This review is the second among a set of two and a part of the Turned Tables series. You may find the first review in this set on Instagram.
A few weeks ago, I managed to bag a mid-week reservation at Chubbys, which has quickly become a local favourite that’s famous for being difficult to book. Considering the fact that it’s a fair distance from where I live, I left it to Dubliners to help me decide if availing my booking would be worth it. And so up went an Instagram poll, for which 85% answered in the affirmative. Let’s start with saying I’m glad I listened.
Pink, red, and blue upholstery in a velvety fabric is a welcome change from nondescript furniture choices at most casual restaurants in the city. Chubbys knows this and uses its distinctiveness as a setting for more creative flair to come (on the menu).
The cocktail menu is concise but has strength of character, which is evident in how it subtly tweaks classics. While everything looks good enough to order, we can’t resist the Chubbys martini: the restaurant’s take on a dirty martini. Patrons get to choose between gin or vodka (more thoughtful than menus that decide for the diner), shaken with Gordal olive brine, and garnished with Picual olive oil and a meaty Gordal olive. It’s an excellent cocktail that works as well on its own as it does with food.
Given that the food menu is extensive with multiple categories that all call out to us, we choose to opt out of the tacos and burgers entirely. This decision isn’t made lightly; it’s so we’re able to try everything that’s more unusual for a Dublin restaurant attempting to break out of the modern European mould.
Other places have attempted corn ribs and done them well, and this restaurant tackles the baton it has been handed with enough care. The chipotle and lime butter is a worthy marinade and a squeeze of the accompanying lime wedge adds a slight punch.
A courgette salad is made up of impressively thin courgette ribbons, toasted almonds, garlic, and parmesan. Although it lacks an assertive dressing and the promised chilli, the flavours from the courgette and parmesan are pleasant. More generosity with the garlic would have rounded it off beautifully.
Most options from the sharing plates section catch our fancy, especially for their nod to Asian flavours (like the Indian fried chicken with fried curry leaf and the Korean-style pork belly with homemade sriracha and kimchi). We settle on the honey and soy fried chicken with pickled kohlrabi and yuzu, our choice heavily validated when we see the dish arriving at many other tables along with ours.
The kitchen could have gone the spice bag route with this preparation to appeal to a wider demographic, but remains steadfast in its resolve to present Asian dishes with as much originality as possible. It’s evidently a take on the sticky sweet and sour chicken that’s a mainstay at every Chinese establishment worth its salt, but without the gravy. Every bite is crunchy, tart, and slightly sweet, forming the perfect base for the pickled kohlrabi to work as a palate cleanser between. The chopped chilli garnish doesn’t add any heat, which seems to be a blessing for the many kids seated in the restaurant and a mystery to be resolved for diners with a fondness for heat.
Two smaller plates and one large are the ideal order for two people, and although we barely have space left for dessert, we can’t get ourselves to leave without trying the chocolate namelaka with hazelnuts. Conceived by the Valrhona chocolate school, namelaka is “sort of between a ganache and a mousse” according to our server. It’s also the Japanese word for "extremely creamy". The desert lives up to its name, and the chef’s touch — Picaul extra virgin olive oil and smoked sea salt — could put everyone’s favourite sweet condiment (salted caramel) to shame.
Chubbys’ strength is its refusal to put itself into a box, and it does so without being offensive to foreign flavours and ingredients: a quality few western chefs can master. The menu takes Asia and Mexico heavily into consideration, which are otherwise two regions exploited and appropriated too often. Dishes here aren’t just a European take on Asian or Mexican cuisine; they display a commendable understanding of both.
