RESTAURANTS AND FOOD: Leona Robinson

Friday, December 27, 2013

Electric. Easy to Book. Hard to Leave.

Halloumi

It was a busy holiday lunch-time in Electric. But all was calm, bright too for a spell with the brown river surging by outside in the south channel. The calmness inside though had nothing to do with the weather, just the efficiency of the team in this popular South Mall Restaurant. Busy as they were, they got it all right at our table. I hesitate to use the word efficient as it sometimes comes with a “clinical” or/and “cold” attached. Here, it was warm, efficient yes but with time for a chat.

Indeed, the calmness starts with the Electric booking procedure, even if you are dealing with an electronic system (you do of course have the option of picking up the phone and talking to one of the staff). Otherwise, using your phone, tablet or laptop, just fill a few boxes (name, number of diners, date and time) and you have instant confirmation of your table and a reference number. The system is easy.

Before I fall into the trap of telling you all about the place and little about the meal, I'd better get on to the grub. My date was towards the end of the holiday rush but none of the Christmas cliches appeared on the regular menu. Must say that the lunch menu is quite varied and very well priced; the “Little Bites” are tempting and especially good value; the mains follow suit. You may have three courses for €21.00 and may also “swap” starter or dessert for a glass of wine.

Chargrilled Aubergine and Courgette Tarte Tatin

My Little Bite, actually it was quite a decent sized starter, was the Lamb Tagine. It came in its own pot with lid and was superb, a terrific balanced mix of top notch well-cooked lamb, chunky apricot and veg and a lively spice (nothing extremely hot at all). Wouldn't mind trying that as a main course!

Our other Little Bite was the Electric Fish Paté, a very flavoursome tub of white crab meat with some nicely toasted breads. Quite a bit of eating in that tub but it was a delicious delight!

And the high standard continued into the main courses, both vegetarian by the way. Myself and Halloumi have been seen a lot together recently and the love affair intensified at Electric thanks to this combination: Grilled Halloumi Salad, with winter root vegetables (mainly butternut squash, carrot, celery), toasted almonds and sweet pear dressing. Full of colour, textures and flavours, this was a superb dish from start to finish.

Tagine

Chargrilled Aubergine and Courgette Tarte Tatin with sun dried tomato, feta cheese and pesto dressing was our other mains and this too was very impressive, another very well judged dish. Looked well, tasted well.

Thanks to Head Chef Leona Robinson, Restaurant Manager Triona Hennessy and all the team at Electric for a lovely Christmas lunch! Happy New Year to you all.