klaw

i wanted to love klaw, i really did. the concept is brilliant: it's amazing to see so many accessible seafood places popping up in dublin, and about time too. this is a long, narrow, casual spot in temple bar serving 3 types of oysters, crab claws, lobster, prawns, salmon and chowder. there were about 8 customers and 3 staff members on a saturday lunchtime and all the food we saw was served cold on ice -- which looked great but doesn't require an awful lot of prep time, i would have thought. seems i was wrong as we waited for over half an hour for our crab claws and smoked salmon and it looked like everyone else had a long wait for their food too. when it arrived it was very tasty and well presented but there wasn't actually much eating in it and we were still hungry when we left.

looking for a lunch that was healthy, affordable and quick the wife and i decided to give this new fish restaurant ('shack'?) a go.

it's a nice wee spot in the heart of temple bar, nothing fancy with only a few places for eating in, not dissimilar to the burrito and noodle bars around town. it is, i think, a great idea and probably the best location to execute it given the number of tourists around looking for a taster of irelands wonderful seafood.

the menu isn't huge, chowder, lobster rolls and a range of shellfish platters sold on ice. unfortunately the chowder was off as they didn't have any white fish, which seems to me a fairly big oversight for a busy saturday lunchtime especially as, like i say, there ain't a vast amount of options.

so, i went for smoked salmon and toast. i would have gone for the prawns but the cook seemed reluctant to shell them for me (i'm not squeamish i just find prawns in their shell a pain). herself meanwhile went for crab claws.

then the wait began. i don't know exactly how long our food took to arrive but it was at least half an hour (i'm being generous here) bearing in mind there were about 7/8 people in the place and nearly all the dishes require no more than to be placed on some crushed ice.

the food did eventually arrive and my salmon was fine although for some reason came with toasted white baguette rather than the traditional brown bread, not a terribly inspired change.

the crab claws looked fairly impressive but the eating on them was minimal. my wife doesn't need that much for lunch but there was a serious lack of food here and hers didn't come with toast. we've had crab claws before (i'd recommend stoop your head in skerries) so i know you can get enough for a light lunch for this sort of price point.

both dishes were €10 which given its seafood in temple bar is fair enough. but, considering the unnecessary wait and the fact we went away hungry, next time i think we'll just be having a burrito or some noodles.

klaw is my kinda joint - small, perfectly formed and slinging up killer sea-food. but if you ain't into rubbing elbows and bums with your fellow foodies then this place ain't for you - this is social dinning at its very best, a chance to quiz strangers about there day and what they are eating - klaw will attract a certain kind of person...my kind of person...

lobster rolls, prawns, oysters, crab and platters of the same is what klaw does and does very, very well - this is street food but just off the street in a space where it's difficult to know where the dinning area stops and the kitchen starts. you can sit at one of 3 high tables or shimmy up next to enthusiastic foodies at the long shelf-bar either is good, you're gonna end up touching someone at some point :0)

we lobbed up on a saturday afternoon and were instantly rocked by a stunning waitress with blood red lips and a personality i wanted to take a bath in - she was the physical embodiment of this place slim, exciting and captivating - within 3 seconds it felt like we had known each other for years, i half expected her to join us her enthusiasm was that great...and i was kinda disappointed she didn't.

klaw is a sea-food shack slap bang in the middle of temple bar, the food arrives on paper plates or on bed of crushed ice in industrial bowls - there's little to no pomp and circumstance - its pretty 'naked' - and that's good, it means the food has gotta be absolutely knock-out....and it is! my lobster roll was fat, warm and stuffed with sweet fresh lobster bathed in a spiced mayo and my partner in crime had the crab on toast - 3 x inch thick slabs of white, heavily crusted toast with frighteningly fresh dressed crab and diced cucumber.

klaw nails simple sea-food, it is the best place this side of cape cod for it and at 33 euro it was a total steal given we're in temple bar, eating crab and lobster and had a glass of vino and a soft drink.

the foodie landscape in dublin is still suffering from really bad places both from a service point of view and a quality aspect but places like klaw are the antidote - they do one thing really, really well - they walk the walk and the talk the talk with a confidence that is so understated.......they know they are very, very good but they don't care because if you do this food thing you have to be very, very good!

