The Port House, Dublin 2

[Stephen_K]

Hello all, I’ve been lurking here for a while now and have been berated by my good friend (and “Irelands leading gastronome” LOL), Simon to contribute, so as my first post I thought I’d start easy with a quick review of The Port House, South William St., Dublin 2.

This is an excellent little tapas bar hidden away behind Grafton Street and both times I’ve ventured in I’ve been able to get a table without booking. As both times

I’ve been there have been for lunch, I have not sampled their wine list, however it did look quite reasonable to me. I did however sample a bottle of Spanish Red Ale (sorry I don’t remember the name) that was superb, very robust and worked beautifully with the food on offer.

The menu is quite concise and offers a selection of Pinchos, Frio and Caliente. On both occasions I shunned the Pinchos and Frio and stuck to the selection of hot tapas. The Patatas Bravas, I thought were tasty but maybe the bravas sauce was not quite as intense of flavour as I was expecting. The Croquetas con Jambon were delicious, lovely flavors of ham and cheese and just the right consistency. The Chanqettes or deep fried whitebait was as real success, I just loved their crisp texture and saltiness. The Gambas al Pil Pil was very good however it consisted of two very large prawns in the shell, not what I was expecting, but very good indeed. The Tortilla Espanola, was a lovely dish, something that can easily be a disaster, but the flavor and texture of the potato in the omelette was spot on. Probably my favorite dish was the Calamares Rabas, delicious strips of squid, light as a feather batter and cooked to tender perfection. How often in Ireland do you get chewy, shoe leather squid? Not here!

All told the bill for seven tapas, two bottles of mineral water and two excellent espresso’s came to around 40 euro. Excellent value in my opinion and I highly recommend it.

I have reservations for Mint of Ranelagh on Saturday 10th of March, after hearing about Simon and Hazel’s experience with Corinna, I’m really looking forward to it and will report all.

[Simon_S]

Welcome to the forum Mr. K. Having read your report, I almost feel like I was there...

Si

[HannaBanana]

Welcome to the forum Mr. K. Having read your report, I almost feel like I was there...

Si

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...and I certainly WISH I was......

[Corinna Dunne]

Yes, welcome to the Forum Stephen_K, nice first post. So it looks like we've yet another Gastronome in our midst... which is just as well since Hazel has indicated that it's moratorium time for her on food talk.... mind you, I'd say it was all rugby talk and very little food talk for everyone last weekend!

[HannaBanana]

Yes, welcome to the Forum Stephen_K, nice first post.  So it looks like we've yet another Gastronome in our midst... which is just as well since Hazel has indicated that it's moratorium time for her on food talk....  mind you, I'd say it was all rugby talk and very little food talk for everyone last weekend!

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Ah, let's not go nuts now....My point simply was that a dinner without an exhaustive breakdown of the entire experience might be nice once in a while!

[Corinna Dunne]

Couldn't agree more

[Bails]

I've been to the Porthouse a few times and have found it largely good..if a little inconsistent. It has definately improved since my first visit where the Calamares Rabes was battered like a chicken ball from a Chinese takeaway Their pinxtos are tasty and would recommend the Pepito Solomillo (little slices of sirloin steak with muchos muchos garlic) and the Foie Gras with Pedro Ximenez reduction.

I'd love to see more of the tapas style being available in Dublin...a la Thorntons new canape joint. Nothing beats a restaurant crawl!!

[HannaBanana]

I'd love to see more of the tapas style being available in Dublin...a la Thorntons new canape joint.  Nothing beats a restaurant crawl!!

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Well, I'll let you know how I get on there tonight! Canapés, here I come!

[minichef]

I think comments about the Porthouse's inconsistency are spot on; when we were there we had the squid which was more like hot squid jerky,

also the olives (with a glass of fino for me); the whitebait-mmmmm; croquetas; the cheese platter (which we didn't need with everything else); the bravas- I wish they would ask what sauce we wanted as it comes with a couple; a couple of things more i cant remember; and two bottles of the Protos Reserva. We rolled out of there.