Restaurant review: Astral gastro offerings at Baba’de in Baltimore, Co Cork

I first experienced Ahmet Dede’s cooking in Mews, the restaurant that initially brought him to Baltimore. 

The food was superb, thoroughly deserving of the Michelin star he subsequently earned for the restaurant, though there were scant clues as to his future evolution to be found in the near military precision with which he addressed his vision of contemporary Irish cuisine.

It began when Maria Archer, who had just restored The Customs House, a few doors up the hill from Mews, persuaded Dede to do a Turkish pop-up night in the venue she hoped to turn into a decent little deli. 

Fate — and most likely Dede himself — scoffed at that notion and Archer is now his business partner in internationally renowned two Michelin-starred Dede at the Customs House, where Dede’s gradual introduction of Turkish flavours to his always deftly deployed larder of micro-seasonal Irish produce transformed his cooking with a sizzle out of leftfield that I suspect sometimes surprised even Dede himself. 

Technically precise, he always had an unerring ability to deliver sublimely balanced flavours but the stays were loosened, each dish now imbued with an unfettered vibrancy and joy. It is always near or at the top of my personal list of favourite Irish restaurants.

Baba’De (Dede’s baby) is designed to be a more casual dining experience with a strong focus on cocktails, in the premises that formerly housed Mews, with Dede’s highly talented Dede head chef Ali Siyar as helmsman.

A brief flit west weeks previously saw me amble in to Baba’De for a delightful brunch, so my appetite is accordingly primed when I fetch up on a Sunday night with an exuberant posse of chefs on a night off. 

Off duty chefs invariably make the best dining companions, always up for a party yet still parsing every single plate with respect for a fellow pro and a hyper-vigilant curiosity lest the next mouthful yield inspiration for their own cooking — and when Dede and Siyar are the creators, there’s inspiration aplenty to be mined.

We kick off with a round of the best negronis I’ve had in many a long moon while perusing a menu in four parts: From the Sea; To the Meadow; To The Garden; and Desserts. 

We order from all four with liberal abandon, intent on sharing and tasting as many dishes as we can manage. The floodgates open.

Lahmacun (€16) is a boisterous opening shot, ‘kebab’ of minced aged beef and lamb with an umami punch to have you seeing stars and, atop barbecued flat bread smeared with peppers, tomatoes, mint, parsley, fermented chilli paste and Turkish pul biber (Aleppo pepper). It recalibrates palates in a heartbeat, instantly bringing a shared rapture to the table.

Dede’s Içli Köfte (€16) is as comforting as a mother’s hug after a hard day at school. 

Cape Clear Fastnet Farm lamb is partnered with delicious pillowy dumpling sporting a becoming glutinous toothsome tug, garlic yogurt, isot and mint adding finer nuances, uplifting and lightening a dish that has all whimpering with pleasure.

The brusque smokiness of smoked mackerel is gently arrested by fresh soft cheese, while salted lemon, chives, isot spread and fine extra virgin olive oil (which I also order with salt on the side to pair with superb sourdough bread) is a textbook example of Dede’s Hiberno-Turkish culinary collusion.

Haddock Lakarde sees fish cured to near-buttery texture, surrendering gently under tooth, a perfect harmony for a multiplicity of accompanying elements, each adding their own distinct note: garden leaves, sea trout eggs, radish, wasabi sesami seeds; the crowning glory is haddock and mushroom dashi, so utterly intoxicating, it is surely the liquid that emerges from the tear ducts of the gods.

Baba’de style fried chicken (€12), breaded and fried buttermilk chicken thigh is tender and succulent, topped with caviar, with a very moreish ‘accordion’ of fried crispy baby potato, spice mix and a sumptuous brown butter dip.

Naturally, there are high expectations for Ali’s hummus (€8) but this is ridiculously good, paprika and cumin humming through the velvety earthy cream, red onion and tomato casserole, a zingy counterpoint.

There are many regional variations of classic Turkish country salad (€14) and this incorporates an Irish element with Bradley Putze’s Lisheen Greens baby tomatoes, skinned and flesh lightly poached to a lush shimmering burst of flavour, served with feta, olive oil, cucumber and basil. Exquisite tomato water would give the aforementioned dashi a run for its money.

Sis Kebab (€18) is skewers of aged fillet beef dressed with home made mustard, hot sauce glaze, and pickled cucumbers. Alongside, potato layers cooked in bbq with beef cheeks and Coolea cheese. It is a mighty conclusion to the savoury courses.

Though my sweet tooth seems to recede as I age, it rears up again with a vengeance anytime I’m around these parts. 

Strawberry & Mulberry garden (€13), baked mulberry custard, local strawberries, berry sorbet, vacherin, is a stand out but the showstopper is Sutlac, Dede’s mother’s recipe delivered as a perfectly spiced rice pudding, served with brown butter ice cream, hazelnut crumble and blueberries from Derry Duff farm in Bantry, which I’d happily have as my last dish on earth, though I guarantee they serve this in heaven as well.

With one of the best wine lists in Ireland on offer in the mothership up the road, it is hardly surprising the offering in Baba’De, though more concise, works equally well and we put it through its paces, including two lovely natural whites, (Xarel-lo, Desig, Mas Candi, Pénédes ’22 Spain, and Chardonnay, Judith Beck, Burgenland ’22 Austria).

The dinner is a triumph from first bite to last and though Archer and Dede are adamant Baba’De is a casual offering, with no lofty ambitions whatsoever for awards, the food knocks the socks off several Michelin starred venues I’ve frequented in my time, so much so, that I’d even wonder …? 

It’s all in the genes, I guess.

The Verdict

Food: 9.5

Wines: 9

Service: 9

Value: 9

Atmosphere: 8