[Food review] The Vintage Kitchen, Dublin, Ireland

I usually plan what to eat on holiday by TripAdivisoring - I start from the highest ranked, eliminate those that I can't afford or can't reach, then pick a handful to visit. And I've chosen to write my first blog post on this restaurant because I feel it was the best meal Mr B and I had during our 4-day trip to Dublin!

Originally we planned to visit this restaurant with Mr B's friend, Miss K. Miss K and Mr B met on the streets (literally) as Miss K was spreading the word of God. Mr B started going to church to learn more about God but since he moved he's not been to church again and they haven't really been in contact. So Miss K is like...an ex-church friend I guess. 

Anyway, Miss K is in Ireland for the year to study and Mr B thought it would be a good idea to meet up with her over some food. Miss K told us that her class finishes at 12. We spent the whole morning in the hotel doing nothing because we didn't want to miss her whatsapp/facebook message and guess what she told Mr B just before 1300. 'I'm wrecked - slept at 4 am last night; can we do dinner instead? I'm free after 8 pm.' 

I felt like smashing her face in with a pillow. :P

So it is with a fuming heart that we entered this charming little restaurant located on the south bank just off the River Liffey. Having read reviews on TripAdvisor saying they had to book months in advance, I was a little worried since we didn't book. Luckily, there were a couple of tables free when we went in at about 1315.

The restaurant doesn't sit that many people and there's not much room between tables. But I've seen worse so it didn't bother me too much.


The waitress quickly got us seated and got us menus and water. The menu was similar but not exactly the same as the one on their website. Fortunately, the slow roasted lamb shank that I was after was on the menu! :D 'Small plates' and desserts were all €5 and mains were all €10 except the lamb shank, which was €16. But who cares, we're on holiday for god's sake!

I also decided that I HAVE to have dessert then and told Mr B so as he usually doesn't let me.
And after a 20-minute wait (which the waitress did warn me about)...tada! My beautiful lamb shank!

Slaney river slow roasted lamb shank, root vegetable puree, star anise gravy & roasted baby potatoes 

I couldn't wait to tuck into the meat, which was juicy and fall-apart-tender. The outermost layer was more 'stringy' than I would have liked, but I imagine that's an inevitable quality of roasted meat. The baby potatoes were cooked well - a crispy coat outside yet nice and fluffy in the middle. The star anise gravy was unusual but complimented the meat perfectly. The cherry tomatoes were good for taking away the heaviness of the dish when I took small breaks from eating. (It's quite a large dish!) Everything was flavoured just right.

A close-up photo of the meaty goodness

Mr B's risotto. I don't remember what it's called except it has bacon inside... It was tasty but no match for my lamb shank I'm afraid.

Warm chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream

The only other choice on the menu was lemon panna cotta, I was actually more interested in that but since Mr B doesn't take lemony things, we settled for the chocolatey option. The waitress complimented our choice of chocolate pudding with 'it's SO good', but I regretted not having chosen the panna cotta after tasting the chocolate pudding. It's not that the pudding wasn't good; it's just that to me, all chocolate pudding taste really similar :S I'm yet to taste a really good or really bad chocolate pudding. And the liquidy centre was too sweet for both of us.

So the meal came to €31 for both of us, and I thought it was very good value considering the portions; I didn't have to have dinner. The extra €6 for the lamb shank was worth every penny and I strongly recommend it.

The Vintage Kitchen
7 Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2

Tuesday - Friday 

11.45am - 2.30pm for lunch

Tuesday - Saturday
5pm - 10pm for Dinner 

Visited in March, 2014.