Man Vs Food - BEAR Style

After recently moving out and longing for peace, I am surprised to find that one of the things I miss is the grappling for the remote control and the constant struggle to watch want I wanted to watch!! Surrounded and outnumbered by boys, I used to find myself constantly watching Bear Grylls, Mythbuster and Man Vs Food seeing as these were the only programmes the females in the family could tolerate, no 'How Machines are Made' for us!! While watching Man Vs Food I have lost count of the times the boys have gone 'Pah - I could eat that!!' Well recently myself and the boyfriend got a chance to do our very own Man Vs Food trial in BEAR on South William Street.

BEAR is all about the meat.  Seeing as this place is a Joe Macken (Jo' Burger, Crackbird, Skinflint) and Jamie Heaslip collaboration I wasn't surprised by this!! It's all about distinctive cuts of meat, cool sides and quirky cutlery. At each table there is an Opinel knife to help with the masculine feel of the place and to saw through the giant slabs of meat. BEAR is in the old Crackbird venue and has received a bit of a facelift for its opening. It is on two levels with a timbered ceiling, high communal tables and a long bar but it has a chicer and more finished feel than Crackbird.

Toast with Bean & Roast Garlic Spread

The emphasis though is placed firmly on the food. There is a variety of different and unusual cuts offered such as onglet, bavette, London broil and pope's eyes - there is no fillet steak in sight! After getting one of the well informed staff to explain what the various cuts of meat were and how they were cooked we decided on a bavette to share. With that we ordered sides of celeriac puree and fries and a starter of toast with white bean & roast garlic spread. The toast and spread was tasty, a bit similar to hummus, though it was a nice detour from the usual bread starters you would normally get in restaurants. The celeriac puree was delicious, slightly textured, but this was grand because I know it's insanely difficult to mash celeriac!! 

Celeriac Puree

The star of the show though was the bavette. It was huge!! It was chargrilled and cooked on the outside but tender and pink of the inside. Just the way it should be. We also got  three sauces to accompany it - the house gravy, chimichuri and creamed horseradish -  so there was a good selection to slather over stuff and dip things into. Did we get through it  though I hear you ask ... NO!! I managed about 2 slices (probably  because I ate all the celeriac puree!), he managed about four and then the staff had to wrap the rest up for us. It made delicious sandwiches the next day though!! The whole bill came to around 45 euro which for the amount of food we got I think is very reasonable.

If meat isn’t your thing, BEAR does offers grilled alternatives such as pork chops, lamb kofta, chicken or chorizo. Salads are also available with chicken, bacon or skirt steak as extra. So there is something for everyone if your friends or family aren't huge beef eaters.

My skills as an amateur photographer were put to the test that night and unfortunately the pictures were very dark so there are no good photos of the meat. So you are just going to have to go and see for yourself!! BEAR is located at 35 South William Street, Dublin 2 and is open 7 days from midday to late with breakfast available at 8am-11.30am, lunch from 11.30-16.45 and dinner from 5pm onwards.

Find BEAR on Twitter @BEARdublin