Funked Up Modern Brunch – BEAR

The food in BEAR is absolutely outstanding and everything about it is flawless. I'm only fucking with you guys don't worry as I can hear people screaming from the rooftops about conflicts of interest because Jamie Heaslip part owns BEAR and he is also involved here with Lovin Dublin. One of the hardest things to do in this job is to keep conflicts of interest to the side and be honest which is why I don't take freebies or go to PR events. At the risk of pissing off one of my favourite restauranteurs in Dublin, I skipped down South William Street and popped into BEAR without them knowing as I heard they had a pretty cool new take on brunch with a new menu.

Now I don't know about you but I have a little brunch menu fatigue at the moment. I love the fact that the city has embraced it to the point where it is more important than going to mass for most of the younger generation, but you see the same dishes over and over again. Eggs Benedict, pancakes, Full Irish, steak and eggs etc etc. I'd call it the commoditization of the brunch menu. BEAR seem to have picked up on that and as I sipped my orange juice and Americano (both average 7 out of 10s) I was delighted to see great dishes that I'd never tried before. For the first time in ages I was excited about ordering brunch. Although the "egg sputino" sounded pretty bad ass I went with Gammon steak because it was a childhood favourite of mine. It was bang on. Exactly how I remembered it but I would have swapped the fancy chipotle shite on top for a simple classic slice of pineapple. Not gourmet I know but that is how I remember it at my granny's table as an eight year old, dragged in after football to finally eat something. I nearly fell off the chair when I saw a side order dish of black pudding croquettes. Apart from the fact that they looked like something my dogs do the morning after getting into the left over takeaway curry containers, they tasted absolutely mind blowing. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised given the fact that it is black pudding, potatoes and seasoning deep fried. How was that ever going to go wrong? The fact is that along with the million dollar fries, BEAR now has 2 of the very best side order dishes in the business. Heart attack inducing stuff no doubt, but fair balls for the idea. I actually felt so bad ordering them that I did something I've never done and had a side salad to compensate. It was piled super high and I had a grand total of two leaves but it made me leave with the moral high ground about still being on a health kick. All in all, I liked it. The tunes were perfect for a lazy Sunday. I don't know what it is about but it always seems to be quiet at lunchtime but buzzing in the evening. It could be something to do with the chairs which are great when you are pissed, lively and full of banter but not great when wanting to slouch and read the papers. Either way the food is inventive and for the first time in ages I was super psyched about reading a brunch menu, and it doesn't break the bank as you can see. Well worth a visit.