Damascus Gate

I used to regularly buy those Groupon, Grabone, Dealrush vouchers. At the beginning they were a bargain nowadays, the choice is just too wide and after too many bad experiences I have stopped buying them. Really it's my own fault I think I have loads of time to use them and then bang, the time is up!! Recently I made an exception to my rule in the form of a Menupages voucher for Damascus Gate. I had read a lot of great reviews about it so thought why not give it a go. The voucher was €35 for three courses and turned out to be a bargain in the end!

Damascus Gate specializes in Syrian and Lebanese food and is run by the same people who manage Little Jerusalem in Rathmines. The interior is bright and airy with rich red walls and the owners are going for a typical Middle Eastern vibe. I was convinced by the decor but I have never been to the Middle East so who am I to judge! Personally the tables were too close together for me and weren't the most comfortable either.

The voucher allowed us to choose anything we wanted off the menu so for starters I went for the Arays Tadmor which was a pitta bread filled with minced beef, onion and tomato sauce. I love pittas and they are a lunch staple so this was a nice change to how I usually eat them. It wasn’t as heavy as it looks and it made for a delicious starter. Maya went for the Falafel and Hummus purely on the basis that she had never had them before. She found them a bit tasteless and dry but enjoyed the accompanying hummus.

Arays Tadmor

Falafel and Hummus

For our mains I went for the Moussakaat Batenjan Bealmeh. This was baked and seasoned aubergine and lamb pieces slow cooked with tomato and chickpea. The lamb and aubergine worked well together though the sauce itself was a little thin. I loved the rice though which was subtly flavoured Maya chose the Mansaf Dajaj which was chicken served with yogurt, fresh pomegranate seeds and nuts and served with saffron rice. While the dish looked great the sauce was flavourless and was basically just a juicy chicken fillet. 

Moussakaat Batenjan Bealmeh

Mansaf Dajaj

For dessert I opted for the Baklava which came with four different versions all of which were flaky, full of honey goodness and delicious. Maya went for a fig type dessert which tasted grand but was nothing special even though it looked lovely. 

Baklava

 

Overall the food here is just ok apart from my starter which I would eat again in a heartbeat and would happily substitute my chicken and lettuce filled lunch pittas for! Our meal was paid for by the voucher which was bought for €35 otherwise I think the pricing of the menu would have been on the high side. It is also a BYOB which does help to offset the cost of the meal. Will I be back? I’m not sure, though if I am my meal will consist of that pitta and baklava!

Damascus Gate: 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2 
Telephone: 01 4752000

 

yum.

If you haven't been in Dublin City Centre for a while take a walk down Camden Street to George's Street and you may be pleasantly surprised. No longer is it just a long walk peppered with charity shops, dodgy mobile phone stores and off licences but along the way you will encounter a huge range of restaurants that cater to all tastes. If you want a craft beer with your food try Against the Grain, for great Asian food give Neon a go and if you want to grab something on the go but want it to be from a company who believe in sustainability have a look in Grub. If though, you have a craving that only a Man Vs Food style sandwich will fill, then stay on Camden Street and head to Yum. 

With an enticing exterior of dark wood panelling and green signage the interior mirrors this with soft green chairs and dark wooden tables. It's comfy, clean and not overcrowded with seats. There is a choice of starters, antipasti, mains and sides. We went straight for the mains after seeing what arrived  at the table next to us and I decided it might be a struggle to finish that! With fifteen different mains to choose it took a bit of time but since I love a good bit of brisket I went for The Reuben while the boyfriend went for the Pulled Pork Sandwich. Each main comes with two salads or with one salad and a choice of fries or baked potato.

The Reuben is thinly sliced brisket marinated overnight in garlic, thyme and bay leaf, slowly cooked and broiled with seasoned fried onions and Swiss cheese all served between two thick slices of sourdough bread. It was a good sandwich which was complemented by the choice of tomato, asparagus and red onion salad which was light enough to eat alongside it. The only downside of The Reuben was that it was slightly dry and would have benefited from some relish on the inside to give it a bit of moisture or indeed the traditional Russian or thousand island dressing.

The Reuben 

 

The Pulled Pork Sandwich is made with slowly cooked shoulder of pork and teamed with spicy Texas style coleslaw and BBQ sauce on a lightly toasted burger bun. The boyfriend liked it but did find it slightly too spicy and he had hoped that the BBQ sauce would mean that the sandwich was slightly stickier and smokier than it was. He also got the goats cheese salad which was a bad choice with the sandwich as the goats cheese was quite heavy and was a bit much with the Pulled Pork. This salad could also have been a lot nicer by adding some dressing to bring it all together as it was literally just cheese and salad leaves (though I have since been informed by Yum that this should have been accompanied by a honey balsamic dressing which would definitely do the trick).

