Good restaurants in Dublin that DON'T insist on two sittings

Miss Fluff

Hey, wondering if someone can help here! Have a family function on Friday and we were hoping to dine in Diep Le Shaker, and all being foodies, hoping to stay there for the evening. Every restaurant in Dublin now seems to have two sittings however (APPALLING imo:eek: ). Can anyone recommend a good restaurant in town, at the upper end of the market, that you could make a reservation for say 8pm and stay for the evening? Thanks in advance

quazzy

Can't really think off hand but would it be possible to make the reservation a bit later in the evening. Maybe 8:30 or 9. I very much doubt they'll be able to get another sitting after 11ish.

xzanti

Miss Fluff wrote:

Hey, wondering if someone can help here! Have a family function on Friday, we were hoping to dine in Diep Le Shaker, and all being foodies, hoping to stay there for the evening. Every restaurant in Dublin now seems to have two sittings however (APPALLING imo:eek: ). Can anyone recommend a good restaurant in town, at the upper end of the market, that you could make a reservation for say 8pm and stay for the evening? Thanks in advance

What do you mean by 2 sittings? I'v never heard of that before

The Sweeper

It's like they open at 6pm and want the 6pm diners cleared for 8.30pm, at which stage they're taking bookings again for diners for the evening. It depends the time they open at and how long they give you to eat etc. If a restaurant is open for the six hours from 6pm to midnight, it's not unusual for them to split that into as close to two sets of three hour sittings as they can get.

Think about it - either you can do 100 covers in six hours, or close on 200 covers in six hours if you can pack your restaurant out twice over...

Miss Fluff

It's bloody terrible. If I eat out, I normally like to meet in the restaurant around 8ish (this means you are still part of the first sitting) and are often required to be out of the restaurant around 9.30pm. I HATE having to wolf my food down. (This happened a couple of weeks ago at Brasserie 66 in town when attending a hen party - all 16 of us ended up having merely a main course - awful!!) Thing is, if you're at a good restaurant and paying a lot of money for good food I simply don't understand why a diner can't savour it anymore (yes, I can understand from a commercial perpective that the more covers they produce the more money they make) but it makes the experience a lot less enjoyable. Going to try the Pearl Brasserie and see what they can do! The chef is French so I'm hoping he's not buying into this ghastly phenomenon!

Beruthiel

I'm guessing that Patrick Guilbaud will let you stay the evening.
(I should be on commission)

fitz

Rhodes D7.
Was there last night.
Arrived 10 minutes early for a 7.30 reservation, was seated straight away.
Service was great, food was fantastic, and it's quite reasonably priced.
We finished our coffee's a little after 10. We were just on the way out when we noticed that we had been right about hearing what sounded like live music from another area of the restaurant (it's kindof L shaped).
There was a jazz trio playing at the end of the bar, piano, sax and vocals.
We were given a table in that section where we sat an enjoyed a drink, leaving just before 11.

At no stage did it feel like we were under any pressure for time.
Having said that, it wasn't full.
But regardless, I'd strongly recommend it.

5 Times

Town Bar and Grill

If you wanna impress the folks this place is just quality all round. A bit pricey but probably the best in Dublin for me and I have been most places.

It has the ambience, food, service and a certain je ne sais quoi to make it the perfect evening.