Finding myself in Dublin on a Sunday with not much to do seemed as good a chance as any to try Fade St Social for the first time. I call by early and book a table for 1pm when they start serving. On my return I'm greeted by my first name and shown to a table facing the open kitchen.
After that, everything seemed to happen in a blitz - I order a Bellini, some water, the menu is explained and by the time the Bellini is half gone this place is all but full! The waiting staff all seem to be in great form and food arrives as it's ready: first off the mark is a whole softshell crab in sesame spice flour with miso mayonaise - a dish I last remember eating at The Capital Hotel in London when Eric Chavot was the chef there. It's almost arachnid appearance isn't for everyone but its a super dish, all crunch and mush and smooth mayonaise.
Next to arrive is the pork belly, slow cooked and on the bone and with a peanut brittle crunch that is a little too sticky and difficult to dislodge from your teeth once it has connected but the pork has a super flavour. Cured salmon with truffle honey arrives at the same time as the day's visual victor, the carpaccio of lobster, sliced beautifully thin and laid out like landing lights on a wooden board with Spanish ham draped across it.
There really was nothing for it at this stage but to have another cocktail - I highly recommend the Slippery Sloe if you're a gin lover.
The cured salmon was the simplest of the dishes but no less satisfying for that. The lobster took a little more time to appreciate, it's a less straightforward love when it's not split down the middle and covered in hot butter but, by the end, my tastebuds had fully adapted and I savoured it the most. At this stage the restaurant appeared to be completely full: the table beside me consisting of three young children with their parents all seemed to be having a ball of a time. I can only think that Avoca in Monkstown would be serving more people than this on a Sunday afternoon. A single dessert of baby banoffee had me grinning with joy, all caramel and toffee jelly and bannana and crunch. Because Fade St only charges for three courses when you order four, all of this food, including the two cocktails only came to €56 - or €28 without the alcohol. Service was excellent, from greeting to goodbye.
