We were very excited to add another Michelin Star to our list, and Glover’s Alley in Dublin was the place where we did it. While I can’t say it was the best meal we had in Dublin, it was certainly the longest and most expensive. The best part about our meal were the wines, which were all incredibly exquisite.

The place itself is super cool with an ultra mid-century vibe. The upholstery is pink and velvety, or teal and leathery, and there are brass accents everywhere. I absolutely loved the decor in here despite the lack of tablecloths. It was OK, though, because the tables were warm and wood-grained with brassy edges. Super cool!

The service was pretty inconsistent in our experience – completely over-the-top interested in how we were doing, and how the pacing was going for us at times, and at other times, we were totally ignored, especially when the pacing really started slowing down toward the end. While everyone was super warm, pleasant, and chatty, I didn’t feel as though the service was always truly genuine, especially since they didn’t really seem to listen to us when they asked us questions. For instance, I have a raw seafood allergy that I advised the captain of straight off the bat, however the very first course they brought out to us, almost immediately after having this discussion, they did not substitute for the raw scallop ceviche for me. When I advised of the error, there were profuse apologies, and I did eventually get an extremely delicious substitute (Celeriac, Button Mushrooms, Egg Yolk, Iberico Ham), but it soured the mood a bit. Additionally, for the first half of the meal they kept asking us multiple times how the pacing was for us, and at the time it was completely perfect. But then, about two-thirds of the way through, the pacing slowed down to a crawl and they also stopped asking us how the pacing was. The last two courses took a full hour, and it wasn’t even like we were being served a souffle or something that could take extra time.

The food was good, but nothing really super-stand-out. It was also not ever really plated very interestingly, and not very photogenic either, as you can see with my photos. There were several choices as far a the menu went – we could have ordered a la carte, or you could order the tasting menu or the “GA Classic” menu, which, according to the website is no longer offered. We went with the GA Classic, which started off with bread and snacks that were delicious. They make this parmesan and olive bread that looks like a cinnamon roll that is divine. The butter that they served with the bread lacked flavor, though, and probably could’ve used some salt. The snacks were cute and yummy.

The beet “tartare” was probably one of my favorite courses. The beets were diced up so finely and the texture was really amazing giving a really cool mouthfeel to the dish. The next course of Dublin Bay Prawns was actually pretty bland overall, and I didn’t love it. Then came the Wild Turbot which was accented with chorizo which was actually pretty brilliant. The fish was lovely and crispy on the outside, and delicate on the inside. The chorizo gave the dish a nice balance and a bit of a bite, which was welcoming after the bland Prawns.

The final savory course was Sika Deer with a Black Curry crust. Honestly this venison was very tender and delicious and the black curry crust was unusual and nice, however we also had venison the night before at Delahunt. It was just as tender and delicious – and they cooked it for us three ways! While the dish was delicious, having just had the incredible venison at Delahunt, it was too easy to compare the two and Delahunt’s was the clear winner.

Following the venison was an incredible cheese course. There was a little tart filled with a local Irish cheese that was similar in consistency to a raclette or a gooey baked brie, but tasted more like a blue cheese, with a really nice bite to it, and it was served with the most amazing wine I never knew existed. It was actually a fortified wine called Pineau de Charentes by Chateau D’Orignac. The coolest thing about this wine is that it is made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, and the booze they use to fortify it is actually Cognac. So it ends up having this super rich, nutty palate but with a real cognac-y nose and aftertaste. I seriously had a tear in my eye this wine was so exquisite. I need to find this stuff here in the states.

There were two desserts which were both good. First was a “Rice, Coconut, Sake, Yogurt” dessert and I just love coconut, and this was really refreshing. I believe it is meant to be a palate cleanser. They then served a dessert which were different for both me and Brian. They made a point to learn what our preferences were at the start of the meal, and I don’t super love mega chocolaty desserts so mine was called a Flotante with a bit of chocolate in the shape of a dome with really fluffy Madagascan vanilla mousse inside, topped off with a dollop of mango and pineapple sorbet. Brians was called tiramisu, which was a more complicated stack of lots of chocolate that was probably one of the most interesting-looking plates we had all evening.

The real stand-outs here at Glover’s Alley were the wine pairings. I ordered the “Prestige” pairing, which was the most expensive one, and I am super glad I did because there wasn’t a single miss out of the bunch. Not only was there not a single miss, but I tried a few things that were totally new to me, which always makes it way more fun. The first wine was a Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc which, even though technically an old world wine, had a great flavor profile combining the best of old world Sauvignon Blanc along with really subtle hints of grassiness and lemon to balance out the wine. Even Brian, one of the biggest Sauv. Blanc haters I know (apart from our friend Robert) enjoyed it. There was proper Champagne served with the Beets, which was a great combo. With the bland prawns, they served a Rioja Grenache Blanc which stole the show with that course. With the fish they served a Swiss wine that I didn’t catch the name of, but might have been my favorite wine of the night. It was like a very aromatic chardonnay. With the venison they served a VERY young Barolo (2019 I believe) which could definitely could use some more time in the cellar, but did open up in our glasses pretty well. Finally, with my dessert, they served an Irish Cider Wine, which was fine and cider-y but my dessert could have used a bit more heft with the wine, so even though the wine itself was good, I don’t think the pairing was perfect.

All in all, Glover’s Alley was good, and the price for the “Prestige” wine pairing was 100% worth it, but the food was a bit lacking in ingenuity for me, and the plating was not interesting either. The service was a bit of a mess, and we ended up sitting there for three hours for a seven-course tasting, which is WAY too long. I would recommend skipping Glover’s Alley, and saving literally hundreds of dollars, and check out some of the more innovative places around Dublin such as Delahunt instead. You can read my review of that incredible meal here!