Every January, blood oranges and rhubarb pop up in abundance on our favourite restaurant menus, and right now the season's in full swing. The rhubarb you're seeing on menus at the moment is most likely to be 'forced rhubarb', a method of growing where the rhubarb is covered so they're in darkness. This forces them to grow faster to try to reach the light, making them ready to be picked earlier than nature would have delivered. When it comes to blood oranges, we're usually looking at Italy's finest, and while the season officially runs until April don't hang around. They'll be gone again before you know it. Here's where to eat both in Dublin right now.
Rhubarb Doughnuts At Bistro One
They got the rhubarb memo in Foxrock, where Bistro One are keeping it simple(ish) with a couple of juicy rhubarb stems atop a bed of sugary doughnuts and custard. Possibly the most January-indicative dessert around.
Rhubarb And Custard Tart From Craft
Craft pair their forced rhubarb with a Valhrona dulcey custard and a ginger espuma (a fancy foam), and it looks and sounds like it's worth the trip to Harold’s Cross.
Cromane Oysters With Rhubarb Vinegar At Allta
Proof that rhubarb is more than dessert material, Allta serve their Kerry oysters with a house made rhubarb vinegar. Turns out zippy rhubarb plus saline oysters are meant to be.
Mulberry Garden's Rhubarb Donut And White Chocolate Mousse
More doughnuts in Donnybrook. Mulberry Garden is always worth the trip, but when oozing rhubarb doughnut hit the menu there’s no time like the present. This one's filled with rhubarb puree and accompanied by poached rhubarb, creme fraiche, meringue, and white chocolate mousse to offset the tartness of the rhubarb.
Chapter One's Poached Rhubarb
Coming alongside a sheep’s milk and oat ice-cream, the latest creation from Chapter One makes us want to eat haute-dessert all the time. A sour rhubarb sorbet features alongside poached rhubarb, strawberry chocolate and just a few gold flakes (because it obviously wasn’t luxe enough).
Daddy's Blood Orange Bakewell
This one would have made it through for the alliteration alone. On the counter last week, Daddy’s in Rialto made use of our favourite citrus fruit in a bakewell tart. Coupled with nuts and lots of butter we imagine this didn’t stay out for long
Volpe Nera's Seabream And Blood Orange Crudo
Chef Barry Sun’s latest early evening menu in Volpe Nera, Blackrock, sees seabream crudo paired with blood orange, coriander and pickled fennel, and it looks like the perfect palate kickstarter for whatever else is to come.
Blood Orange And Chicory Salad From Tang
Coming with toasted almond flakes, mixed leaves and a tangy blood orange dressing this salad from our Dawson and Abbey Street favourite Tang is a nice savoury use of blood orange rounds, and it's vegan for anyone bravely persisting with veganuary.
Gertrude's Blood Orange Soda
If you’ve never had a really cold can of San Pellegrino blood orange with ice, you’re missing out on one of life’s sweetest carbonated drinks. So when we saw that 3fe's Gertrude were powering forward with a homemade version, we made it our mission to check it out, and while not as sweet as San Pellegrino's version, we definitely prefer this.
Riba's Blood Orange Panna Cotta
A boomerang of this wobbling dessert from Riba, Stillorgan jumped off our Insta feed this week. As desserts go, panna cotta is one that needs a rejuvenation, having sat on dessert menus for around a century, and blood orange makes for an interesting take. They're also serving it as a starter with Iona beetroot, Fivemiletown goat's cheese, toasted hazelnuts and golden beet purée. Make hay while the the blood oranges shine.
