Much derided for profiteering during our age of plenty, the restaurant industry is having to strip back and get creative as belts tighten. Odessa has been at the fore of this new value-for-money spirit and there has been quite a bit of buzz about their Fivers menu - a refreshingly straightforward idea where generous tapas-styple plates are served at, that's right, E5 each. And it appears that where efforts like this are being made by restaurants, diners are being responsive.
The first impression that struck me arriving in Odessa, mid-week early in March, was nostalgia. The full dining-room, hearty laughter, high spirits, tables heavy with assorted dishes and plentiful plonk all screamed, "Recession. What Recession?" While outside Rome burns and Cowen fiddles, within the cocoon of the Odessa dining room diners ate, drank and made merry like t'were early 2008.
Initially guided to an awkward table in the thick of the crowd, on request we were happily reassigned to a cosy berth by the window with no qualms, not always the customary response of a busy restaurant that would much rather you sat where they had put you and you were least likely to linger longer than was profitable. This pleasant service was maintained for the evening - our waitress disarmingly charming, knowledgeable about the menu and helpful but unobtrusive throughout. Cold tap-water arrived at the table with the menus; bread coming shortly thereafter. In sporting parlance, we were off to a flyer.
Glancing about the room we readily decided that two of the Fiver plates may not be enough to fill us individually but three may have been too much. Between the two of us then, the Med-Head and I, we picked five plates (are you detecting a theme?) from among the 12 or so on offer, a selection which ranges widely across cuisines and should keep most happy.
First up, on the express recommendation of our waitress, was the Brandade - an intensely fishy salt-cod puree. The concentration of the fish flavour was cut through to some extent by fresh herbs (dill certainly and others too) but the portions were off with too much puree and not enough bread for dipping. Less would have been more and, taking a few solo spoonfuls, the sensation was much the same I would imagine as sucking on a fisherman's tackle. Not one for the faint-hearted.
Sticking with the surf, salt and pepper calamari arrived next and were a shining example of how something so familiar, in the right hands, can be a rare treat. A judiciously seasoned crust gave way to thin cirlces of squid that had bite but were never chewy - snatched from the oil at precisely the right moment. This plate challenged the sharing ethos of the meal and the Med-Head proved himself the bigger man by leaving the last ring to me.
Mushrooms with garlic and thyme were probably the weakest element of the meal, over seasoned and over-cooked, the little button mushrooms too meagre and shrivelled. A lighter hand and a bigger, more flavourful mushroom is needed to balance the flavours in the dish. A small antipasti plate of olives, artichokes and peppers hinted at good sourcing of ingredients.
The chicken leg confit took an age to arrive, probably a good sign, but was a bit on the plain side and would have benefitted from something wet alongside the solitary poultry leg. The confit istelf was technically flawless, crisp outside like a winter morning; the meat within giving way to the fork like soft earth to shovel. The same skills are brought to bare on the impeccable duck confit on the main diner menu.
With two espressos and a drinkable, if forgetable, bottle of house red the bill came to E48.90 without service. When you consider your typical three course set menu weighing in at about the E25 mark before drinks, the Fivers menus offers a novel and economical alternative dinner for two. In the coming months our new economic gradient is likely to sort the restaurant wheat from the chaff. On this evidence a table at Odessa seems as good a place as any to wait out the last days of the Celtic Empire.
Odessa
14 Dame Court, D2
+ 353 (0)1 6707634
www.odessa.ie
info@odessa.ie
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