There's no getting around the fact that any visit to the Lovely Food Company is bound to invite an assessment of its loveliness. And if the name of Paul Breen's thusly titled Terenure bistro creates a certain expectation, then the opening page of his menu - which introduces the who and why of his lovely food company - is what you might call his menufesto: "We may be small but we take pride in everything we produce," it says, and that includes their signature sourdough, slices of which appeared, along with a green olive tapenade, just as we were seated. It was - dare I say it - far too lovely to leave behind.
Much else on that visit also lived up to the establishment's name, not least the side salad, a dish which can, so often, be like a bland date - someone you bring because you have to, and lose as soon as you can. Here, however, the salad was as the perfect escort should be: sartorial and generous - made with mixed leaves, sun-dried cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and a flourish of Parmesan - and interesting in its own right, though not to the point of eclipsing all else.
Other well-received fare included a succulent smoked duck starter and the also-smoked Gubbeen tartlets, which, though they had marginally outstayed their welcome in the oven, were served with red onion marmalade, one of those things in life which makes everything taste better. There was a striploin steak, given a faintly deep south edge by way of pleasantly cajun-spiced sweet potato wedges, and a fillet of hake with roasted baby potatoes, which was baked with a herb crust and a few tiny strips of crisped chorizo (which was lovely, yes, though more of said chorizo would have been even lovelier).
While all of this was enjoyed, we discovered, like the wedding feasters at Cana, that Paul Breen's crew had, in fact, saved the loveliest 'til last. The warm chocolate bread and butter brioche pudding, already a hit with the regulars, and served with as good a custard as I can remember, alone made the detour to Terenure worthwhile. A slab of strawberry cheesecake with an oaty base and tangy mixed berry compote was no slouch either, and both were sufficiently out-sized to warrant a doggy bag and continued enjoyment the next day.
Small wonder, then, that this welcoming little venue, softly lit and cosy within, has been busy since it opened last summer and is, by all accounts, getting busier, with a small cookery school now in operation and a newly opened courtyard area outside. If, in choosing the name, they have set an implicit and ever-present challenge for themselves, then the evidence says that they are most certainly rising to meet it.
14 Terenure Road West
01 4927717
