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Down a flight of stairs on South William Street resides Platform 61, named after the abandoned Track 61 located beneath the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York where celebrities such as Andy Warhol once frequented. One wall is entirely golden, imitating the elevator that transported VIPs to parties, and dividing the bright front-room with a more evening oriented space to the back.

We opted for the standard-looking brunch menu, featuring jokey drinks suggestions that fell somewhere between cheeky and contrived. I selected the Eggs Florentine and sipped espresso supplied by Drury Tea and Coffee in Cork while being informed that they are the only location in Dublin to use this brand.

The Hollandaise truffle sauce had a tartness that complimented the spinach nicely while the eggs were cooked well. We also sampled the house signature cocktail (€12) which was light and sweet with no harsh aftertaste, well suited to accompany a brunch but less suited to a student’s pocket.

Finally, came the “Andy Warhol trio of desserts.” Instead of the usual meringue we tried their vanilla ice cream drizzled in “secret sauce” and topped with pumpkin seeds. We were encouraged to try it with black pepper in true Croatian style that was a personal touch of the directors. The delicious gluten-free brownie’s slightly crunchy texture was redeemed by a creamy topping and raspberry coulis while the crème brûlée, although impressively browned with a crack deserving the plaudits of Mary Berry herself, was unfortunately overly sweet for my taste.

Only in its infancy, Platform 61 has a lot of potential and brings something slightly different to the European cuisine format. The staff were attentive but not too much so and, after a slightly disconcerting moment with the two-way mirror in the toilet, we left as two ultimately happy customers.

Photo taken by Helen Fee.