Notions review: No style over substance here. This is intelligent, considered food, without the ceremony

Irish Times

a day ago

Notions
    
Address
:
74 Francis St, The Liberties, Dublin 8, D08 KA43.
Telephone
:
N/A
Cuisine
:
Modern International
Website
:
Cost
:
€€€
It's called Notions – which tells you everything and nothing. Once an insidious put-down designed to keep you in your place, it's now tossed around half-laughing by the same people who used to mean it. Oh, notions! – as if ambition were something to be embarrassed about. It's an interesting name for a restaurant – either dry wit with a flick of the fringe, or a quiet middle finger with polite defiance. Possibly both.
Notions is what happens after Two Pups cafe on Francis Street,
Dublin 8
, closes for the day and flips from flat whites to fermented funk. It's the evening shift – a hybrid wine bar and restaurant with no minimum spend. You can drop in for a glass and a couple of snacks, or do as we do: rifle through most of the menu, which runs on a spine of nibbles, snacks, and plates (small and large).
The wine is natural – of course it is – organic or biodynamic, probably foot-stomped in a 200-year-old stone trough for Percheron horses. Everything's by the glass, arranged not by grape or region but by natty wine taxonomy – Go-To, Elegant & Playful, Lil' Funky, Mad Funky – a spectrum from 'you'll like this' to 'you might not, but at least it's interesting'.
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The staff are charming and quick with tasters. A few natty heads linger outside, but most – including two high-profile influencers – are just here for a good glass and a bite. We steer clear of the funkier stuff and go for a bottle of Château Coupe Roses (€48) – crunchy red fruit, bursts of bramble, a vin vivant – which throws off a reassuring amount of debris.
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We start with sourdough (€6), baked that morning in Bold Boy, the in-house bakery. It's topped with whipped cod's roe and chives chopped with the kind of precision that would earn full marks from
@ratemychives
on Instagram. A Connemara oyster (€4) with jalapeño granita leaves my mouth tingling, the oyster's brine a prominent note against the heat of the granita.
Notions, Francis Street, Dublin 8. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
And then on to the snacks, at €9 each. Radishes are piled on top of romesco sauce and dusted with hazelnuts. The romesco delivers a rich, peppery depth, lifted with a splash of wild garlic oil. Ham hock croquettes are made with a light hand – hot, loose, and smoky with Gubbeen, with an assertive mustard mayo. If you're a little croquetas-jaded, these will restore your faith. And the tempura of purple sprouting broccoli, dappled in filaments of a light crunchy batter, is glossed with gochujang mayo and dusted with nori powder.
The small plates section is where the chef starts speaking in ingredient haiku: oyster mushroom, shimeji, black garlic, tarragon (€12). It is a great dish. The oyster mushroom and shimeji have an earthy, roasted edge, the black garlic smoulders, and the tarragon adds a bit of punch.
Notions: From left, radish, romesco, chive oil and hazelnuts; asparagus, guanciale, gnocchi, Parmesan and cavolo nero; Connemara oyster with jalapeño granita; caramelised white chocolate, strawberries and buckwheat sponge. Photograph: Alan Betson
Ham hock croquettes, mustard aioli with smoked Gubbeen. Photograph: Alan Betson
Sommelier Finn Lowney and chef Andrew Kelly. Photograph: Alan Betson
Crispy purple potato, greens, anchovy dressing (€14) turns out to be the dish of the evening. The Ballymakenny potatoes are smashed, cooked in their skins, and just this side of charred. The greens are a mix of rocket, kale and roasted spring onions, and the anchovy dressing is sharp, with a smoky finish pulling the whole thing together.
On to the large plates and asparagus, guanciale, gnocchi, Parmesan, kale (€18) is smaller than expected – but the price reflects it. Pan-fried spears of asparagus are nestled alongside gnocchi and crispy cavolo nero in a Parmesan cream, with crispy guanciale adding a punch of salty umami.
Iberico pork cheek, nduja, butter bean cassoulet, salsa verde (€26) is a satisfying dish. The meat is tender without falling into 'melts in the mouth' territory; the cassoulet is loose, thick, and rich with nduja heat; and the salsa verde is snappy, vivid with acidity, bringing a welcome counterpoint.
For dessert, there's just one option – caramelised white chocolate, raspberries, and buckwheat sponge (€10), an unfussy end. The raspberries are sharp, the sponge is light and nutty, and the white chocolate comes in just enough to soften the edges.
An unfussy end: Caramelised white chocolate, raspberries, and buckwheat sponge. Photograph: Alan Betson
Andrew Kelly, who heads up the kitchen, has an impressive background – Ballymaloe,
Noma
,
Bastible
,
Potager
– and it shows. The food is intelligent, modern and deeply considered, but never overwrought. The kitchen works with a precision that quietly outclasses the influencer glow in the diningroom. There's technique, sure, but also restraint – the rarest thing in a city still impressed by edible flowers and truffle oil.
There's no plate pile-up. No ceremony. The pacing just works.
And Notions? For all the irony, all the shrugging cool, here's the joke: it's not style over substance. It's quite simply, substance, styled well.
Dinner for three with a bottle of wine was €165.
The Verdict:
Small plates, natural wine, and no minimum spend.
Food provenance:
Crowe's Farm, Ballymakenny Farm, McNally Farm, La Rousse and Caterway.
Vegetarian options:
The menu is primarily vegetarian.
Wheelchair access:
Accessible room with no accessible toilet.
Music:
Soul, jazz and reggae.