The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

-Toppy-

Yeah i saw an article in thecorknews about it think its called Pho

http://thecorknews.ie/articles/new-jobs-pho-city-15943

blow69

I'm really liking the explosion of different, interesting and quality dining and drinking options Cork has experienced in the past year or so. And consequently, how well they seem to be doing.

I think one of the positives of The Great Recession is that people won't accept standard fare anymore. They want flavour, variety, atmosphere and quality if they choose to eat out.

northgirl

sporina wrote: »

gosh well i am a bit of a stickler and when it come to hygiene/food/service and its one of my fav's. how many times were you there?

I've been there several times....

-Toppy-

I dont have anything bad to say about Annies regarding hygiene, but I know someone who used work there, who used always be giving out at the place, Dishwasher broken down, Leaking roof things that sort of thing and properly repairing things seemed to done at the absolutely last resort

Havent been in there though for the last 18 months so cant comment on how hygiene has been recently

bleary

evilivor wrote: »

Some other place jumping on the South Asian street food noodle bandwagon - opening on Douglas street where the Capwell Bar was.

Hmm that was my reaction on reading this but I thought that Fresco (Glucksman) was really good when I ate there so I'm hoping this should be a cut above

byronbay2

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Good size pizza but barely any toppings, tiniest amount of cheese, and a goats cheese salad with maybe 2 - 3 cubes of goats cheese in it, our waiter was not nice at all either.

50 euro for a salad, Pizza, and 2 beers I expected better, 1st and last time.

NOBODY (in their right mind) goes to Milano without a voucher - the prices on the menu are only for show, for you to think about how much you have saved with your voucher. Also, drinks there are VERY expensive.
Having said that, I like the place (bear in mind I also like The Eastern Tandoori, Cork Board's most hated restaurant) - the pizzas are tasty, they do an excellent children's menu and it's very good value, assuming you have a voucher. I have been there loads of times and will continue to return, especially since children are so welcome and mine like it so much.

Without wanting to get on the wrong side of Sporina (having seen the grilling northgirl got), I was also unimpressed with Annies. We went in May for a Confirmation meal and the pork main course was completely over-cooked and chewy. That was annoying enough but then for dessert, the apple tart tasted of nothing but cinnamon - I mean literally like someone accidentally spilled an entire container of cinnamon over the tart and then cut and served it (this may or may not have happened). It was completely inedible of course but when I brought it up with the waiter he said he would mention it to the kitchen and was never seen again, by us at least!

While I'm ranting, I should also mention that I had a disappointing meal in The Rendezvous (Model Farm Road) last week. While not Annies-level awful, the food was bland and dry, particularly the Full Irish pizza (which I didn't order but tasted) which was basically indigestion on a plate. It was a pity because the staff were excellent (I recognised the French maitre-d from the old Kingsley Hotel) and it's a handy spot for me. I'll give it another try before the end of the year but it's on a warning now!

SteelyDanJalapeno

byronbay2 wrote: »

NOBODY (in their right mind) goes to Milano without a voucher - the prices on the menu are only for show, for you to think about how much you have saved with your voucher. Also, drinks there are VERY expensive.
Having said that, I like the place (bear in mind I also like The Eastern Tandoori, Cork Board's most hated restaurant) - the pizzas are tasty, they do an excellent children's menu and it's very good value, assuming you have a voucher. I have been there loads of times and will continue to return, especially since children are so welcome and mine like it so much.

Without wanting to get on the wrong side of Sporina (having seen the grilling northgirl got), I was also unimpressed with Annies. We went in May for a Confirmation meal and the pork main course was completely over-cooked and chewy. That was annoying enough but then for dessert, the apple tart tasted of nothing but cinnamon - I mean literally like someone accidentally spilled an entire container of cinnamon over the tart and then cut and served it (this may or may not have happened). It was completely inedible of course but when I brought it up with the waiter he said he would mention it to the kitchen and was never seen again, by us at least!

While I'm ranting, I should also mention that I had a disappointing meal in The Rendezvous (Model Farm Road) last week. While not Annies-level awful, the food was bland and dry, particularly the Full Irish pizza (which I didn't order but tasted) which was basically indigestion on a plate. It was a pity because the staff were excellent (I recognised the French maitre-d from the old Kingsley Hotel) and it's a handy spot for me. I'll give it another try before the end of the year but it's on a warning now!

The first thing our waiter asked us was "Do you have a voucher?"

54kroc

TiltedBrain wrote: »

The first thing our waiter asked us was "Do you have a voucher?"

I'd be out the door the second I heard that.
€50 for what you got is pretty insane.

ABajaninCork

Was in the Market Lane again yesterday for a spot of lunch. They've changed the menu again, and have added a couple of interesting fish dishes. One of which was a fish platter which I tried and thought it was absolutely delicious!

