Wicklow Restaurant Reviews - Your Say.

Auscast

Myself being a relative newcomer to Wicklow, I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread about the local restaurants, as there's only a few, so newcomers can review this and choose what might suit them.

I read elsewhere on here that Pings is a good Chinese, so the Mrs and I ordered takeaway last weekend. Upon entering to collect, the restaurant was busy and buzzing which is normally a good sign. Unfortunately, upon returning home, all our dishes although looking tasty, turned out to be very bland. It really was a case of "this is a little bland, oh well, let's try the next dish, oh... that's a bit disappointing too... etc".
This may perfectly suit a family with young children or those unfamiliar with foreign food, but for us it mean't we'll be trying elsewhere before we go back.

WIZE

Avon Ri in Blessington has a great restaurant and scenery

Jemmy

Auscast wrote: »

Myself being a relative newcomer to Wicklow, I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread about the local restaurants, as there's only a few, so newcomers can review this and choose what might suit them.

I read elsewhere on here that Pings is a good Chinese, so the Mrs and I ordered takeaway last weekend. Upon entering to collect, the restaurant was busy and buzzing which is normally a good sign. Unfortunately, upon returning home, all our dishes although looking tasty, turned out to be very bland. It really was a case of "this is a little bland, oh well, let's try the next dish, oh... that's a bit disappointing too... etc".
This may perfectly suit a family with young children or those unfamiliar with foreign food, but for us it mean't we'll be trying elsewhere before we go back.

Have to disagree Pings has nice food, I've never got a bad dish from there. Always busy always full, never heard anyone say a bad word about it. Just my 2c!

Jamuna is a nice indian but they are a disaster when it comes to getting your order right so always double check the bag before you leave!

tweeky

Penang Garden on South Quay is really good food and pricewise! Have a meal/takeaway there and you will see Pings is a disaster food wise.
The new Italian above Phil Healys is not bad and still settling down but it is expensive compared to Dublin prices, they should follow suit with set menus.
Casapepe is not my cup of tea with more emphasis on the drink and loud music than the food.
Avoca is really good with great food but the later openingstimes of last summer/autumn weren't supported well enough to continue.
Donellis is closed more times than open.
my 2c.

yogidc26

Jemmy wrote: »

Have to disagree Pings has nice food, I've never got a bad dish from there. Always busy always full, never heard anyone say a bad word about it. Just my 2c!

Jamuna is a nice indian but they are a disaster when it comes to getting your order right so always double check the bag before you leave!

+1 I have never got a bad dish out of Pings have to say it on of the best chineses I have had a take away from.

I went to the new Restaurant in the grand and it was very poor not nice at all, the man sitting next to us had to send his food back twice because it wasn't right we wont be going back again:mad:

Casapepe+Jamuna Indian we have found to be great. Food is top class and service is very good

Auscast

tweeky wrote: »

Penang Garden on South Quay is really good food and pricewise! Have a meal/takeaway there and you will see Pings is a disaster food wise.
The new Italian above Phil Healys is not bad and still settling down but it is expensive compared to Dublin prices, they should follow suit with set menus.
Casapepe is not my cup of tea with more emphasis on the drink and loud music than the food.
Avoca is really good with great food but the later openingstimes of last summer/autumn weren't supported well enough to continue.
Donellis is closed more times than open.
my 2c.

Will try out Penang Garden for sure. We're looking to go to the Italian for my wife's birthday at the end of the month. I didn't know it was new though...
For those that ate at Pings and enjoyed it, are you spicy food eaters? Or might you have tamer palates? Just wondering if ours was a once-off and we should not write them off.

yogidc26

Auscast wrote: »

Will try out Penang Garden for sure. We're looking to go to the Italian for my wife's birthday at the end of the month. I didn't know it was new though...
For those that ate at Pings and enjoyed it, are you spicy food eaters? Or might you have tamer palates? Just wondering if ours was a once-off and we should not write them off.

