Dublin’s George’s Street is one point of the gay triangle in the capital, with all of the pubs gay-friendly and the best restaurants full of Dorothy’s homies. So, when myself and the missus fancied a cheap and cheerful, we decided to try out So-Ho.

There has been a restaurant of some sort on this spot for yonks, and it’s has changed hands a couple of times as the recession hit our palates, but So-Ho has been here for a couple of years now. It describes itself as:

Unpretentious cooking, laid back surroundings, reasonable prices, easy dining and a friendly welcome. Bang in the middle of Dublin city centre – right where you want to be.

Hmmm……maybe I should have read that before we ate there. They say nothing about the food, just that the cooking is ‘unpretentious’ and the eating “easy”. Can eating be difficult? I agree, the cooking was unfrilly, pity the ingredients were crap. And yes, eating can be difficult as it turned out.

I ordered “Roast Rump Of Lamb, with chive mash, baby vegetables, pearl onion & jus” which could be ordered like a normal meal or could be on a hot stone which would continue the cooking process as you ate, enabling you to have it meat cooked to your liking. I’m on for trying anything, so hot stone it was.

My ladyfriend, being a veggie, ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto with asparagus. We also ordered a carafe of white as it was a warm evening. Lamb and white wine – I know! Shoot me!

So we chatted and checked out the surrounds as we waited for our meal. The verdict? Chilled-out but oddly laid-out; the first you see as you enter are stairs down to the basement, with the ground-floor seating peppered around them. It gave the impression of being seated on the landing.

The food arrived. The fun ended.

Where did they get the lamb? You wouldn’t have fed it to a dog, so full of tendons was it. The amount of chewing necessary to digest it would have given me Joan Crawford cheeks. So I spent most of the time trying to cut the meat off the them. Much to the delight of the vegetarian sitting opposite, as you can imagine. By the time I got the first edible forkful into my mouth, the “chive mash, baby vegetables, pearl onion & jus” were cold. Maybe it was the gods laughing at me for not ordering red wine, it would’ve helped to break down the meat that’s for sure.

To top all of this off, the meat and the veg were too salty. The slight over-salting on the meat wouldn’t have really pissed me off so much had it been a nice rump, m’lady. But the saltiness of the dressing on the veg was eye-popping.

And the missus? Well, her risotto was nice, not great like, but nice. Best risotto I’ve had so far is in Bel Cibo, however, according to food experts the Il Primo version is the best in the city. Extra kudos as the head chef, Anita Thoma is a lesbian on the board of the NLGF.

As for So-ho? No no.

The whole thing came to €43.50. Never again.

So-Ho on Menupages

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