Hawksmoor: "There are few dining experiences in Dublin to match it"

If there’s a dining-room more magnificent in Dublin, I’ve yet to see it. With its 40-foot cast-iron dome, equally dramatic Corinthian columns, elaborate Victorian plasterwork, gleaming copper fixtures and parquet wood floors, Hawksmoor manages to look as sumptuous as its award-winning food tastes.

Opening six months ago in what was formerly the National Bank building on College Green, Hawksmoor has quickly established itself as a destination restaurant which lavishes as much love on its fish, seafood and vegetarian dishes as it does those char-grilled to perfection steaks sourced from small Irish community farmers.

When we pop in for Thursday lunch, the 150-seater room is buzzing with a cosmopolitan mix of dining couples, groups of work colleagues, students from nearby Trinity College celebrating their graduations with their families and overseas visitors, many of whom have doubtless been lured in by that Best Steakhouse In Europe gong.

The choice of starters being too agonising we ask the chef to pick for us and are delighted we did when Steak Tartare with Sourdough Toasts; Andarl Farm Pork Belly Ribs; Ash-Baked Beetroot with Pickled Fennel and Horseradish; Kylemore Caesar with Cantabrian Anchovies; and Duncannon Smoked Salmon with Guinness Bread are delivered to our table by Tessa, one of the head waiters whose pride in the food is tangible.

Topped with raw egg yolk, the Steak Tartare is as juicy, tender and, well, meaty as all great tartares must be; the rare breed Andarl belly pork is beautifully caramelised and falls off the bone; the sweetness of the beetroot is perfectly offset by the heat of the horseradish; the Caesar Salad is a riot of bold flavours with the saltiness of the anchovies really cutting through.

The star turn, though, is that organic salmon from down Wexford way, which is accompanied by a generous dollop of garlicky soft cheese and the rich, malty homemade Guinness bread, which has become something of a Hawksmoor signature.

There’s a little bit of food envy when we see our neighbours tucking into their Dublin Bay Monkfish and Ballylisk Wellington mains, but that disappears when our charcoal-grilled fillet of steak is delivered to our table with a theatrical flourish.

It’s a stunning cut of grass-fed beef, cooked rare and accompanied by a big piece of grilled bone marrow, which we’re advised to slather onto our steak. It’s a good call!

We’ve had great steaks let down by so-so sides, but not today with the Triple-Cooked Chips subscribing to Heston Blumenthal’s ‘glass-like crust and a soft, fluffy centre’ ethos; the peppercorn sauce packing just the right punch; the inclusion of Young Buck stilton adding a unique Irish twist to the Hollandaise; and Macaroni Cheese and Creamed Spinach the dictionary definition of comfort food.

Having enjoyed a crisp glass of Austrian Loimer Extra Brut Reserve with our starters, we go the red route for mains with Hawksmoor’s own La Rosa Douro, a Portuguese red with bold dark fruit flavours, perfectly complimenting our steak,

There always being room for dessert, we share a Peanut Butter Louis, Hawksmoor’s six-layered take on a Monte Carlo classic, which is as wondrous as the homemade salted caramel ice cream served with it. What’s more 50¢ from every Louis – and they sell a lot of them! – goes to assist Dublin Simon Community in their working with the homeless.

Cocktails are a big thing at Hawksmoor with the sharp-dressed Darren Geraghty and his team mixing, shaking, stirring and muddling up such signature creations as the Gold Fashioned, AKA Teeling Single Grain Whiskey, Kerrygold, Coconut, Camomile and Salted Honey. Unconventional, yes, but also seriously delicious!

For all of its culinary and sartorial splendour, Hawksmoor can be extraordinarily good value with a Monday-Saturday until 6pm Express Menu – you have to try the Baked Sea Bream – that’s €29 for two courses and €33 for three.

Sunday Roast aficionados can enjoy a Dry-Aged Rump with all the trimmings up until 5pm for just €23, and Monday is Bring Your Own Vino night with just €5 corkage on any bottle.

Add in some choice tunes – whoever included Cake’s rocked up version of Gloria’s ‘I Will Survive’ on the Hawksmoor soundtrack deserves a pay-rise! – and there are few dining experiences in Dublin to match it.

Hawksmoor, 34 College Green, Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 485 4720
Hawksmoor.ie