Restaurant review: Flâneur could be a great addition to Dublin with a few tweaks

France has given the world much over the centuries, including the very idea of the restaurant itself — the first restaurants having been created by unemployed chefs of the aristocracy following the Revolution. And of all the styles of restaurant that exist in the world, my favourite is the French Bistro.

Flâneur opened just a couple of weeks ago with a promise of affordable French Bistro-inspired dishes, in a similar model as their sister restaurant Sprezzatura which offers excellent value fresh pasta.

I could already taste the steak-frites in my mind as we entered the rather compact restaurant, but it seems that Entrecôte-Frites is a weekly special rather than a daily staple as I had hoped. I shrugged off my disappointment in as French a manner as I could muster — some good starters helped.

Bread and Butter (€3.95) was three-inch-thick slices of properly crusty Tartine Sourdough which had been warmed a little to help increase their crunch factor and increase elasticity in the dough — a promise of more butter should we need it was reassuring.

Duck Rillettes with Orange Oil (€6.95) arrived a moment later and was perfect for spreading on the bread, but the indulgent creamy, meaty, pounded duck also worked on its own thanks to the orange oil which cut through the fat a little.

Steak Tartare (€10.95) was meaty and substantial but could have been dressed a little more robustly I felt — a ramekin of cornichons (€1.95) proved useful to lift the flavours of the fresh-cut beef.

Gnocchi Parisienne (€9.95) was creamy and soft with butter and lemon balm mentioned in the description and noticeable on the palate — meanwhile, Jane Russell Toulouse Sausages (€6.95) were meaty and tender, and a good reminder of Flâneur’s value proposition.

Duck Pithivier arrived as a pretty dome of flaky puff pastry but was perhaps the most disappointing dish of the evening as the dense and rather heavy duck beneath the pastry had an odd gamey flavour and not nearly enough seasoning - it was left half-eaten.

Andarl Farm Pork Escalope (€8.95) intrigued me as our server said that it came plain and unbreaded. This turned out to be a misunderstanding as the large escalope had in fact been coated in a heavy crumb that tasted rather harshly of paprika, an odd choice for a pork escalope. I queried our waitress and she realised her mistake so it was removed from our table and our bill.

Gratin Dauphinoise had pleasing creamy flavours but needed a little longer in the oven as the thinly sliced potato still had a hint of chalkiness. I also disapprove of the Gruyère cheese they added as felt like a cheat, good Dauphinoise doesn’t need it. I note however that Larousse Gastronomique and even Escoffier allow cheese in Dauphinoise, so I’m reluctantly willing to concede on this one.

Flâneur’s wine list was a choice of around eight wines on tap from Wine Lab, but I notice that this has since been increased to eleven with some better choices on offer now including an Albariño and a chilled Beaujolais. We opted for a 500ml Pichet of the Flâneur house red which was serviceable and relatively inexpensive at €21.95 (€33 per 75cl). There are also some fine wines offered by the bottle at ambitious prices (e.g. D. Arlaud Charmes Chambertin for €250).

For dessert, we shared a Crème Brûlée and a Chocolate Fondant, each costing a reasonable €6.95. The fondant oozed liquid chocolate appropriately and was easily the more successful of the two - the Crème Brûlée had a good crispy brûlée crust but could have done with a little more vanilla flavour.

Dublin has a noticeable shortage of good French Bistros so I had high hopes for Flâneur and I admit to being a little disappointed by my visit. It is early days however and Flâneur are keen to emphasise that the menu will change regularly — with some tweaks Flâneur could be a great addition to the city.

The Tab:

Dinner for three including Starters, Mains, Sides, and Desserts, plus two 500ml pichets of House Wine cost a reasonable €140.

The Verdict:

• Food: 6.5/10 
• Wine: 6.5/10 
• Service: 7.5/10 
• Ambience: 7.5/10 
• Value: 8/10 
• In a Sentence: Cut-price French ‘Bistro-ish’ food made with Irish ingredients - not every dish works but I’m hopeful things will improve soon.