One Pico

One Pico is an acclaimed award winning restaurant in Dublin, Ireland serving wonderful French food in luxurious surroundings. The modern classic cuisine is emphasized by innovative touches using the best of seasonal produce.  Keith chose this restaurant to celebrate my birthday dinner.

Photo via One Pico website

The interior was very chic, with plush gray velvet chairs, white linen, and soft candle lights that were aided by the light shining through the windows.  I appreciated the calm in this restaurant, which was a nice change to other loud and bustling places we had dined at in Dublin.

There was a three course prix fixe menu available for €49.  We chose a 2014 Cahors, Malbec from Château de Cédre Heritage, France to accompany our meal.  I had never had French Malbec before, but this was smooth and medium-bodied to compliment both fish and beef.

For my starter, I chose the classically French Chicken Liver & Foie Gras Parfait with rhubarb and vanilla chutney served with warm brioche.  This dish was decadent and divine, and I had deceivingly plenty to share with Keith.

Keith chose the Beef Tartare with lobster aioli, radish, and black olive.  The meat was cut in larger chunks than he was used to, but it had great flavor - another decadent dish with the lobster aioli.

For his main, Keith enjoyed the Suckling Pig with Lincolnshire smoked eel, roasted carrot, and pine nuts.  The pig had deep flavors, and was both tender and crispy.  He only wished it was a slightly bigger portion.

I ordered the Hake with calcot onion, wild garlic, white turnip, mussels, and a light bisque.  The fish was expertly cooked and arranged on the plate quite beautifully.  Though lighter than the previous dishes, it still tasted good with the red wine.

For dessert, Keith ordered the Banana Soufflé with salted caramel ice cream.  It was a lovely dessert, that was like a cloud with just a hint of banana.

I finished the last sips of my red wine with the Valrhona Chocolate Cremeux served with Pedro Ximenez ice cream.  The chocolate was smooth and the perfect decadent finish to my birthday meal.

When we thought we were all finished, out came a plate of petit fours which I gobbled up happily as we paid the bill.  All in all, we had a quiet and special dinner at One Pico.  We finished just in time to catch our Uber to the Irish concert at Vicar Street.

Total Rating: 4.48
Food: 4.5, Price: 4.5, Service: 4.5, Ambience: 4, Accessibility: 5