An Elegant New Brunch Menu With The Best People-Watching In Dublin

You could walk into anywhere for brunch these days and you reel of the stuff on the menu without even seeing it. Steak and eggs, eggs benedict, french toast, something with smoked salmon and avocado, and so on. Same old, same old – it seems that Dublin is suffering from a small bit of brunch fatigue. I mean it’s great and all, but akin to being on a bender at a festival for 2 days and attempting to face into the third, sometimes too much of a good thing can take its toll.

Just like every Sunday morning, I was wandering around looking for something new to re-ignite my love affair with brunch when I spotted a picture on social media advertising a slick looking new menu in Pichet. They’ve done great breakfast, lunches and dinners for years but I never remembered them doing brunch. So off I toddled armed with this gem of information, and excited to see what they had to offer in terms of brunch.

I was early so I got the best seat – right at the window perfect for people watching. There were a couple of lads with bottles of beer clearly only on their way home from the night before. Then there was the giggling couple ushering one another into a taxi. The funniest sight however, was definitely the tourists wandering around wondering where all the Irish people were (given that it was nearly lunchtime). If you can get one of the seats looking out onto Dame Street, you’ll have a live version of a soap opera to accompany your eggs and newspaper.

I started with a black pudding Scotch egg and fuck me was it good. The Scotch egg is a bit of a signature dish in Pichet, and the weekend version was only bleedin’ delish – the fact that it was served with an amazing homemade brown sauce only made it more appealing.

My ham hock hash was also superb, but it was actually overshone by the goose fat potatoes I ordered as a side. The place was quiet so I kicked back with the paper and took my time eating the dish because I was stuffed already, but didn’t want to miss out on a bite. With a big bottle of sparkling water and a coffee the whole thing only came to €25 which is serious value that for the level of cooking.

Brunch is a bit of a funny meal. A place gets a name for doing a good one and is always packed (Dillingers, Whitefriar, San Lorenzos, etc), while other restaurants serving up equally good food remain relatively quiet.

I love Pichet’s brunch because the seats are big and comfy, the coffee refills are plentiful, and the food isn’t huge plates, piled 6-foot high forcing you into a food coma. Just like everything else Pichet do, the brunch is elegant, classy and precise. I suspect word will get out soon and the place will be rammed on Sundays too but they deserve it. Top marks.