The Gibson Hotel BBQ

During the week our girl Melanie May attended The Gibson Hotel BBQ Launch, here is how she got on:

I was grillin’ and chillin’ in the Gibson Hotel in Dublin at the launch of their bbq at the Gibson service. For a very reasonable €20 per person, you plus 15 and up to 850 of your mates can get your meat sweats on in style and comfort. Forget soggy buns and burnt sausages in an overgrown back garden, the Gibson serves grilled gourmet grub in their trendy indoor courtyard and heated terrace that overlooks Dublin port.

The launch was to sample their barbeque menu and I was impressed with the creative flavour combinations and the quality of the ingredients. There wasn’t a cremated burger or anaemic chicken leg in sight.

What was on offer was tender beefsteak with chimichurri sauce, sticky apricot glazed BBQ chicken wings, pomegranate glazed lamb chops with feta and pistachio nuts and satay chicken thigh with a coconut, chilli satay sauce (this was my favourite). There was of course homemade herby beef burgers with a selection of toppings and juicy spicy pork sausages with tomato chutney.

The sides included handmade chilli salsa nachos, spicy potato wedges with grilled cheese, cheesy chilli grilled corn on the cob and steamed rice with coriander, almonds and sultanas.

However, I thought some of the more interesting and delicious offerings were the salads. I enjoyed the bright, refreshing watermelon, feta and mint salad and the citrus carrot salad with ruby grapefruit and chilli lemon dressing. The jars of pepperoni potato salad not only looked great but tasted great too, very nicely seasoned and not your typical gloopy mayo drenched salads the I have often eaten at home barbeques. There was also peach and Parma ham salad with mozzarella and strawberry chilli and my favourite was the Italian bean, artichoke and sun blush tomato salad. How delicious and different do all of those dishes sound?

So having filled up two plates, as I had to sample everything for research purposes, and feeling extremely full, (I was contemplating opening the button on my jeans), out came the dessert selection. Desserts? At a barbeque? Best barbeque ever! Therefore, again, I sampled everything. I tried the delicate light lemon meringue pie – the pastry was melt in the mouth buttery and the salted caramel banoffee pie was a real crowd pleaser but for me the dense nutty dark chocolate brownie with fresh raspberry was the sugar-laden star. I had two. One was not enough.

On top of all the food, there were ice-cold beers, excellent wines, creative cocktails and good coffee.

Your €20 gets a selection of three meat dishes and three salads and all the side dishes or for €25, you also get a choice of two desserts. Drinks are not included in the price.

For more information and booking info go to The Gibson Hotel

Written by Melanie May