Caviston’s retains its seafood flair – with a new sheen

Caviston’s has long been a gem in South County Dublin, both a legendary fishmonger and, for the past couple of decades, a seafood restaurant that has always embraced the idea that first class raw materials need very little working on in the kitchen.

Until recently, the small dining room has sat alongside the shop – which deals in much more than just the creatures of the deep. But now, there’s a spanking new, expensively fitted out standalone establishment just a few doors up the road towards Dalkey.

This is a time when opening even a fairly basic restaurant takes a lot of courage and, indeed, faith. This is assuaged, for Caviston’s, by the fact that Glasthule’s hinterland is home to a very well-heeled population, many of whom are better insulated than many against the cost-of-living crisis that still rages.

The new restaurant is magnificent and I tremble to think what it must have cost. Add to that the huge rises in energy costs and it’s a wonder that starters range from ‘only’ €11 to €18 and seafood mains from €26 to €33. Okay, the fillet beef is €38, but who in their right mind would come here and eat meat? I’m told that some of the prices have come down a little, having been rather more ambitious at first.

We started with roast scallops, tomato and apple, coral sauce (€18). Four plumps scallops were thoroughly seared outside and just done, to the nanosecond, within. This is what you expect from a kitchen that knows how to handle seafood with the respect it deserves. The tomato and apple, as a little concasse, provided fruity sharpness as foil to the richness of the scallops and, more particularly, to the coral sauce, a deep, earthy, brown, deliciously sticky affair.

This, for me, is the way to use scallop coral; it can be a bit overwhelming in its naked state.

Our other starter was almost as simple: sautéed wild prawns, ravioli, dillisk butter (€16). The single raviolo – how good to see the correct use of the word, not ravioli! – might have been silkier but the prawn filling was generous and full of flavour, three fat prawns surrounded it and the rich, clinging dillisk butter added a further taste of the sea.

Onwards to mains. Catch of the day, lentils, cavolo nero, bacon (€26) featured a fine fat plaice, simply cooked as you would expect, and perfectly done. It came with a combination that I cook myself at home, a thoroughly savoury combination of lentils, onion, garlic and finely diced bacon, although I usually serve it with confit duck legs. Buttery, tender cavolo nero, or Tuscan kale as it’s sometimes called, completed a very tasty, if rather dark – tending towards black – picture.

Hake, bouillabaisse sauce, rouille (€28) was an impressive dish. Fish à point, naturally, the sauce thick and intense, the rouille – an emulsion of egg, olive oil and saffron – was properly thick, its saffron element subtle and not at all dominant. Saffron needs to be handled with care, otherwise it can smell of dry

CATCH OF THE DAY FEATURED A FINE FAT PLAICE, SIMPLY COOKED AS YOU’D EXPECT

cleaning, as the late great Alistair Little has pointed out. This was a welcome, sunny, Provençale dish in the depths of winter.

One side dish was more than ample and rather good, going way beyond its menu description of mixed leaves and shaved vegetables. Colourful and well dressed as it was, I managed to snaffle only a mouthful as the rest was being devoured by a ravenous 14-year-old boy, son of my dining companion, who dropped in to say hello (or so he claimed).

There were only two desserts on offer, so naturally we had both. Caramel tart, chocolate ganache and ice cream (€8.50) didn’t quite equal the rest of the rest of the dishes but pistachio financier, strawberry consomée, mascarpone (€9) was ace. A financier is like a less risen madeleine, incidentally. As Michael Caine might say, not a lot of people know that – and I’ll admit to having had to look it up in my trusty copy of Larousse Gastronomique.

Our dinner was on a Thursday evening and SoCoDu was out in force. Judging by how full the place was, this part of the country is as affluent as ever.

So how to sum up. The new Caviston’s is quite polished in every sense. The sensitive way with seafood still prevails although there seems to be a bit more ambition at play. I have to confess that I miss the somewhat rubbed-at-the-edges decor and conspicuous simplicity of what was on offer there.

That, and the considerably larger than life personality of Peter Caviston who, no doubt, will continue to manifest himself from time to time in the new gaff.

Upstairs is a less formal room where no doubt the Prosecco gluggers will feel right at home with platters to share.

There’s a fabulous porthole window with cleverly exaggerated perspective. You certainly didn’t get that in the old place.