i rarely give somewhere a 5, but klaw is more than deserving....
a seafood shack has found its way onto the cobbled streets of temple bar. let us rejoice! it was all far too shellfish, where previously these little shacks were kept far from the city, reserved only for those dwelling by the sea.
located on crown alley, klaw is the latest venture by niall sabongi, chef/entrepreneur behind rock lobster at dundrum town centre. klaw is here to bring us landlubbers fantastic oysters, lobster, crab and prawns in a relaxed, fun and casual setting.visiting klaw on a wet tuesday evening, i brought along a friend as my date armed with thetaste.ie vouchers; promising a lobster roll and a glass of prosecco each. when we arrived we immediately found klaw homely – its size is small but welcoming and cosy. it’s long and narrow, no bigger than a fisherman’s quarters (i realise that makes no sense in terms of size – don’t mind me, i’m keeping with my marine theme and questionable puns) although it’s cosy, the place doesn’t feel crowded. the décor is simple with subdued lighting, marine accents, customer doodles and large bottles of tabasco sauce.
sabongi definitely knows how to maximise space, as every corner of klaw is utilised, complete with open kitchen for all to see; which is something i really love. in fact, if you would like to use the bathroom, prepare to pass by the kitchen staff and say hello on your way there.
the staff were very cool and really seem to enjoy working there. soraiya in particular looked after us really well and made sure to have a chat with everyone.we started with torched oysters; one with slivers of bacon, the other with spinach and parmesan. they were delicious, and something i had never tried before. the most i’ve had are raw or grilled but torching them creates a different taste. if you’re new to oysters it’s good to start with the torched instead of diving right in. next up we had the crowning glory of crown alley – the klaw lobster roll. a soft brioche bun packed with succulent lobster meat dressed in yuzu mayo served with a pickle (or gherkin, whatever’s your style.)
every bite was as good as the last! the standard price for the roll is €14, which some may find steep, but if you’re eating a sandwich with top notch ingredients in the centre of a touristy area in dublin, i don’t see an issue with shelling out the cash! ha! puns.
after the lobster roll, the good times kept rolling. we shared a half pint glass of fresh juicy prawns, served with marie rose, toasted garlic bread and doused everything in lemon juice. i thoroughly enjoyed getting messy and pulling puny prawns apart while soraiya ran to my aid with a fresh pile of klaw napkins. ready for more oysters, we ordered two pints of guiness and achill oysters, dressed in bloody mary sauce and nam jim dressing. klaw offers a couple of different kinds of oysters depending on your taste, and prices start from €2. there is also a handsome looking seafood platter so you can try everything, crab dishes and a small selection of desserts.
the bloody mary ones are good, and the salsa has a bite to it, but the nam jim style is the real winner here. fresh asian flavours with plenty of coriander/cilantro made things light, fresh and tangy. i’m currently in the states and started in boston where i had some amazing lobster, but a return visit to klaw is on the cards when i return. looking for weekend eats inspiration? why not grab a shellfish loving pal, get down and dirty and work your way through the menu in one of dublin’s buzziest areas. try the lobster roll and the nam jim oysters!

remember when you were a child and you wished so hard to become a sweet taster in a sweet factory, or else perhaps to be one of the toy testers on the annual late late christmas toy show. the chances of these childhood dreams becoming reality were pretty slim, but that didn't stop you from dreaming. fast forward thirty years and i bet you that we all still have some childlike dreams. our wishes might have matured somewhat, like becoming the chief shoe buyer for brown thomas or working in quality control for a grand champagne house, but i bet you those dreams still exist.

i've been dying to try this place since it opened as i'm a big fan of its sister restaurant rock lobster! so we went here for dinner on friday night and i have to say we were blown away at how good it was. firstly, when i tried to book (lucinda o'sullivan for the irish independent life magazine did a small review on it last week and gave the owners mobile number) niall the owner informed me that it was walk ins only. when we rocked up at about half 8 there were no seats but gladly we were informed by two female diners that they were about to leave. be warned the restaurant only seats 12 people in total and much of this seating is along a bench on the left hand side wall. our waitress lauren was super friendly and informed us that we could have a drink outside, at a small table which sat on the footpath. when our drinks arrived i noticed a sign on the door that said no cards, so you will need to bring cash with you.
when we went inside and took our seats, lauren informed us of their two daily specials; one of which was cockles, i can't remember the other one. then she showed us the huge black board menu that adorns nearly the entire right hand side wall. the choices were plentiful and nearly every type of fish was on offer here. the menu displayed on this site does not represent even a third of what's on offer in klaw. with three different types of oysters: galway, waterford and achill island. each are priced at around€2-2.50 per oyster. the oysters come raw or cooked with different toppings of your choice. we tried two with the bloody mary topping, which were good but i still prefer to have them natural, so we had 16 natural oysters. they also do a special which they call the "torpedo" this is an oyster with bacon pieces on it and then torched. my boyfriend had that and it seemed to be a nice twist on the old classic, because technically the oyster beneath is still raw. they torched it right infront of us, which added a bit of drama to the dish. further, they didn't charge for this oyster it was just offered by the waiter as we were chatting to him about the up coming oyster festival in galway . their seafood chowder seemed to be a hit, which comes in a tin can and many locals seemed to pop in to take it away with them. the staff have a lovely way about them, as one lady popped in to grab a can of chowder on her way home, they offered her an oyster as she was waiting. it was small things like this that constantly went on while we were here that added to the whole buzz and yet relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant. they have lobster rolls (€16) , crab blt, mussels, crab claws, half lobster (€16), a full lobster (€32), prawns, whole crab at €12 and smoked salmon. which the owner niall smokes himself and uses gin to wash and re-wash it during the smoking process. they said he was already taking orders for christmas, as the smoked salmon was so popular and many people seemed to be buying it to take home with them. i went for the whole crab which was amazing, at €12 it's insanely good value! the crab itself was huge and my boyfriend had to finish it for me. he got the lobster roll which came with a cucumber stick and some crisps on the side. all dishes come with brown bread on the side. for drinks they had a variety of flavours from the san pelligrino lemonade collection, sierra nevada, pale ale and house red or white wine. i had a few glasses of the white which was a picpoul wine, this was a perfect wine to go with fish. for desert they had cannoli and a desert they have titled "whoopee", it comes in a multitude of different flavours: carrot cake, salted caramel, vanilla, chocolate etc. my boyfriend went for the carrot cake and it arrived chilled straight from the fridge infront of us, with a little wrapper around it. i had a bite of it and it tasted sort of like a flap jack with a sweet cream cheese centre. they gave us a sample of their smoked salmon and it was delicious, the best i've tasted yet. the addition of chives really added to it and i'll be stocking up on this for christmas day brunch. there were approximately 4 staff in the kitchen, all dressed in nautical stripped tops. they all seemed to love their job and they had a real sense of enthusiasm about the food. each of them served us at some point during our meal and they were great at explaining where the food came from and how to eat the food. this bit of education came in particularly handy when figuring out how to eat the crab. niall the owner, sources the fish all himself. with a little white van he gets up in the early hours of the morning to buy fish from the fishermen just coming off their boats. lauren told us that his enthusiasm was infectious and all the staff seemed to have caught the bug!

