Good value and superior food keep Eamonn O'Reilly's restaurant busy when others are not. Tom Doorley joins the throng
I think of eating oysters as a little hedonistic. This is possibly because I'm a recent convert. Eating oysters at lunchtime, for me at any rate, is positively decadent. I adore them.And the oysters beignet at One Pico were some of the best things I've eaten in a long time. Mind you, it had been a while since I had an oyster. I know the only thing duller than details of other people's health is their holiday snaps - "this is Fiachra and Morag with a little Masai friend . . ." - but I should explain. Until recently I contained much more iron than was good for me. It has now been removed (don't ask), but while I was still in danger of rusting I could not eat raw shellfish, as they can contain Vibrio vulnificus, a bug as malevolent as it sounds. If you have an overload of iron, the odds are that it will kill you.
Despite being now thoroughly deironed, I still shy away from the raw version. Oysters beignet, as part of One Pico's €25 set two-course lunch, have the virtue of being cooked - just. They are dipped in a featherlight batter, deep-fried in very hot oil and served in their shells, each of them topped with a remoulade of finely shaved fennel. They were fabulous, exploding with flavour as I bit into them. The richness and texture of the oyster was perfectly counterpointed by the light, sharp, cool and crunchy remoulade.
Not being a great offal eater, I had merely glanced at the foie-gras terrine on the menu (for which you pay €2.50 extra). It came as a slice of rich, smooth and very buttery pâté, with a sweet but sharp damson chutney on the side and two slices of perfectly toasted brioche. It tasted very good to me - and sublime to the offal chomper who was with me. Only afterwards did I realise that this was duck foie gras, not the real thing.
The mushroom risotto was also superb. It was billed as containing ceps and trompettes. The later are little black mushrooms that are very hard to see when you're on a fungus foray, and are actually called trompettes de mort, not because they are dangerous but because of their funereal colour. I suppose it's best to use the abbreviated form on an Irish menu. The trompettes were the main ingredient in this light and delicate risotto, with the ceps arranged in meaty slices around the edge and some baby spinach leaves providing a clever contrast of texture. A truffle-scented foam (foam is everywhere these days) lent a pretty touch, but it wasn't really needed.
The only black mark on One Pico's performance came with the confit of belly pork. You can't throw a spoon in a fashionable restaurant these days without hitting some version of this, and the one here was very good in itself: crisp on top, tender inside, full of flavour. The accompanying cassoulet of lentils, chorizo and white beans made a good partner, but the dark, liquid element (a kind of thin gravy) was bitter. This happens if the meat juices burn rather than caramelise. I wonder if the chef tasted it before sending it out.
But, overall, this was more than just a good lunch. It offered, by Dublin standards, impressive value for money and an opportunity to see that Eamonn O'Reilly is a serious chef. The lunch trade in Dublin's better restaurants is waning a bit, I'm told. On a Monday, One Pico was thriving.
With a €38 bottle of wine, a large mineral water and an espresso, the bill came to €96.45.
One Pico, 5-6 Molesworth Place, Schoolhouse Lane, Dublin 2, 01-6760300, www.onepico.com
WINE CHOICE At entry level there are Hugel's lovely Alsace Pinot Blanc (€25); the crisp, almost austere Strozzi Verdicchio (€28); the Chilean Los Tilos Cabernet-Merlot (€28) and de Wetshof's elegant Bon Vallon Chardonnay (€31) from the Cape. Not a cheap list, but there are some good buys: Fonterutoli's rich Chianti Classico (€42); Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir (€45), from Sonoma; Barefoot Reserve Pinot Noir (€38); and Paul Cluver Elgin Pinot Noir (€42), from South Africa. Other highlights include the stunning Qupe Syrah (€78), from California; Craiglee Shiraz (€65), which is one of Oz's most elegant reds; and the wackily wonderful and rare Château Roc des Cambes 1999 (€99).