Pulled Pork Sandwich

At the end of the day though, aside from a few minor issues, it didn't stop us from eating every last bite. Ok, so I needed a bit of help with mine but I gave it my best shot!! 

Only crumbs and few onions left!

I also have to say that the staff were so lovely on the day. We were an hour late and when I rang to say we would be late they said not to worry as they would have a table for us. We also didn't have to ask for water and were quickly given a replacement knife when I knocked mine onto the floor. None of the mains are more than €12.95 so for less than €13 you can eat well and leave full be it for lunch or dinner! Or you can do what we did and get your mains for free if you get on to Yum's Twitter and ask for some #yumseats.

Yum. is open Monday to Saturday from 8am - 11pm and Sunday from 8am - 9pm. They also do a full breakfast till 12am so if you find yourself still in the area after a night out in Coppers or the Palace you know where to go now!!

Update 25/03/13 Yum appears to have closed if it reopens I will let you all know.

Neon - Asian Street Food

Neon, a new Asian Street Food restaurant, opened its door a few weeks ago and as soon as I saw the menu online and saw the phrase 'Vietnamese Pho Soup', I was hooked and knew I had to get myself down there as fast as I could. So last Friday with only a few hours to spare before heading off to a gig I decided that a visit to Neon on Camden Street had to be fitted in.

One of the first things I noticed was how inviting the restaurant looked from the outside with its green exterior and dark wooden panelling. Then all it took was one look through the window to fall head over heels in love with the place. The long wooden tables and the lovely graphics of street traders in Vietnam brought back wonderful memories of travelling with friends. I was looking forward to relieving the food experience.

So myself and the boyfriend grabbed a table and a menu and sat ourselves down to confer. Deciding what to get always takes us an age and it never helps when everything on the menu sounds delicious! There was a good variety of soups, salads, curries and noodle, rice and wok dishes on offer.  Favourites such as Pad Thai and Massaman Curry also make an appearance. Finally we made our decision and so up I went to order. Ordering in Neon is the same as ordering in any fast food restaurant, you go up to the staff, they dont come to you, but that is where the similarity ends. The staff were very attentive the whole time we were there, asking us whether we were enjoying the food and if we needed anything. I also noticed that they were very efficent at keeping the place clean as the majority of the seating is communal and does tend to get messy quite fast.

Now on to the food! First off, and to my delight, we received some prawn crackers which we hadn't ordered but which come with the meal. They were the good kind, not the greasy, flimsy, white ones, but the crunchy, slighty spicy ones and teamed with a sweet chilli sauce they started the meal off on a good foot.

As we couldn't decide on a starter each we got a Starter Box to share so we could try a bit of everthing. There were prawn rolls, chicken satay skewers, vegetable spring rolls, duck spring rolls and a selection of sauces. The duck spring rolls were the standout for me. They were just really tasty and moreish but everything in the box tasted very fresh.

Then it was on to the main feast. Since the main reason I was there was for the Vietnamese Pho Soup I had to order that but we also ordered some Mekong Duck and stir fried egg noodles. All the food comes to the table in paper cartons but there are bowls available on the tables which you can put your food into yourself.

Vietnamese Pho Soup

Mekong Duck

Mekong Duck and Noodles

The soup was delicious but I think if I was to eat it just by myself I would be a bit overwhelmed as the portion size was huge. There was also quite a strong aniseed flavour off it which I liked but might not be to everyone's taste.  The Mekong Duck was succulent and melted in the mouth and it was accompanied by crisp, crunchy vegetables. Then to top the whole meal off one of the staff gave us two cones and told us to help ourselves to icecream!! Icecream that we could pull ourselves, well it was like a childhood dream had just come true!  One little girl nearly fell over herself when she saw what we were doing.

This is fast food at its best. You can't beat Asian street food for sheer quickness, taste and flavour and Neon delivers that by the cartonfull! I can see this place becoming a firm favourite on the Camden Street trail and that is just going by the fact that by the time we left at 7 the place was packed with lot of happy looking chopsticks clicking clients. Our whole bill came to 26 euro and at that we couldn't even finish it all!

For more info on Neon click here. They will be offering a home delivery service from the 12th March. This is also a family friendly restaurant with a special children's selection and an icecream machine so how could it not be!!