I slip into my bench seat and as I look around the cool, understated décor, my expectations are high. I have a feeling I may be about to experience my new favourite casual dining restaurant. But I felt that way before I even walked in the door of this Dawson Street steak joint, thanks to their simple website that relayed a focus on an under-appreciated cut of beef and the promise of a micro menu. I love when folks hone in on one thing and concentrate on doing it extremely well.
Featherblade is a joint venture by Paul McVeigh and Jamie O’Toole, with the former in the kitchen as Head Chef and the latter at front of house. ‘We wanted to focus on delivering quality and not quantity, at a price that does not exclude people.’ Having both lived abroad, they found on their return to Dublin that prices had crept up. ‘We were frustrated with having to pay €30 plus for a steak,’ explains O’Toole, ‘knowing that with the right attention it could be done for the prices we’re doing it at.’
The menu is enticingly simple and the prices are purposefully democratic. The starters are €8, the steaks are €13, the sides are €3.50, the sauces are €1.50 and the desserts are €6. There is a permanent menu that features the feather steak and seven sides. To supplement this, there is a specials menu with two starters and another cut of steak; for example a skirt, hanger or picanha. The feather cut is known for its soft texture and subtlety of flavour, and the cuts served as specials are designed for those who prefer more intensity to their charred beef. ‘Lots of time and effort goes into preparing our steaks, from sourcing to cooking,’ says O’Toole. ‘The steaks are marinated and then slow cooked for six to twelve hours. They also use different rubs for the grill depending on the steak, its texture and the desired finish.’
We share a goat cheese salad with red pepper purée to start. It doesn’t quite stand up on its own, and feels like more of a side salad rather than a main event. To be one of only two choices for a starter, there is no room for anything less than spectacular. The high hopes start to feel a little wobbly.
Before the doubt has settled in, our table fills up with steak and sides. I had hoped to order the skirt steak, on special that evening, but it’s been a busy Tuesday night and they’ve run out. We turn to the featherblade steak, which arrives showing off its bright pink flesh, set off by the charred charcoal colour of the exterior. It has a delicate texture, and it has been cooked with care, but the meat’s unassuming flavour leaves me wondering about that skirt steak. Would it have delivered the intensity of flavour I was hoping for?
We have a fork fight to lay claim over the truffle mac and cheese, a sticky pot of pasta with a lightly crumbed topping. The creamed spinach is well-flavoured with shards of strong, hard cheese and just the right amount of cream. The herbs, garlic and chilli sauce, Featherblade’s take on a chimichurri, doesn’t work for me – it’s too bitter and overpowers the meat. The béarnaise sauce delivers a good kick of vinegar tartness, but the highlight is the whiskey and cream pepper sauce. It is perfectly balanced with clear tones of woody whiskey, the pepper so ingrained in the sauce that it delicately fizzles across my tongue.
Throughout, service is faultless. Our waiter nails the happy union of friendly and informative, and he’s chatty without being overbearing. When we tell him our side of chips was overwhelmingly salty, he apologises graciously and takes them off our bill.
As with the starters, there is a choice of two desserts so we order both. There’s a chocolate tart with Chantilly cream and a baked cheesecake with a berry compote. Though enjoyable, neither blow us away.
Featherblade make all their own cocktail syrups in-house and they whip up a non-alcoholic version of their berry syrup cocktail by adding a splosh of sparkling water to a wineglass of the syrup and fresh mint leaves. Instead of charging me for the cocktail, they bill me instead for the large bottle of sparkling water (€4) that they open to dilute the syrup and that we drink the rest of. A Maison Coquard Cabernet (€6.50) goes down well and complements the mellow flavour of the steak. In total, Featherblade sets us back €68.
I realise at the end of the meal that I wanted to find a version of London’s Hawksmoor on Dawson Street. There is a lot to like about Featherblade – their enthusiasm for what they’re doing, the care they’re putting into their space and menu – but it doesn’t reach the dizzying heights I was hoping for.
Featherblade
51 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
01-6798814
Words: Aoife McElwain
Photos: Megan Kileen
