Down an alley, beside the Duke of York pub, the slate blue exterior of The Muddler's Club is a slick beacon of light in a graffiti rich, seedy back street.
On entering you're met with by a bar with all the “on trend” bottles on display. The welcome is warm from manager Barry Fletcher and you'll be shown straight to your table. The kitchen is open and the room wafts with the smell of scorched herbs. The place has been designed by the team behind Ox in Belfast and it shows – bare tables, slate floor and blue paint; the kitchen has attractive grey tiles behind the pass and the room is open and buzzy like Ox. Gareth McCaughey, the chef patron, worked there - and it shows in the cooking too.
The menu comprises 5 starters, 5 mains and 4 desserts and cheese. You could order some specially brewed Muddlers Club ale, it comes in a glass tankard and it's hoppy.......Menus are minimalist in style and with no suppliers credited, but reassuringly seasonal and of the time - sea trout, monkfish, bone marrow, gratin, gnocchi, chanterelles, cavalo nero, turnip for early spring, for example.
The food at Muddler's Club is full on, macho even, but in a good way. There's no geometric food design, edible flowers or foams – this is about the ingredients, excellent cooking and flavour.
Typically, a starter of seared sea trout with charred broccoli, roe, almond and Caesar dressing will be a filled plate, the fish torn apart and plated surrounded by the charred broccoli, trout roe, almond and Caesar dressing – no fussy presentation with food placed just off centre in a neat pieces.The Caesar dressing is smooth and dressed on the outside of the plate; it's umami itself – parmesan with a zing of lemon. The smoky broccoli, crunch of almonds and bubbles of sweet, salty trout roe make for a pitch perfect dish, all the elements cooked succinctly and in harmony with each other.
The mains are well balanced with choices like steak, duck, gnocchi, monkfish and lamb on offer. Lamb - cooked pink, rested and full of flavour - may be accompanied by slightly charred fennel, a white bean stew, roast aubergine and mint, with each element packed with punchy flavours. The aubergine is soft in texture and deliciously savoury, the beans redolent of a good vegetable stock and the whole thing set off with some scorched thyme. Unusual sides may include sprout tops (a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale), cooked perfectly, tossed in butter and served with shaved chestnuts on top. Simply delicious.
The dessert choice is well balanced - meringue, maple parfait, baked rice and chocolate, perhaps. If you choose the baked rice, it could well come with plum and lavender icecream - the rice baked in a dariole mould with a delicious sugary crunch on the outside, and soft perfectly sweetened pudding inside. The plums add a sharpness and texture contrast, and the lavender icecream is light as feather (made in a pacojet, so we hear). Finish with excellent coffee.
There's an innovative cocktail list that includes a smoked old fashioned, and all the wines on the list, around 12 each red and white, are available by the glass. Although short, the list is well chosen to complement the cooking; sea trout is aptly matched with a glass of Sugarloaf Sauvignon from New Zealand, for example, and the lamb with a Mundiaz Rioja.
Service, under Barry Fletcher's direction,is professional; the staff are aware without being intrusive and all servers are knowledgeable about the wine and food.
The Muddlers Club was named after a secret society of United Irishmen who met and drank in the same location 200 years ago - and it is aptly named, as discovering Muddlers Club is like being privy to a clandestine group that you really don't want to share with anyone else! Is it by chance that when you try to ring the Muddler's Club the phone may be constantly engaged? But perseverance will be well rewarded - and booking online on their website is easy.
