginning, you will have aioli (the French name for garlic mayonnaise), which is great for crutidees/dipping sticks of raw vegetables. Let us know how you get on!

I've never made Simnel cake, but I absolutely adore it. The marzipan (we call it almond paste) in the middle is really wonderful. Please let us know how you get on if you give it a try. And I agree with lapin d'or's advice. Darina Allen is very good on traditional cakes etc.

Yes, congratulations! Reviews don’t get much better that this: And emphatic endorsement! Looks like you made his day. I hope you’re geared up for the stampede that is sure to follow!

This is very interesting. The video gives quite a lot of detail on how to make the dish: langoustine with a langoustine gellee and a garlic foam... for anyone who has a siphon! The Bacchus thread is in the UK and Ireland Forum, click here.

It sounds like the Japanese are ahead of all of us on this one. I thought “miracle fruit” was a wishy-washy name until I read the article… this berry sounds like it could be the answer to a heck of a lot of dreams. There’s no mention of calories, so I’m presuming that this is the true miracle bit!

There's quite a bit on this recent thread. If you are up for a short trip out of town, Can Roca is well worth a visit, click here.

I love the video idea Phil. Looking forward to more.

Thanks for the update Caitriona. That's a shame, I loved it so much too. Good to have a Connemara correspondent!

Hi eje, A few ideas for Saturday in Dublin: - Get an early booking at The Winding Stair restaurant, near the Ha'penny Bridge. You’ll need to book and it can be very difficult to get through. Don’t phone during lunch or dinner service. I really rate this place. The room is informal, but has a nice feel to it. The food is as Irish as you’ll get, very confident using well sourced produce. Well priced too and an interesting wine list - 101 Talbot, this is very near the Peacock Theatre and there should be no trouble getting a booking. Unfussy, international food in an informal room. A very popular spot, although for some reason, I can’t take to it - There is a little Lebanese kebab place called Fayruz on the other side of Abbey St which serves great lamb shawarma plates - If you head back down O’Connell Street and turn right onto Parnell Street, you’ll find our mini-me Chinatown. Jack’s, a family run spot on the rhs is reliable. For the main part they use locally sourced meat and chicken. The menu is broad and ranges from accessible to more challenging. Beer isn’t listed, but if you ask for it, there’s no problem. Great value - You might find some of the places on the Four days in Dublin thread interesting, click here - Also the Dublin’s best restaurants thread click here Easter Sunday dinner in Dublin: - There are a few “top end” places open on Sunday: Shannahan’s steak house (very expensive NY style steakhouse), The Tea Room at the Clarence Hotel (classic cooking with Irish emphasis), still restaurant at dylan hotel (expensive, trendy and foamy), I’m not sure if they are all open on Easter Sunday. The Tea Room definitely is with a dinner menu for €75 - Roly’s Bistro in Ballsbridge is also open, a less expensive option at €42 - Balzac, a newly opened brasserie where La Stampa restaurant used to be is also an option. The room feels very French, there are plenty of brasserie staples on the menu, but an Irish angle is worked in quite nicely - You may be able to get a booking at the Saddle Room, the new restaurant at the Shelbourne, but make sure you get through to the restaurant and not the front desk who will tell you that they are solidly booked until May! I haven't been yet, but there's an oyster bar and from what I understand, bistro-style food - And if you want to keep it casual, the Chinese places on Parnell Street and Lebanese place on Middle Abbey Street will be open Galway: - Ard Bia has been suggested, above. It can be inconsistent, depending on whether the owner is around, but it’s got a very Galway feel to it and its heart is in the right place with mostly locally sourced produce. I think the food in The Winding Stair in Dublin is much better. The pub below Ard Bia is great craic with music sessions etc - Oscars is a more eclectic choice, although not a quiet spot - The Italian restaurant in the g hotel (designed by Philip Treacey, the hat designer) is another option, but not a very “Galway” experience - Be sure to visit Sheridan’s cheesemongers. There’s a wine bar upstairs and you can have a limited selection of plates eg cheese and charcuterie. They also do a stew on Saturdays. Their new spot, Sheridan’s on the Docks, was only really getting off its feet when I was there a few months ago, but it does similar food. Some interesting beers and a good wine list, so a bit different from the other pubs around - Moran's on the Weir, a bit outside Galway, is well worth a visit for native oysters. April is the last month with an "r" for a while, so you'll get there just before they're put to bed The pub experience: Click here for a thread on Dublin pubs, and click here for a thread on Irish beers. Have fun and be sure to let us know how you get on!

