Bastible — Restaurant in Dublin

I've eaten here 3 times and each time it's gotten better. Originally, my biggest issue was the wine paring. I don't think they had a somellier, and many of the wines didn't match the dynamic of the meal. This previous time was much better. The food was better (September menu), especially the chicken which was probably the most perfectly cooked chicken I've had in my life. Seriously impressive for 80 Euros per person. The tasting menu at Bastible easily rivals international tasting menus at Michelin star restaurants. It isn't too adventurous, and it isn't too perfect - it's just right. My only criticism lies in dessert. Strawberries that aren't super flavourful, so accompanied with a berry sauce that would drown out any flavour of them anyway. Some bakes cakes which weren't perfect, but honestly an imperfectly baked madeline-type cake being a little too crusty is for me a good thing. The biggest disappointment was again the wine. It's priced fairly on the tasting menu, but they're all simple in taste and complexity but over-complex in their stories of how they got to the restaurant, which ends in a lot of chatter from the staff about wine distribution that I suppose is part of the show, but not nearly as interesting as the grape itself. I'll certainly be at Bastible again but I'll probably avoid the wine paring still until they have an in-house sommelier that'd take this restaurant to the next level quite dramatically. Otherwise, Bastible is good food, but a bit of a stringent night out. The energy in the restaurant is a little strange, with the service quite flat. It's unusual in my experience for a restaurant to not refill your glass between courses, but when I asked for another glass I was asked if I wanted to "order another glass of wine, when the next one is coming up quite soon". This was quite a weird thing to be confronted with, just because I'm used to service refilling glasses if you really appreciate a wine as recommended on the tasting menu. Because of how it's structured, the stringency in service makes it feel like you're trapped at their pace (you can't have another glass of wine while you wait, if you're done with your food and wine you're done until they're ready) which throws off the pace of the evening and damages the fluidity of the company you're with. In short, I honestly think Bastible is probably the most interesting restaurant in Dublin and the two or three things that could be improved wouldn't even hit the P&L too far. Let guests be jolly, refill their glasses, let their conversations flow while they wait for the next exciting course, and maybe really get in some interesting wines that are introduced by someone who is excited about them as you're meant to be while they're explained to you. This, and it's easily the best restaurant in Dublin -- and one I'll happily be proud to support as a local. Dublin needs this...

My friend and I visited Bastible last night as I look forward to visiting a Michelin-starred restaurant every time I visit a different country that has places on the Michelin Guide. I opted for Bastible after researching several places as their menu looked most exciting and I wanted something a bit more laid back.

The food was exciting and the atmosphere was peaceful! Definitely not very ritzy nor too casual; a complete blend of the two was exactly what we were looking for and Bastible delivered.

What was so disappointing, though, was the level of service (or lack thereof) that we received. My friend that accompanied me has a gluten allergy (something I mentioned in my first email to them when requesting a reservation) and our server seemed irritated when we made him aware of it. Don’t get me wrong, two of the other servers we had were enthusiastic, kind, and welcoming, but our primary server couldn’t get away from us fast enough after explaining each course. I also had to flag him down twice after finishing a course because we sat with our dishes for so long. I understand times get busy and people have bad days, but the restaurant wasn’t busy enough for the lack of service we received. Additionally, a 9-course tasting menu plus a cheese plate shouldn’t take 2.5 hours. Maybe if we had been checked in on, we could’ve kept things moving along. As a patron of many Michelin-rated places, the service level was shocking and overall very disappointing. These dinners are a huge luxury for someone like myself so leaving feeling disappointed or even like our server was annoyed by us was disheartening. We dressed the part, were courteous, and complimented each dish, but our server was overall very cold toward us.

Save your money and dine elsewhere. The Michelin scene in Ireland is exciting; you can do better at a different fine dining...

Was alright. Drinks were unimpressive, I had a port and tonic that managed to taste blander than any individual port or tonic water I've ever tried.

Started with scallops sitting on sauerkraut in broth. I'm not sure the combo was a hit, but I enjoyed scallop and sauerkraut individually so it was fine. Following was the poached oysters which were certainly a feat. They weren't sitting in any liquid and you could tell, they had an almost rubbery feel as if they were mussels instead? It was topped with sea kelp ice that really compounded the rubbery texture. My tablemates were not fans.

The confit potato with tartare and eel was excellent, the texture of the potatoes' soft insides and crispy exterior were very well balanced.

The courgette moment was definitely the star of the show. The veloute and the crispy cheese were perfectly balanced. If any dish in this place was worthy of Michelin attention it was this, no questions. 10/10. +1 star just for this dish, definitely worth a taste. Sourdough was also very good.

The smoked sea trout was fine. The crumpets and sauces were fine. The trout was served as one piece for the table to share. Chicken was also good, there was a main dish breast accompanied by korean style bites. It wasn't particularly memorable.

The strawberries were good, the meadowsweet cream that accompanied them was well balanced. My tablemates hated the jam doughnuts that accompanied them. Petit fours were good.

Staff weren't very friendly and service was spotty, we finished pretty early and watched them dodge eye contact as they gave the check to basically every other table. Overall an interesting experience but I'll be going elsewhere when I visit...