After a lovely afternoon walking around Dublin, we found ourselves in Temple Bar. We were hungry and it had started to rain. My husband suggested that we try Chameleon Restaurant. He had dined here a few weeks back and had teased me profusely on twitter with his photos. I don’t like walking into a restaurant un announced, I tweeted to them to see if they could accommodate two hungry and wet customers.
We had a friendly welcome as we walked through the door from Nikki. She chatted with us for a while, and we were offered to dine upstairs or in the ‘Spice Bar’ down stairs. We decided to sit down stairs and we were allocated our table. Nikki explained the menus to us, and we decided to go for the Rijst Tafel Menu to share with a few extra Tapas. We decided to have the “Sumatra” . Tapas seems to be a big thing at the moment. A lot of places claim to be a tapas bar but are of course not. I was looking forward to seeing what Chameleon had to offer. Asian Tapas?
First we given Krupuk, to start ( Deep fried crackers) a popular snack in Indonesia, as we were deciding on a wine. These were just what we needed to get our taste buds going. ( Below Left)
Our courses started to arrive and I was beginning to wonder had we ordered to much as dish after dish kept appearing on the table. But Nikki assured us that we hadn’t. First up was ‘Udang Goreng” Black Tiger Prawns In their shell. ‘Ikan Bakar Colo Colo” Fresh Irish Fish baked in a Banana leaf parcel. (Above, Middle)) The prawns were Delicious, Crispy and cooked perfectly. The fish was really nice and with it wrapped in the banana leaf left it oozing with fresh flavours. We had some lovely Spicy Condiments on the side which are great if you prefer your dishes a little more spicy. They were Chilli Paste, Soya, Pickled Veg and I think the last one was Onion. They were all so different and lots of flavours. My favourite was the Pickled Veg. (Above Right)
The yellow curry was a big hit, mild,crunchy beans, courgettes and mangetout. Simple dish. The Crab and Haddock cake was simply one of the best “Fish Cakes” I have ever eaten. The Chilli and Mango dip on the side went perfect with it. Im not sure what Asian Herbs were added to it, and I forgot to ask, but I would suggest that you shouldn’t leave without trying this dish out. Tiger prawns with a chilli and pineapple were equally delicious. The Asian Salad (above and right) was another great dish and all the flavours were so different from each other.
Chameleon has a lot to offer for every tastebud and even all dietery requirements. I was very impressed with the food and flavors and the service was very friendly. Highly recommend.
CorriganSays 