New Spanish/ Argentinian Restaurant in Maynooth

gwjones42

It's called "Picaderos". I've driven by it a couple of times in the past week at night as they've been finishing fitting it out and it looks like it's just about ready to open. It looks nice inside and hopefully the Tapas will be good too.

There's already a fair few restaurants on Main Street already though (Avenue, Greene's and a few Indians, Chinese etc....as well as all the pubs.). I'm not sure if there'll be enough business for them all.

granturismo

I went to Twist Thur night around 7pm and it was closed - they also tried a tapas menu.

Is there demand for another restaurant in Maynooth?

ixus

It should be open tonight. I called in on Saturday and they were just waiting for the sign off from the Fire Safety Officer.

It's owned/run by the same family as Donatello's so they know the market in Maynooth.

Think they're bringing over chefs from Spain.

While the market is saturated in Maynooth, good places remain busy generally.

It's tapas and Argentinian steaks. hmm steak.....

Moonbeam

I love Maynooth for the food:)

No matter what kind of night out you want and what your budget is there is somewhere to eat in Maynooth!

We don't get to go out often but I love the Stone Haven and Royal City and The Elite for cakes and coffee:)

gwjones42

ixus wrote: »

It should be open tonight.

Thanks for that info. Am going to have to head soon for one of the above-mentioned steaks!!

2011abc

Saw this recently en route to Twist for a first visit .Maynooth really is becoming foodie heaven for diners of all budgets !!!Greenes , Bon Bon and the ice cream stand in the Manor Mills centre are highlights for me .Still hard to beat the da Vincis 20 euro early bird/ special - starter , main , wine and coffee -in Leixlip and their kids meal deal -starter , main , drink , 'play' dough and roller etc to mess about with, colouring and balloon for 8.95.
Looking forward to trying Picaderos,maybe even today!

angeldelight

Will have to give it a try alright but I have to say if I'm going out for dinner it takes an awful lot to sway me away from Avenue. I've never had bad service in there (unlike Greene's where it seems to happen every time, and the seats and tables aren't the right height for each other) and the food is amazing!

I will be give the new place a shot though! Any excuse to go out for dinner

2011abc

I feel the exact opposite angeldelight...went to Avenue once ,feel no need to return ,have been in Greenes probably a dozen or more times and LOVE it.Dining al fresco in Greenes on a warm Summer's evening is divine ...Penne Chorizo is UNBELIEVABLE!I guess 'nowadays' we need to balance quality with price but when I visited Avenue money certainly wasnt 'too tight to mention' and I still left feeling short changed .Moyglare House was such a swanky dining experience ....shame to imagine its lying idle now...Let us know how Picadero's is ...

Would love to hear any reviews of this place if anyone goes!

Moonbeam

We are going on Tuesday I will report back!

The staff were lovely when we wondered in so lets hope the food matches:)

David J L

Was in the new restaurant Picaderos on Saturday night for dinner.

1. Great atmosphere
2. Great food- steaks and tapas v v impressive!
3. Fantastic service, waiting staff v attentive, quick and friendly
4. Value for money
5. Will be back...soon

bittihuduga

any online menu?

SQ2

2011abc wrote: »

Saw this recently en route to Twist for a first visit .Maynooth really is becoming foodie heaven for diners of all budgets !!!Greenes , Bon Bon and the ice cream stand in the Manor Mills centre are highlights for me .Still hard to beat the da Vincis 20 euro early bird/ special - starter , main , wine and coffee -in Leixlip and their kids meal deal -starter , main , drink , 'play' dough and roller etc to mess about with, colouring and balloon for 8.95.
Looking forward to trying Picaderos,maybe even today!

Alvitos, Da Vinci's, and Da Mario's are all better value Italian's IMO, (Pizza's are all "delish-er" anyways) wish one of them would open a branch in Maynooth! (although that could be bad news for the diet )

Would also like to see an online menu for Picadaros, too cold to be standing at the window trying to figure out the meals!

Crom_Abú

Steaks... amazing!

Moonbeam

6 of us went there for dinner last night.

The soup was gorgeous, the rest of the starters were ok but nothing exceptional.
There were 3 different steaks ordered rib eye,fillet and forget the 3rd all were cooked as ordered and the veg was served appropriately on a different plate:)
The paella was lovely but way too salty.
There is a good wine list but the only non alcoholic drinks are the usual coke,7up or a choice of juice.
The coffee was nice.