I love spicy food I know sometimes its not that spicy out of pings but just ask them to make what way you like it and they will do it for you.

kev91

have to say pings is top notch aswell as oriental castle but for a nice pizza the pizza place in ashford beside adrianos is by far the best around followed by mizzonis steak house is nice too bit pricey but well worth it also for a nice takeaway the rock chipper in rathnew is good too

How Strange

I usually don't like chinese takeaways but Pings is one of the better ones.

Bates in Rathdrum is top notch.

Wicklow Heather in Laragh is good but has gotten quite expensive lately.

Qs

If you want Italian in Wicklow go to Casa Pepe, its no coincidence its the only Italian thats lasted in the town. Beautiful food and a decent price.

I prefer the Penang for Chinese too. Never been a fan of Pings, used the Oriental Castle before the Penang opened but they've been on decline for quite a while.

Auscast

Will have to try Casa Pepe then.
We went to Jausna on Tuesday night and it was pretty awful. 2 burnt, flat potato cakes as a €7 entree, and the two mains we had were basically 6 - 8 pieces of grilled meat drowned in insipid sauce. This is not what Indian food is about. Will not be going there again (or recommending it).
It's a shame that restaurants still feel they have to serve this kind of crap in this day and age.

admiralofthefleet

can anyone recommend somewhere nice to eat in arklow, so far i like sally o briens and the taj but it would be good to know other good places

thanks

BobbyJohn

Went with my wife and a couple of friends for Sunday lunch, to the new refurbished restaurant above sealife or seaworld on the Bray promenade.

Decor is good, the starters were great, then a 45 minute wait until main course, which was cold and a huge ball of fluff in the side vegetables.

The manager knocked the food of the bill, but all in all not somewhere I'd advise anyone to visit, unles it was for a coffee.

ciaran67

As a Londoner who grew up eating curry can i recommend Indian Spice in Greystones. Its kind of expensive compare with what im used to but the food is truly excellent, sourced locally. Their lamb just falls apart. Indian Spice is a delivery place btw.

buzzymam

Qs wrote: »

If you want Italian in Wicklow go to Casa Pepe, its no coincidence its the only Italian thats lasted in the town. Beautiful food and a decent price.

I prefer the Penang for Chinese too. Never been a fan of Pings, used the Oriental Castle before the Penang opened but they've been on decline for quite a while.

Sorry but Casa Pepe is about as far from proper "Italian" as you can get.

Havn't eaten there yet but I read that Ristorante Morsiani on Bridge Street got a phenomenal review in the Irish Indo recently.

krisbecs

Casa Pepe not good - have eaten there 3 times for different reasons (friends bdays etc.) & every time the food was bland & overpriced & the setting itself is dingy on one bday they charged €40 to slice a bday cake.

For take away I would highly rate the Chinese in Rathnew it's excellent.

For really really good food though I would go to The Park in Arklow it's a little expensive but excellent the chef was the head chef in Marlfield House for years & the front of house is run by Brookelodge's previous restaurant manger. I have eaten there numerous times & never had any reason to quibble.

tonyon

Self and the Missus wandered into WWK, beside Apache Pizza at the Mall and found the atmosphere very welcoming and food very good. Good to see new ventures opening in the current climate. Will go back.

Chrisi

Pings restaurant is great to eat in, takeaway not so good.

Penang garden is lovely, really nice food.

Casapepe is hit and miss. The last time I went it was gorgeous, if not a bit overpriced but I have had some bad experiences there too.

For lunches try bridge street (halpins) cafe, or the new cafe in earls.

The grand hotel does some nice food too, although i have heard that their menu has recently changed so I'm not sure whats available now.

The steak house is nice too!!

If your ever going out for a irthday meal go to pings, its a great atmosphere and they make a fuss of whoevers birthday it is

iregk

I'd also recommend Avon Ri as has been said earlier. Great food, great price and if its a nice day you have the most stunning scenery.

admiralofthefleet

has anyone eaten out of the new indian in arklow (the orchard).
im getting an indian tonight but the taj was terrible last week

aidan_mc

I see Lings on the albert walk in bray is reopening soon
Beautiful food

White_Wolf

Campo de Fiori, on Albert Avenue in Bray. In my opinion it is the best Italian in Wicklow and maybe even Dublin. Price is high enough but you get what you pay for with wide selection of absolutely excellent food and a wide range of wines to boot. They do a very nice cup of Italian coffee also.

