“All hail the divine bovine” is Featherblade’s philosophy; and I would have to agree. Meat is forking delicious, isn’t it? There’s nothing like a juicy cut of of meat, lightly charred on the outside with a tender pink centre so darn soft that if you happened to be blindfolded, you’d probably think you were cutting through a lump of Kerrygold.
Featherblade (which recently won Lovin Dublin’s Finest Newcomer award) is located at 51B Dawson Street; previously home to Tuzo Mexican Kitchen. This slick little spot is welcomed with open arms to the Dublin food scene – a steak joint with reasonable prices and a straight forward contemporary menu, right in the heart of the city.
Unable to get a table over the weekend (a good sign, right?) I had dinner here last Monday. And naturally, I couldn’t wait to give it a go! Monday nights out can be tricky – it was a good time to go as we got a table, but bad in a way as I tried to be somewhat sensible after a very heavy weekend eating basically everything (you know yourself) so I didn’t order the two sides I really wanted to try on the menu. I suppose I can use this as the perfect excuse to go back.
However, I’m a walking contradiction as I still ended up having cocktails and dessert so I may as well have ordered the entire menu! I’m blaming the fact that it was a Monday and the bitter cold that night for my chronic case of brain fog.
Right. First things first, the interior is dark and minimalist. The first thing you’ll notice is the light coming from the kitchen at the very back. Glowy! The atmosphere is very relaxed, the cushions are comfy and the music is good. We started with a negroni and berry fizz (both €7.50) while we had a look at the specials and sides.
The menu is beautifully simple. There’s steak (obviously) and another kind of steak on the specials. Starters vary often too, appearing on the specials menu. There’s a rake of sides to go with your steak, and three sauce options to choose from, again to enhance the flavour of your steak. Basically, you order steak, then order everything else around the steak to make steak better. Steak has been mentioned seven times since the beginning of this paragraph.
Sides include beef dripping chips, truffle mac n’ cheese, sweet potato, kale salad, broccoli and last but not least, creamed spinach.
Sauce options are herb, garlic and chilli, whiskey peppercorn and béarnaise sauce. There’s a good wine list, a small but balanced cocktail menu and desserts that change depending on the day. And that’s it.
Featherblade is one of those places you can bring everyone (well, anyone who likes steak, of course!) because it’s just good quality flavoursome food. Bring friends, family, dates, go for lunch on your own…all totally acceptable options.
I know I said the interiors are dark but it’s definitely brighter in there than my camera managed to capture, just in case you were concerned the decor was a new wave of basement/cellar/coffin chic.
We didn’t go for starters, heading straight for the gold. And here she is, the star of the show. I ordered the 9oz featherblade steak, medium rare. It was delicious and perfectly cooked, and I love how it’s all chopped up and ready to go. The meat is marinated for hours, then finished off with your preference. Please don’t get well done. I beg you.
I ordered a side of herb, garlic and chilli sauce which complimented it very nicely but the pot is a little on the small side. Next time I’ll probably get all three ensuring there’s enough sauce to go around with different flavour options. I also would have liked if the plate was heated to keep the steak warm, as it lost it’s temperature quite quickly so I felt I had to speed things up.
In a valiant attempt to be healthy and eat light, I had the kale, courgette and carrot salad. It was good, but no beef dripping chips or truffle mac n’ cheese. I know, I disgust myself.
We also had the roasted sweet potato which was really good and quite filling. Next we had a glass of prosecco each, to feel extra fancy eating steak. Asking for a glass of prosecco or champagne can sometimes be risky business, as you may find yourself with the lifeless dredges of a bottle opened earlier that day, but this was teeming with life and bubbles. €7 for a glass is pretty good too.
We finished with the dessert special that day of chocolate mousse with peanut brittle and orange cardamom compote. It was rich and decadent and the crispy bits of peanut brittle and orange kept the flavours interesting. I hope next time they have the salted caramel doughnuts. They look incredible!
We had great chats with Eoin who looked after us really well, he was passionate about Featherblade and just as informative. The staff were all friendly and very efficient.
We then paid on this cool machine from space! Dublin is just so fancy these days.
So there you have it a short and sweet review, until I get my paws on those beef dripping chips and truffle mac n’ cheese. You’ll find Featherblade on Dawson street, on the corner near Duke Street (where I snapped these lights) opposite Molesworth Street.
Reserving a table online is now available – places are filling up for Christmas, but a nice Featherblade steak for lunch or a treat for yourself in the new year is good food for thought.
For the website, click here.
For their sample menu, click here.
Drinks menu.
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