Robust. It’s such a good, chewy word, isn’t it? Seamus Heaney could get the iambic pentameters flowing with a term like ‘robust’. Justin Green, a man who knows a bon mot when he finds one, describes the Chop House food as ‘Traditional robust Irish food. Sourced locally, served simply’. That’s what they do in the Chop House, where that gifted young cook, Robbie Krawczyk, has charge of the kitchens. But before we discuss Robbie’s work, we must mention that the bar in the Chop House is one of our favourite places in the world to have an aperitif.
It is such a peach of a place that it can be hard to drag yourself to the table, but then further delights await there, in a gorgeous, clubby room – Kilmore quay scallops with Caherbeg black pudding; saddleback pork chop with sage and garlic butter; McGrath’s hanger steak with baked bone marrow; blackberry and autumn raspberry mess; lemon posset with ginger shortbread. Our last dinner was one of the brightest eating highlights of 2011, and yet one senses that for the Chop House crew, this gig is only starting, and that something special, unique and wild lies ahead.