The staff were good and there is a nice atmosphere.

esauritorix

I was there yesterday evening and I kinda agree, the atmosphere was friendly and the staff was helpful, however the food gave me thoughts. The paella was more an overcooked risotto that was left there with a Valencia's postcard nearby. Asado was very tender and tasty but we asked for a medium and it came well done. Chicken wings as starter were delicious but a bit overcooked too. Desert was the amazing part, chocolate fondant with ice cream was great. I would probably go back and see how the tapas are. hope it helps:cool:

The tapas was beautiful and would go back just for the meatballs. The staff were v friendly and the service exceptional. Desserts were great. Had the fondant and baileys cheesecake, both amazing. Their site is picaderos.ie according to receipt but is still under construction. Would certainly recommend and visit again!

ReallyWiggy

Just back from Sunday lunch there today and heres a summary

Positives:
Childrens menu - great choice and great value

Neutral
Service - we were there early ~1pm and there were more waiters than diners, still waited to order, ask for bill, have bill collected etc. Inbetween though they were helpful

Negatives
PRICE - €6.75 for a 330 ml glass of beer :eek: is excessive, €6.50 for some deep fried cubed potatoes with 8 half slices of chorizo on top is too much, €7 for manchego cheese with nothing but very light olive oil poured over also too much. Even for tapas the portions are small. My opinion is that although the atmospehere and decor here is nicer, Twist around the corner is far better value.

PBPumpkin

Was there for lunch Tuesday last week

Service - excellent
Tapas - Tasty & good value (especially with 2 tapas & drink deal)
Facitilies - great

I can't really fault it - the tapas portions seemed small at the outset, but by the time we'd munched through them we were pretty full

I hope to go there for dinner soon

PBPumpkin

I remember one thing now - the desserts seemed very expensive compared to the rest of the menu - €7 a pop - seemed a bit excessive for lunchtime.

Didn't try one in the end - couldn't justify the price, we are in a recession after all!

SQ2

Top Marks all around from the Liffey Champion Review today

Al deMarisco

Tried the new restaurant last week, and all of us in the party agree we wouldn't be coming back, the decor while nice from the outside had a real flat pack feel to it, the service was ok nothing out of the ordinary, but the food was the major let down, expensive, inconsistent cooking and the flavours just weren't there. I've been to all of the eateries in town and just find it impossible to go past Greene's for mid week value at €17 for 2 course early bird and a free glass of their Italian house wine it takes some beating. Service I've always found excellent not in your face just super professional and friendly, I will always go for an special occasion or any excuse at all. Lest we forget their new chicken wings better then Elephant and Castle in Dublin...yum!

Staplor

SQ2 wrote: »

Top Marks all around from the Liffey Champion Review today

I somehow call into the question the joirnalistic integrity of the Liffey Champion restaurant reviewer, from my casual reading of the articles nearly every place around deserves a Michellin Star.

swordofislam

Staplor wrote: »

I somehow call into the question the joirnalistic integrity of the Liffey Champion restaurant reviewer, from my casual reading of the articles nearly every place around deserves a Michellin Star.

She is a generous reviewer but I remember that she gave the Setanta house a bad review a few years ago.

Staplor

Ok one bad review in a few years? That reviewer is massively kind, that or I must be very unfortunate when dining in the area :P

SQ2

I'm not sure I've seen her give a top mark in everything! She gave the royal city a near 1 star all round last year as far as I remember! Anyways, just another opinion like any of the above. :cool:

Royal Seahawk

In fairness she can't go around nowadays slating restaurants and cafes in the area. One bad review could put a business under with jobs lost and everything. I'm sure she's thinking about the bigger picture when she's writing reviews.

Ilrossoneri

Is this an advertisment for greenes??? Sound like self praise! Joke

granturismo

The food in Greenes is good but the service is so slow.

Have booked the restaurant in this thread next weekend so will add my review then.

Cakes and Ale

Was there last week for tapas. Tasty enough but small portions compared to similar places in town, pretty limited selection (e.g. paella is included as tapas dish in other places), and was quite expensive too. Main courses seem way OTT compared to other places in town. Probably won't be back until they get a bit of sense with their pricing.

Ilrossoneri

Limited selection? I got 3 different menus when I was there last thursday, early bird, a la carte & tapas, which had over 50 items to choose from. Plus they had an American thanksgiving special 3 courses including basted turkey and the works for €24! Fantastic choice if you ask me? And ice had paella in both salamanca and port house and neither are anything like it, more like coloured rice with frozen seafood!

SQ2

Heard from some friends that it was ok, but again, too expensive.
Anyone want to take a picture of the menu and post it up here???

In other news, I see tripadvisor has updated its list of Maynooth Restaurants...

