Eamonn's a Dublin Chipper

Review by mcclive on November 25, 2007

Eamonn’s is too upper crust and well-run to be an Irish chipper, though Dublin-born chef Cathal Armstrong (also of Restaurant Eve, now joining the trend of fancy restaurant chefs opening low-scale comfort food joints) knows the routine. The small place does have long wooden benches, candy bars for sale, and it serves your food in paper bags with plastic utensils even if you’re eating there. Order at the register and wait. But it’s not trying to be authentic; it really is all bourgeois. Start with the price; it’s north of ten bucks just for fish and chips, and approaching twenty once you throw in a Guinness and anything else. There are a few not-inexpensive sides offered that only homesick Irish and Brits would understand, such as mushy peas. The portion sizes are less than you would get at Long John’s. The fish is good stuff; it stays flaky after its oil bath although the breading doesn’t always bond. The cod still tastes like fish but doesn’t overpower. The chips are long and thick-cut; the texture a bit more waxy than mealy. Crispy? Only a touch. Greasy? Only a touch. Seasoned? Not a touch. Add your own salt and malt vinegar à la table. This being a bourgeois chipper, the food comes with a choice of seven dipping sauces. BBQ isn’t one of them, neither is honey mustard. All except the curry are mayonnaise-based. Everyone seems to get the Marie Rose, made of mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, and Tabasco. It’s certainly a sauce from across the pond, though it may remind you too much of Thousand Island dressing, quite similar stuff. The Kitty O'Shea sauce, with capers and kalamata olives, is a better choice. Eamonn’s comes with a bit of brassy attitude, telling you to “hump off” if you don’t like the place (that’s printed on the menu), and it has actually trademarked the phrase “Thanks be to Cod”. Cod only knows and Coddammit may not be far behind.