“Charming Intelligent Staff,” reads the sign in the window of Tang, “One More Needed.”
t a time when many restaurants are struggling with staffing, the attributes Tang is looking for may be a little different to those sought by other establishments. But Tang is a smart, intelligent business, and its people strategy is — on the evidence of my visit last week — working out just dandy. The window statement combined with job advertisement sums things up nicely.
On a sunny autumn day, we’re lucky to nab the last table in the pollinator-friendly courtyard alongside Tang’s new-ish outpost on Cumberland Street South in Dublin 2. We’re here for an early lunch at 12.15pm, feeling smug about our efficient forward planning as the queue starts to build soon after we arrive.
You may already be familiar with Tang’s branches on Dawson Street and Abbey Street, in which case you’ll know the menu drill of salads and flatbreads with a choice of fillings.
This smart new premises may come as a surprise, though, as it is considerably bigger and fancier.
My lunch companion is a diehard, and his Tang order is invariably the same. He’ll have the lamb flatbread with plain hummus, please, yes to pickles, shredded carrot, red cabbage, leaves and tzatziki, with the mild rather than the spicy salsa. Thank you.
Unwrapped from its parchment, it’s a chunky beast — messy to eat yet always delicious, the Middle Eastern spicing of the slow-cooked lamb combining happily with the crunch and contrast of the other elements. He’s been getting this for years and he can’t remember the price ever being much different from the €8 it is now.
We’re not perfect, but we try to be local and seasonal, and we’re hitting 70/80pc
Good though the flatbreads are, I’m more interested in trying the salads, which appear to have gone up a few notches in terms of complexity and sophistication since my last visit. Today there are three (there are always three): one fresh, one roast and one grain, served in a large blue ceramic bowl. (They are €7.50, and there’s a 20c charge for a compostable box if you want to take it away.)
I love the fact that an affordable café goes to the effort of sourcing organic leaves from McNally Family Farm in north Co Dublin. The leaves are tangled with pickled beetroot, sumac red onion, fresh mint and coriander, and poppy seeds in a vibrant apple cider vinaigrette.
The roast salad features sweet potato, broccoli, candied walnuts, sesame seeds and fresh chives, while the grain salad of the day is shortgrain brown rice combined with marinated kale, roast butternut squash, crunchy roasted chickpeas and pumpkin seeds with a roast garlic vinaigrette.
I top mine with chicken flavoured with Middle Eastern spices and go all out with beetroot hummus, pickles, red cabbage, carrots, tzatziki and spicy salsa.
You know the way we’re supposed to eat the rainbow? This is how you do it, except, of course, you will never manage it at home because there are simply too many elements — you’d be at it all day. It’s a sustaining, tasty, nutritious lunch, and without the chicken and the tzatziki would be vegan, too. We finish with a cute little lemon poppyseed cake and a substantial nut brownie, both a cut above average.
The charming intelligent staff have brought the tray to the table, and provided a carafe of water with glasses without being asked. There has been no hussle for a tip, not even the option to add one as I pay the bill, and I’m ashamed I have no cash with me to put that right. (I will drop back.) Our bill comes to €28.35 for one of the most pleasant, unfussy lunches I’ve had in a while.
Stephen O’Dwyer, who co-owns Tang with his sister, Claire, tells me that the kitchen team takes a collaborative approach to the menu with a group of cooks from each of the three locations — some having previously worked at Bastible and The Fumbally — feeding into a WhatsApp recipe group to come up with each week’s salads. “We’re not perfect,” says Stephen, “but we try to be local and seasonal, and we’re hitting 70/80pc.” They buy as many free-range chicken thighs as they can, but can’t source the volume they need, so it’s not 100pc.
Everything bar the hummus, tzatziki, marinades and baked goods is cooked on site in each of the restaurants — these are transported from the central kitchen on Abbey Street via cargo bike, just one element in a well-thought-through sustainability strategy at the heart of this model of a modern café.
Budget
Barry’s tea with toast and jam will set you back €6.45.
Blowout
Lunch for two could cost as much as €40 if you have soft drinks and coffees.
The rating
9/10 food
9/10 ambience
10/10 value
28/30
Tang, 2 Cumberland Street South, Fenian Street, Dublin 2.
tang.ie
