Review: One Pico’s Three Course Lunch

One Pico is a place of such high repute that you might think you’d have to be the Sausage King of Chicago to have lunch there. However, put aside a fiver a week and spend an afternoon there next month. You won’t regret it. Since we reviewed the set lunch menu over two years ago, the two courses for €19.95 option is gone, so I took it upon myself to see if three courses for €25 are worth it. I’m sound like that. On the day, it will especially help if you’ve had a rough week. I met my friend Rory who’d had to watch 30 episodes of “Who’s the Boss” for work.  This trumped my nursing of sick people. We munched on a selection of tasty breads and sipped sauvignon blanc (€19.95 or €5 per glass) as we sat by the window watching the world go by.

To start, Rory had Teriyaki Salmon served on a slate with pickled cucumber, radish, toasted sesame and wasabi.  I had the Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese.  Delicate discs of beetroot topped and tailed large cylinders of goat’s cheese.  Watercress and candied walnuts were strewn around them and drizzled with cabernet dressing. Once we stopped admiring our food it was polished off in seven minutes.

Then, Rory had Butter Roasted Free Range Chicken with summer vegetables and I opted for the Atlantic Cod. The crispy potato fondant was particularly good. My plate was a colourful affair of mussels, broad beans and carrots in a creamy tomato sauce with sundried tomatoes and dill decorating the cod. Everything tasted fantastic.

Slowing down a little, we both ordered the Caramelised Lemon Tart with Raspberry Sorbet.  The tanginess of the tart and sorbet cut through everything perfectly. The service was impeccable, as you’d expect, and there was no pressure to leave. We lingered over coffee and the rest of our wine, Rory filling me in on Tony Danza’s antics, me fantasising about hiring a buff manny to let me enjoy more afternoons in exquisite restaurants.  One Pico is definitely worth the money. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, it is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend you go.