Kafka Restaurant, Rathmines, Dublin 6
Kafka is a chic cafe and restaurant in Rathmines, an area in Dublin 6 that has traditionally been home to students and flatdwellers. Rathmines main street is a bit grotty with higgeldy piggeldy buildings that are in need of an urgent update but just two minutes away, the side streets give way to strings of elegant red-brick buildings. Kafka caters to this audience of eater, the well-heeled who bought down-at-heel buildings in the ’60s and 70s and now live in refined elegance with low or no mortgages. Perfect terrain for an interior designed restaurant with warm woods, modern tables, swanky lighting and debonaire waiters.
As a restaurant Kafka relies a little too heavily on a garnish of rocket leaves (every plate arrives bathed in them) which is a pity as the food underneath is really good. The dinner menu stays the same for months on end, with specials appearing every night and the regulars obviously like it as it offers certainty in a world of change. Starters include prawn spring rolls and chilli chicken wings. Duck comes with a redcurrant sauce and soft yielding celeriac and potato mash. A simple burger is hearty and home-made. Steak arrives with chips and Cafe de Paris butter, positively dribbling with garlic and parsley. The lunch menu is about ten euro and changes every day and includes old favourites like Spaghetti Bolognese and quesadillas. It’s excellent value. The coffee is Illy which is good if you have dodgy digestion like the Gobbler as it’s low in acidity and is the perfect end to a heavy meal. The owners are Italian or of Italian extraction and they are ever-present, the reason that this restaurant cafe is so consistent. Brunch on Saturday and Sunday is one of the best in Dublin. The chefs in the kitchen cook the breakfasts (something as rare as hen’s teeth in most restaurants where the sausages and rashers are pre-cooked the night before) and the hollandaise sauce in the Eggs Benedict is unctuous and creamy and spiked with lemon and cooked on the spot.
We think Kafka is one of the best cafe restaurants we have found in Dublin. It’s local, good value, well-designed, welcoming and the food is made from excellent ingredients. The bathrooms are small but clean. And best of all, it’s unpretentious. You won’t actually find anyone in there reading Kafka.
Kafka, 236 Lower Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6 01 – 1 4977057
Filed under: Restaurants and Cafés
