We had several great dining experiences on our trip to Ireland, but Volpe Nera was my favorite; if you're staying in Dublin, it's slightly out of the way, about a 20-25 minute drive, but so worth it. Note on dress: I'd noticed that at other nice restaurants in the area, people didn't go all-out with their outfits, so I toned it down a little on this night. Mistake! At least when we went on the 17th of August, people were dressed really nice, and I felt a bit embarrassed in pants and a cute sweater. Definitely pull a pretty dress out of your closet for this one.
We absolutely got the best service here of our whole trip, which is saying something, because we had lovely service everywhere. In brief, I was delighted with all the food and drink, so if you get a chance to dine here, don't miss out.
More details on the food: I had trouble deciding what to eat, because everything sounded so good, but I ended up having the oysters and mushroom dumplings for starters, then the duck, then the chocolate opera cake. Oysters had great toppings. The mushroom dumplings were a standout: you get the texture you'd want out of a classic steamed jiaozi or gyoza, but the taste is super unique, and the sauce the dumplings come in is so richly-flavored I ended up drinking it like soup. The duck was also a slam dunk. Spoiler alert, since this wasn't mentioned on the menu I had, but it comes with a little extra duck/foie gras thing on the side. I don't care for foie gras, and I still liked this bit, but if that's something you avoid for ethical or other reasons, you might want to just ask them not to bring that part (it comes on a little separate plate). I had the recommended wine pairing with the duck (might have been a Côtes du Rhone, but my memory is not to be trusted), which I thought was beautifully selected and went along perfectly. The recommended wine pairing with the opera cake, which my father ordered, was also a great match; I opted for the tawny port as a dessert drink, and it was a bit too sweet to go with the cake, but hey, that's on me, and it was great on its own.
Naya Jorgensen
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21 August 2024
10.0
We had a lovely anniversary dinner in Volpe Nera, our starters, main dishes and desserts were 10/10. Amazing service and great red wine.
Gorgeous gourmet experience!
jessica garcia
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30 June 2024
10.0