The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

Bacchus

pwurple wrote: »

Iyers?

I'd eat my own weight in that chilli gobi they do.

+1 to this, particularly if you are looking for a more authentic Indian meal as opposed to a bunch of curries just loaded with spices and a side of greasy naan. There's not much seating space in there though.

nerwen

pwurple wrote: »

Iyers?

I'd eat my own weight in that chilli gobi they do.

This one is on the list to try, but most of my lunch buddies are not fans of the idea of vegetarian so it hasn't made it to the top of the list yet. Some day though!

Léan

Hoping to check out Iyer's this evening. Does it do take away?

gimmick

Was in Iyers last weekend. Horribly over rated place. The food is ok, but given the raving here i expected much much better.

jadie

yeah I agree, gone a bit downhill since it opened. The staff are very off-putting as well, I never feel comfortable eating in there. That said the owner is a nice pleasant man.

Nonoperational

gimmick wrote: »

Was in Iyers last weekend. Horribly over rated place. The food is ok, but given the raving here i expected much much better.

That's the norm for certain people on here. If people take a liking to a place it's hyped to high heavens. If they don't, it's slated to within an inch of it's life. Like most things the balance lies somewhere inbetween.

pwurple

gimmick wrote: »

Was in Iyers last weekend. Horribly over rated place. The food is ok, but given the raving here i expected much much better.

Yup, It is just the food there. The place (location, seating, lack of booze) isn't great at all but I do like the food.

the beer revolu

I think the thing with Iyer's is that it isn't what a lot of people expect from an Indian restaurant.
It's more a café than a restaurant. You won't get a big plate of curry there. It's not somewhere I'd really consider for dinner (apart from by special arrangement when he'll do a multi course menu) but I love it for lunch or a mid afternoon tasty snack. It's small. It's casual. It's friendy l. (I really can't see the issue some people have with the staff).
I just adore the flavours and textures of the food. It seems to not be for everyone but there is nowhere in Cork (or probably Ireland) doing anything remotely like it.
I've just talked myself into going there for lunch!

StonyIron

A business colleague of mine keeps telling me that she can't find a good restaurant anymore for entertaining overseas clients. Everything is too casual and quirky.

Are there any "high end" restaurants left? I think she's harking back to the days of the Arbutus Lodge ...

Milly33

We got take take out from the charcoal grill last night must say it was quite tasty.. Now the sides were cold but not too bothered, himself got ribs and I go the enchilada very nice now I will say

rob316

StonyIron wrote: »

A business colleague of mine keeps telling me that she can't find a good restaurant anymore for entertaining overseas clients. Everything is too casual and quirky.

Are there any "high end" restaurants left? I think she's harking back to the days of the Arbutus Lodge ...

Les Gourmandies? Star Anise? That's what I would consider fine dining anyway

whatever76

Greens, Jacobs, Jacques ?

roundymac

Flemings, I'm going there tonight.
http://www.flemingsrestaurant.ie/

the beer revolu

Hayfield Manor too.

rob316

the beer revolu wrote: »

Hayfield Manor too.

For fine dining I found the food fairly average

etoughguy

Nonoperational wrote: »

Club Brasserie, food ok, service beyond bad. It would be funny if it wasn't an expensive restaurant.

Brick Lane, burger, I'd have a Big Mac over it any day.

Had a somewhat similar experience last night - we booked a table last night for 8pm as there were none available for 7.30. Arrived at 8 and there were 2, yes 2 people in the entire place! Herself had chicken with a mustard sauce which was lovely, I had the blandest most boring chickpea "curry" (more like tomato sauce with possibly a few spices in there). 13 people in there in total when we left at 9pm. Staff were friendly but total amateurs. Don't know what to make of the place to be honest no one in there, wont be rushing back for sure. Beats me how the place is so well regarded (it is nice inside alright)

dudara

StonyIron wrote: »

A business colleague of mine keeps telling me that she can't find a good restaurant anymore for entertaining overseas clients. Everything is too casual and quirky.

Are there any "high end" restaurants left? I think she's harking back to the days of the Arbutus Lodge ...

Greens is probably doing the best "fine dining" food in Cork at the moment. I've heard that money is being invested in the entire place.

the beer revolu

rob316 wrote: »

For fine dining I found the food fairly average

I've never eaten there.

pwurple

StonyIron wrote: »

A business colleague of mine keeps telling me that she can't find a good restaurant anymore for entertaining overseas clients. Everything is too casual and quirky.

Are there any "high end" restaurants left? I think she's harking back to the days of the Arbutus Lodge ...

