Review: Grüb, Georges St

Over Christmas, I was in town finishing my shopping and I was feeling stressed, grumpy and hungry. The mania of the festive season tends to do that to you. Every restaurant and cafe I passed was rammed full of cheery diners, but all I wanted was somewhere quiet where I could escape the madness – bah humbug! I happened to pass Grüb, a newly opened eatery, on George’s Street. It was empty. I turned on my heel and went back inside. Places like this normally don’t appeal to me as I thoroughly dislike pre-packaged sandwiches and salads. But it looked so quiet and I was curious as it’s new.

They have a large selection of sandwiches, wraps and salads to choose from, they all looked nice and from what I could see, none were more than a fiver. I decided to choose from their large “hot food” specials menu, which range from noodles to stews and soup. I ordered a small portion of chicken chowder, €3.50, and was promptly informed by my server that it was “really delicious”. She wasn’t wrong. It tasted great and was more like a stew than a soup, chock-a-block with chicken, spuds and veg. I was stuffed even though, initially, I thought it wasn’t going to be enough. It came with some nice bread for dipping too.

Special mention to the staff at Grüb: the girl who served me was beyond pleasant, I got the sense she really liked working there. Also, when I sat down I clumsily knocked over my glass of water, it went all over the table, the other server, who was on his break, got up from his seat and insisted on cleaning it up without making me feel bad or embarrassed at all. My only quibble with the place would be, for somewhere that sells itself on being environmentally friendly, why oh why do they serve takeaway containers (I should add, they are made using recycled and biodegradable paper) to people who are eating in? This is a real bugbear of mine. Surely using real dishes, glassware and cutlery is much more environmentally friendly?

Everything seemed very reasonably priced. I will definitely return to try one of their pre-packaged sandwiches or salads (everything is made fresh, in-house that day) and see if I can be converted. Their coffee and cakes looked very nice too. Definitely one to check out if you’re looking for somewhere to rest your bones this January.

• Grub, 84-88 Great George’s Street, D2