The are also very welcoming and a very nice polite staff. All Italian but speak perfect English.

This is by far the nicest place I have eaten and if I had the money to eat there every day I would.

Alun

aidan_mc wrote: »

I see Lings on the albert walk in bray is reopening soon
Beautiful food

They're open again ... they moved to the place that was their shop at 10b Albert Walk .. much bigger than the old place. Phone number is the same.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Pings have a great new early bird menu with four courses for €16.99. There's a good choice and the food was lovely when I was there on Thurs.

Here's the Menu: http://www.pingschineserestaurant.com/early_bird.htm

Just thought I'd give it a mention!

ciaran67

Recession?

Last night, after the Bray air show, we headed back to Greystones. First we went to Bocelli's restaurant. We got our menus pretty quick but then were ignored for about 20-25 minutes, not even offered a drink. There was hardly anyone in the place and at least 3 staff on. People on the table next to ours had to go in and request something. We left with the hump and headed to Vino Pasta where, again, we ended up sitting outside, for what seemed like an eternity and this time we didnt even get menu's. We left again. Absolutely unbelievable on a quiet Sunday night. Im leaving GStones soon and after living here for quite a while, and being put off by the mad prices of restaurants in GStones IMO, we thought we give it a try. Its actually quite funny.

shinny

I've had two bad experiences now with the new place in Wicklow Town called WWK (World Wide Kitchen). I've not actually sat in and ate in the place but we've order food a few times from there. Two ocassions I collected the food from there and found the owner (he works front of house) dismissive. It was almost like I was bugging him by getting a take out. I wouldn't mind but they weren't even busy in the place.

I've just come back from collecting food again and this man was extremely rude to me. I just cannot fathom it. I see them struggling and noticed they have been closed before 10pm on several weekends. Is it any wonder?

If they want to continue they need to appreciate their take out Customers could very well be what keeps them a float. Having said that, I won't be returning. I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt on the first ocassion but to have it happen again and worse this time is enough for me not to want to spend my hard earned money there!

shinny

tweeky wrote: »

Penang Garden on South Quay is really good food and pricewise!

Totally agree. I love the Pad Thai from Penangs.

shinny

Pineto Classico (back road from Wicklow to Rathnew)

So far we've enjoyed the food from here. We've only had Fresh Cod and chips but it was very nice.

FYI, they have nothing to do withe Pineto in the Town. I rang them to try to get a number for the other place and was swiftly told they are nothing to do with each other The Pineto Classico don't have a phone in yet, btw.

tonyon

Ah come on Shinny, don't sit on the fence now, give us the benefit ? of your opinion. Whew.!

shinny

tonyon wrote: »

Ah come on Shinny, don't sit on the fence now, give us the benefit ? of your opinion. Whew.!

Well isn't that the point of this thread? I think the hint is in the title

purple123

Wicklow heather is lovely but very very expensive wouldnt hav much change out of 100 euro for 2 people, only went cause of we had a voucher. Fillet steak 28 euro served with mash spuds underneath and a mushroom with choice of chips, garlic potatoes or salad. It was packed that nite and when we passed the next day it was packed aswell. Germains in Baltinglas is lovely and prices are much more reasonable

shinny

I meant to mention this the other day when I posted. The Golf Club in Wicklow Town is pretty great at the moment. They got a new chef about 3/4 months ago and he's cooking up a storm. We've been up there on several Sundays and cannot fault the food. It had gone down hill dramatically for a while until they replaced the old chef.

Kormeera X

roma is good too admiral

tonyon

Yes Shinny, the hint is indeed in the title, Restaurant Review, not a People Review. Got the idea?. Anyway, just back from France where they really have great restaurants.

