Wilde Dublin, The Westbury Hotel - Restaurant Review

Price: £££
Food: 4/5
Style Points: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Perfect for: Couples, special occasions

Located on the 2nd floor of the luxury hotel The Westbury and named after the famed Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, WILDE is a restaurant that first of all entices you through its sheer beauty.

As the great poet once said, “beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm” and WILDE is certainly easy on the eye, doing a fabulous job of bringing back the timeless beauty and glamour of the 1920’s through its ornate soft light fixtures to its plush green leather banquettes, inviting marble fireplace and its use of flecks of gold and gloss to give the whole space a real charming elegance.

WILDE Doyle Collection Westbury in Dublin

We were seated in the terraced area of the restaurant which had beautiful greenery creeping up the walls and ceiling as well as great views over the bustling Grafton Street.

The Food?

We were greeted by the restaurant’s passionate sommelier who discussed with us the impressive list of wines, spirits and cocktails. We decided on a couple of cocktails before starting on the food and went for Smoke n' Barrells and A Florentine Tragedy. The former was similar to an Old Fashioned but with more of a citrus aftertaste and was made with Jameson Black Barrell Whiskey, Suze, Connemara Peated Whiskey, Lemon, Apple, & Cinnamon. It was very good and quite suited the feel of the restaurant and Dublin as a whole - warm and very welcoming.

The latter was made with Aperol, Amaro Lucano, Orange Bitters, Cinnamon, Prosecco, & Poachers Classic Tonic Water. It was similar to an Aperol Spritz and was very nice although probably more of a Summer drink.

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The menu looked very appealing and starters including Thornhill duck breast, carrot & ginger, cranberry jus & nut crumble, and Dublin Bay & tiger prawn cocktail with a classic Marie Rose. I tried the Dill cured Irish salmon, granary bread & lemon and my husband opted for the Persian salad of quinoa, chickpeas, pomegranate & cucumber with minted yoghurt & grilled halloumi. We also shared the Endive, Cashel blue cheese and walnut salad with honey vinaigrette.

The salmon was tasty and very nicely cured with the dill, lemon and salt. I also enjoyed the fresh bread on the side with some delicious Irish butter. The endive salad was really nice and the blue cheese was not as overpowering as I feared although I think the salad needed more walnuts and dressing as I felt it was a bit lacking.

The Persian salad was a good sized portion for a starter and had lots of lovely Middle Eastern spice running through it along with pomegranate seeds which really enhanced the whole dish with some much needed sweetness. The whole thing could probably have done with a touch of salt but it was very nice nonetheless and an enjoyable start to proceedings.

For our mains, I went with the Grilled lamb cutlets with dukkah spice, lentil tabbouleh, & baba ganoush and my husband went with a medium rare John Stone Rib Eye steak with peppercorn sauce. On the side we went for Hand-Cut Chips, Onion rings and Tomato, red onion & feta salad. With our main dishes chosen, our sommelier picked a really delicious Shiraz that he said would be a great match for our forthcoming food. He had so much passion when describing the wine that it just added to the whole dining experience.

The cookery of the lamb cutlets was very good and I really liked the Middle Eastern spices and flavour from the dukkah spice and tabbouleh. The onion rings must also have a mention as they were delicious - crispy, melted in the mouth and plentiful! The chips were also fantastic and I really could tell that the potato itself was of the highest quality.

As for the steak, my husband says it is the best steak he can remember having. John Stone are known to be of the best quality and our server even said they import to Japan! It shouldn’t be much of a surprise as the dry-aged steak melted in the mouth and add lots of flavour. If you love your steak then you have to give this steak a try.

Coming to the close of our meal and we were excited to try our desserts - Dark chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream and Pavlova with seasonal berries & Chantilly. Both desserts looked stunning and the fondant oozed gooey chocolate like a good fondant should. It worked beautifully with the pistachio ice cream and was a great autumnal dessert without doubt. Pavlova is one of my favourite desserts and I could eat it everyday.

This particular pavlova looked gorgeous and I really enjoyed liked the fresh berries on top that cut through the cream and meringue. It was really nice and I was not disappointed.

With our desserts we had a couple of Irish coffees, we were in Ireland after all! These coffees were made with Middleton’s Method & Madness Single Grain Irish Whiskey and specially selected Honduran Single Origin. What really set this coffee apart from other Irish coffees though is that these coffees are created and served tableside. I loved the theatrics and the spectacle of tableside cooking so I was really excited to see how the coffee was made. It’s a fairly new addition to the restaurant and I’m really happy that we got to see it as it was really was a great experience and made other diners look over in curiousity and intrigue.

The coffees themselves though were the stars of the show. The whisky did not over power the coffee and both flavours were in great balance and harmony. A great spectacle and a fabulous way to end a memorable meal.

The Price?

Our 3 course dinner for two including cocktails but excluding the wine came to €187 or £161. This is includes the extra salad and starters that we had. For the food and drinks, ambience, location and overall dining experience I would say that this is quite reasonable and you get good value for money. It isn’t a place you would dine at on a weekly basis but for a special occasion it certainly worth it.

Overall?

WILDE is a fabulous restaurant and we had a great overall dining experience here. If you find yourself in Dublin I would definitely recommend checking out WILDE, especially for a special occasion or as your last meal before taking the flight back home. It really is a great experience that pleases all the senses and, for me, that’s what great restaurants do.