Share
Published 00:10 20 Dec 2016 GMT
I'm really fucking scared doing this review. It's my favorite restaurant in Dublin but as always I'll review it only on the experience I have on the day rather than any previous visits. I'm eating out with my cousin Barry who is only in town for the night over from New York and as a fellow foodie I want to show him the best the Dublin has to offer. So I'm doubly nervous walking in to the Butchers Grill in Ranelagh…I've had dozens of faultless meals here over the last year so don't fucking let me down now you bastards. Time to deliver the goods.
And deliver the goods they do. See the Butcher's Grill always does. It's as close to a perfect restaurant as you'll find in Dublin. It's absolutely tiny, maybe 40 seats at most but we chose to sit at the bar and eat. If you are not here to eat steak then don't bother coming. They do have some great other dishes but the clue to the magic of this place is in the name really.
As we were sort of celebrating seeing each other we went big. 12 Oysters each to start and a T-Bone to share for mains. The oysters were plump, fresh and tasty. They came with the only things you ever need to serve with good oysters and that is lemon, tabasco and some bloody mary mix which I ignored cause I hate the stuff. I hate big starters that bog you down before the main course has even arrived but this was the perfect start. Light, tasty and fresh.
I saw the T-Bone going on the open grill just as we were eating out Oysters. It was a fucking beast of thing, literally half a cow. It arrived on a chopping board carved in to perfect medium rare chunks. You get a couple of perfect onion rings and we had sides of baked dauphinoise and cheesy cauliflower. The sides arrived in those delightful little copper pots that I remember from my restaurant days cost about €80 a pop to buy but are stunning. I can't even begin to describe the steak to you. You could have an ATM spitting free €50 notes with supermodels offering themselves up on the other side of the road and I'd still choose the steak. That is how good it is. Because it's cooked on the bone it was super tender, literally like butter melting in your mouth. We couldn't even finish it between us and god only hopes a dog in Ranelagh or a good stock pot got the remains.
Dessert wasn't even an option after that feast. So to the only controversial part of the meal. 150 yo-yos for the 2 of us. A lot of money and I've been quick to bitch about overcharging here in the past. This isn't overcharging though. See I don't know about you but I get massively pissed off paying for bad food and poor service even if it only comes to €20. I'll leave with a vow never to return and worrying about the money I've wasted. On the flip side if food is good and the service wows me I don't care how much it costs. 150 lids is a lot of money at the moment but when you have a meal that you will remember in years to come and great company cooked by professionals who clearly put a lot of time and effort in to creating a wonderful culinary experience then it is value in my opinion. There are of course plenty of cheaper cuts of meat and less extravagant items on the menu and when eating there it normally costs me about €30 for myself.
Now I have absolutely no vested interest in The Butcher's Grill but if you enjoy your food let me tell you one thing…pick up the phone and make a fucking booking to eat there now. We spend too much of our time shoveling shit food in to our mouths in this country and you deserve to try the best that is on offer. They don't need my help because the place is always packed anyway and although there are technically better restaurants in Dublin (Thornton's, Chapter one, Guildbaud's etc) for me the "go to" place in this town will always be The Butcher's Grill. Thank fuck it didn't let me down on the night.
I normally post the bill but I forgot to grab it. Prices were roughly as follows... T-Bone €30 per person Oysters €1.60 by 24 Sides €5 each 2 Beers €10 2 Cokes €6 2 Coffees €6
Total €140
I'm only one person eating there on one night. To give a bit of balance to the debate leave your own review down below or read some of these other posts reviewing the place...
Fork And Cork Stitch and bear Big rock candy Girl in the red coat Independent Curious Wines
