Many years ago, I was in Keshk, not long after it had moved from Leeson Street to Mespil Road in Dublin 4. The place was heaving – bags of booze everywhere, every table booked. A BYOB (bring-your-own-bottle) restaurant attracts that sort of thing at the best of times, but at Christmas, diners can come armed with enough wine to open an off-licence.
There were 14 of us, wedged between tables in the basement. The food – Mediterranean and Lebanese-influenced – was hard to notice in a room where most people had brought a “spare” bottle. Naturally, those spares became targets. As the night wore on, the table to our left (if you picture it like the Last Supper) started taking bets on what kind of group we were. The options: swingers or wine club. Reasonable guesses, depending on your glass count.
At our next wine club agm, two “down-with-this-sort-of-thing” motions were raised. One: No more “spare” bottles where we can be publicly shamed. Two: clarify, once and for all, the swinging thing and whether a club name change is required. Minutes were taken, then quietly destroyed.
Keshk is owned and run by Moustafa Keshk, who’s been at it since the original Leeson Street days in 2008, and the menu still reads like a greatest-hits set from the old place. Mezze includes the usuals: hummus, baba ganoush, dolma, falafel, and feta fritters, all with warm pitta. The mains stay loyal to the grill: lamb kofta and chops seared over charcoal, moussaka layered with aubergine, and chicken in every possible mood, from the creamy filo-wrapped house dish to flame-licked shish taouk. There’s steak for those who like to play it safe, and baklava or carrot cake to close, though the prices – now well into the mid-30s for a grill – show the years haven’t stood still.
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It’s also more upmarket than before – a polished green room with dark panelling and wooden floors, comfortable seats and focused lighting. There are flowers at the entrance, a glass case of desserts by the counter, and a steady hum of locals. It’s still BYOB, but the tone has shifted: fewer bags of booze, more people arriving with one decent bottle, which somehow feels more adult.
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The baba ganoush (€8.95) is superb, just as I remember it – smoky from the grill, clearly handmade and blended loosely enough to keep texture. The falafel (€9.95) are crisp, cumin-led and chickpea-heavy, striped with garlic mayo, and garnished with shredded lettuce, carrot and red onion.
The mixed grill (€35.95) is the best way to sample the grills across the menu: lamb chops, kofta, chicken and four prawns, all marked from the charcoal. The kofta comes out on top: juicy, spiced, and smoky, followed by the marinated chunks of chicken, which unfortunately are not free-range. The lamb doesn’t quite get the crust it needs – pink inside but missing that frazzled edge of fat – while the prawns pick up the char nicely, and the spicy potatoes on the side are crisp and hot.
The lamb moussaka (€25.95) arrives bubbling in its gratin dish, layered with aubergine, as well as potatoes (which I hadn’t expected). It’s heavy on the cheese, but is missing the usual custardy béchamel top. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s tasty – with cinnamon adding warm spice.
The catch of the day (€32.95) turns out to be halibut – not farmed sea bass as is the case so often – a thick tranche cut from a wild fish. It’s nicely cooked, served with a tomato-and-butter sauce that has just enough spice, with roasted onions and tomatoes over the top.
Desserts are €7 – a two-layer carrot cake, soft and spongy; and baklava that’s light, pistachio and date balanced rather than drowned in syrup.
Midweek, Keshk has a lovely energy, peppered with small groups, and no one going mad on the BYOB. At Christmas, I expect it will be considerably louder, the odd table leaning a little too far into goodwill and cabernet, as you’ll find right across town.
Will our wine club be making a return visit? Some of us are still serving time on the naughty step, so this year’s gathering will be in a member’s house rather than out in public. Ours is a very local wine club, so for Steve and me, it’s just a short trot from the Crittall-window corner of our village to the fancier Edwardian stretch where most of the tasters live. All on the same road, I should add. We didn’t change the name of the club. And no, there are no vacancies.
Dinner for three was €127.75.
The Verdict: The BYOB veteran that’s still smoking after all these years.
Food provenance: Quantock Foods, Shazly & Sons Ltd, The Catch Fish Shop and Fresh Point.
Vegetarian options: Broad choice of mezze, moussaka and maghmour (chickpea stew).
Wheelchair access: Fully accessible with an accessible toilet.
Music: Irritating – instrumental interpretations of pop songs.
