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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Baba'de restaurant review: You won't eat like this anywhere else in Ireland
Baba'de Address : The Mews, Baltimore, Co. Cork, P81 TC64 Telephone : 028 48112 Cuisine : Turkish Website : Cost : €€€ I'd expected Baba'de, Ahmet Dede and Maria Archer 's more casual follow-up to their acclaimed two-Michelin-star restaurant, Dede in Baltimore, west Cork , to focus on Turkish street food. It does – but there are also rogue dishes at incredibly reasonable prices. You're as likely to get seafood in a fine dining foam as a kebab on flatbread. The setting is the old Mews site , where Dede formerly held a Michelin star as head chef – a 30-seat cottage a few steps from their two-star flagship. The mood is stripped back: bare tables, a short menu split into sea, meadow, garden and dessert, and a wine list that starts at €35. We go for the entry-level red, a chilled Bobal from Valencia (€35) that works across the summer menu. Celebrating? There's a grower champagne, Pierre Moncuit Coulmet, and a strong showing of by-the-glass options. Dede's içli köfte (€16) is about as far from its street food roots as you can get without a wine pairing. If you're sniffy about foams, rethink your position. The yoghurt-garlic sauce is whipped to the brink of collapse but hits with refreshing acidity. On top: dots of isot pepper and fresh mint leaves. Four bulgur dumplings surface – crisp spheres above the froth, sealing in spiced lamb. And under them – because this dish doesn't stop – is a slow-cooked ragout of Fastnet Farm lamb, thick with tomato and heat. Layered, precise, and technically sharp – it is influenced by a two-star signature dish from Dede, served here for the price of a Negroni. Dede's hand shows again with the squid erişte (€15), another dish that arrives under a blanket of aerated sauce – this time a whipped roast pepper velouté, a vivid orange, fizzing at the edges like embers. It comes in a black bowl, dusted with chives and isot pepper, topped with a single curled piece of baby squid. READ MORE Baba'de restaurant: Chef-proprietor Ahmet Dede. Photograph: Andy Gibson Baba'de restaurant: The site of the former Mews in Baltimore. Photograph: Andy Gibson Beneath, tagliatelle-style pasta is cut short to match the thin strips of squid running through the sauce. Traditionally, the dish uses offal – not seafood – and never a red pepper base. But of course it works. Puffed rice, almond crumble and pomegranate molasses pull it squarely into cheffy territory. After two composed, high-wire plates, the menu shifts gear. Ali's hummus (€8) comes topped with crispy chickpeas, red onion and smoked paprika and house-made sourdough. In Turkey, hummus is eaten straight with a fork, like a vegetable side dish, but I fancy it as a dip, so order more of the bread (€2) to swipe it up. The Adana kebab (€16), a thick sausage of grilled lamb, lands on a charred flatbread, streaked with chilli mayonnaise, pickled beetroot and yoghurt. Pickled onions and torn herbs lift the richness, while the bread soaks up the juices. It's satisfying. You ditch the cutlery and just dig in. A rival plate of chicken shawarma (€11) feels almost polite by comparison: barbecued chicken breast, smoky and succulent, spread across another flatbread, topped with garlic yoghurt, sumac and a dusting of crunchy chicken skin. [ Comet review: Is this Ireland's next Michelin star restaurant in the making? Opens in new window ] It would be enough to offer just the hits – a signature from Dede, a knockout Adana kebab – but the menu keeps moving. Baba'de-style fried chicken with brown butter dip lands at the table beside us. Cured haddock with seaweed dashi, and cod with confit leeks (the most expensive dish at €23), are making the rounds for fish lovers. The langoustine spring roll seems particularly popular. There are dishes for people who want fireworks, and others for those who just want to be fed – children, anyone not up for lamb ragout in a yoghurt espuma. One plate looks like a tasting-menu showpiece, the next a weeknight favourite. Somehow, they all belong. Baba'de restaurant: Haddock lakarde. Photograph: Andy Gibson Baba'de restaurant: Içli köfte. Photograph: Andy Gibson Baba'de restaurant: Langoustine spring rolls. Photograph: Andy Gibson Baba'de restaurant: Twomey Clonakilty beef. Photograph: Andy Gibson Baba'de restaurant: Annemin sütlaç. Photograph: Andy Gibson Dessert is annemin sütlaç (€13), billed as 'mother's warm rice pudding'. It's a bowl of warm, loose sütlaç with a scoop of cold brown butter ice cream and a dusting of crushed nuts. It's restrained, with rice that's soft but not overcooked, and a punch of brown butter to finish. This is modern Anatolian cooking, structured around a Nordic-style menu layout, with quietly cheffy execution and a top-tier prep kitchen doing the heavy lifting. It's a lucky dip in the best way – bewildering at times, with no telling whether the next plate's a two-star throwback or a late-night classic. Still flinching at the word 'espuma'? Stay home and eat yoghurt with a spoon. Otherwise, get to Baba'de – the food is bold, the prices are ridiculously reasonable, and you won't eat like this anywhere else in Ireland. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €116. The verdict: 9/10. Fine dining meets Turkish comfort food at Ahmet Dede's latest restaurant. Food provenance: Glenmar Fish, Anthony Dwyer, Michael Twomey and Walsh's butchers, and David Bushby. Vegetarian options: Oyster mushroom shawarma, wild chanterelles with mushroom consommé, bulgur köfte, and fennel, goat's curd and beetroot salad. Wheelchair access: Accessible room with no accessible toilet. Music: Modern Turkish pop, rock and jazz mix.
