La Maison – Dublin, Ireland September 2nd . . .and 3rd

Disclaimer: I have never dedicated an entire blog entry to food so far, but I am about to do so. I will not be offended if you skip ahead. I will also preface this entry, by saying that I often seek out French restaurants when traveling, because there is not a decent one within an hour of my home in Morristown.

I had made my hotel reservation in Dublin based on a previous stay, during which I enjoyed two wonderful meals at a different French restaurant. Because I was not sure whether this restaurant was

La Maison

open on Sunday, I checked my TripAdvisor app. Yes, it was, but as I was checking the times, my eye caught a number of negative reviews. As I scrolled through the recent reviews, many of them had not-so-nice things to say about the way customers were treated. As a solo diner, I am always wary.
The reviews were enough for me. I decided to look elsewhere.

To my delight, in the same general area, there was another French restaurant, which had much more positive reviews. Even better than that, it allowed me to make an on-line a reservation for one – something that many restaurants do not permit.

A nice young waiter promptly seated me. The restaurant was about 2/3 full. La Maison’s menu is typical bistro – 6-8 starters and 8-10 entrees. Being a fan of pâté, I ordered the selection of pâtés to start and the fish special, which was hake served over potatoes with olives and a bit of tomato sauce. The waiter brought some bread and sauce persilade and my nice glass of rosé wine. Then he brought a tray with five different kinds of pâté and asked which ones I wanted. Of course, I said, “All.” He then proceeded to slice and plate my dish to the delight of all watching. In fact, my fellow diners to my left decided that they would order the pate on their next visit. It was as delicious as it looked. 

The fish was superb, too. It was perfectly cooked, as were the potatoes. The addition of the chopped olives and the hint of tomato gave the dish a Provençal touch.

The fish special

To the dismay of the staff, I had no room for dessert, but I joked that I might come back the following night just to have dessert. I did enjoy a lovely glass of dessert wine, though.

I enjoyed my meal so much, I returned the following evening, something I rarely do.


On my second visit, I reversed the courses – I had the fish first and the meat second. To start, I had the scallops cooked in their shells with white wine and butter. "How can something so simple be so

The scallops

delicious?" I wondered. I thought about it for a while, as I savored each bite. Then I remembered  something that I once heard on a food show. The flavor has something to do with the heat of a commercial oven. Home cooks can only approximate, but rarely duplicate the effect. With that, I drank a Cotes de Gascone white.

 At my waiter’s suggestion, I ordered the duck breast, almond crust with carrot puree, polenta and orange sauce. He was definitely spot on. It was perfection. Again, at his suggestion, a Cotes du Rhone, which was great.

The duck breast

 I felt that I could not say no to dessert this time, so I opted for the crème brulée for dessert. To my surprise, a nice glass of Calvados arrived at my table. This is the way all restaurant dining should be.