thedublingobbler appears to be one of the few fans of the Saddle Room, the landmark restaurant at the Shelbourne Hotel, certainly among the food writing fraternity or if anecdotal comments are anything to go by. However, given that we are food critics, it is with great sadness and regret that we say it is not because the food is excellent, the oysters being the rare exception.
So why do we eat there and spend our good money?
There are days when you are meeting someone in town and you just think, buggar it where will we go. The Shelbourne. It’s perfect. City centre location, an elegant bar with a view of Stephen’s Green, a good glass of white wine to be had in the bar, nibbles on the counter, lots of skinny women dressed from Brown Thomas, it’s full of energy and incident and it’s never dull. Whose got an expense account? OK, let’s spend it. Plus the seats are comfortable.
So now, there we are perched on a bar stool wondering where to eat. It’s just a short hop to the restaurant when you realise that neither of you has booked a table anywhere else. Town Bar & Grill is close by but you would have to leave the premises and when are carrying half a glass of wine in your hand, it’s as easy to meander into the Saddle Room, ask the plump chap at the door can you have a table in a restaurant (and you usually can as it’s never full) and bob’s your uncle.
The Saddle Room is a funny mix of decorating styles: dark wood, gold lamé booths, alcoves that feel like private dining rooms. They have tablecloths and heavy cutlery and all the props that make you feel secure. The menu is kind of surf’n'turf with a scattering of South Dublin food thrown in. The starters include the essential Caesar Salad, Fried Oysters, Smoked Salmon, a salad, seafood chowder and an onion soup. They have the best oysters in Dublin (we may be biased because no-one else serves them). Clare Atlantic, Carlingford, Galway and French Claire. Heaven. The best thing about this restaurant are the oysters and they became not just addictive, but the compelling reason for eating here.
The mains offer steak, roast chicken (it used to be brined overnight in seaweed and herbs), a burger, tiger prawns, salmon. The steak comes on one of those Staub cast iron platters and sometimes the steak is hot but not the platter, or the platter is hot but not the steak (if it has just been taken from the fridge). We gave ours back once and they took two bottles of wine off the bill, but only because we (thedublingobbler is a female turkey) were dining with two men in expensive suits. The maitre D. seeks out the male gaze even if you are a woman and paying. He apologised for the overdone steak to both of the men who were not eating it, and only including the gobbler when he had no choice but to.
The food is not cheap – between 10-15 euro for a starter, 23-29 euro for a steak and the best value is the burger at 17 plus euro (fries included). The house wine is fine and there is no stigma in ordering it. But if you choose the right thing, root out a reasonably priced wine from the rather expensive wine list, you can indulge yourself in what is an oasis in the city and feel that you are in a private club atmosphere without having to fork out the annual membership fee. Definitely worth doing once in this historic hotel.
However, when you’ve been there about ten times as the dublingobbler has, the food becomes monotonous and we have to leave a gap before we can bear it again. But soon, we’ll be sitting at the bar, too lazy to make a booking somewhere else and we’ll end up back on a banquette giving out about the lack of choice. On Friday nights, you can see the size zero models falling off seats at the oyster bar after quaffing too much champagne. Make sure to ask for the worst seat in the house by the door so you have a good view.
The Saddle Room, The Shelbourne Dublin, 27 St Stephen’s Green Dublin 2. Tel:+353 (0)1 663 450
Filed under: Restaurants and Cafés
