Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud

For many Dublin food lovers and visitors to the city, RPG - Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud - remains the ultimate big night out. Leslie Williams dusted down the good suit and went along to Merrion Street.

Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud has a lot to live up to. To many it is the best restaurant in the country while others hate almost everything about RPG - including the dreadful clubby abbreviation (you can easily imagine a conversation in a boardroom somewhere… "had some DRC with the MD at RPG last night…").

Personally I have always been determined to remain open minded. I have had very pleasant lunches there but I have always avoided dinner for fear that I would be disappointed. Not by the food, but by the other myriad elements that one expects from a night out in a good restaurant.

On arrival we opted to stay in the lounge for our aperitifs (two kir - light on cassis, just as I requested), which were served with a small selection of hors d'oeuvre including a very tasty lamb brochette (think merguez in spring roll pastry but much more subtle) and a number of morsels with flavours such as black olives and roasted red pepper. Honourable mention also to the tiniest carrot I have ever seen (think sewing needle).

The menu at RPG includes all the fine dining staples such as foie gras, lobster, oysters, caviar, game, turbot, scallops, sweetbreads and crubeens (almost a fine dining cliché).

The first surprise of the night was the fact that there is no table d'hote menu in the evening. While we were digesting this piece of information we were kindly offered two (free) glasses of very tasty Champagne that softened the blow (Piper-Heidsieck, I presume - the House Champagne).

Once we had decided on our food order a courteous and supremely informed sommelier arrived and tweaked my wine suggestions, including a gentle push upwards (€16) on my chosen red to the special cuvée version, and a strong warning for a light hand with the lemon confit that would accompany my main.

Our second surprise of the night followed as we were seated at the worst table in the house, right by the constantly used (and very squeaky) steps between the restaurant and bar area. Call me naïve but I don't believe there should be any bad tables in a restaurant of this status. I gallantly swapped seats to take the brunt of the noise and although this was remarked upon by our waiter we were not offered a new table (in retrospect we should have asked to be moved).

Potato and Truffle Soup with Alba Truffle Gnocchi and Perigore Truffle Coulis (the bargain starter at €28) was beautifully presented and tasted light and delicate with an almost sublime, subtle, potato flavour. My sommelier-recommended glass of "vieilles vignes" Pinot Blanc was also a nigh-on perfect match.

I loved the soup, but the gnocchi left me rather cold and the truffle flavours were so muted I struggled to find them and resorted to nibbling on any black specs I could find.

Lobster Ravioli was one piece of perfectly cooked lobster in light-as-a-feather pasta; but the subtleties promised on the menu such as Coconut Scented Lobster Cream and Olive Oil Flavoured with "Kari" added very little that either of us could detect. I defer to Caitríona on this one; "€45 is enough to fill my car with petrol; now, it tasted nice, but for one piece of lobster ravioli the quality should be enough to make me hesitate which to choose."

Veal Sweetbread & Liquorice (€48) was perfectly caramelised and cooked but again I thought the liquorice flavour in the sauce would be more to the fore. A lemon confit condiment cut perfectly through the sweet nutty flavours but did indeed need to be used judiciously so as not to affect the wonderful Madiran -Dom. Berthoumieu, Cuvee Charles de Batz 2000 (€54).

Caitriona's Squab Pigeon with Savoy Cabbage and Panfried Foie Gras (€45) was all perfectly cooked (and a perfect match for the wine) and I would not have found fault. However C. felt it was missing a certain indefinable something.

Our pre-dessert of iced coffee jelly with a white chocolate foam was probably our favourite course of the night - a delicious combination that left us wanting a bowlful.
C's cheese (supplied by Sheridans) was in perfect condition and my Assiette of Chocolate was also very good, if in need of some extra contrasts. My glass of Mas Amiel, (sweet Maury VDN) was served a little warm for my taste but was just about able to cope. Petit fours and coffee were as good as they should be.

In conclusion there were indeed many good things about our experience. RPG's Manager. Stephane Robin is a master at his job and did make us feel as welcome and comfortable as he possibly could (given where we were sitting) and generally staff were helpful, especially the sommelier.

I do find the dining room difficult to warm to as I feel the high ceiling sucks up atmosphere (and C. just hated the lounge area), and I also wish they would get rid of the Cloches - one almost expects to hear Ta Daaa!! as the courses are revealed.

The total bill came to €322 to which we felt obliged to add a token tip of €20 in the space provided. Bottom line for me was this just seemed too much money for a less that perfect experience.

I will leave the last word to Caitriona: "An opportunity to have dinner at RPG was anticipated with not a little trepidation - something along the lines of an interview for a great job that I didn't really want, and I spent the rest of the weekend feeling mildly traumatised."

Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, 21 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 Tel: 01-676 4192

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