Sunday, October 17, 2021

Sophie's at The Dean. Highest hotel restaurant in the city?

Sophie's at The Dean. 

Highest hotel restaurant in the city?

The bar in Sophie's


Caught up with an English based couple earlier this week for a city lunch. Being Monday, quite a few attractive places, such as Nash 19, were closed. As you may know, Sophie’s is the restaurant in Dean. It is on the 6th floor and has splendid views over much of the city, so is quite a good place to bring visitors.


And last Monday the sun shone and the Dean were able to accommodate us on the glass walled south-facing balcony. That added to the occasion and there was lots of chat as we caught up outdoors. And some pretty good food too, all served in a very pleasant manner indeed, as was the case on two other recent visits to Sophie’s, one as the lunch guest of a whiskey company, the other as part of a family confirmation group dinner.

Fish 'n Chips


Chicken Burger
Aside from the stylish restaurant and the splendid views, the Dean also has those famous swings. Beware, don’t lose your balance as you could lose your Dail seat. They proved very popular with the young guests at the confirmation event. And it wasn't just the juveniles that were swinging for Insta!


There is a quite an extensive lunch menu here, something for everyone. It includes soup, salads, sandwich, sharing board, pasta, burgers, and more. Good selection of sides and a half dozen or so pizzas (proved very popular at the confirmation, though there was a different menu for that).

Cheesecake



At the whiskey lunch, I had enjoyed my fish and chips so I was quite happy to see it on the day’s menu and I ordered the Tempura White Fish (hake on the day), pea purée, tartar sauce and chips. Quite good and also quite substantial, more a dinner dish! Enjoyed it even if the some of the finely cut chips were slightly overdone.

Crumble


Two more at the table had a similar “problem” with the chips that came with their Chilli and Lime Chicken Burger, Garlic Mayo, Buffalo sauce, tomatoes and fries, and relish. Not a big drawback though and the burgers were well appreciated and well dispatched, though with all the chat, the pace was rather sedate! The fourth dish was an excellent Beef Bolognese Tagliatelle.


Then decision time! Dessert? We had seen some quite substantial puddings pass by and, having been well fed already, just two were ordered, from a choice of five. We had been impressed by the Wild Berry and Apple, oatmeal crumble, vanilla ice-cream and custard at one of the earlier events so that was ordered again and, again, got the thumbs up. And a similar verdict from the other two who had enjoyed their Baked Caramel Salted Cheesecake that was served with Strawberry Ice-cream.

Lagunitas


No drinks, other than coffees, on this occasion. But from the other recent visits, I know they have quite a selection in the drinks folder: wines, whiskies, gins, beers, cocktails and mocktails and so on. At the confirmation, I spotted they had Wicklow Wolf as their only Irish craft beer but they were out of it on that evening. And I settled for the American Lagunitas (€6.70 a pint).


They have four wines on tap - I was previously quite happy with the Agredo Rosso Montepulciano – and more by the glass. No shortage of reds, right up to expensive bottles like La Réserve de Leoville Barton, St. Julien (110). But don’t worry, you may enjoy a nice Marlborough Pinot Noir for €35. And the range of white prices is something similar, €110 for the Louis Latour Meursault while a Piquepoul de Pinet by Richemer will set you back €35.00.

Downstairs by reception


  • There is a large railway car-park a few minutes from the Dean and they have a deal there. But the deal is geared towards overnight guests (check the website). Locals are probably best advised to use your usual parking and, if the distance is short, why not walk.



The Dean 

Railway Street

Cork

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