EATING OUT: Enoteca delle Langhe and Bar Italia bring out the Italian in everyone, writes Tom Doorley.
Busy restaurants in Italy always seem to defy the laws of physics. How can so many people fit into one place, get fed and have a good time? I've always believed that this is down to some kind of quirk in the Italian character, a tendency not just to tolerate being packed in like a sardine, but actually to enjoy it too.
I now find, having visited the Enoteca delle Langhe on a busy Thursday evening, that Irish people - given the right conditions - can share this characteristic. Mind you, all the ingredients have to be right: lots of reasonably priced wine, tasty food and a sprinkling of actual Italians to show how it's done. With those elements in place, we Irish take to the dolce vita like our grannies did to strong tea and fairy cakes.
But, I hear you ask, presumably the Irish have to go abroad in order to find those same elements in place? Surely we are not talking about Dublin? Well, at Enoteca delle Langhe you can get a generous glass of wine for €4 and a bottle of very drinkable wine for €13 plus 10 per cent corkage. In a city where mawkish, highly-commercial house wine sells for upwards of €20, this is indeed news.
Our visit was cut short because we chose the wrong table - a small one in the far corner. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but when the point was reached at which we all had to breathe in unison in order to avoid casualties, we felt that we should move on. This sensation was exacerbated by the fact that the next table, accommodating what seemed to be a dozen revellers, had more than its fair share of people with exceptionally large bottoms.
But, bums aside, it was fun. We shared a big plate of bruschetta with toppings including sweated mushrooms, sundried-tomato pesto, aubergine, fresh tomato and sautéed courgettes. Each was leaping with flavour, although the aubergine, redolent of good olive oil, could have done with a squeeze of lemon and some black pepper. We also shared a Caprese salad: big chunks of exceptionally creamy mozzarella with tomato and raddicchio, all drizzled with good olive oil. With a couple of glasses of Dama di Sfelz, a dry and fresh blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, the bill came to €19.50. Smashing value.
And so, having assuaged the pangs of hunger to a degree, we wandered down to the new Bar Italia on the north quays. The original BI, on the south quays, is minute; this one is light, airy and almost as busy. My general attitude to the grub at the original BI is a loud three cheers. The new one gets two slightly muffled ones, but it's early days yet.
We shared a plate of vegetables in crisp batter, generously salted and sharpened with a squeeze of lemon juice: courgette, florets of cauliflower and thin slices of aubergine. We also shared potato gnocchi in a first-class tomato sauce with tiny cubes of melting mozzarella. So far, so good and simple.
A main course of salmon and swordfish had been grilled to the consistency of cardboard and only slightly redeemed by a few whole Dublin Bay prawns. I know I shouldn't eat farmed salmon: it's an environmental nightmare and a gastronomic disaster with its ever-present earthy, mushroomy flavour that bears no relation to the real thing. And is swordfish not the dullest sea creature you can prod with a fork? Self-inflicted misery, then, but the cooking added to the woe. The seafood risotto was pretty good, however. Admittedly the crab element seemed to be of the processed sort, but the mussels were sweet and tasty, the rice was perfect (not at all al dente, but not mushy either), and the prawns on top were fine.
Service was excellent, there was a pleasant buzz and the place smelled right - just as a real Italian restaurant does in Italy, with that indefinable scent that makes me hungry. Given time, this new, much bigger Bar Italia will get into its stride. It's not half bad as it is. With a bottle of wine, mineral water and one espresso the bill came to €75.
Enoteca delle Langhe, Blooms Lane, Dublin 1, 01-8880834; Bar Italia, Lr Ormond Quay, Dublin 1 01-8741000.
WINE CHOICE: Enoteca delle Langhe has a big range of directly imported wines at keen prices, mostly from Piedmonte. You browse the shelves, pick your bottle and pay 10 per cent corkage. Unfortunately, it was so busy that there was no getting near the shelves. There are six available by the glass, at either €4 or €5, including the remarkable red Clanius Caputo Aglianico. Not something you see every day. At Bar Italia we drank Greco di Tufo Mastroberardino, a fresh, dry white, again from Campania, with a minerally twang and lots of zest, at €22.50.