Great review of Glas in the Irish Examiner
We were delighted to receive another lovely review of Glas Restaurant! This one was by the renowned Irish Examiner food critic and wine connoisseur Leslie Williams. We are always so thrilled when people who are neither vegan nor vegetarian visit the restaurant and get what we are trying to achieve.
And Leslie really did! Glas is not about meat substitutes or fake this or fake that. We’re about using local produce, seasonal ingredients and the best and freshest Irish food to create stunning dishes! And they just happen to be vegan-friendly and/or vegetarian dishes. Our chefs don’t really use vegan recipes or vegetarian recipes but just create great food which doesn’t have any meat. Vegan food for all!
There aren’t many vegan restaurants or vegetarian restaurants in Dublin or Ireland doing what we do, so it’s so wonderful to have reviewers come in and taste just how amazing Irish produce is.
Leslie visited on a Tuesday day evening when we were very busy and was immediately impressed by the décor and the “comfortable banquettes and good lighting”. He like our short Early Bird menu too which has four options for starters, mains and desserts.
Our head chef Malte Half was thrilled that the starters were described as ‘beautifully plated’ and ‘pleasing on the eye’.
Leslie and his dining companions – only one of whom is a vegan – were really ‘wowed’ by the main courses. They went for the caramelised onion tart with its ‘lusciously sweet mushrooms on a savoury ‘shortbread’, a salty, fruity, blue cheese sauce and a garlic emulsion adding contrasting and complementary flavours’, the charred roman broccoli atop a rich umami mushroom ‘cake’ and a pistachio crumble was equally impressive.
They also had the baby Tokyo turnips and butterbeans and the polenta fries (€6) on the side which were “another success”, crisp and textured with a “properly intense kimchi aioli” for dipping while patatas bravas were “crisp outside and fluffy within with a garlicky roast vegetable pesto”.
We particularly loved this line: “The hits kept coming with our desserts.” Leslie had the “crumbly, lightly sweet pear and polenta cake” was crumbly, lightly sweet and topped with in-season poached rhubarb, while his friends went for the caramel apple and candied squash chunks and white chocolate ganache.
You can read the full review here.