Review: 4 casual Dublin spots
Featuring Caribou, Kaldero, Madame Pho and Southern Spices
I toyed with compiling a round up of my best meals in 2024 for this year’s final edition of Ocras, but to be honest, I’d only be repeating an idea already executed by others, including Corinna Hardgrave of the Irish Times and Katy McGuinness of the Irish Independent (both subscriber only).
Instead, here are four different casual Dublin spots in which I’ve eaten over the past few weeks, and where my thoughts have ranged from ‘I’ll definitely go back there’ to ‘I’ll pass next time’. Can you guess which was which?
Caribou, Dublin 2
Let’s kick off with the clear winner. Caribou, formerly P.Mac’s, on Stephen Street Lower has been spruced up with Scandi-style tables and chairs bringing a low-key sleekness to the interior. I’m here for the weekday lunch menu, which got added to my mental to-do list after seeing random posts here and there on social media.
First of all, it’s so refreshing to see such a well-priced menu. I’m tempted by the chicken schnitzel (lemon butter sauce, hell yes!), but it’s the steak frites for €15 which has caught my interest. How good can it be at that price?
The answer is very good, even going so far to as to make me forget my usual dislike of having the sauce on the fries. A decently punchy pepper sauce, with extra spikiness from pink peppercorns, a very nicely seasoned and seared 6oz Irish rump steak (albeit more medium than the medium rare I’d requested) and chimichurri.
Superb value and 100% recommended.
Kaldero, Dublin 2
Disclaimer: I dined at Kaldero, as a guest of the restaurant and Kennedy PR + Brand. As usual, I accepted this invitation without accepting any obligation and, as always, all opinions remain my own. Prior to writing this review, I had shared my feedback with the PR company.
There is no doubt that the Press Up Group has had a huge impact on hospitality in Dublin and throughout Ireland. On one hand, they bought a new stylish and high quality standard in interior design and ambition, while on the other hand, they outbid many other businesses for premises, and despite all the investment, didn’t really produce any memorable restaurants.
Kaldero is the first new venture from the group since the recent restructuring, which has seen UK finance company Cheyne Capital taking over. Would anything be different this time out or would it be more ‘grand’ food?
The immediate attraction was the involvement of our own Richie Castillo (of Filipino Bahay) along with Daren Lieu and Alfred Prasad (India's youngest chef to be awarded a Michelin star and also involved in the menu creation at Doolally, possibly the best spot in the group’s portfolio). A lot of people in the Irish food world would love to see Richie and partner Alex get a permanent home for Bahay, so having him on board seemed like a slam-dunk smart move.
Let’s start with the positives. Press Up have always done cocktails well thanks to the involvement of Gareth Lambe, and the masala mango sour (€14) was truly delicious. The room is also much improved, including some gorgeous wall pieces from Irish artist Domino Whisker.
The menu is about two thirds small plates and one third larger plates. Of the five small plates we tried, one was decent (the crispy chicken with jack fruit €13) and three were grand (sticky pork €13, prawn balchao €15 and dynamite lumpia €11). Scallops served in the shell with fermented black bean chili butter (€15) proved a real challenge to swallow, with the flabby and fatty scallop refusing to go down. I think this was the first time since I’d eaten pig nipple in Dos Pebrots, Barcelona that I had to close my nose and make myself swallow.
In my mind, Kaldero was being pitched as a contender in the genre of tasty Asian places such as Big Fan and Sister7, but it just didn’t live up to the potential. There’s a big difference between having top chefs design a menu, and what actually gets delivered on the plate. It’s probably best suited for group meals, where everyone knows they will have to compromise for the greater good of the group.
Madame Pho, Dublin 8
Recent months have seen two Dublin openings from Belfast-based, Vietnamese chain Madame Pho. They've quickly moved into the spaces recently vacated by Ukiyo on Exchequer Street and Boojum on Thomas Street, showing they must have decent ambition for the city.
The menu has all the typical Vietnamese staples - banh mi, pho, rice plates and others, so there’s plenty from which to choose. I start with the caramelised crispy chicken wings (€8) which arrive to the table hotter than the surface of the sun. Anyone who has ever melted sugar will know that it’s the most lethal substance in the universe, so I decide to wait for the heat to subside.
Thankfully, or maybe not, my beef brisket pho (€17) had arrived at the table before the chicken wings, so I get to work preparing the pho. A first taste without any seasoning reveals a rather anaemic broth but once I’ve added copious amounts of hoisin sauce, chili oil, fresh chili and herbs, the end result is perfectly decent, and I slurp away happily. There’s a decent amount of beef and it’s a filling, just not exciting, pho.
Eventually the chicken wings approach a temperature amenable to human touch, and I really enjoy the fact that they are properly crispy, with plenty of fish sauce (and possibly dried shrimp) in the tangy caramel coating.
In short, the real pho aficionados know that there’s better pho to be found (nice consonance if I do say so myself) in town, but Madame Pho is fast and pleasant enough.
Southern Spices, Dublin 18
South Indian food has well and truly gone mainstream in Dublin, with multiple casual restaurants opening in the past year. Sandyford is an area packed with businesses, hospital workers and apartments, offering a good catchment area for Southern Spices, which is located on the ground floor of one of the identikit, soulless buildings that fill the area.
Inside, the interior is clear and simple, with a gentle smell of spices lingering in the air. The menu has a recent range of small plates, dosa, biriyani and thali dishes, with both meat and veg options.
Chilli paneer (€10.95) in a tasty sweet and spicy sauce immediately brings Chinese-Indian fusion cuisine to mind, and I clear the plate. It’s followed by a ghee podi dosa (€11.95), a large crispy dosa folded in a triangular shape, flavoured with gunpowder and brushed with butter, served with chutneys and sambar. It’s simple, straightforward and tasty.
More places like this please.