Notions @ Two Pups Restaurant Review
Mad funky vibes on Francis Street.
Eating dinner cooked by Andrew Kelly in Notions @ Two Pups is rather like enjoying an evening of music theatre. Kelly’s culinary brain works like a musician, and his plating works like a musical conductor, with each plate purposefully arranged to create echoes of the main theme.
Look at how Kelly sets out his coda of themes and variations, with opening dishes such as the house sourdough with buttery, whipped cod’s roe and pickles, and two Connemara oysters served with jalapeño granita. The cod’s roe takes the main theme with its subdued fishy saltyness, joined in harmony with the sourdough – which is like frybread – and the pair are counterpointed by the sharp pickle.
The sumptuous oysters likewise lead with strong aquatic and saline notes, but Kelly then uses the cold jalapeño granita to echo the main flavour. The result is almost uncanny: the two ingredients are no opposites, they are companions. The affinity of the pair is actually quite magical, and it’s a key note in understanding what Kelly is doing here in this no-nonsense room on Francis Street.
The tempura batter coating the padron peppers was almost shell-like, crunching like a prehistoric poppadom, before giving way to the grassy bitterness of the padron. Underneath, a Parmesan sauce provides a rich bass note to the ethereal batter. Killer dish.
Kelly moves from a major to a minor key with a dish of January cabbage with gochujang, soy and crispy shallots, a dish of fascinating textures which reveals just how well a head of cabbage can act as a frame for the punchy flavours, in particular the gochujang which pops up in different guises throughout the dish. It takes some sort of culinary nous to work out that these elements can be harmonious, but harmonious they are.
Scallops with Hokkaido pumpkin and kale takes a trio of plump shellfish and sets them alongside tiny pumpkin dice and larger pumpkin slice, with crunchy kale to offset the sweetness. What appears as simplicity on the plate is, again, complex and involving, the textures switching and changing from bite to bite.
We chose gnocchi with sweetcorn, preserved lemon, Comté and cavalo nero and also the duck breast with orange, carrot, radicchio and sprouts, from the menu of large plates which also offers a braised short rib with anchovy dressing.
The gnocchi were ethereal as a pillow: if you had put your head down on the plate you might have fallen asleep. Better to stay awake and enjoy a plate that was a lovely commingling between the serene gnocchi, the crunchy cavolo nero confettied with Comté and the rich sweetcorn sauce underneath. In other hands, the dish would be all dissonance. Here it is a winning composition.
The duck is Kelly’s tribute to the classic duck a l’orange and was served as a single piece of meat, with a purée of carrot and orange and roasted carrots, echoed by a crunchy flash-fried radicchio and sprout salad with an intense orange dressing. Again, Kelly shows he can play the classic songbook, and bend it to his style.
The only dessert was dark chocolate mousse with beetroot, blackberry and buckwheat sponge, and whilst that mix of ingredients promised intrigue, the dish simply wasn’t operating at the stellar level of the savory courses.
Andrew Kelly’s food pays proper homage to the sparkling plant foods he sources from Abercorn Farm in Wicklow and from the McNally Family Farm in North Dublin. His ability to double his ingredients, to offer a duet of textures and tastes, means the vegetables shine time after time, the plates offering odes to cabbage and pumpkin, sweetcorn and carrot, cabbage and peppers. This is plant-based eating for the Gods, conjuring inventive, exciting and original dishes, and when he does opt to put meat or seafood protein on the plate, the vegetable cooking is the support act that steals the show.
Alongside the a la carte menu there is a set menu which comes in at €65 per person, which is terrific value in Dublin. The wine list is a short selection of natural wines, some of them under the intriguing classification of “Mad Funky”. That’s an apt descriptor of what is going on here in Two Pups: this is one funky place, laid back yet right on the money, and Andrew Kelly is sending out some vibes from the kitchen. Two Pups sure has some bite.
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