Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath

I wanted to try this place since I've first seen Dylan McGrath on MasterChef Ireland in 2011.
Dylan is an Irish celebrity chef, he was the owner of Michelin starred restaurant Mint which closed in April 2009. In August 2010 Dylan opened "Rustic Stone Restaurant by Dylan McGrath" on Georges Street in Dublin. The restaurant claims to create tasty but nutritious food. They cook seasonally with olive oil, using lots of fresh herbs and salads growing by local farmers.

Last Saturday we went for a stroll around Dublin City Centre. We visited all my favourite spots: mainly bookshops, kitchen supplies shops and did our weekly shopping at the Temple Bar Food Market, Fallon and Byrne and Sheridan's Cheesemongers. We were in a mood for a nice light lunch and decided that The Rustic Stone will be the perfect place.

We were quickly seated and given two very extensive menus, the "Raw" menu and the main menu which consisted of bites, starters, pasta, "on the stone" (meat or fish is served on a heated basalt stone and you get to cook it yourself) and "off the stone" main courses, salads, sides and desserts. The very helpful waiter explained the menus to us and informed us that we can choose a few dishes from both menus.
Everything on the menu looked good but we were intrigued by the raw dishes and decided to start with a selection of dishes from the "Raw" menu.

We went for citrus cured salmon, carpaccio of salted beef, sushi-style tuna and little duck rolls with celery, orange and green olives. All of the little dishes were very tasty, my favourite was the salmon dish served  with a little lemon puree.

Next, P decided to go for chicken wings and a side order of truffle chips with truffle mayonnaise, while I opted for a small portion of the "outrageous orange" salad. My salad was absolutely delicious, light and refreshing with lovely crunchy caramel pecans. The portion was huge and I wondered how big are their regular portions?? But the salad was so good, I managed to clean the whole plate.

The chicken wings simply done in soya sauce and crushed roasted sesame seeds were also very good. Mr PB was only a little bit disappointed with the truffle chips, they were a bit heavy and totally covered with parmesan cheese.

We really wanted to try some of the desserts but couldn't eat another bite, so we just relaxed, sipped our wine and finally asked for the bill which came to just under 50 euro.

Overall we really enjoyed our lunch, the atmosphere was relaxed, yet the waiters were very attentive.
The food was very tasty and "different". I think the nutritional information about each dish included on the menu is a very good idea. You are given a choice to opt for a healthy meal, indulge yourself or choose a little bit of both if you wish to do so.
Dylan said that he "wanted to design a restaurant aimed at women" because "women pick restaurants and us guys do as we're told". Well, thank you Mr McGrath...I wish there were more guys with that kind of attitude:))
We definitely will be back soon to try some of the other dishes on the menu.
They also have HALF PRICE COCKTAILS all day every Monday!!!! I had a look at their cocktail menu and it looks gooood!!!

Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath
South Great George's Street
Dublin 2
www.rusticstone.ie