Jammet deal

EATING OUT:Book in while you can for Balzac's excellent, good value table d'hote

SINCE TAKING over from The Tannery’s Paul Flynn three years ago, Malcolm Stramer has, for the most part, led a relatively hermetic existence at Balzac. That his cooking hasn’t been notable is not the reason; after a slow start, Stramer has progressively and consistently served up food befitting a perfectionist chef.

That below-the-radar status is about to change, however, as he teams up with long-time collaborator Richard Corrigan, who has been appointed creative director of Louis Murray’s La Stampa empire. Stramer worked with Corrigan for a number of years in London, launching Lindsay House in Soho with the ebullient chef, and the pair remain close acquaintances.

Corrigan wants to resurrect the spirit of Jammet's, a renowned Dublin restaurant that was established in 1900 on St Andrew Street by brothers Michel and François Jammet. Long story short, their restaurant was an institution until its closure in 1967 and was the forerunner for all subsequent Dublin haute cuisine. Haute cuisine? In 1900s Dublin? Surprisingly yes, and not faintly praised either; in 1928, Jammet's was described in Vogueas "one of Europe's best restaurants . . . crowded with gourmets and wits", where the "sole and grouse were divine".

A hard act to follow, yet Corrigan, as you may have already read, has the Jammet’s hype machine cranked. As talented as he is at sating the desires of fussy diners and crabby critics, he is just as accomplished when serving up sweet morsels to hungry journalists.

The renovation plans are comprehensive. A new oyster bar has been planned, the new menu is being written, and fixtures and fittings are already being delivered. But how does Balzac fare as it stands? Well, currently, the room is a bit of a scarlet woman, the colour scheme – in response to criticism that it was too dark – seems to have gone a mile, or two, too far in remedying the gloom. Peach, salmon, and splashes of institutional green is not everyone’s favourite colour combination. The ambience, however, is enhanced by soft candlelight and structurally, the room is a winner. But this still feels like a restaurant with an identity crisis, and giving it a ready-made one, albeit as pastiche, should help matters.

We ordered from the €25 table d’hote menu. To start, roast aubergine, lemon and basil soup for me, and free range chicken terrine, pistachio and sauce gribiche for my companion. The terrine was wonderful, an excellent composition, its velvet texture suggesting paté more than terrine. Accompanied by a well-judged gribiche, it left us wanting to consume this dish indefinitely – one the best examples I’ve had. The soup was also well-balanced, each element in harmony with the next, from basil and lemon high notes to its deep aubergine bass line.

My companion had the confit of Cherry Valley duck leg, with choucroute, honey and cinnamon as his main course. The duck, like much of the meat on the menu, is slow-cooked in a water bath and finished either on a pan or under the grill, a cooking method that suits duck legs particularly well. The result is great consistency. It also means tender, unusually moist meat that falls off the bone. My slow roast leg of rabbit, with gnocchi Parisienne, grain mustard and broad beans was also cooked to a tee. The accompanying gnocchi was beautifully lifted out of the banal by the addition of herbs and mustard grains. My only gripe with our main courses is that they were both served in bowls, plates would have made much more sense. We could have eaten more too, so perhaps a side order is advisable; the duck fat roast potatoes (€4.50) are good ballast.

Our sweet tooths were pleasured by a chocolate pot with espresso cream and chocolate brandy snap, and a lemon posset with blood orange, apricot and honey madeleines. Both were elegantly presented and distinctively flavoured.

Balzac is doing a wine of the month and we chose that in order to see how frugally we could dine. The Genius Loci Sangiovese 2005 (€24) was fine for the price. Had we wanted to push the boat out a little further, then the unoaked Alkoomi Chardonnay from Western Australia (€36) would have fitted the bill nicely, or perhaps the excellent Fillaboa Albariño (€52).

The €25 table d’hote at Balzac will probably not last too much longer, once the Jammet’s reincarnation opens, which is pencilled in for late summer. So get in there fast if you want to enjoy one of the best deals in the city, considering the table d’hote is available at all times, and is neither a dilution nor disimprovement of what’s on the a la carte. I am surprised this dining room is not heaving, every night.

Dinner for two with wine, coffee and a 12.5 per cent service charge came to €91.13.

ehiggins@irishtimes.com

Book it while you can

Balzac, 35 Dawson Street, Dublin 2,

tel. 01-6774444, lastampa.ie

Wheelchair Access:No

Coffee:Currently using Java beans, but subject to change; pricey

Music:Popular standards given the lounge treatment

Facilities:Spick and Span