Bryan, thanks so much for the energetic report and heroic level of eating! It was great to get an update and pictures of what is being served in Can Roca, as well as all of the other places. Any chance that you will post the recipe for your variation on the Cinc Sentits maple syrup shot?

Maybe it's my photographic technique ;-) Well, this is pub food and at the end of the day the taste was good and I guess that's what counts - if you saw the TV series I'm sure you're aware that the guy is not that experienced and I just have some respect for someone being thrown in at the deep end like that and making a go of it. The food was certainly not expensive - about £10 for mains and £5 for desserts and considering what crap you can get served up for that sort of money these days then I certainly will be going back regardless of presentation... ← Thanks for taking the pics Gavin, there's no problem with your technique, and it adds to the post. Bails, I'm looking forward to your technique. This looks like decent food for the price. I wish some more pubs would take note.

What was the most difficult part of the process? Opening the restaurant, that is?

Hi Patrick - You're the co-owner, right? Congratulations on putting your money where your mouth is and welcome to eG Forums.

Thanks for the review Simon. It certainly deserves its own thread. Anyone who sets out to serve good food at the right price deserves support. I just wish it was in my neck of the woods. I've intended getting there with the kids for quite some time now. Big congratulations to you and Hazel ... and enjoy your engagement dinner with the rellies. I can't wait! Sharpen that pen.

No Simon... I didn't think you were harsh. You should mediate between TD and McGrath and Thornton! Truffle oil! Yes... I'm on a mission to rid the country of the outrageous stuff. It should be sued for bringing the good name of a truffle (which it has no relation to at all) into disrepute. Hope you'll join me in my cause. Don't mind being laughed at! Outing truffle oil users.... now that would be an interesting list, it's getting a bit long these days. I see Alexis Bar and Grill dip in, and I haven't tried the truffle rissotto at Balzac yet (was quite impressed with my visit... before the TD piece), so I'm hoping that it's black truffle and not the petrochemical oil offender that they're using.

But isn’t that the point? “Snide” is good when you agree with it! As you say, these lists are useful for readers of the newspaper, because not everyone eats out regularly. The fact that it is predictable… is predictable IMO. I think most restaurant critics would come up with a similar list for a similar audience, but the order would vary. And every one of them would show their personal bias. I mean, if you just don’t like avant garde food, and you’ve made it quite clear in your reviews in the past, how can you step back and be objective about it when it comes to doing a list? I’m not saying this because I think that his assessment is right, it’s just because it’s exactly what I’d expect, and every food critic brings their own personal stamp to their reviews. Getting a reaction, either positive or negative is good for a food critic. At least Tom Doorley has a very good idea of what food should taste like and he’s been at this game for quite a long time, so I think his benchmarks are dependable, even if his taste in food is quite specific. However… I think the format could have been better. Three categories based on price point (which is of most interest to the punter) would provide a better structure for assessment: top end top five, mid price top ten, cheap eats top ten. That would also allow for the inclusion of the ethnic places, although I would have expected to see Jaipur there anyway. What jars with me… I agree with the earlier point upthread. Mint and Mermaid in the same category? Only under the letter “m” in my book. They’re poles apart and Mermaid is in there principally because of its good value lunch… ehem, screaming, glaring comparison with Mint which is by far the best value lunch in town! Caviston’s and L’Gueuleton are easily on a par with Town Bar. And I have yet to be converted to Ely. The fact that most critics seem to love it makes me think that it’s a two-tier service place. Punters have a very different experience. His reason for inclusion is weak as he cites the wine as being the main draw, which would be fine if it was set up like a wine bar and it was easy to try different wines by the glass. But the bar area is tiny. And the restaurant area is always very busy, more focused on ordering your food and wine in one go (with very little advice), so misses out on what could be unique about the place. Even though the food is mostly organic and well sourced, it is just plain boring and under-seasoned. That said, I have yet to visit their CHQ outpost. Did you have much difficulty getting the pre-theatre dinner booking? I agree, it's amazing value. On the croquette potatoes, interesting to see that you had them too. They were beautifully made (delicate and fluffy, not gluey), but certainly not the most suitable for my dish (sea bream). Did you notice a heavy hand with the salt? I did on two occasions, and I generally find dishes underseasoned. There was also an unexpected truffle oil attack... and I thought I had dodged it by avoiding the tasting menu which had two truffle mentions which I'm sure were delivered with the gastro poisoned arrow! It looked good value at €85.

