Review 06: Mae, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

Mae, Oh, Mae.... A love letter to female producers, led by female hands, classically served with fine French wine on Shelbourne Road

What time is dinner? 

No, honestly, a genuine question. What time do you personally consider prime “dinner” time in a restaurant? 5pm? Bit early. 9:30/10pm? I’ll need an espresso either side of eating to stay the course, then find me wired at 3am forcing myself to panic-sleep. Go Dutch and meet in the middle at 7:30pm? Fat chance of a same-week sitting in Dublin city centre, especially anything that touches the sides of the weekend, ‘cause prime time’s been poached long ago. Though, of course not strictly a Dublin phenomenon, we’ve resigned ourselves to a similar fate in so many cities, not even just capitals. 

So when a spur of the moment opportunity comes up and a great meal is found wanting - landing unexpectedly in your lap like an excitable puppy - what are you to do? Two days’ notice (or worse, under 24 hours notice and some online reservations systems don’t take bookings, forcing you to call restaurants one-by-one) and most of your hit list booked, blessed and highly favoured already… Does one resign themselves to a 10pm table in order to get in to the top place on your list, or suffer through a 5:15pm set menu knowing damn well you’ll be in line for a bag of chips come 10? Or, is it a case for significantly reducing expectations like a January Sale starting on Christmas Eve –– just bung the most suited available sitting in your trolley (in that place you never wanted to eat in anyway) and launch yourself at checkout so you’ve got something to show?

Colour us smug when Mae, the restaurant we’ve been vying to go to for an entire year, has a table available at the ideal time on a Friday evening. Located in one of the most well-heeled quarters of the city, set on Shelbourne Road, on a balmy August weekend; life dealt us a good hand.