I was lucky enough to win a two course weekend lunch for two people in The Larder on Parliament Street via a tweetseats competition. Sure I was all sorts of delighted with myself. Free lunch is a gift horse and I’m not one to look in it’s mouth.  I promptly booked myself in for a sunny Sunday at 12.30.

They had mentioned ‘Red Chairs’ in the message they sent me but I had no idea what that actually meant.  Low and behold the clue was in the name and they were in fact two Red Chairs.  Not only that but the best seats in the house right at the front window perfectly placed for some people watching.

First impressions, well I was loving the red carpet (chair) roll out and the friendly greeting from the staff.  The venue is narrow at the front and then opens out towards the back.  It’s cool and airy and very comfortable. They have a varied range of wine and craft beers to compliment the food.

I was on the water but my dining buddy tucked into a nice glass of house red, which I might add was a nice generously filled glass too. I’ve seen too many restaurants skimp on their pouring of wine but at €6.50 this one was more than adequate.

The lunch menu ranges from €9.50 for gourmet sandwiches up to €14.00 for hot dishes such as rib eye steak. They do also offer a Brunch menu which sounds very tasty indeed.

I opted for the Lamb Burger served with tripple cooked fries.  I’ll be honest I have no idea what the difference is between fries cooked once, twice or even three times.  Let’s just pretend it means they are extra special and I ate them all so it must be a good thing. The burger was huge and very tasty and came with a side salad. On a totally seperate side note and not a criticisim, the waiter did ask if I wanted some vinegar and it came in a tiny little ramekin.  I’ve seen this plenty of times in restaurants and wonder why they don’t have a proper vinegar dispenser.

The other main course was the rib eye steak, again with the wonderful triple cooked fries.  I didn’t dare taste the rib eye as it was cooked blue, which essentially means flash fried on either side to give it colour.  I’m more of a medium man and anything less than that looks like cannibalism to me. The plate was cleared so I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it was exactly what my dining buddy wanted.

Suitably stuffed after the generous main course helpings we were fairly full but the desserts sounded too good not to eat. The waiter had me hanging on his lip (not literally despite me winking at him) as he described the Rasberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake to me.

It was actually quite light for a cheesecake and the raspberries in it gave it a nice little tang on the tongue.  It had serving of chantilly cream with it which complimented it perfectly.

The other dessert was much more impressive to look at I have to say. I had never seen Bread and Butter Pudding served that way before.

Naturally I tried a few spoonfuls for research purposes. While it was tasty, I thought it could have been a little warmer. Enjoyable none the less.

Winning a competition for lunch didn’t colour my view of The Larder at all. Overall I have to say the dining experience was a positive one. Its inviting and friendly and even the bathrooms have lots of really interesting touches.

I would like to go back and try the Brunch menu and perhaps have a few glasses of wine.  If you do visit, I recommend the Red Chairs as the best place to sit if they are free.

Web: http://www.thelardercaferestaurant.ie/

8 Parliament Street

Dublin 2