Eatery 120, Ranelagh Restaurants, Dublin 6

It was a midweek night when I went to dinner with Gill Hall. I’d heard about a newish restaurant in Ranelagh called ‘Eatery 120’ and I’d cleverly deduced it could be found at 120 Ranelagh.

The menu looked interesting, there were things like ceviche - a South American dish of marinated fish pronounced seh-vee-chay, not seh-veesh, which I like, potted crab and three-cheese gnocchi. Obviously all-time favourites like grilled goat’s cheese and glazed pork belly are also listed, but there’s enough on the menu to titillate even jaded palates. In the main courses a pea and herb risotto looked inviting, as did ale-battered haddock.

We were shown to a table and then when the waitress came to take our order was I able to ask for a wine list. It’s a decent list with some fifty wines, reasonably priced and well-spread across the price range. If you had a few quid to spend there are some great reds to be had, an Amarone from Masi at €49, Marimar Torres Pinot Noir at €59 and the excellent Don Melchor from Chile at €69. We were both in the mood for white, so I ordered the Paddy Borthwick Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand at €31.

Our starters arrived, one of the day’s specials for Gill, carpaccio of tuna and swordfish, and the ceviche for me. Both of these dishes were very nicely presented, especially the carpaccio of tuna and swordfish, and they both tasted very good. If I were to be pedantic however, ceviche is normally presented with the fish quite finely diced, which allows the citrus marinade to permeate the dish more easily. Here the pieces of fish were quite big, prettily arranged, and somehow not quite as ceviche should be. Still, two very good starters.

For our main courses Gill had chosen the pea and herb risotto while I’d chosen the ale-battered haddock. Again both of these dishes were well made, carefully flavoured and very tasty. In truth the haddock I had in front of me was very probably the best piece of battered fish that I’ve ever had. I enjoyed a taste of Gill’s risotto too, but it was a little too much al dente for my taste. Let me stress this isn’t a major complaint, these two dishes were of a very high standard.

We had a little pause after this and then decided on a dessert between us. It was the champagne sabayon that tempted us and it was very good. A sabayon is essentially a zabaglione, so it’s a dish of flavoured egg yolks and sugar. We could actually taste the champagne, which for the chef is not the easiest of things to pull off. Two decent espressos finished this very well made meal.

Although the start had been a little shaky, either though understaffing or inexperience, the evening turned out to be enjoyable. The dining room has a casual, friendly feel to it and there’s no doubt the food is first class. Just like the opera juvenilia I described at the start of this review, you can tell that there’s a very good restaurant here despite the glitches. If Eatery 120 can keep up this standard of food and keep the prices as moderate as they are, I have no doubt that it will be another good restaurant to add to Ranelagh’s growing tally. The bill came to €107.65, excellent value for what we’d eaten.