Still no sign of their website being updated, but the menupages page looks like they're getting started on it at least.

kildarelilly

Tried this new place, food ok, service friendly but very slow, thought it was quite expensive.

2011abc

Visited twice since opening ,like most places it has pros and cons .You can see its a friendly ,family run labour of love and God help anyone trying to get a business of the ground nowadays !Im loathe to be too critical for that reason but prices would need to come down at least a little .Tapas are tasty but small and dear .Its possible to get a steak for main course on the Sunday lunch menu without breaking the bank though .The kids LOVE the waitresses 'flamenco' dresses .Its definitely worth at least one look in but to be in with a chance of scooping regular repeat customers a few special price deals would be needed.

Cakes and Ale

Ilrossoneri wrote: »

Limited selection? I got 3 different menus when I was there last thursday, early bird, a la carte & tapas, which had over 50 items to choose from. Plus they had an American thanksgiving special 3 courses including basted turkey and the works for €24! Fantastic choice if you ask me? And ice had paella in both salamanca and port house and neither are anything like it, more like coloured rice with frozen seafood!

Should clarify. The tapas menu seemed to be limited. No paella available as a tapas at all.

Otherwise they have a very wide range.

britespark

kildarelilly wrote: »

Tried this new place, food ok, service friendly but very slow, thought it was quite expensive.

Went last week for a meal , the food was average, service was average . Restuante itself was nicely decorated with a warm athmosphere.. The prices left a bitter taste in my mouth !

smallBiscuit

Royal Seahawk wrote: »

In fairness she can't go around nowadays slating restaurants and cafes in the area. One bad review could put a business under with jobs lost and everything. I'm sure she's thinking about the bigger picture when she's writing reviews.

Methinks you're (or possibly she's) is missing the point of a review. Take that attitude and nothing would ever get a bad review in case it meant people lost their jobs.:eek:

I haven't tried that place yet, but it's on my bucket list

granturismo

Cakes and Ale wrote: »

No paella available as a tapas at all.
Otherwise they have a very wide range.

Paella isnt usually on a tapas menu.

I went this weekend and the only negative was the cost - but in my opinion all restaurants in Maynooth are overpriced.

Royal Seahawk

smallBiscuit wrote: »

Methinks you're (or possibly she's) is missing the point of a review. Take that attitude and nothing would ever get a bad review in case it meant people lost their jobs.:eek:

I haven't tried that place yet, but it's on my bucket list

I'm well aware of the point of reviews, they're for simple minded people who haven't got the capability to make a decision themselves.

Anybody who depends on a complete stranger to tell them whether or not a particular restaurant/album/movie is any good really needs to expand their horizons a bit.

If anybody wants to know what Picaderos is like may I suggest you go there yourself, just because somebody else didn't like it doesn't mean you won't.

murfinsurfin

Went there to celebrate my wife's birthday, actually went to Twist but it felt like a cheap cafe so didn't sit down. Picadero looked much better for occasion & it didn't disappoint. Having lived on Spanish isle for five years we were into the tapas. The mixture was almost perfect, we are used to much more garlic in our diet, but they were obviously catering to the normal Irish palate. A bottle of Reserva tasted lovely, actually could have gone a second bottle, but driving later.
Loved it, will be back.
Just a note, Spanish have a tendency to use more salt, not just a culture thing, it's due to perspiring more in the heat, so losing a lot of salt. However I do agree the chef may be a little too flaithiuileach with the salt for these Northern climes.

L1011

Staplor wrote: »

I somehow call into the question the joirnalistic integrity of the Liffey Champion restaurant reviewer, from my casual reading of the articles nearly every place around deserves a Michellin Star.

Kim has given rotten reviews to places in the past (often not in line with what I expected, at that). Don't buy the paper often enough to check these days.

ismisekatie

i like it! they have actual spanish waiters who will chat in spanish if you want. :') so authentic :L food was delicious but thats just a side thought...

Diggerdunne

Went last nite and ate from the tapa's menu... I'm no expert but the GF is seen as she is spanish... I have been to spain many times and had tapa's. Last nites were very nice but i thought they were over priced and too small... The GF thought hers were nice but that the salad was over powered by the honey sauce... Had desert and was absolutely gorgeous... Ferrero roche cheese cake...
The service was not great.. They got our order wrong which led to the bill being wrong and also we were given the wrong bill first... Tables were too close together and the staff were bumping off u as they passed thru...
Overall i was disappointed with the service, it was a saturday nite and very busy so that maybe the reason.??? the tapas did not disappoint nor did desert, but was a bit pricey for what we had..
There was a very nice spanish waiter who was very helpful and was chatting away to the GF so she enjoyed that....