No Fish Story

But by the end of the ’60s things had really begun to change. The Irish themselves had also started to travel abroad. And many of the greasy spoons that had served fried bacon and eggs to departing emigrants with their cardboard suitcases, off to make their fortune somewhere else, have disappeared, to be replaced by sushi bars, restaurants specializing in Northern Italian food, Greek and Thai places.

Nowhere is this truer than in my own neighborhood of Dalkey—an old, old town with a ruined castle and a working harbor—that nowadays is less a village, more a suburb of Dublin, just eight miles down the coast. If any stars come to Ireland now, it is Dalkey they head for. Happily, the Irish psyche took to the celebrity chef bit with gusto, and Irish chefs have become personalities, internationally known millionaires, and stars in their own right, catering on equal terms to the famous musicians, film directors, and race car drivers who flock to Dalkey these days. And we residents have benefited enormously from this.

One of the many awful things about being 15 and in love with Marlon Brando was that if eventually he had obeyed my fan letters and come to find me, I’d have had to welcome him to dullsville old Dalkey. Now I’m so proud of Dalkey that I’d love him to visit—though I am very happy in my life these days and I no longer want to marry him.

Maeve Binchy’s Neighborhood Notebook

Take the clean, comfortable, and reliable DART train from Dublin to Dalkey. For the return trip, ask the restaurant to order you a taxi.

Guinea Pig The Fish Restaurant
17 Railway Road
01-285-9055

You’ll be welcomed by Mervyn Stewart and his family, who will bring the catch of the day, uncooked, to your table and suggest many different ways of cooking it. My favorite here is Galway mussels followed by prawns in lemon butter.