If I was a bit
taken aback by the dynamism of Dublin's terrestrial fare, I was blown out of
the water by its seafood. Located right on the coast, Dublin and its
surrounding environs offer a cornucopia of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and
shellfish. After almost being blown away
while walking around the cliffs of the seaside fishing village Howth, I stopped
in for a late lunch/early dinner at King Sitric Restaurant.
Unfortunately they
were out of oysters by the time I got there, and I wasn’t in a position to
order their two person seafood tower.
But I was still able to treat myself to an order of crab mornay and a
cup of their Howth seafood chowder with a glass of white wine from the
Alsace-Lorraine region of France. The
smooth and creamy chowder was chocked full of the local catch, and the mornay
elegantly walked a tight rope of sweet and savory. The slightly tart wine cut through both like
a hot knife through butter.
The best meal of
my trip was also my last one in Dublin.
I popped in for lunch at Matt the Thresher, a slightly more upscale
restaurant famed for its maddeningly fresh and local seafood, all sourced from
the immediate area, like the bay that’s no more than half a kilometer from the
restaurant. I ordered the Dublin Bay
prawns, two oysters on the half-shell, and another glass of white wine.
The prawns were
poached, a form of preparation I had only previously seen used with eggs, and
they were amazing…tender, sweet, and bathed in just enough garlic butter to add
flavor without blurring the delicate flavor of the prawns themselves. The poaching left the prawns cooked, but
still juicy and very fresh, somewhat similar to the cooked-but-not-cooked
texture of ceviche, although obviously sans the cold and the lime.
The oysters were
out of this world. The experience of
eating an oyster, especially an oyster of this caliber, is a multi-phase
affair, a succession of different flavor profiles and textures from the moment
you put it in your mouth to when you swallow it. Much like sushi, each bite is an event in and
of itself, a collapsing of the act of eating into separated and powerful bursts
of flavor. The oysters were served with
lemon and Tabasco on a bed of ice.
A little bit of
lemon and a little bit of Tabasco and down the hatch. The bright tang of the lemon is soon followed
by the heat of the Tabasco, after which a swell of seawater takes over your
mouth as the oyster itself gently gives way to the softest bite, and you
swallow and have to take a second, a bit like taking a shot of liquor, your
body both thrilled and a little unsure of what has happened. An experience to be sure, and one that
reminds you of the power of food, divorced from the so often banal and
necessary act of eating, a liberating reclamation of your own taste buds, for
only 2,90 €. It’s also common (and this
place offers specials apparently) to pair oysters with Guinness in Ireland, a
combination that I find absolutely no fault in.
Matt the Thresher
is also open late into the evening, so if you don’t want to shell out the cash
for lunch or dinner, you can just come eat oysters and drink beer. They also had rave reviews from both Michelle
Obama and Anthony Bourdain on the front door, so pretty much it’s solid
gold.
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