There was tempura-battered cod which was nice and light with a couple of chips, smoked salmon, seared tuna (again cooked perfectly), and a lovely home-made potted smoked trout served with a couple of slices of artisan bread lightly toasted. The dish was served on a bed of salad leaves, and a dash of tartare sauce for the cod. The only slight blemish on the meal was the celeriac remoulade which was a bit salty. But the whole dish was wicked!!

Spoke to the waitress and the manager who told me that the dish had only been on the menu for two days, but were happy to get the feedback. I definitely want another fish platter soon...

ABajaninCork

TiltedBrain wrote: »

The first thing our waiter asked us was "Do you have a voucher?"

That should be your first clue!

Faith

Haha, some people get very upset when you criticise certain restaurants here alright. On the note of Annie's, it used to be my absolute favourite restaurant in Cork. I'd have eaten there as often as I could find excuses for. I loved the ever-changing menu and the variety of ingredients used, and how you'd always find a few unusual proteins on there. But the last time I was there was for my birthday in February 2012 and it was decidedly meh. I remember the dessert as being horrible - I think it was supposed to be banoffee pie but it ended up being more of a tiramisu. How you can manage to turn a banoffee pie into tiramisu is beyond me. I haven't been back since, and I really haven't been hearing great things about it.

I can't comment on cleanliness or anything, but it definitely went downhill when their head chef left a couple of years ago.

kcb

Seems to be plenty of people enjoying Bullcoq. Fair play to them I suppose. I wouldn't be choosing to go there seeing as it is the Cornstore crowd behind it; awful place.

Any reports on Sunbean?

SusieBlue

Just had possibly the worst meal of my life in Clancys. We were tempted by there 'Monday madness' offer of three courses for 28 euro.

We both had soup to start which was bland and tasteless and the bread was stale. The mains were so bad we sent them both back. We had ordered battered cod but what we got was a precooked, soggy piece of plaice full of bones. My salad was drenched in grease in which the meat component was cooked in, and the lettuce was wilted. It was literally inedible, I'm not overly fussy but I couldn't manage more than a few mouthfuls.

They were so bad we opted not to have the included dessert, we just paid for our soups and nothing else. Hands down the worst meal I've ever had.

Service was good but the place seemed musty and tired and none of the food tasted fresh in the slightest. Wouldn't recommend and won't be returning.

Nonoperational

kcb wrote: »

Seems to be plenty of people enjoying Bullcoq. Fair play to them I suppose. I wouldn't be choosing to go there seeing as it is the Cornstore crowd behind it; awful place.

Any reports on Sunbean?

I have been to Coqbull twice. It's grand for what it is, a burger and chicken place. Decent vibe about it and good deserts.

To be honest there are far worse in Cork than the Cornstore.

kcb

Nonoperational wrote: »

I have been to Coqbull twice. It's grand for what it is, a burger and chicken place. Decent vibe about it and good deserts.

To be honest there are far worse in Cork than the Cornstore.

I just caught them on a bad night, a couple of times so! Both times; bad service, attitude, poor food (a mushroom bruschetta that you wouldn't give to a dog was the lowlight) and generally just not a nice place.

Coqbull sounds like the new Luigi Malones. Probably grand for an oul burger and a beer, and enough people who enjoy bland food to make it do well!

The shoddy way they got their back up about Tom Doorley's bad review showed the Cornstore type attitude though! Clowns.

Faith

kcb wrote: »

The shoddy way they got their back up about Tom Doorley's bad review showed the Cornstore type attitude though! Clowns.

What happened there?

I ate there once, thought it was grand. Nothing to write home about, but fine for a cheap, filling lunch.

sporina

byronbay2 wrote: »

NOBODY (in their right mind) goes to Milano without a voucher - the prices on the menu are only for show, for you to think about how much you have saved with your voucher. Also, drinks there are VERY expensive.
Having said that, I like the place (bear in mind I also like The Eastern Tandoori, Cork Board's most hated restaurant) - the pizzas are tasty, they do an excellent children's menu and it's very good value, assuming you have a voucher. I have been there loads of times and will continue to return, especially since children are so welcome and mine like it so much.

Without wanting to get on the wrong side of Sporina (having seen the grilling northgirl got), I was also unimpressed with Annies. We went in May for a Confirmation meal and the pork main course was completely over-cooked and chewy. That was annoying enough but then for dessert, the apple tart tasted of nothing but cinnamon - I mean literally like someone accidentally spilled an entire container of cinnamon over the tart and then cut and served it (this may or may not have happened). It was completely inedible of course but when I brought it up with the waiter he said he would mention it to the kitchen and was never seen again, by us at least!

