Sushi for the Irish palate lets the good times roll

In a very modern sense, there’s a bit of a mystery about Lee Sun, the new Dun Laoghaire restaurant. It doesn’t seem to have any online presence just now and if I hadn’t gone and tried it myself I might have difficulty in believing that it exists. So, how did I know about it? Well, anyone who wants to keep abreast of what’s happening in Dublin in terms of restaurants, cafés, takeaways, food trucks and what have you, needs to keep in touch with allthefood.ie, run by Lisa Katie Cope and a few stalwart colleagues. It was here that I heard of Lee Sun. They write: ‘We have tried to get any information on this one, so other than showing up and banging on the door we’re going off what’s online – which isn’t much. Lee Sun is a new restaurant in Dun Laoghaire opened by a guy called Eric who’s described as the “alchemist of Dun Laoghaire”, and has apparently devoted 20 years to the craft…’

Well, that was more than what I managed to find online but, undaunted, I made my way to Dun Laoghaire armed with a fairly considerable lunchtime appetite. Thankfully it wasn’t necessary to bang on the doors, all of which were commendably wide open. Lee Sun is a big restaurant, expensively kitted out in slightly garish but nonetheless striking taste, and it’s reassuringly well ventilated.

And there was Eric, I assume, beaming as he made sushi to order. It seems that Lee Sun bills itself as a sushi and bubble tea establishment that also does a minor line in noodles and a very major one in cakes: elaborate, gloriously decorated confections in the colourful and meticulous Chinese tradition. I should add that the croissants on display are very much the real deal.

Now, when I was a small boy there was an ad on Telefís Éireann, as it was called in those far-off days, promoting stuff called Amicardo, The Irish Sherry, which was made on Thomas Street from grape concentrate by Millar’s (which also did a big trade in similarly produced altar wine). The strap line, enunciated in a fruity voice, not unlike that of the late Charles

Mitchel, was: ‘Amicardo. Specially blended for the Irish palate.’ This was as clear a warning to lovers of real sherry as they could wish for.

I have a feeling that Eric is gearing his sushi towards the kind of Irish palate that doesn’t much relish raw fish, even wrapped up in a seaweed roll containing a lot of sticky rice. He may be on to something.

I should stress that there was nothing wrong with our sushi, they were just a bit strange. They cost €8.80 for eight generous slices of sushi roll, which represents a lot of food for your money. The ‘special vegan’ version was rather good, using avocado, cucumber, pickled radish, kanpyo (a kind of dried gourd) and something called ‘inani’, plus a lemon miso dressing. Fresh, crunchy, tasty.

Mustard king prawn tempura was pleasant, if a bit weird. The prawn was joined by some carrot, cucumber, daikon radish and, bizarrely, a honey mustard dressing. It was fine, just, well, not exactly

ELABORATE, GLORIOUSLY DECORATED CONFECTIONS IN THE CHINESE TRADITION

chiming with my experience – limited as it is – of sushi.

Our third sushi was grilled duck with mango, cucumber and pickled radish and was perfectly pleasant. The only raw fish we could detect on the menu was smoked salmon. The tuna was ‘cooked’, the other salmon version ‘fried’.

We skirted the bao buns, having loaded up on rice with all this sushi, and headed for the braised pork soup bowl with noodles (€14.50). Very good noodles they were too, suitably slippery and slurpy.

Their broth was bland until fortified with a good dash of soya sauce, the pork plentiful, tender, pulled and seasoned with five spice and, I think, hoisin.

Tempted as we were to try the sweet offerings, we had consumed a lot of food at this stage, most of it refined carbs, and we shared a little pastry sphere containing a combination of poppy seeds, pepper and salt. Definitely different and quite pleasant.

In all, with plenty of mineral water, coffees and a green tea, the bill came to €56.50 for much more food than we could eat. So, Lee Sun scores on generosity (and very friendly and welcoming service) even if the sushi are not what we’re used to in Dublin. I do hope that they start doing sashimi – those thin slices of the highest grade raw fish – in time. That would draw me back. Not so much the savoury stuff on offer now, but there’s no doubt that it’s a fun place with a touch of eccentricity. Life would be dull without places like this.