Junior’s Deli Café. 2 Bath Avenue, Dublin 4
Tel 01-6643648 Chef: Paul McNerney

A phone call to Junior’s revealed that t hey don’t take bookings, and when I arrived it was clear why. The space can take no more than 18 diners inside, and possibly a further 15 outside.

A simple rectangular space is taken up by some cosy tables (that’s code for ‘cramped’) and a cooking area with a high counter where the chef was cooking with an air of calm on a busy evening (Dylan McGrath, take note).

I know that my job is the envy of many, but like so much in life you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. Each time I set out to a new restaurant there’s always the usually justifiable fear that yet another misguided soul has left a job in insurance, IT or some other sensible occupation, got a loan and set up their dream restaurant. It’s then my job to have to eat the nonsense they serve.

Maybe Junior’s would be different, I thought. The menu is simply scribbled on an A4 piece of paper, and cheery staff fill customers in on the ingredients. I suspect they’ve actually tasted the food, too.

To start, I went for the grilled pear, beetroot, walnut and gorgonzola salad (€8). Let’s deconstruct this for a minute and see how many boxes it ticks seasonal, therefore well priced and a good business choice; highly flavoured, an important starter function to get the juices flowing; and mostly prepped in advance, allowing for quick assembly for swift service.

Oh, and it tasted excellent a happy dance of colour, flavour and texture between the pear and beetroot, a slight warmness to the fresh walnuts and then a soft depth charge in the form of the blue cheese. Flawless.

The Ex was with me again and, reliable to the end, had arrived early and snagged a seat indoors. I rewarded him with a glass of well-priced prosecco (€9) and took the lead from his choice of the most luxurious starter of grilled tiger prawns with lemon aioli and spiced couscous (€10). What a happy choice it was juicy, spanking fresh prawns well matched with some gentler spices and a light citric note.

Other starters included panfried girolles with prosciutto on toast (€9); and mission figs (they have smaller seeds than ordinary figs) with buffalo mozzarella, basil and broad beans (€9).

The Ex had the chargrilled Angus rib-eye with sage and mustard mash, greens and garlic butter (€24).We have both had so many badly hung bits of meat it’s always a joy to find people who take pride in sourcing the good stuff. This dry-aged beef sang of quality sourcing and was beautifully cooked, pink and a little bloody in the centre, a touch caramelised on the outside and with yellow, sweet fat that you could have nibbled on its own. Another great dish.

For the main course I went for the simple sounding seafood stew with croutons and rouille (€20). This slightly creamed tomato and fish stock (mellowed, without sharpness) was filled with every conceivable treat, from tasty cockles to juicy mussels and fantastical looking langoustines. There was even an entire grilled sardine draped across the top.

This is the kind of dish some people call ‘hard-work food’, but boy is it worth cracking those shells and slurping the last vestiges of flavour from the claws. On its own, it was substantial enough to go without starter or dessert. ‘‘Dessert?” asked the Ex.

It was a catch-22 question but I still accepted, especially as Junior’s does homemade marshmallows with warm chocolate sauce (€6). This simple little number was inspired, and the marshmallows really came to life with the strong chocolate dip. The baked vanilla cheesecake was another revelation in good ingredients brought together with talent and style.

The bill came to €133 for three courses, including three indulgent glasses of prosecco and a superb bottle of Vesevo Beneventano Aglianico 2005 (€28). Slowly, the message is getting through: posh decors go out of fashion, but good food will always sell. Junior’s may be new on the scene, but its food speaks of senior knowledge.