While I'm ranting, I should also mention that I had a disappointing meal in The Rendezvous (Model Farm Road) last week. While not Annies-level awful, the food was bland and dry, particularly the Full Irish pizza (which I didn't order but tasted) which was basically indigestion on a plate. It was a pity because the staff were excellent (I recognised the French maitre-d from the old Kingsley Hotel) and it's a handy spot for me. I'll give it another try before the end of the year but it's on a warning now!

sporina wrote: »

are you sure you are talking about annies??

sporina wrote: »

gosh well i am a bit of a stickler and when it come to hygiene/food/service and its one of my fav's. how many times were you there?

you call the above a "grilling"? its two sentences??

pwurple

Faith wrote: »

What happened there?

I ate there once, thought it was grand. Nothing to write home about, but fine for a cheap, filling lunch.

Tom Doorley gave a mediocre review, basically said it was a bit salty and some of the food seemed to come in precooked.
http://www.evoke.ie/food/coqbull-review-a-bold-brnad-but-its-a-concept-too-far/

They responded by painting the blackboard outside with the words "Tom you are so full of BULL" , tweeting a photo of it and putting it on their facebook.

Dopey really, would have been more in their interest to address the pre-cooked charge.

Toto Wolfcastle

pwurple wrote: »

Tom Doorley gave a mediocre review, basically said it was a bit salty and some of the food seemed to come in precooked.
http://www.evoke.ie/food/coqbull-review-a-bold-brnad-but-its-a-concept-too-far/

They responded by painting the blackboard outside with the words "Tom you are so full of BULL" , tweeting a photo of it and putting it on their facebook.

Dopey really, would have been more in their interest to address the pre-cooked charge.

They also called it an attack on Cork.

draiochtanois

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Balmed Out

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Around Cork also check Deasy's clonakilty. Big fan of Poachers too though the last time I was there one of those Paddy wagon tour buses pulled up and filled the place with very obnoxious drunk rugger head dub's who went in to drink and were very very loud. When I was leaving I found half a dozen sitting either on my bonnet or boot with a dozen pint glasses and bottles sitting on the roof of my car. When im paying good money for a meal I wouldn't expect that kind of crap though I guess it wasn't really poachers fault.
Pizza id go for the brick oven in Bantry.
Coffee the Italian in Blackrock village is great.

D'Agger

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

They also called it an attack on Cork.

Because that makes sense!

Poor management

byronbay2

sporina wrote: »

you call the above a "grilling"? its two sentences??

Without getting into a back-and-forth with you (and I'm sure northgirl doesn't need anyone to stand up for her), I thought your first question was insulting and the second was irrelevant.

Malari

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Where's Rising Son?

I still have to get to Poachers in Bandon at some stage, I've heard great things about it.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

spiderdan

Can't for the life of my understand how bad the restaurants in Cork are. Been living here for over a year and tried most of the places, to say it's average at best is an understatement. Don't even get me started on the state of Asian cuisine in cork.

the beer revolu

spiderdan wrote: »

Can't for the life of my understand how bad the restaurants in Cork are. Been living here for over a year and tried most of the places, to say it's average at best is an understatement. Don't even get me started on the state of Asian cuisine in cork.

Yuan Ming Yuan is pretty good.
The only Chinese I'll eat in, in Cork.

Nonoperational

Had the earlybird in Donovans in Midleton recently. Thought is was brilliant. Really nice.

byronbay2

Has the success of Ramen prompted a price war among Cork's noodle bars?? For the first time today, I received a BOGOF offer from Wagamama:

https://www.livingsocial.com/content/offers/464-wagamama?utm_medium=email&utm_source=blast&utm_campaign=wagamama_cork

I don't like Ramen (the wife loves it) and haven't been in Wagamama for several years but, hey, if they want to entice me I can be enticed! I wonder if it's aimed at the student market, returning this week?

Note: must be used by the end of September.

Faith

byronbay2 wrote: »

Has the success of Ramen prompted a price war among Cork's noodle bars?? For the first time today, I received a BOGOF offer from Wagamama:

https://www.livingsocial.com/content/offers/464-wagamama?utm_medium=email&utm_source=blast&utm_campaign=wagamama_cork

I don't like Ramen (the wife loves it) and haven't been in Wagamama for several years but, hey, if they want to entice me I can be enticed! I wonder if it's aimed at the student market, returning this week?

Note: must be used by the end of September.

Wagamama's is way overpriced, particularly since they stopped doing their lunch offer. I'm in Vancouver now, and a standard noodle dish will cost you about $8.50 (just under €6) - and Vancouver is a very expensive city in general. Wagamama charge €12.95 for the same thing, and something like €15 for chicken Katsu curry.

I'd say they're definitely struggling now that there's competition, particularly as everywhere else is charging less.