green19

 

Have been hearing a great deal of positive chat about Green 19 lately so had to check it out while I was in Dublin this week.  It’s a pretty new restaurant on Camden Street right next door to Anseo- one of my favourite dublin boozers. The main “concept” is that it is possessed of a small menu of simple dishes that they do very well and very cheaply.  All mains are 10e or under, starters are €4, €5 or €6, desserts €5 and wine by the glass is €5 or €6. So you can basically have a starter, main, dessesrt + glass of wine for €25 if you chose carefully, or 2 courses + vino for €20.  Hard to beat.

There are 2 starters, 2 desserts, 7 official mains, 3 salads that can be served in starter or main sizes and a bunch of sandwiches and share plates.  So choice is limited but they do them very well indeed. There were two of us and we had a salad each to start (one was goats cheese and pear, the other cashel blue cheese and balck pudding- yum) thefor mains we picked a budget and chips and fish and chips and for dessert we had to have one each of the only choices- crumble and choc brownie.  Well it is only fair.

All in all the dishes were all good. Nothing extraordinary but good ingredients, well sourced and well presented. For that price you can’t do better.  

There are a lot of wines by the glass and the glass v’s bottle price is so reasonable that we were happy to have a glass or 2 each without buying a full bottle- ideal when I was on red and my mate was on white.

The staff were lovely, the place was absolutely packed with all sorts of friendly looking bright young things – same sort of crowd that you get at Cake Cafe 0r you might bump into in The Bernard Shaw or at  Solas- perhaps not surprising are both are within spitting distance and the managers of Green 19 did previously manage Solas.  

The space is great too, though we got stuck with a little squashed table as we’d omitted to book.  Make sure you book people.  It was a Thursday night at 6.30pm and recession aside this place was wedged. I was told it might be an hour and  half wait but I optimistically put my name and number down, lied to my friend (“it’ll be 30mins max- honest”) and decamped to Bernard Shaw for one of the best Gin and tonics I’ve had since bombay gin and fresh lime were invented.  Phone call came 1omins later. result.

So go to Green 19.  Eat cheaply and well (unless you are a vegetarian as they only options for you seem to be cheese plates or salads- some pastas for the veggies might be worth considering folks) and support these hopeful and brave individuals who have set up a new place when other places are shutting down, and who are finally listening to diners and providing cheap basic food. More please.