Restaurant review: Hera is another culinary highlight for Dublin's rising Northside
Hera, Dublin.
Many things make Ireland special, from our scenery to our open-hearted nature but I think most of us would also add in the Irish pub. Sadly pubs are not having a good time with more than 2,000 pub closures in the last two decades, but there is hope, on Dublin’s northside, at least.
Just last week Dave Mulligan of the excellent Bar 1661 announced he had taken over the old Sackville Lounge at 16 O’Connell Street with a stated mission to bring more life back to that benighted street (something Dublin City Council have failed at repeatedly). Around the corner on Parnell St is Big Romance, another achingly cool drinking spot; there is the Bernard Shaw in Glasnevin and, most recently, Juno on Dorset Street where a pub has stood since 1807.
Juno was opened by the lads from the Fourth Corner in Dublin 8 and the lads from Crudo and Achara restaurants (both glowingly reviewed on this page previously).
Juno was initially a craft beer pub with bar snacks but they have now pivoted to a ‘gastro-pub’ format on one side named Hera (Juno’s Greek counterpart). Gastro-pub is a much abused term in Ireland but one I think Hera can actually use with some legitimacy as behind the stove is chef Joe Smith, formerly of Bastible.
We arrived at 7pm on a Sunday in late February to find a full restaurant with a mostly younger crowd who I suspect were locals.
For a bit of traditional Dublin pub glamour we had a well-known poet and playwright sitting at the table next to us with some artist friends. The pub is split into two sections with a traditional pub on one side and a warmly appointed dining room on the other. The dining room has muted tones with wood panelling and an eclectic collection of books, jugs, and vinyl records on shelves. Button-back bench seating, dark wood panelling on the walls and ceiling made for a comfortable warm space. There is also quality art on the walls including a print from Hen’s Teeth identical to one in my kitchen.
This is a pub after all, so I started with a pint of Beamish (€5.80) while the Engineer had a ‘Dance of the cranes’ cocktail (€12.50) made from gin, lime, cranberry, and burnt rosemary. Herbal and fresh, with a lime kick, this was balanced and moreish while my Beamish would not have put a Cork pub to shame.
We were hungry so ordered too much, meaning some came home with us afterwards. Sadly, they were out of oysters which sound like a treat (torched table side we were told). However, we fared well with the other choices including fluffy sourdough focaccia (€6), smoky meaty Basque ox chorizo (€7), and smoked cod taramasalata (€8) served with Ballymakenny potato crisps. The latter was a properly pungent lemony-fresh fish-forward paste, balanced and well executed. The freshly made heritage potato crisps were a fine vehicle for transferring the dip from plate to palate.
A starter we probably didn’t need was the two fried taleggio (€12) cakes, the cheese oozing pleasingly out of a golden crumbed exterior and the rich cheesy goodness offset by a pear and ginger mustard. I took the second one home and then ruined it by over- cooking it in the oven — I should have manned up and finished it in the restaurant.
Pumpkin lasagna (€21) with scamorza and a hazelnut and cavalo nero pesto sounded gorgeous and it almost was but it had been a little under-seasoned despite the winning textures; I suspect this will be fixed soon as it was a new dish.
My smoked barbecue pork chop had only a faint hint of smoke but was succulent and tender, a fine foil for the side of yeast butter fried potatoes (€7) which were stunningly good, crispy, and intense.
For wine, we opted for Little Odisseia, a fruit-driven Douro red ‘Little Odisseia’, fairly priced at €35 and served at the correct temperature
(c.15˚C).
Hera offers two well-chosen desserts and they were both winners. Brown butter and miso tart (€9) had proper crumbly pastry and a luscious malty caramel topping, while wild raspberry sorbet with amarena-soaked cherries and Bronte pistachios (€7) was even better. The intense cherry flavours from the cherry liqueur-soaked fruit married well with the perfectly textured, tangy fruit-focused sorbet which was just a little firmer than soft-serve ice-cream.
Staff on the night were brilliant it should be noted: Both Jess and Niamh clearly love their jobs and served us with efficiency and skill, with a bonus dollop of classic Dublin wit and charm. So two very good northside Dublin reviews in a row from me, a record surely.
- Hera Restaurant, Juno Bar
- 58 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1
- Dinner for two with wine and cocktails cost €168.30