you can now order for delivery from here off the deliveroo website. i loved every bit of this place and i love their ethos that fish should be for all and not just a stuffy affair. after all we are an island nation. other places have tried todo this sort of thing such as fish shop in smithfield, klaw far surpasses those places. i can't wait to go back!

if you like seafood you will love this place!!! a teeny little shack type place with a beachy vibe serving up fresh fish dishes packed with flavour. you could very easily walk by it but you definitely need to visit.

we managed to get a table just inside the door. you can hear the musicians playing live music outside which is pretty nice.

we ordered a bottle of white wine. i ordered the half pint of prawns and the lobster roll. they were €14 each.

the prawns are served with some fried bread and brandy spiked marie rose sauce.

the lobster roll was absolutely amazing. i liked the bread which i think was sort of fried. the sauce they put on the lobster is really tasty :-)

the staff are lovely and very attentive. my only issue is that the prawns are peel and eat but that's only me not enjoying having to work for my dinner.

i had been looking forward to visiting klaw since i heard of it's opening and i'm happy to say it did not disappoint one bit. i loved it. it's a tiny seafood bar in templebar (from rock lobster) just off the square. it has a few benches and i'd imagine on a busy day you'd be better with take away. thankfully yesterday it was quiet. on arrival we were greeted by the staff and i have to say every single one of them did not pass by without saying hello or checking if we were ok for everything. the decor is nautical and the atmosphere is very chilled out. we ordered the lobster roll with prosecco. oh my god but it was fabulous. it came on a toasted brioche bun. there was so much in it, i had expected it to be alot smaller. the dressing was amazing, lots of chunks of lobster and some cucumber on the side, which was a lovely addition. i could not fault this dish. it was superb. and as we were there we decided to go all out and try the oysters, when in rome. we hadn't a clue which to order, so the staff happily helped us out and we went for the dressed galway oysters. they were lovely, very creamy and fresh and the bloody mary dressing went perfectly with them. it's so reasonably priced too. i'll definitely be back to sample more of the menu.

i visited klaw with a friend of mine to check out their crab shack offerings and shovel some oysters in my face and i wasn't let down. huge portions of "klaws", a smashing variety of oysters, which were excellent and then the jewel in the crown... the lobster roll. half a lobster bound in a light yuzu mayo with some herbs in a fluffy brioche roll.

i'll be klawing my way back here very soon

temple bar isn't exactly the location that immediately springs to mind for dublin's latest fish shack restaurant. rather than being perched moodily overlooking the sea, klaw is neatly tucked into a narrow space on the cobblestoned crown alley. owner niall sabongi is on a mission to make diners fall in love with fun and casual seafood, and after all, temple bar is the party central of dublin.

i have been wanting to eat in rock lobster since taste of dublin 2014 but never made it over, so when i heard that their love child klaw was setting up shop in temple bar, around the corner from where i work, i knew it was fate. the place is small but ticks all of the boxes, friendly staff, cool decor and the lobster roll is absolute perfection. will definitely be back!