Auscast

Well out of the choice of Casa Pepe, The Steakhouse and Penang Garden for my 41st birthday dinner with the wife on the weekend, I chose Penang Garden. It had (what I though) was the most interesting menu - Casa Pepe had nothing I couldn't cook at home and The Steakhouse's main that I would have ordered was about €28 (meaning 2 entrees, 2 mains and a bottle of wine would be way too much).
Service at PG was good and the entree's were great. The wife wanted me to order Ice Cream King Prawns for a main and I won't be doing that again (way too sweet for me)... Our other main (fried pieces of fish of some sort) was way overcooked - tiny little hard nuggets. I mentioned it to the waitress and the manager(?) came over later and apologised and removed it from our bill.
The wife also didn't like the fact that they cleaned the tables around us when people left by spraying a few good squirts of a disinfectant spray - I thought it was a bit unprofessional as well as the smell was pretty overpowering.
We'll be going back though as it's been the best dining experience in Wicklow Town so far (that's not saying much, hey?) - and next time I'll be more alert to what comes out of the kitchen.

shinny

tonyon wrote: »

Yes Shinny, the hint is indeed in the title, Restaurant Review, not a People Review. Got the idea?. Anyway, just back from France where they really have great restaurants.

Which is part and parcel of it. If you don't have good staff and therefore good service, that's just as important as reviewing the food. Why are you taking it so personally?.....I'm guessing because your review is less than impartial

iPlop

The indian in blessington village is really good and reasonable.It was called the Bohdi Tree but it was taken over a couple of weeks ago ,but I believe the food is still delicious:)

westwicklow

Septic Leper wrote: »

...blessington village....:)

"village" you are having a laugh!!

Auscast

We went back to Penang Garden on Saturday night and the food was lovely.
The manager remembered me from when we were there last (in August) and my complaint about the fish. He mentioned he told the kitchen to make sure that everything that came out to me was at it's best.
Luckily, we were sitting in direct view of the kitchen, and I didn't see anyone hock a loogie
I still think they overcook the seafood a little, but otherwise it's a very good and inexpensive place to eat. It's now my wife's favourite restaurant in Wicklow.

I see there's a new restaurant called The Black and Blue Grill opening soon in Wicklow town. I had a brief glance into it during renovation and it looks lovely so far. I'll be there when it opens.

shinny

Auscast wrote: »

I see there's a new restaurant called The Black and Blue Grill opening soon in Wicklow town. I had a brief glance into it during renovation and it looks lovely so far. I'll be there when it opens.

We've booked it for a few weeks time, so will report back. We're expecting good things as it's owned by the same people who own Bates in Rathdrum.

shaviebeby

Hungry Monk in Greystones....quality everytime!!

Parichards

Here we are the first review of the Black and Blue Grill.

There is one bad thing about the internet, that's the immediacy that it gives to people to express an opinion. So here is my opinion of the Black and Blue Grill 10 minutes after leaving the place.

First ambiance, there is none. What used to be one of Ireland finest and most unique restaurants is now a shadow of itself with tacky paintings scattered around the walls containing luminous orange for sale stickers. Not only is most of the artwork crap but its ridiculously overpriced also.
Second service, the staff were pleasant enough, inadequately trained but this is normal in rural Irish restaurants. The service was abysmal, 1 hour to serve our starters. This in a restaurant with only 25 - 30 customers.
Third the food. All I can say is ordinary, the menu is uninspiring and they certainly won't be competing for any Michelin Stars in the near future. The food was very average and hit and miss, I asked for rare medallions of Fillet steak, one was overdone and completely over seasoned, the other was nearly OK. The quality of the meat was very mediocre, this is not good as there are a number of quality butchers in Wicklow town who can supply good and well conditioned beef. My starter was not too bad but was sadly lacking in the advertised truffle oil and so a bit bland.
Last the wine list, one word for this, crap.

To sum up, in the immortal words of most of my school teachers, "could do better".

ciaran67

Parichards wrote: »

but its ridiculously overpriced also

Could say that about 99.9% of Irish restaurants unfortunately.

iPlop

westwicklow wrote: »

"village" you are having a laugh!!

Ha ha you're absolutely right ,slip of the tongue there;)

shinny

6 of us went to the Black n Blue grill on Saturday night and overall we really enjoyed it. No problems with service, they were bang on time. Nice friendly atmosphere and pleasent staff.

