Dubs will remember Lucky Coady’s on Dame Street as a place you could get a good baked spud or a mammy’s dinner of shepherd’s pie at a reasonable price. The old haunt closed a year or so ago and, I watched with interest as the new owners gave it a fancy new exterior. I am glad to say, they didn’t mess too much with the place, just made it grow up a bit.

On the night myself, my partner and a mate arrived, it was packed. Thank god my other-half was on the ball enough to book.

We were shown to our table by a waitress who seemed a bit brusque at the start but who, it turned out, was hilarious and an excellent server.

The friend was late, so myself and partner ordered some bread and dips. Warm bread arrived, with an extra portion as we said we were hungry. The dips for lovely, pesto was just oily enough and the tapenade not too bitter, but the hummus seemed nutty oddly enough. Nice though.

When our friend arrived, to much joking about being late by our waitress, we were presented with extensive menus. “Oh no,” think I, “too much choice means no attention to detail.”

There are all sorts of pizzas, burgers, bangers and mash, chicken, fish, steak, with some good veggie options too. The pizzas in particular looked interesting with such choices as Chicken Club Calzone, Roast Beef / Foie Gras and Jalfrezi Curry.

It was a cold evening, though so I opted for Wild Boar sausages and mash. My partner chose a Margherita Pizza with mushrooms and our friend had Salmon.

While we waited for our food we got gabbing and in no time the smells from the kitchen were driving us crazy. We weren’t disappointed when the food arrived.

Mine was delicious. A real rib-sticking meal that warms you from the inside out. The mash was delicious, and the sausages were meaty and large - not the puny things you get the supermarket. My expertise doesn’t cover boar in anyway so I couldn’t tell you whether the quality was good. I loved it though.

My partner’s pizza was the only slightly disappointing aspect. It was over-cooked, there’s no other way to put it. The edges were burnt and it was beyond crispy. It’s a pity too as it looked like the real thing, and the shrooms on it weren’t your usual watery items you usually get on a pizza.

My friend’s salmon was delicious, if slightly dry. But she had no complaints as she attacked it with gusto. She was also the only one who had dessert, ice cream, which was nice enough. In the name of friendship I had to help her finish it

We had been told by our waitress that we needed to vacate our table at 8.30 and, as this was 6.30, we were only too happy to do so. When 8.30 came, however, we were still finishing our wine. Instead of being thrown out, though, the staff went to great lengths to get us a table, or an area at the bar to finish our drinks.

The bill came to €35 each, including 2 bottles of wine. I really didn’t think you could get food of this standard at such reasonable prices in Dublin anymore. All in all, The Millstone isn’t going to win any awards, but you will leave it happy and full of good eating. Plus, you won’t be ripped-off.

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