Darwin’s Restaurant Aungier Street D2

Darwin’s restaurant is located on Aungier Street, near the junction with Stephen’s Street. You will spot Darwin’s with the canopies on the exterior, and a menu board on the pathway.  They specialise in steaks, and have won awards for them. One side of the business partnership is Michael Smith, an award winning butcher, while the restaurant is run by two vegetarians, Amy and Delores. So,Dublin’s best steakhouse may also have the best vegetarian menu. Cool or what?

On a dull October evening it is almost full by 7pm and I would recommend booking a table...  Amy & Dolores, the mother & daughter team who own and run Darwin’s, greet everybody as they come in; not once did I see them without a smile on their faces, no matter how busy they got.  There was a real sense of a team all working together and enjoying what they were doing.

 The atmosphere in Darwin’s is buzzy; the décor is contemporary with a high ceiling, antique cream hanging crystal lights and large prints on the wall.  Long, heavily embossed drapes in the window make the restaurant welcoming and inviting.

 We were shown to our table and a selection of breads and dips were put on the table with a couple of glasses of iced water while we read the menus.

There is a selection of menus to choose from including a pre-theatre menu which is available all night on a Monday/Tuesday night, between 5 & 7pm Wednesday to Friday and 5 to 6pm on a Saturday night.  Real value for money at €19.50 for 2 courses, and €23.50 for 3 courses.  (Everything on the pre-theatre was off the A La Carte.)

Starters ranged from €5.30 - €8.80, a huge selection, there was wild mushroom & black pudding risotto with fresh parmesan shavings; salmon & prawn rilette with Melba toast served with dressed salad leaves or parmesan crisps with goats cheese mousse and beetroot salsa.  For mains there are a huge selection of steaks (all cuts, sizes and styles), lamb, fish and pastas.  Other choices were corn-fed Monaghan chicken with buttered mash, smoked pancetta and mushroom sauce; Darwin’s Wicklow lamb Assiette – chargrilled rack lamb, eye fillet with red wine mint jus; from the seafood selection, the Surf ‘n Turf was served with monkfish; a seafood mixed grill consisted of prawns, mussels, hake, monkfish in a mixed herb cream sauce; Mediterranean bouillabaisse is made of prawns, white fish, chorizo, baby potatoes and celery in a tomato sauce.  

Darwin’s have always been well praised for their vegetarian menu, not only for the extensive selection but also the amount of thought and creativity that has gone into it. Dishes include warm butternut squash salad; yellow corn polenta cakes; Dolly’s duo of Halloumi; vegetable risotto and there’s always the homemade honey & lime tofu steak, made to order. The knowledge of the staff about dishes has to be commended, especially Dolores who has been vegetarian since she was 9 and Amy who has never eaten meat.

On the wine list was a good selection, including 4 red and 4 white house wines which were available by the glass from €21. Further up the price scale there is Premier Cru Chablis for €35, or the very good NZ Pinot Noir for €38. 

We opted for tempura king prawns with a sweet chilli sauce and deep fried calamari with smoked chilli aioli and dressed salad.  Both of these were well made and presented dishes and we certainly weren’t disappointed. For main courses we had to have steak so I forced myself to have a tender as butter fillet on a bed of mash, while Fred opted for the fish of the day, which was a piece of Hake, cooked a Pointe.

All in all a great experience, and a wonderful place to start the night. The music in the background had me tapping my foot and by the end of the night wishing I was going dancing. We headed into the night, a well satisfied pair, with a new favourite steakhouse, and a recommendation for our veggie friends.

**Darwin’s are very child friendly and all dishes on the menu, where possible, come in half portions as well as some suggestions from the staff that they think your child might like but are not necessarily on the menu.