The skill of its cooking makes Cube, in Dundalk, incredible value, writes Tom Doorley
The curmudgeonly companion, whom you may remember from a recent outing to Ballsbridge, spent much of our journey up the M1 trying to pronounce "cube" in a convincing Louth accent. Why, he wondered, would you call a restaurant Cube if many locals were going to call it Kayooob? There was little point in my saying that this was a perfectly valid way of saying the word and that we should be, er, celebrating diversity: I knew he would retaliate by speaking ersatz Louth for the rest of the journey, so I desisted.
Speaking of journeys, there are those who believe that Dundalk is not - how shall I put this? - a recreational destination. To put it in the curmudgeonly companion's phrase: "It's not exactly the Ring of bleeding Kerry, is it?" In the interests of dispelling ignorance, I can say that there's more to Dundalk than Macardles and Harp. There's a glorious coastline on one side and the stunning Slieve Gullion Forest Park on the other. The town itself seems to be the retail-park capital of Ireland. And there's at least one excellent restaurant.
Local intelligence suggested that Cube, owned by Aidan Stewart, and Susan Heraghty's No 32 are great places to eat (there is much talk of the early-bird menu at the latter); we chose Cube purely because it's open for lunch, and that's what we needed. It was a real find: a restaurant worth making a large detour for, with food that leaves no room for ambiguity as far as the skill and commitment in the kitchen are concerned.
Cube is also conspicuously well priced. I know that overheads are lower in Dundalk than they are in Dublin 2, but lunchtime starters for about €4 and main courses for about €9 suggest an effort to deliver value. In fact, from the moment you walk through the door into the very chic, stripped-down interior, you get a very strong feeling that the team here really wants to please you.
Anyway, enough of this uncharacteristically unbridled enthusiasm. I will admit that I chose "baked garlic cream mushrooms with bacon and melting mozzarella" because I seriously doubted the combination. But it was a stunner: whole mushrooms bathed in a light but intense cream sauce, liberally seasoned with tiny pieces of smoked bacon and topped with cheese. It was ace: a thoughtful, skilful dish that sounds much less impressive than the reality.
My companion's starter was another unlikely combination. I would never have dared to partner feta with ham - too salty for a start - but here a simple hock-and-feta terrine was perfect, the dense meat almost sweet and certainly not too saline, the cheese creamy and sharp. A perfect plum-and-apple chutney completed a wholly unexpected pleasure.
Mains were simple and equally brilliant. A fillet of impeccably fresh cod, encased in one of the best batters I've encountered, was perfectly à point, served with a little dish of petits pois cooked, classically, with butter, a little cream and some lettuce. Wild-boar sausages from Moyallon Farm were flavoured with sharp apple, fried until properly brown and dished up on buttery mash with a very intense deglaze. Food as simple as this has to be based on first-class raw materials, and the hands that wield the skillet need to be very skilled indeed.
As you might imagine, even the fresh-fruit platter, which looked very inviting, was out of the question at this stage, so we settled for bracing double espressos and the bill, which, along with a great bottle of rosé, came to €61.05. Is this the best value in the country?
Cube, 5 Roden Place, Dundalk, Co Louth, 042-9329898
WINE CHOICE This is a big list, clearly chosen with a lot of knowledge. The unusual and delicious Domaine des Terres Dorées Beaujolais Blanc, a remarkable white Burgundy, is €32.95; the cutting-edge Oz Watervale Riesling, from Grosset, is a steep €51.95. Ridge's luscious Geyserville Zin, however, seems a bargain at €59.95. Henri Pellé Menetou-Salon (€33.95) is better and cheaper than many a Sancerre, and Teroldego Rotaliano is a super Italian red at a keen €25.95. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 1990 is ready to drink and reasonably priced at €135. Our Bergerie de l'Hortus rosé was €26.95. Bottles start at €19.95, with 15 wines by the glass for €4.95-€7.50.