A newly-opened restaurant on Benburb Street has the look and feel of a place that will find its feet, writes CATHERINE CLEARY
THERE ARE LOTS OF things to applaud in a new restaurant in Dublin’s north inner city, not least its choice of location. Seven Social is on Benburb Street, a place with a history of the kind of street trade that doesn’t involve food. Running the Luas line through the street cut down the kerb-crawling and now it has the newly reopened Light House cinema in nearby Smithfield to bring the movie-and-a-meal crowd. But it’s still a pioneering move.
The night I arrive is the kind of foul, wet and cold evening that even established restaurateurs dread and takeout delivery joints love. Outside, the premises has been painted smart navy and the name is painted in a low-key typewritery script. There’s even a bench built into the front where people can sit on some summer’s evening and watch the trams. There’s an initial confusion that my booking was for the following evening. But it’s not a problem because I’m the only diner who has walked through the door, so I get the table at the window which is best described as a snug.
The place is very nicely done, wood-panelled and pleasant. Fairy lights adorn the bar in front of the kitchen. A single long church pew runs down one wall, with tables for two lined up along it. Our table could probably take four – it’s built into a window seat with a half-wall separating us from the rest of the restaurant. The condensation on the window turns the Luas into a silver-grey blur beyond the glass. There are candles and heathery white flowers in holders on the tables. It’s got that backstreet speakeasy chic thing in spades.
I get a €2 pot of toasted pumpkin seeds to nibble on while I look at the menu, which is simple and sounds good. My D7 dining companion arrives with a dripping umbrella. A man who likes his food, this place is in his patch so he’s hoping for good things. A celeriac and pear remoulade with cured meats sounds like it will hit the spot and it does, but just a different spot. There’s no discernible amount of pear in it and it has hot, punchy mustard seeds and no mayo, so it’s a hot, zingy version of this French posh slaw. It’s tasty, but just not what I had expected. I’ve done better than Vinny. His aubergine and mozzarella tower looks and sounds great, but the cheese is fridge-chilly instead of warm and melty.
His pork and leek sausages main course comes as two fat, nice-looking sausages with a Rioja red onion marmalade and mash underneath. Again, it’s a dish with its heart in the right place, but the mash is more on the lumpy than the creamy side and the onion relish is a little dry. I’ve ordered the rabbit ragu, which is supposed to come in a stew with potatoes but there’s been a change and it’s now served with linguine. This turns it into a bunny bolognese, which is nice but a bit heavy and I’d have preferred a luscious slow-cooked stew version.
For a new restaurant which thought it had no bookings on a stormy cold night, the food here has been better than average, with friendly service. It also provides the sandwiches for the Light House’s in-house cafe and does a brunch and lunch trade. The dinner offering is available four nights a week (Wednesday to Saturday) and is a bit of a work in progress, but it has the look and feel of a place that will find its feet. Nearby L Mulligan Grocer in Stoneybatter has proven there’s a loyal market of people who like good, well-priced home-cooked dinners. Seven Social’s receipt claims they are “fanatical about food”. Let’s hope that becomes more than just a snappy slogan.
Dinner for two with two glasses of wine came to €50.
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Seven Social In the neighbourhood: Bel Cibo
Also in Smithfield is Bel Cibo, on the square right beside the Light House. A "pizzeria and deli", it's decorated with oversized black-and-white prints of old Smithfield (a donkey and a woman in a housecoat), interspersed with shots of sprigs of rosemary, and tomatoes, which is a certain take on the then and the now.
It's a cheerful, large airy place with lollipop-coloured chairs. Bel Cibo translates as "good food", which my friend (whose husband is Italian) liked. She had a good bruschetta with a doorstep of nice bread and I got deep-fried suppli for starter. These were three pool-table sized balls of risotto croquettes with cheese, which were very filling, for €5.95. Instead of a coriander aioli and lemon garlic, which I liked the sound of, it came with less-inspiring pesto and tomato concoction. A mushroom pizza was good, with that nice papery base and plenty of good toppings. My ricotta and spinach cannelloni wasn't. It was smothered in too much bechamel sauce, turning it into a bowl of stodge as it cooled.
Desserts were just okay. A large portion of chocolate fondant pudding was too cold to ooze liquid chocolate in the way it should. My passion fruit crème brûlée was entirely missing passion fruit but came with what appeared to be blackberry jam and those nut-brown biscuits you get free with coffee, unwrapped and dusted in icing sugar. Service was great. And maybe this is a sign of cranky old age but the music seemed to get louder as the night went on. Dinner for two with a bottle of Pomino Bianco (a blended Chardonnay and Pinot) came to €84.85.
Bel Cibo, Smithfield, Dublin 7, tel: 01- 8749733
Seven social
76 Benburb Street, Dublin 7,
tel: 01-6729080
Facilities: Unisex and in a lean-to shed out the back
Music: Inoffensive rock at a reasonable volume
Wheelchair access: Yes, but no wheelchair bathroom
Food provenance: None
