Market Lane Restaurant & Bar

Market Lane Restaurant & Bar Review

All that remains of this corner building's former identity as a pub is the long mahogany bar. Today it is a popular bistro-style restaurant serving robust, freshly prepared food from an open kitchen. The small wooden-top tables with bentwood chairs or dark leather banquettes, the art deco hat-stands, and the predominantly black and white decor set a Parisian mood. Light floods in from large on-street windows on two sides during long summer evenings. The menu is on the no-frills paper tablemat: turn it over for the dinner menu. The menu is mainly contemporary Irish, with the emphasis on comfort food. Most ingredients are sourced from the city's nearby indoor food market, renowned for fresh fish, traditional butchery, and artisan produce. Meat lovers adore the braised ox-cheek stew, with smoked bacon and thyme mash, or the game pie of venison, pheasant, and wild boar. Other winners include the baked cod with buttered leeks and the homemade butcher's sausages with colcannon (potato mash with cabbage) and a creamy mustard sauce. Vegetarian? The many options include the feta salad with sesame crust, cucumber, olives, and chargrilled watermelon.