Restaurant review: Dublin 2's Unicorn proves that sometimes, nostalgia is what it used to be
Old The Of Restaurant Kristan Interior Burness' Unicorn New
- Unicorn Restaurant by Kristan Burness
- Merrion Court, Merrion Row, Dublin 2, D02
- Open: Lunch, Wed - Sat: 12-2.30pm; Dinner: Mon-Sat: 5-9.30pm
- The bill: Dinner for two including starters, a shared pasta, two mains, a shared dessert and a bottle of wine cost €204.50
Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. Almost nothing in the past was better except perhaps the internet before social media.
Do we need a restaurant that thrived from the emigrating ’80s to the boomy 2000s revived? I visited the new Unicorn to find out.
The Unicorn first opened in 1938 (other sources say later), and is credited with introducing pasta to Ireland.
Its proximity to the Taoiseach’s office and Dáil Éireann gave it notoriety but prior to that it was more a literary hangout it seems (Mary Lavin, Ben Kiely, etc).
In the 1990s I worked part time on a political newsletter run by a lobbyist, and she would take me there for boozy lunches.
It was quite normal to spot the likes of PJ Mara or Brian Cowen having lunch, and you felt deals were being done.
The atmosphere was boisterous and it really did feel like the centre of Ireland’s political universe.
Having witnessed the excesses of the boom years it hung on until 2013 before closing its doors. One of its last chefs was Kristan Burness, and last month he reopened it again.
I visited on a busy Thursday evening in November just a week or two after they reopened.
It felt immediately recognisable, the same bar at the front and the same bare floorboards but with a new dark stain and the same dividing partition splitting the dining room.
No politicians this time (they were all out canvassing), but the simple decor, the hubbub and the animated conversations throughout the room were all comfortingly familiar.
The menu also looked familiar with a mix of Italian classics and comforting words such as ‘ragù’, ‘burrata’, and ‘cacciatore’.
Gratis slices of lightly toasted fluffy focaccia with a pungent garlic butter got our appetites nicely into gear — a mid meal ‘bread course’, as is the fashion these days, would be entirely out of place here.
Wild boar polpette (€16) also tasted familiar, not because I remembered the dish but because it tasted so good: all the best tasting food evokes memory and emotions.
The Engineer’s ‘bruschetta di granchio’ (€22) was the same focaccia with which we began the meal piled an inch high with fresh Annagassan crab.
Micro herbs, hazelnuts, and lime zest broadened the flavours and a light avocado sauce added some depth.
From a choice of three pastas (or a fresh truffle and mushroom risotto) we opted to share a ragù di cervo (€26), finely chopped Wicklow deer slow cooked for hours with tomatoes and soffritto until all the flavours had magically melded — topped with rocket and parmesan of course.
The fresh cut pappardelle was a little less slippery than I like but was a solid B-plus all the same. Be warned that the pasta courses are enormous, sharing is advised.
Hake fillet (€34) flaked nicely with a translucent centre and was served with a mound of crunchy samphire and a nicely balanced lobster sauce. Less successful was the ‘calamari crocchetta’ as I found the spicing rather out of balance giving it a harsh flavour.
DRY aged beef fillet (€45) arrived rare and tender. the wild mushroom, shallot and pancetta ragù beneath it adding heft.
Truffle mash was smooth and comforting and had clearly been made with fresh truffle rather than evil synthetic truffle oil.
The Unicorn’s wine list is short with just 10 whites and 12 reds and prices ranging from €31 to €210. I am guessing this is not the finished list; it needs work and more interesting choices.
Our bottle of Nero d’Avola from Villa Tonda (not ‘Tola’ as listed on the menu) was just about serviceable. For €39 I expected better. The entry level Montepulciano d’Abruzzo could also be improved upon.
For dessert we were offered a choice of tiramisu (of course) or chocolate fondant. We went with the latter as it was clearly our waiter’s favourite.
What arrived was a slice of rich chocolate tart rather than a traditional fondant, but we didn’t mind at all as this was dense and lush, packed with complex high cacao chocolate flavours and a fine way to finish.
It was early days when we visited and some kinks were still being worked out I felt, but this was overall an enjoyable meal and I would be tempted to return. Sometimes a bit of nostalgia is no harm at all.
- Food: 8/10
- Wine: 7/10
- Service: 8/10
- Atmosphere: 8/10
- Value: 7/10