{"id":56985,"date":"2025-09-11T09:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/56985\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T09:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:48:12","slug":"this-terrace-is-one-of-dublins-loveliest-places-to-eat-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/56985\/","title":{"rendered":"This terrace is one of Dublin\u2019s loveliest places to eat \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angelina’s<\/strong> <\/p>\n

\ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d8 \ue9d7<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> 55 Percy Place, Dublin 4 D04 XOC1<\/p>\n

Telephone:<\/strong> 01 660 2262<\/p>\n

Cuisine:<\/strong> Modern International<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> https:\/\/angelinas.ie\/Opens in new window<\/a><\/p>\n

Cost:<\/strong> \u20ac\u20ac\u20ac<\/p>\n

I kept my distance from Angelina\u2019s when it was owned by the Press Up<\/a> group. Press Up did decor made for Instagram stories, expensive cocktails and swings for that perfect selfie. The food was secondary \u2013 competent yes, but the restaurant<\/a> equivalent of lift music.<\/p>\n

It now belongs to something called Eclective \u2013 pure week-one of The Apprentice, a team name scrawled on a flip chart by the boys, which has Lord Sugar wondering aloud if anyone can spell as he delivers a double firing. The website dribbles on about \u201chospitality innovators\u201d and \u201ccelebrating culture and people\u201d \u2013 froth straight from a marketing intern after three oat-milk flat whites.<\/p>\n

Behind the noise is Cheyne Capital<\/a>, a London fund that last year took control in a debt-for-equity swap, hoovering up Angelina\u2019s, Doolally, Mama Yo and a string of bars. My first brush with this group was Kaldero<\/a>, proof, if any were needed, that Eclective \u2013 in true Apprentice-style \u2013 hadn\u2019t a clue how to run restaurants. It was launched with a line-up of celebrity chefs \u2013 on the website but not in the kitchen \u2013 and a menu written for Instagram, not the discerning diner.<\/p>\n

It bombed, of course. Since then Eclective has had to beat a retreat, bolting Richie Castillo into place full-time and letting him actually cook, which by all accounts has turned things around. And now Angelina\u2019s is its second go at showing how it intends to take food seriously, with Daniel Hannigan \u2013 a chef of real ability from Orwell Road \u2013 installed as \u201cexecutive\u201d chef, which sounds like his new job might have a broader role than just this operation. <\/p>\n

Hannigan puts his stamp firmly on the menu of seven starters and nine mains with some of his signature dishes \u2013 crab flatbread and grilled fish in a chicken sauce. The original Angelina\u2019s pizza menu is still in place, the waft of truffle oil on the mushroom pizza invading my personal space.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re at a marble table on the terrace \u2013 the bit that sells Angelina\u2019s \u2013 which runs along the Grand Canal with a view up to the bridge, the evening sun breaking across the water. The Vert Imperial Picpoul (\u20ac43) arrives with a punchy mark-up from a wine list that reads less like the work of a sommelier and more like an accountant enjoying economies of scale.<\/p>\n

Our first starter, the crab flatbread (\u20ac18.50) is a hefty, charred slab, its surface lacquered with romesco. On top sit curls of marinated pepper with three heaped piles of crab from the northeast Atlantic. It\u2019s substantial and is definitely something you would want to share.<\/p>\n

Three scallops (\u20ac19), burnished from the barbecue, sit in dashi beurre blanc with tiny peas. A thin slice of Iberico ham lies across the dish, just enough salt and chew. There\u2019s no spoon, so the flatbread is pressed into service, and soon there\u2019s nothing left but the smear of green oil across the plate.<\/p>\n

The halibut (\u20ac34), from waters between Scotland, the Faroes and Shetland, comes as a thick centre cut. It is golden on top, flaky but still moist and sits on a creamy celeriac pur\u00e9e with curls of courgette and chunks of charred celeriac. The chicken sauce is rich and buttery, split with a herb oil \u2013 lovage, perhaps \u2013 to keep it in check.<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Daniel Hannigan at work in Angelina’s \"CrabCrab flatbread, romesco and marinated red pepper \"RoastRoast halibut with chicken butter sauce and celeriac \"Angelina's\"Angelina’s \"InteriorInterior at Angelina’s <\/p>\n

The lobster garganelli (\u20ac36) sits in a bisque that avoids the usual trap of overextraction and muddiness. It\u2019s butter-heavy, a touch sweet and could use a squeeze of acidity. The Irish lobster itself is nicely cooked and there\u2019s enough of it cut into proper chunks to carry the pasta. Peas, samphire and chervil lift the dish with freshness.<\/p>\n

Too full for Basque cheesecake and unwilling to order sticky toffee in August from an uninspired dessert list \u2013 no figleaf ice cream, no spark of creativity \u2013 we opt for the vanilla sundae (\u20ac10.50). The menu promises toffee sauce, brownie and raspberry, but it\u2019s pretty pedestrian, scraping one scoop out of 10 on my sundae scale. <\/p>\n

Hannigan\u2019s input can be felt, with a change of menu and sauces that show a chef in charge. Some plates need polish, but the best are better than anything this address has seen before. The terrace is the ace card, one of Dublin\u2019s loveliest places to eat, and the prices reflect it \u2013 edging into special-occasion territory. Yet it also works the other way: a neighbourhood stop for pizza and a glass of wine. For once, Angelina\u2019s is a restaurant \u2013 but the spreadsheets still show in the imported fish, the battery chicken and the wine picked for margin, not pleasure. <\/p>\n

Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was \u20ac160.85.<\/p>\n

The verdict:<\/b> Daniel Hannigan\u2019s arrival brings proper cooking to this former Press Up restaurant.<\/p>\n

Food provenance:<\/b> Beef from McLoughlin\u2019s Butchers and chicken (not free-range), crab from East Coast Seafoods, Co Down, fish from Nick\u2019s Fish, vegetables from Keelings.<\/p>\n

Vegetarian options:<\/b> Burrata, sunchoke tostada, cauliflower cheese, grilled courgette, gnocchi and pizzas.<\/p>\n

Wheelchair access:<\/b> Fully accessible with an accessible toilet.<\/p>\n

Music:<\/b> Barely audible on the terrace. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angelina’s \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d8 \ue9d7 Address: 55 Percy Place, Dublin 4 D04 XOC1 Telephone: 01 660 2262…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,41185,18,2215,19,17,361,41186,5281,33646],"class_list":{"0":"post-56985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dublin-4","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-for-you","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-magazine","15":"tag-press-up-hospitality-group","16":"tag-restaurant","17":"tag-restaurant-reviews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}