I have been hearing about San Lorenzos for quite some time now.  It has been hyped as offering mouth watering food and being the hippest place to hang out in town. Is it? Well lets see.

First of all I have to admit I follow San Lorenzos on twitter and they are a restaurant that engage extremely well with their customers.  They don’t just bombard you with picture after picture of what they are serving. They vary the content. They respond quickly. They tell you about what music they play and they are excellent at offering competitions for Sunday Brunch, or #brunchofchampions as its more commonly known.

They serve Modern Italian with a New York twist.  The surroundings feel very New York and quite minimal which is no bad thing. There are red leather seats that run down the sides of the restaurant and Tiffanyesque lampshades add a splash of colour. Clean lines and simple. It’s sparse without being dull.

Myself and H visited on a Thursday evening at 6p.m.  The greeting at the door was warm and we were quickly seated.  The restaurant was already starting to fill up at that stage.  Clearly a very popular destination. Glasses of water were poured and menus handed out. Getting down to business we ordered two Gin & Tonics to start off with. They were as expected very refreshing with slices of lemons, limes and fresh mint leaves.

For starters I went for Pan Fried Gambas in white wine with garlic and chilli.  They were served in the shells on a slice of thick bread which was soaking up the sauce. Perfectly cooked and so tasty.  The picture below speaks for itself.

H went for the Char Grilled Asparagus which came with a poached egg, shaved parmesan and hollandaise sauce. I made sure I tried it.  The hollandaise was some of the best I’ve had and the asparagus was tender and the right amount of crunchy at the same time.  Both plates were cleaned.

For main course I went for Slow Roasted Pork Belly with a warm salad of marinated artichokes, white asparagus, new potatoes, rocket and salsa verde. The pork was so tender it melted in my mouth and was actually very filling.  The salsa verde actually worked really well with it and was a nice change from the usual apple based offering you find with pork. I didn’t manage to finish it but I did have my eye on dessert so was subconsciously keeping space for that.

H opted for the Barnyard chicken breast wrapped in Proscuitto with creamed sweetcorn, asparagus, roast potatoes, rocket and lemon. Again it looked great and the taste was a roaring success with the chicken moist and tender. He pretty much licked the plate clean.

Then came dessert. New York Nutella baked cheesecake with chocolate brownie ice cream for me and Pecan Pie with salt caramel ice cream for H. Mine was outrageously good. The kind of thing you would order as a final meal on death row.  The cheesecake hadn’t quite set and was a little on the melted side but that didn’t take from the taste.

The Pecan Pie was probably less successful, but then again it didn’t really stand a chance next to mine. It was just a little dry for my liking. H had serious dessert envy so I did let him try mine considered he looked at it so longingly.

Overall I was very impressed with San Lorenzos. It met all my expectations and lived up to its hype.  The staff were efficient and friendly and the food was excellent and really they are the only two components that matter with a dining experience. There was also a great atmosphere and a nice mix of music.  One thing I did find interesting was that the toilets were unisex and the washhand basins have a view into the kitchen.  Clearly they have nothing to hide and are turning out great food and I will be back again as I have my eye on #brunchofchampions.

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San Lorenzos

South Great Georges Street

Ph: (01) 478 9383

Email: info@sanlorenzos.ie

Twitter: @sanlorenzos