The last time I was in New York (quite a while ago, sadly), I found myself wandering around the East Village one morning, looking for breakfast. I should, of course, have researched where to eat, but serendipity did its thing and led me to B+H Dairy Kosher Restaurant, a Jewish Mexican vegetarian (!) diner. Not what you’d expect, but actually, yeah, New York and all that.
I could not have been happier, washed over with that wave of euphoria you get when you realise you’ve got lucky and stumbled upon something really special.
I get that same feeling as I work my way past the tables of locals in Juniors in Beggar's Bush in Dublin 4 and head to the back room, settling into a red banquette that's a tad low for the sturdy wooden table. I'm facing the semi-open kitchen where chefs are at work under an impressively silent extraction system, and a shiny coffee machine sits on top of a bar with cream and sage subway tiles which reach down to match the mosaic of small hexagonal tiles on the floor. Owners Paul and Barry McNerney, who also own Paulie's Pizza and Lotts & Co, have a good eye for detail.
The attention to detail when it comes to sourcing and the great service are what make Juniors really a standout
The specials are written on a large gilt-framed mirror, number three being a blood orange Old Fashioned (€11); it’s heavy on the bitters, just how I like it, and packs an extra fresh punch of citrus with the seasonal oranges.
It's a simple menu. A one-pager which has changed during, well, you know, with a new chef, Fiachra Kenny, and more of an American diner influence. The tuna tostados (€11), in crisp corn tortilla shells, go nicely with our Old Fashioneds. There's plenty of freshness and a touch of smoke with lime, coriander and ponzu bringing a ceviche hit to neatly chopped pieces of firm fish sitting on top of a slick of guacamole.
The lobster and Comté arancini (€10) are as you would expect, golden on the outside not too stodgy inside, but I feel that perhaps the chunks of lobster are just a little bit lost.
It’s a slick operation. In the kitchen two chefs work quietly, an unobtrusive bell sounds when dishes are ready and off glide the hot monogrammed plates with the minimum of fuss.
It is, as I mentioned earlier, all about the detail so whereas free-range pork seems to be a thing most chefs seem incapable of sourcing, here it is from Thomas Salter, pre-ordered weekly, butchered on request and served up as a truly magnificent pork schnitzel Holstein (€22).
An egg, sunny side up, gleams on top of the crisp breaded exterior and two Ortiz anchovies and a handful of capers add that sharp savoury edge that contrasts so beautifully with the sweetness of this tender, free-range slab of beauty.
They also do a very fine double double cheeseburger (€12), a high-low homage to those golden arches, two beef patties made from dry-aged McLoughlin’s beef, smashed so there’s a crusty char lacing over juicy meatiness, with cheese melting on each layer inside a sesame seed bun.
It is so, so good with a glass of Anchor steam lager (€7), one of the excellent beers that may tempt you away from the short but well-priced wine list. There are of course French fries (€4), crunchy and plenty of them.
Juniors is a wonderful diner, a place where I would happily go for breakfast, lunch or dinner
Noticing that the schnitzel has not been finished, our server offers another option or to take it off the bill but we quickly jump in, reassuring him that it will make a very nice lunch the following day and that for tonight, there is more high-low work to be done.
The Uncle Ronald’s deep-fried apple pie with vanilla ice cream (€6.95) is summoned, another nod to that ubiquitous international chain and its clown spokesman. It is really quite magnificent, a pocket of golden deep-fried pastry with that signature slight hint of salt, and the cubes of apple in their thickened juices look suitably nuclear but are at a temperature that doesn’t threaten to sear the flesh on the inside of your mouth.
Juniors is a wonderful diner, a place where I would happily go for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The attention to detail when it comes to sourcing and the great service are what make it really a standout. I wish it was around the corner from me.
Dinner for two with two cocktails, a beer and glass of wine was €102.95