So what would you put on your list? BTW, going back to my earlier "getting it all on the one plate" point, I was in Chapter One at the weekend and the potatoes (croquette) were served separately. Somehow it's OK with their style of dining, although I don't think that one type of potato should be expected to go with each dish, be it croquette or baby potatoes. I can't remember if this was always the case (I know there was always optional extra vegetable).

Sorry, I don’t get Mark Palmer… and does anyone know where Jan Moir has gone or why she left the Telegraph? Palmer barely talked about the food he had in today’s review… OK, he said what he had with a tiny bit of detail. And not even one decent bit of prose to make up for the lack of substance.

I didn't see her review of Thornton's. Was it recent? What did she say?

He doesn’t go into too much detail. He makes the point that the Michelin system is “a bit too exacting and excludes so many places that do great food, presumably because they demand that everything is simply spot-on,” and says that he’s covering “a range of styles and experiences, not just the top end.” So there are mentions of great service in places like Guilbaud’s, Chapter One, L’Ecrivain and Thornton’s (the starred places), as well as the food. “One of the best meals of my life was the tasting menu at L’Ecrivain,” he says and goes on to say that Michelin is “rather mingy” not to award it a second star. He suggests that perhaps if they got rid of the piano, their chance of promotion might improve. Hmmm…. with the tiny bathroom facilities and the dependence on bistro desserts like crème brûlée and chocolate fondant (they were on last November, and November of the previous year, I don’t know about now), I’d be more worried about him losing the only star he has. Derry Clarke is a talented chef, and by all accounts, an incredibly nice guy, but I think it’s time that he started thinking about getting a full meal on the plate. Yes, most Irish people want spuds with their meal, and I accept that he would lose a lot of custom if he took away the feeds of potatoes and vegetables (the Irish palate is discussed quite a bit on the Thornton’s thread, click here)…. but surely he can work the protein, veg and carb components into one graphically plated dish, square or otherwise. I just think it’s a bit of a cop out serving them separately. And not very Michelin either. The L’Ecrivain thread is here. He says that Dylan McGrath (of Mint, thread here) is “a very talented chef with a lot of ambition and an exuberant, almost over-the-top style which he seems to have picked up from Tom Aikens in London,” which is fair comment except McGrath is so determined to be his own man that comparisons with Aikens wreck his head. Of course McGrath has learnt a lot from Aikens (the whole point of sticking it out for 3 years, longer than most), but his dishes do evolve, and I know that one dish I had there when it just went on the menu had been tweaked and improved substantially when I had it again on the tasting menu 2 or 3 weeks later. He mentions that the dining room may be a bit too small but says that “his food is definitely worth eating.” I think you’re right… but for the sake of debate, hopefully someone will disagree!

I absolutely agree. Interesting point, but I think the half star is a good idea. The only logical alternative would be to list the restaurants in order of merit (as opposed to alphabetically), otherwise the list would be potentially very short... and a bit like Michelin! I think it's hard not to be predictable on these lists and you're always going to get a sense of the critic's personal preferences (this is the sort of thing that sells newspapers). Doorley is not into "new cookery", so I think Mint actually did well to be rated so high from his perspective (I bet the Tom Aikens comment is doing Dylan McGrath's head in!). And he included Thornton's this time, which he left off the Eating in Ireland list about 2 years ago. Welcome to eG Forums btw.

Irish Times restaurant critic Tom Doorley awarded stars to his top restaurants in an Irish Times supplement yesterday. Five stars Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud click here for eG Forums thread Four stars Chapter One click here for eG Forums thread L’Ecrivain click here for eG Forums thread Three and a half stars Thornton’s click here for eG Forums thread Three stars The Mermaid Café Mint click here for eG Forums thread Town Bar and Grill The Winding Stair Two and a half stars Caviston’s L’Gueuleton Mackerel Poulot’s Two stars Eden Harvey Nichols First Floor Peploe’s One star Brasserie 66 Frank’s The Port House Ely Wine Bar and Café Shanahan’s What do you think?

It sounds really interesting, and will have a completely different tone with Raymond Blanc at the helm. Here's the link, I couldn't get the one above to work.

And I was so sure that Thornton ws going to give it a shot this time!

It would be well worth sending an email to elBulli to see if they have any cancellations around that time. The standard reply usually suggests that you get in touch closer to the time that they are open. Send back a reply, and you could get lucky.