Copper Alley Bistro in Dublin

18/06/2025: We were so excited to try this place and left a little underwhelmed. The food was thoughtful, creative, and well presented, but many of the dishes were overly salted or had too much tang to them, creating an imbalance. Portions were also small; the “main course” was effectively another bite-sized tasting. The two of us spent over 2.5 hours there despite arriving early for our 5:45pm reservation on a Wednesday. It seemed like they had to synchronize our table with other tables that arrived at different times, so despite the uneven arrival times, some tables had to wait longer than others because they had to bring out dishes to all these tables at the same time. It’s a small kitchen. The use of seasonal vegetables is great. Some of the dishes had a lot of overlapped ingredients, making them less special overall. Lastly, we were a bit disappointed by the wine pairing. Most of the 6 selected wines were what would be considered “basic” wines lacking balance and complexity. The champagne was lacking biscuit and yeast characteristics that make champagne champagne, and felt diluted. The gruner veltliner and aligoté were simple. There was a very intense umami mushroom dish whose pairing was a dry palomino that didn’t really go well with it.

14/06/2025: The overall experience at Bastible was good. The food was enjoyable and the evening pleasant. That said, nothing truly stood out as exceptional, which is what you naturally hope for when dining at a restaurant with this level of reputation and recognition. The service, while friendly, felt a bit unpolished and lacked the finesse you’d expect. A solid evening, but it didn’t quite meet the high bar it sets for itself.