There seems to be BYO restaurants popping up all over Dublin these days. I can’t complain. So far, any of the ones I’ve eaten in have been delicious and a lot of them have no charge for bringing your own wine, definitely not to be sniffed at.
Myself, my boyfriend and my mum went for a quick bite to eat recently in Little Jerusalem, a Palestinian and Lebanese BYO restaurant in Rathmines. It had come highly recommended by my mother’s sister, who eats there frequently before going to the Swan Cinema (another wonderful addition to the Dublin 6 area). I reserved a table but, as it was one of the sunniest days of the year and this place is down a shady laneway with no al fresco seating, it wasn’t necessary: it was quiet when we arrived and remained mostly so for our visit. I would imagine it’s a popular spot during normal Irish weather so I’d definitely book in advance.
I liked the atmosphere and style of the restaurant as soon as we sat down, it’s eclectic and there are lots of interesting things to look at. Our waiter was very pleasant and helpful with any questions we had about the menu. To start we shared Baba Ghanoush served with naan (€6.50), and Jawena Shawarma, marinated chicken wings (€6.50), both were ridiculously tasty and moreish. Jim went for the Chicken Shawarma meal (€12.99) and he was mightily impressed with the array of food presented to him. Mum had Mashawi Mushlaka, a selection of chicken, lamb and kofta served with hummus, tabbouleh salad and naan. I tasted hers and it was really great, I especially loved the light, summery tabbouleh salad. I had the Mulihea Pilanrap (€17.99). Green mulihea is a vegetable similar to spinach and it came cooked with rabbit, onion, garlic and olive oil served with salad and naan. It was really gorgeous and a wonderful combination of flavours. The main course portions were a little smaller than I was expecting for the price, that said we didn’t eat all of our naan bread and we were still very full.
We were being saintly that night so we didn’t bring any wine and stuck to sparkling water. I think that’s where we missed out. The food in Little Jerusalem is really delicious but it’s a little on the pricey side if you don’t partake in their BYO offer. Next time we’ll be stuffing our faces and getting boozed up!
Two starters, three main course and two bottles of sparkling water came to €62.93 for three people.
