uggboy

November 2015, Our Lunch

Having passed Rustic Stone a lot of times we were aware that the restaurant is run by Dylan McGrath, a former Michelin Star winning chef of Mint Restaurant fame, existed, but didn’t think it would be suitable for us.

Since we are more health conscious it suddenly made sense. We were actively discussing for months, if this should be our next restaurant we were going to test. It also came highly recommended by the Maitre d’ of Glynn Purnell’s – a 1* Michelin stared restaurant in Birmingham, UK -, where we had lunch in October 2015, so we took the plunge. A review is going to follow about Glynn Purnell’s, but it might take some time.

|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr

Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath is located on South Georges Street, not too far from Fallon & Byrne.

It is housed in a classic building (Georges Street Arcade) and contains one of the most expensive kitchens in Ireland. It is Chef McGrath’s experimental kitchen.

The cuisine is fresh, seasonal and healthy. Any dietary requirements can be accommodated and all dishes state if they are wheat, gluten, dairy and/or sugar free, if they are low in saturated fat or vegetarian/vegan. It makes it easier for allergy sufferers, diabetics, persons with high cholesterol or blood pressure or generally health conscious guests to choose.

We arrived on a rainy November day. Our reservation was in the system and we were brought to our table with a smile. The restaurant is rustic in design with lots of wood and mirrors. It is small and the tables are somewhat too tight arranged together.

Rustic Stone was humming with activity.

Our waiter was friendly and brought all relevant menus. We were asked if we wanted still or sparkling water, which arrived promptly in a non branded glass bottle with a flip top opening. A wonderful touch for an earlier era.

We also had the raw warm cinnamon and apple shake and the carrot, orange, sweet ginger shake. They were memorable, tasty and healthy, so we had them twice.

Making up our mind what to order wasn’t easy, because there were so many interesting items on the Raw Menu, which means the food is cooked on lower temperature than usual to keep as many nutrient as possible.

We had the tuna and sweet pickled peppers, seasonal melon cubes with ginger, basil and cucumber, citrus cured salmon, duck with celery orange and green olives and thin slices of heirloom tomato with crunchy courgette and black olive oil. We ordered small plates of those. Another starter was the beetroot broth infused with orange and dill, which didn’t belong to the raw food, but it was outstandingly good.

The raw appetizers were all served together on an understated marble plate. It reminded us of Japan. The broth came in a laboratory bottle, which we could serve ourselves in a bowl, filled with grated beetroot. The flavors were amazing and worked well together.

The melon cubes, heirloom tomatoes and the citrus cured salmon were our favorites.

Our main courses were Penne Pesto and Fish in a Bag. He had chosen the small portion of penne, but seeing how big it was it left us wonder what a large plate would look like. The basil pesto was delicious and the plate looked like a work of art.

My Mackerel was rustic and came with quinoa, carrots and saffron. Our main courses were very well balanced and so good, we could have ordered more, but dessert was waiting.

We ordered a chocolate soup with chocolate mousse and a Catalan Cassanade with toasted brioche. The Cassanade was Catalan Curd served with orange sorbet. The textures were interesting and the flavors good.

The soup, roasted and grated hazelnut and mousse went very well together and wasn’t bland at all, a fear I had, it was moreish.

A Kahlua for him rounded up the meal.

The bill came in at 113.95 Euro or ca. 120.80 USD.

The staff was extremely busy, because the restaurant was fully booked. Sometimes it was difficult to grab their attention, but they were friendly and helpful.

Fellow diners changed the later in the afternoon it was. At first there were many young couples under thirty there, then the clientele was suddenly over fifty.

The atmosphere was good, sometimes a bit loud. Conversations were possible, though.

Other guests favored the value menu. The chicken wings and steak or tuna grilled on a hot stone were the bestsellers.

We would return, because the cuisine is very rare and nowhere else to be found in Dublin or Ireland. It combines healthy components with being tasty and allowing to “graze” and try many different dishes.

We also hope that Chef McGrath tries his hand again in the future on Michelin stared fine dining possibilities with another new restaurant. At least we hope so.

Would we recommend this particular restaurant to a friend? YES! ^
Would we want to have lunch/dinner again at this particular restaurant in our future? YES! ^

Here are some of our images we took during our lunch at Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath in Dublin, Ireland, November 2015:

|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr
|| RUSTIC STONE BY DYLAN MCGRATH || DUBLIN || IRELAND || NOVEMBER 2015 || OUR MEMORABLE LUNCH || by UggBoy UggGirl, on Flickr

Thank you and safe travels.

lhrsfo

I went there in August on a one night stay in Dublin, so I have no point of comparison for Dublin cuisine. However, putting my London, or even San Francisco, taste buds on, I thought the place was ok but not much more than that. It executed modern cuisine in what struck me and the OH as a formulaic approach. Nothing was particularly original, neither the decor, nor the service nor the ingredient combinations. The price may be ok for Dublin but for London it was expensive for what you got.

uggboy

Thanks for your impressions and interesting insights.

What did you eat at Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath?

Yes, Dublin can be expensive and for Dublin overall, comparing the "upscale casual sector" the food seemed "innovative" and enjoyable IMHO.

Cheers and safe travels.

VivoPerLei

OP - thanks for posting this. Don't see too many dining reviews on FT, but there are a few of us with an active interest.

As for Rustic Stone, I had to check my notes because it's been a few years, but I had a simple meal, steak and salad, and it was very good. I wasn't crazy about the claustrophobic seating as I would have preferred a bit more personal space, but other than that everything else was good.

lhrsfo

I can't remember everything we ate, but I do remember we shared the carrot broth with star anise (which was the highlight of the meal), we had a salad which sounded interesting on the menu, but was only perfectly okay, and we shared a rump steak which I felt was no better than what I buy at Waitrose, with a sauce that we did not particularly like.

And I suppose that was the crux of the matter - I would normally never order a steak at a restaurant, but there wasn't anything else we liked the sound of (complicated by me being Gluten Free, which does limit things, although not so much in good restaurants).

VivoPerLei

That's an interesting observation. A perfectly cooked restaurant steak is one of those things that I simply cannot duplicate at home so I have no hesitation in ordering.

uggboy

True, it's fascinating that there aren't many restaurant review on FT, despite many love posting here "love to eat".

In regards to Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath, we enjoyed our meal, we have eaten mostly from their modern Raw lunch menu and it was wonderful as you can see / read from our review published above. Indeed, the seating is indeed a bit too tight and that's something which should maybe changed, this would also help to bring in some calmness to this restaurant. Overall we loved the food, especially from the Raw menu, the healthy shakes are especially sublime. Cheers. ^

uggboy

Thanks for your insights in regards to your visit to Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath, we enjoyed their Raw menu and a particular stand-out was the grated beetroot with orange and beetroot broth. Sublime, which could also said from their healthy fruit juice shakes on offer. We enjoyed our meals, we didn't have a steak, in our case we enjoyed our pasta and fish dishes which all were memorable for the right reasons. Cheers. ^

VivoPerLei

Beetroot seems to be on every menu these days. I couldn't even begin to list how many different ways I've had it this year. I never use to eat them until I saw what you can do with them. Now they're a staple for me at home along with beetroot juice

uggboy

We like beetroot, and yes, it's a growing trend, we like the juice too from time to time. Cheers. ^