The menu does not change dramatically from early autumn to early autumn at Le Coq Hardi, according to head waiter Nicolas Alas. In 1991 Mr Charles Haughey may have well found himself perusing a selection of starters similar to what will be available this evening.
Tonight, diners at the Ballsbridge restaurant will be offered a choice of 10 starters, including fresh Howth lobster on a bed of vegetables and truffle at £22.70. For the main course, they may perhaps choose Dover sole on the bone in a Bernaise sauce - currently priced from £28 - or loin of venison for £24. Vegetables are an extra £4.
Lest they be in any doubt that they are truly in the finest of dining rooms, the pale yellow walls in the hall of this converted Georgian house are festooned with awards, such as the Egon Ronay Chef of the Year 1997, or the Cellar of the Year 1996 from the Californian Wine Association.
Yesterday morning an open fire was warming the quietly elegant room in anticipation of lunch. The restaurant seats 45 at tables set with Wedgwood china - each plate specially hand-painted with a cockerel decoration - Newbridge cutlery and French glassware. The Wexford linen tablecloths are complemented with linen napkins, marked Le Coq Hardi in gold thread.
Upstairs, the private dining room accommodates a long mahogany dining table capable of holding up to 30. The walls are papered in baize-green. Downstairs is the bar where the sated may retire to richly upholstered couches in yellow and burgundy, for maybe a Louis XIII Remi Martin with a cigar - ranging from £8.50 for a Davidoff 1000 to £15 for Grand Cru No 2.
Two wine cellars house the white and red separately. A popular white, according to Mr Alas, is the 1996 Pouligny Montrachet at £52 a bottle. He hasn't sold a bottle of 1870 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, at £5,000, since last year. These are kept wrapped in cellophane and locked in a glass cabinet. If one is trying to cut back on the alcohol, a bottle of mineral water is a snip at £4.80.
There is no record of who, apart from Taoisigh, may have dined at the restaurant in 1991. The current visitors' book goes back as far as 1996. For the record, Van Morrison, when he dined there on September 17th, 1997, commented "excellent" while Stephen Fry described his meal there on October 24th, 1997, with the words, "Wow! Simply delicious".