The only criticism I would have is that we had too much food for our main course. I had ordered the Lamb Cutlets and there were just too many. With the addition of the fries and veg it was filling. However, they were really nice. Very nicely cooked.
My starter was just ok. I had ordered the prawns and scallops. I just thought the scallops were a litte overdone and the prawns were cooked in a funny way (split with shell still on it which made getting the flesh out difficult)

My companions had the Warm Chicken Salad, Pate, Antipasta plate and Soup for starters. They all said they were very nice. For mains they had a chicken dish (forget the name, but it was in a wrap) that wasn't that great. A seafood mix which was lovely, but again too much fish, Lamb Shank which was very nice, The Burger which was nice and Mixed Grill plate which was also nice.

For dessert we had the tiramisu which was lovely.

I've attached a few pictures (The Lamb Cutlets, The Burger and a shot of the restaurant)

iPlop

shinny wrote: »

6 of us went to the Black n Blue grill on Saturday night and overall we really enjoyed it. No problems with service, they were bang on time. Nice friendly atmosphere and pleasent staff.

The only criticism I would have is that we had too much food for our main course. I had ordered the Lamb Cutlets and there were just too many. With the addition of the fries and veg it was filling. However, they were really nice. Very nicely cooked.
My starter was just ok. I had ordered the prawns and scallops. I just thought the scallops were a litte overdone and the prawns were cooked in a funny way (split with shell still on it which made getting the flesh out difficult)

My companions had the Warm Chicken Salad, Pate, Antipasta plate and Soup for starters. They all said they were very nice. For mains they had a chicken dish (forget the name, but it was in a wrap) that wasn't that great. A seafood mix which was lovely, but again too much fish, Lamb Shank which was very nice, The Burger which was nice and Mixed Grill plate which was also nice.

For dessert we had the tiramisu which was lovely.

I've attached a few pictures (The Lamb Cutlets, The Burger and a shot of the restaurant)

That's a huge dish ,I don't think I could have finished all that.Nice pics though thanks for sharing:)

spank_inferno

shinny wrote: »

6 of us went to the Black n Blue grill on Saturday night and overall we really enjoyed it.

I checked out this place today walking down the town.
Seems ok, that burger might just draw me in.

Nancenet70

Loved the Hungry Monk
Chakra in Greystones has been our favourite (but most expensive) Indian for takeaway (we havent eaten in yet)
Campo di Fiori - in Bray - is the best Italian we've had in Ireland

mysadlife

I just popped in to Black N Blue with my 13 yr old son for a bite. Have to say, I wasn't overly impressed. I had a 12oz sirloin, which was full of fat.....the mushroom sauce was very watery....limp/greasy fries. Son had a pizza which was average.

The menu is quite limiting, despite its enormous size - they don't even have a till there, and made the menu up by hand - I hope this improves in the new year...

tommo22

Parichards wrote: »

Here we are the first review of the Black and Blue Grill.

There is one bad thing about the internet, that's the immediacy that it gives to people to express an opinion. So here is my opinion of the Black and Blue Grill 10 minutes after leaving the place.

First ambiance, there is none. What used to be one of Ireland finest and most unique restaurants is now a shadow of itself with tacky paintings scattered around the walls containing luminous orange for sale stickers. Not only is most of the artwork crap but its ridiculously overpriced also.
Second service, the staff were pleasant enough, inadequately trained but this is normal in rural Irish restaurants. The service was abysmal, 1 hour to serve our starters. This in a restaurant with only 25 - 30 customers.
Third the food. All I can say is ordinary, the menu is uninspiring and they certainly won't be competing for any Michelin Stars in the near future. The food was very average and hit and miss, I asked for rare medallions of Fillet steak, one was overdone and completely over seasoned, the other was nearly OK. The quality of the meat was very mediocre, this is not good as there are a number of quality butchers in Wicklow town who can supply good and well conditioned beef. My starter was not too bad but was sadly lacking in the advertised truffle oil and so a bit bland.
Last the wine list, one word for this, crap.

To sum up, in the immortal words of most of my school teachers, "could do better".

Sounds to me like sour grapes. You create a new user name just to slate the place. It is your only post and you only joined Dec2010. I bet u are a competitor...

mysadlife

I meant to say that they "made the bill up by hand"