Ocean Bar, Dublin

The Ocean Bar and Restaurant at Dublin's docklands is a "normal" restaurant and bar, i.e. not a veggie place, and boy, did that show. Their brunch menu does have some vegetarian options, like eggs benedict, or caesar salad to be had without chicken (the recipe for the dressing calls for Worcestershire sauce, but the small "vegetarian" contingent of the business lunch didn't seem too concerned about that), but no vegan main dishes as such. This was only to be expected, so wasn't in the least disappointed

I ended up having a green salad of palatably fresh lettuce, cucumber, red and yellow peppers, red onion, etc., with an ok balsamic vinaigrette. The chef had been rather generous with the vinaigrette, and the dregs of the salad were exceptionally oily.

For actual sustenance, I had freshly heated bread rolls with a very nice olive oil for dipping; lovely.

The rest of the 20-strong party seemed quite happy with their share of the food, too, and the Guinness got a favorable mention.

The Ocean Bar sits at the root of a tall, modern apartment block with the waters of Charlotte Quay Dock on two sides, which, with the floor to ceiling windows, makes for a very pleasant surroundings. The furniture is made of stools and armchairs, set around small coffee tables, which isn't really ideal for having lunch, but gives a nice and informal setting for a drink or coffee, I'm sure.

Service was jovial, professional and quick, and they had no trouble keeping on top of a large party of people. There was some humming and hawing over my vegan nature, but they didn't consider it a problem, and the salad and bread rolls was a more than satisfactory meal. For the post-lunch coffee, however, the until then perfectly affable waiter came up with an unnecessary quip of assuming me to have a herbal tea rather than coffee. I may be vegan, and look "alternative", but I'm no hippie. I had a diet-coke, full of nasty artificial sweetness, manufactured by an evil global corporation, thank you very much.

Ocean bar gets four stars for food, purely because they did well enough despite not being equipped to deal with vegans on day to day basis, three for the interior and ambiance, and two for service (would have been a four, had the waiter only curbed his scintillating wit. Tut, tut.).