France 24
7 hours ago
- France 24
Tale of love, passion behind Mexico's 'boundary-pushing' Quintonil
Quintonil, which opened in 2012 in the upscale Mexico City neighborhood of Polanco, already boasted two Michelin stars. Now it is also ranked number three by the Michelin Guide's British rival, "The World's 50 Best Restaurants," which praised its "boundary-pushing" cuisine. "Focused on fresh, local ingredients and traditional Mexican flavors and techniques weaved into modern preparations, it is fast becoming a classic," it said. Named after an aromatic plant from the southern state of Oaxaca, Quintonil stands behind only Maido in Lima and Asador Etxebarri in Spain in the list. At the reception, Alejandra Flores -- one half of the charismatic couple behind Quintonil -- gives a taste of the hospitality and kindness for which Mexicans are known. "I truly believe in the saying, 'He who does not live to serve does not serve to live,'" she said. Service "must be a dance" or even an "embrace," added Flores, who studied hospitality management in Switzerland. Intimate, not ostentatious In the two small dining rooms, next to a counter seating area that opens onto the kitchen, around a dozen tables receive customers from around the world. It is in this setting -- more intimate than ostentatious -- that Quintonil has gradually gained global recognition, much like Mexico City, which is attracting an increasing number of visitors from the United States and Europe. Understated, like his restaurant, head chef Jorge Vallejo used to work on cruise ships before returning to Mexico City where he joined another renowned restaurant, Pujol. It was there that he met Flores, his wife. Located a few streets away, Pujol has long been the benchmark for new Mexican gastronomy. In 2022, "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" ranked chef Enrique Olvera's establishment fifth, while Quintonil was in ninth place. The student has since overtaken his teacher, but feels a debt of gratitude: Pujol's elevation of Mexican cuisine to another level has inspired others, Vallejo said. "Twenty years ago, people knew very little about what Mexican gastronomy really is as we know it today," he added. Today, more foreigners are familiar with a diverse cuisine that ranges from street tacos to fine dining, in both cases using local products such as corn and tomatoes. 'Close to my heart' Quintonil combines seasonal ingredients -- in July it was asparagus, carrots, and mushrooms -- with traditional Mexican staples, such as mole, a sauce made with spices and cocoa. "Right now, a dish that's close to my heart is vegetable mole. We prepare it with asparagus," enthused Vallejo, happy that his discovery allows for a lighter sauce. Quintonil's ingredients are "98 percent Mexican," including the wines. The exceptions are caviar, one type of fish, and olive oil, said Vallejo, who favors local sources. "I have a good friend whose family grows white beans" in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, he said. Quintonil has mastered the art of blending traditional Mexican flavors with contemporary cuisine, according to the "50 Best" list, citing the example of "tamales of duck pibil with elote cream," a corn-based sauce. The award has been decided since 2002 by more than a thousand "culinary experts," including chefs, specialist journalists and restaurant owners. While French chefs question its legitimacy, accusing it of opacity, in the case of Quintonil the verdict seems unanimous. According to the Michelin Guide, Quintonil's tasting menu is "constantly evolving" with "delights such as crab and shards of blue corn tostada arranged with a vivid pipian verde enhanced with untraditional elements like galangal, lemongrass, and makrut lime." Quintonil's cuisine "is an enticing melding of excellent local product, impressive execution, and great creativity to produce refined compositions," it said.
