Locks Brasserie in Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Locks Brasserie in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. - ★ June 2015
*Locks Brasserie was award a star only in 2013 and has lost it

A long and grueling year has finally ended for me. Year 4 was always said to be the toughest out of the 5 years in medical school. And now that I have been put through 4 weeks of hell/exams, it is time tor reward my tummy before I leave.

I have tried Locks Brasserie's sister restaurant, Pearl Brasserie, which was located in the city. It wasn't a bad experience, the restaurant was really fancy as compared to Locks's. Food wise, was rather decent, what I love most from there was their Ponzo cod fish. It was really good. Anyway, Locks Brasserie was awarded a michelin star in 2013 and has lost it since, but I thought it should be still written down as who knows when they will get it back again?

Locks Brasserie's location itself was not really friendly. It is about a 20 mins walk from the city itself and that it was in a residential area. The place itself was slightly sketchy, or maybe I'm just not familiar with the area (Portobello).

The restaurant from the outside

I wasn't impressed at all when I first found the restaurant. It looks rather amateurish to me. Not until I walked into it and the interior of it is beautiful.

The interior

Panorama view of the restaurant's interior

Bread and butter

I can't really remember what bread the lovely waitress said it was, but it was really good. And that it was warm and nice. The bag had like beans or something inside which kept the bread warm. I'm a sucker for carbs, so when I say it is nice, it is.

Appetizer: Manchego custard, tomato jelly, cucumber, pine nuts

The appetizer was really refreshing. The cucumber and custard goes really well together and with the additional texture of the pine nuts was amazing. I just didn't quite like the jelly and felt it was a little weird. But other than that, it was good!

First course: Charred cured salmon, kohlrabi, avocado puree, buttermilk snow, grapefruit

First course: Charred cured salmon, kohlrabi, avocado puree, buttermilk snow, grapefruit

The salmon was so fresh and was cooked really really well. The avocado puree was perfect with the salmon and that the grapefruit was a nice ending to the dish. Really well cooked salmon.

Second course: Ray, cauliflower miso, raisins and capers, wild aspargus

Second course: Ray, cauliflower miso, raisins and capers, wild aspargus

Second course: Ray, cauliflower miso, raisins and capers, wild aspargus

Second course: A side of potato croquette and green beans topped with brown butter sauce and nuts

The rays were a-ma-zing. I love stingrays (that is what we called them back home) in Singapore, the grilled sambal style stingyrays, but this was probably better than that. What really surprised me that there was scallop and even a side! It wasn't listed in their menu, so it was really a pleasant surprise. I really love how the whole dish came together. The rays with the raisins to add the sweetness to it. The vegetables were beautifully seasoned. It was really really good.

Desserts: Poached mixed berries, lemon, coconut, shortbread

I felt the presentation of the dessert was really lacking. It was odd and wasn't centralized. The berries were sweet and fresh, but what over empowered the whole dish was the passion fruit sorbet. Which again, wasn't stated in the menu. But the taste of the passion fruit was actually really strong that I felt didn't compliment well together with the rest of the dish. The coconut mousse was really good together with the lemon curd.

Overall, I really like this place a lot. A total of 35 euros for a 3 (or actually 4) course meal. It wasn't a bad pricing. What really surprise me is that there were more food than what it is stated in the menu. The portions were good and it was filling. The waitress there was really friendly and kept talking to me too, which was lovely as I was dining alone. A great place to come back to! The location just isn't really that good.