Yeah, for all the bbq, burrito and popular Asian street food places around, to my mind there is a slight lack of special occasion places in Cork at the moment. Lovetts is gone, arbutus lodge is gone, augustines is gone, oysters is gone.

There's Les Gourmandaise, which is excellent. And greenes, Jacobs on the mall, Jacques, but they are all middle-high if you know what I mean. Hayfield manor gets the service part of it right. There's ballymaloe house, but that's a funny fish for clients with the farmhouse old Irish style, some find the serving style weird, where you get a small portion and then get second servings of it later. Sage in Middleton or heading off to Kinsale is generally what we do with clients or visitors.

Adding Flemings, Flemings is good for that kind of thing too, but again, not city centre, so you can't wander out and go for a drink afterwards.

Nonoperational

etoughguy wrote: »

Had a somewhat similar experience last night - we booked a table last night for 8pm as there were none available for 7.30. Arrived at 8 and there were 2, yes 2 people in the entire place! Herself had chicken with a mustard sauce which was lovely, I had the blandest most boring chickpea "curry" (more like tomato sauce with possibly a few spices in there). 13 people in there in total when we left at 9pm. Staff were friendly but total amateurs. Don't know what to make of the place to be honest no one in there, wont be rushing back for sure. Beats me how the place is so well regarded (it is nice inside alright)

It was bizarre. We had a poor curry too, was the worst dish. Some dishes were good, but my goodness the staff. Couldn't open a bottle of wine then started laughing and left it on the table and went away. We twisted off the screw top ourselves. Couldn't pronounce various types of food, didn't know what came with dishes.... Nice people but it was half way to a faulty towers episode.

Padraig Mor

dudara wrote: »

Greens is probably doing the best "fine dining" food in Cork at the moment. I've heard that money is being invested in the entire place.

Had the 8 course tasting menu there recently. Was far from fine dining TBH.

StonyIron

I'll pass them on. The person in question tends to just write off everything in Ireland as inferior so, it's possibly a bit of a pointless exercise anyway. (They're Irish of course ... I find it an odd affliction that exists here a lot.)

Milly33

Oh no Greens is way over rated so it is..Went there a few times and just did not get it, food is only ok, service is poor and tis too pricey..

I would say Ivory tower to me beats all for different food but I suppose it can be casual enough.... Whats that one on Oliver plunkett street kinda across from the Old oak isn't that suppose to be nice...

Called into Arthur Maynes last night and would go back there now so we would quite tasty and love the atmosphere there..Staff were a little hard to catch but overly when you did get their attention

etoughguy

Nonoperational wrote: »

It was bizarre. We had a poor curry too, was the worst dish. Some dishes were good, but my goodness the staff. Couldn't open a bottle of wine then started laughing and left it on the table and went away. We twisted off the screw top ourselves. Couldn't pronounce various types of food, didn't know what came with dishes.... Nice people but it was half way to a faulty towers episode.

That sums it up perfectly! The barmaid was chatting to punters and ignored our drinks order for ten minutes and as I was about to approach her she finally poured the drinks. If the place was busy I could understand but was empty apart from 2 people

Milly33

where is this place ye speak of

etoughguy

Milly33 wrote: »

where is this place ye speak of

ye who? there are lots of places being mentioned in the thread

Milly33

That would be you the place you mentioned just above my question

H8GHOTI

Bad Boys BBQ
Three of us went yesterday & overall I'd say it was average. I got beef brisket, the others got ribs & a turkey melt ciabatta.
Brisket came with gravy & onions, it was like something you'd get in a pub carvery. I tasted the turkey melt & it was lovely. Ribs I didn't taste but were said to be nice too.
Choice of sides wasn't great & they were plain enough.
Some teething problems too. No menus inside (chalk board on wall outside) & service was fairly poor.
I might try again some time but wouldn't be rushing back.
Comparisons with White Rabbit are natural & no contest for me, pretty much everything about White Rabbit was better.

etoughguy

Milly33 wrote: »

That would be you the place you mentioned just above my question

Sure, its Club Brasserie near the Clarion we were talking about

Bacchus

Went to the Fish bar in Electric last night for the first time. Really really enjoyed it. Got seats at the counter looking over the river. Seafood and sides were top notch. I liked the kind of sharing/tapas style to eating too (we got 2 dishes and 2 sides). Desert (apple crumble with Hazelnut ice-cream) was heaven on a plate. Will definitely go back there soon.

The only thing I'll say though (not that it bothered us) was that we didn't leave stuffed or anything. Portion sizes are not big so you'd want to load up on a few sides (or a 3rd dish) maybe to fill up... which IMO would then be making it a bit pricey.