The National
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Mr Chow review: London's famous Chinese restaurant serves up classics in Dubai
One of London's most famous Chinese restaurants has finally landed in Dubai. After its first restaurant took the UK dining scene by storm in 1968, the brand now has venues in New York, Miami, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas in the US, as well as an outpost in Riyadh. Its Dubai outpost opened in June, promising to bring its combination of classic dishes served in an elegant setting while embracing the nuances of the region. The restaurant's location is an immediate removal from the hustle and bustle of its older London sibling, swapping Knightsbridge for the second floor of a commercial tower in Dubai's financial district. Like Alice through the looking glass, you are transported into another universe when walking into Mr Chow – one that's a lavish space of high ceilings, low lighting and spectacular scenery. Where to sit and what to expect There is something charmingly classical about Mr Chow's aesthetic, with dark walls, dark furniture and minimalist white tablecloths. In a word, Mr Chow is polished. Whether that's the silver cutlery or the servers decked out in high-quality tuxedos, it's a restaurant that brings a touch of 1970s Britain to the modernity of DIFC. There's an array of seating options, with tables lining the floor-to-wall windows and a magnificent central bar area. My dining partner and I choose one of the central tables, which has a high-backed sofa seat offering up spectacular views of the cityscape around us. It's here that our server, Nick, explains the basics of the menu and we settle down for the dinner awaiting us. The menu To start with, we share a serving of chicken satay (Dh92) and glazed prawns with walnuts (Dh164). Consistent with Mr Chow's general feel, the two dishes are deliberately simple and classical. With both the chicken and the prawns, the core flavour blends wonderfully with the traditional tastes brought out in the marinade for the chicken and the walnut sauce with the prawns. They are excellent starters as they set the tone for the quality of the food that's to come, while also not being too heavy to rule out further dishes. Ma mignon (Dh297) is our main course of choice, served alongside the Gamblers duck (Dh295) with rice and vegetables (Dh75) on the side. Similar to our starters, they are two very different dishes that we choose to share, but they illustrate what Mr Chow is all about. A recipe since 1975, the ma mignon is a Mr Chow staple and serves up tender filet mignon with asparagus and a rich gravy. It's as delicious as it sounds. The Gamblers duck, meanwhile, is essentially a more sophisticated take on the archetypal Chinese takeaway order; crispy duck and pancakes. This, though, is an elevated experience and one that offers beautifully cooked meat – carved at your table on a silver plate – with pancakes, vegetables and plum sauce. For dessert, we go for the mango ice bowl (Dh95), which is arguably the piece de resistance and a wonderful way to end a fine meal. Its presentation is spectacular, with the ice elegantly surrounding the fruit. It's also very light and refreshing, meaning you have plenty of room to tuck in despite having dined on the heavier starters and mains. Just make sure you finish your dessert quickly, as it will melt before your eyes. Save or splurge A three-course meal at Mr Chow can cost between Dh230 and Dh581. On the high end of the price spectrum lie the vermicelli with lobster (Dh169), fresh live lobster (Dh317) and mango ice bowl (Dh95). The three most reasonable dishes across starters, mains and desserts are the crab claw (Dh92), mapo tofu (Dh90), and sorbet selection (Dh48). A chat with the chef The man behind the dishes at Mr Chow is head chef Zhang Yu Jun. Originally from Jiangsu, China, he has worked with the brand for almost three years before fronting the Dubai project. He particular enjoys cooking with seafood and beef. 'These ingredients allow for endless creativity and refinement,' he says. 'You'll find them featured throughout our menu, from delicate seafood dim sum to our signature meat dishes, always with a focus on freshness, precision, and innovation.' Chef Zhang describes his cooking style as one that is deeply respectful of the ingredients he works with. 'I draw inspiration from traditional Chinese cuisine while incorporating modern touches,' he says. 'My goal is always to balance authenticity, artistry and seasonal ingredients. 'For me, cooking is an artistic expression. I believe in respecting the ingredients, embracing seasonality and constantly improving my skills.' For vegetarian or vegan diners, he recommends the vegetarian squab with lettuce, for meat lovers his top tip is the Beijing chicken with walnuts, and for seafood aficionados, the live lobster gets the nod. His go-to starter is the satay chicken skewers, while he suggests the restaurant's selection of steamed seafood dishes all amount to good options for those looking for a healthier plate. Contact information Mr Chow is in Precinct Building 3 in the Dubai International Financial Centre. It is open daily from noon to midnight. Reservations can be made by calling 04 834 2013.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Chefs explain why restaurant mashed potato always tastes better than homemade
Chefs have divulged why mashed potato at a restaurant always tastes better than when made at home. Many agree the answer is lashings of salt and butter, but some chefs insist there is far more to the art of a velvety mash. Inspired by a popular Reddit thread calling on professionals to reveal their secrets, chefs have now spilled on how to master a mash that's both creamy and indulgent. The post began: 'I'm still figuring out how to cook, but one thing that always confuses me is mashed potatoes at restaurants. 'They're so creamy, smooth and buttery without tasting too heavy. I don't know what they're doing differently, but mine never turn out like that... it still feels like something's missing. 'Just wondering what makes restaurant mashed potatoes hit different?' A fine dining cook who claimed to have worked under Michelin star chefs for many years immediately jumped in to share the method he's been using for years. He said: '[We use] either a tamis with a plastic bench scraper or a China cap with a ladle used to push it through.' A tamis - pronounced 'tammy' - is a drum-shaped sieve with fine mesh attached. A China cap is a cone-shaped strainer with perforated metal on the inside. He continued: 'When we'd make Pomme Puree [velvety mash] we would do about 16 cups of peeled Yukon gold potatoes soaked (in water to prevent oxidization) and cut up to an even size. 'Bring them to boil in a pot with just enough salted (and I mean pretty flavorful) water to cover the surface. Less water = better texture mash. 'Once it was boiling I'd reduce it to a simmer until a cake tester came out clean but not where the potatoes got over cooked/mealy. You don't want that either.' The chef then advises immediately draining the water, 'tamising or ricing' the potatoes into a large bowl and adding simmered heavy cream to the desired texture. Follow that with about 500g of cubed-up good quality cold butter. He said: 'The cold butter helps mount and emulsify the potatoes so that they have an incredibly smooth texture. 'After emulsification we'd sometimes add some garlic thyme brown butter we'd prepped earlier and quickly stir it in so it would stay emulsified. Salt and season to taste. 'Most places I've worked have done this or similar.' Multiple users agreed with this chef's approach, while others weighed in with their own tips - mostly involving excessive amounts of butter and cream. One confessed: 'So much butter and cream. Way more than you would imagine. Like some of the fancier and more luxurious places are doing their mashed potatoes 50 per cent butter by weight.' Another agreed: 'I'm a chef. It's what everyone else said. A s*** load of butter, salt, white pepper and cream. Like an amount you've never considered because most normal people can't comprehend it.' One more admitted: 'So much more butter. Like a comical amount.' Others offered a little more substance with specific tips they've always sworn by. One chef said: 'Bake the potatoes in the oven in their skin, scoop out flesh, put through potato ricer, add hot milk flavored with bay leaf, add lots of butter and salt.' A second suggested: 'Another tip to level up your mash is to steep garlic and herbs in the cream, then strain them out before you add it. It's awesome.' A third added: 'Use a potato ricer, better butter and higher fat dairy. Make sure you're using the right potato. Mix them to amalgamate and no more. Don't overwork them, they'll get pasty. Rest them, they're often made towards start of shift and reheated as needed... and I don't know why sitting for an hour-plus helps, but it makes a difference.'
UAE Moments
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UAE Moments
Armani/Amal Unveils a Gastronomic Journey to the Coasts of South India with a Specially Curated Three-Course Dinner
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Ju ly 2025: Armani/Amal, the celebrated Indian fine-dining destination nestled within the iconic Armani Hotel Dubai, Burj Khalifa, invites guests on a sensorial journey to the southern coasts of India. Discover the vibrant gastronomy of South Indian cuisine with a specially curated three-course set menu, available at AED 400 per person. Within the refined elegance of Armani/Amal, framed by the glittering skyline of Downtown Dubai, guests are welcomed into a world of heritage and haute cuisine. Meticulously crafted by Chef Rohit and his talented team of chefs, the set menu pays homage to the authentic flavours of southern India, brought to life with premium ingredients and time-honoured techniques. Guests begin their culinary voyage with a selection of expertly curated starters, including Baby Corn Bezule (crispy baby corn coated with ginger, curry leaf and chilli), Chemmeen Pollichathu (pan-seared prawn marinated with onion, tomato, curry leaf and mustard), Meen Karivepillai (coconut, curry leaf, ginger and green chilli-infused chargrilled sea bream), and Chicken 65 (chicken thigh cubes, chilli and rice flour crust, Malabar paratha). The main course features a soul-satisfying array of regional delicacies like Kori Gassi (Mangalorean-style chicken curry with coconut, coriander and dry chilli), Lamb Pepper Fry (lamb pepper masala, coconut chutney, dosa), Andhra Fish Curry (sea bass fillet poached in raw mango coastal-style curry), Broccolini & Asparagus Poriyal (stir-fried broccolini, asparagus and cashew nuts with fresh coconut), and Sambhar (South Indian lentil stew with vegetables, tamarind and dry spices). The journey concludes on a sweet and wholesome note with Adapradam (traditional rice pudding sweetened with jaggery and finished with coconut and cashews), a simple yet irresistibly comforting finale. Whether you're gathering with friends or marking a special occasion, this thoughtfully curated menu at Armani/Amal promises a delicious journey through the southern coasts of India, served with warmth, soul, and signature Armani elegance right in the heart of Dubai.
