Artisan Parlour In Ringsend... seems to be falling apart!

gavsmith · 12-08-2015 11:03am #1

Was delighted when Artisan Parlour opened in Ringsend.
Great to be able to bring the ma in law and grandkids in for cakes/tea coffee/lunch etc..

It used to be grand for salads and stuff as well but I've noticed in the last few months it's just gone plain horrible.

The grumpy man that owns it doesn't seem to care about the customers at all.
The places has been dirty, floor, tables etc. and the food standard has dropped too. Was in there yesterday for coffee and he was on the phone, scratchin his stomach and ignored me for a good three minutes.. I'm not usually one for being bothered by these things but it's just been so disappointin the last few times.

They don't seem to do evening meals either now.
I'd say they're on the their way to closing down.
Shame, cause i do think Ringsend really needs something like it/

RomanKnows · 12-08-2015 3:01pm

Live in the area. Had the Huevos Rancheros there recently for breakfast. Bland, bland, bland.

Won't be in a hurry back.

quaalude · 13-08-2015 10:44am

I love Artisan Parlour - I was last there for lunch about a month ago and I had the delicious salads, and my partner had the french toast with bacon, he loves that there.

But I wanted to go for dinner a couple of times since, but it was closed in the evening (even weekends).

I'm really sad to hear it might be going downhill - it was great up to at least a month ago. And yes, a really brilliant addition to the neighbourhood.

I'm gonna go in at the weekend, get some coffee and cake, see how it's doing.

rustyzip · 13-08-2015 12:51pm

I agree, it has gone severely downhill.
I work 3 out of 5 days a week in Charlotte Quay so used to pop in a lot.
I eat mostly veggie/vegan foods so love a good salad.
They used to have nice fresh salads when they opened and now, the offerings are abysmal..
I got the 3 x salads on a plate last week and got grated carrot and cabbage with zero taste (apparently their homemade 'slaw), soggy cauliflower and broccoli and then one salad which was ok with couscous I think.
It's not hard or that expensive to make a decent salad like!

The sandwiches aren't so bad, but two out of the five I've got in the last few weeks have been soggy and the fillings not very generous.
It's disappointing as they're quite expensive.

Yer man doesn't add to the place though, I've seen him scratching himself too! And I've lost count of the amount of times I've said hello or smiled at him on the street and he just ignores.

The staff always look a bit scruffy too and they constantly walk past dirty table and chairs without cleaning them.
'Artisan' is a hilarious word to describe it.
Gas how many amazing 'reviews' they got in all the papers and magazines.

Hopefully they'll get a manager or something who will tune it up a bit.

PaulieC · 17-08-2015 9:09am

artisan = dirty.

He's coasting now on all of the fawning reviews he got his mates to do. The place was always a bit dirty...

gavsmith · 17-08-2015 2:31pm

PaulieC wrote: »

artisan = dirty.

He's coasting now on all of the fawning reviews he got his mates to do. The place was always a bit dirty...

I just googled 'Artisan Parlour' to see if any recent reviews have cropped up and read this from Indo!
Talk about grand delusion!

Down the road in Irishtown, Martin Thomas is, in his own way, a funny kind of living embodiment of the Dublin 4 'journey' (as it would be known were this a reality-TV show). As anyone who watched RTE series Connected - of which he was the unexpected hit - will know, Martin opened The Artisan Parlour & Grocery in Ringsend ten months ago. Before that, in the 1980s, he lived for years on Raglan Road - "you could rent half a huge house for £100 a week" - and was a music and club promoter running some of the hippest nights in town, where U2 and their pals might be squashed in alongside It girls and about-to-be-famous actors.

Now, he's firmly among the new breed of foodies. "When we opened the Artisan Parlour first, this was essentially a grocery shop where you could also get a nice glass of wine and have a plate of cheese. Within six weeks, it grew into a full-blown restaurant, because that's what the demand was. Before we opened, people were telling me, 'You won't be able to sell €6 sandwiches in Ringsend'. Well, I proved them wrong! The demand was for a bigger and bigger food offering. At the moment, we're doing a special, an open crab sandwich using Vaughans of Liscannor Irish Crab, along with a salad, at €13, and we have consistently sold out in the last few weeks."
Customers, are "all sorts" he says. "Workmen, families, people living in the local area, people who work for Airbnb and other tech companies," which is the way he likes it. "I remember Baggot Street in the 1980s and 1990s. All the businesses on the street were there to cater to the office workers around the area, and at weekends and at night, the place was dead. It still is. We don't want that - we want to make sure we cater for the entire community, those who have lived here for three or four generations, as well as the ones who came in during the boom and bought townhouses for €700,000."
So far, so good.

Thomas buys from the butcher next door, and supplies sandwiches to the pub across the road, showing the kind of synergy that can develop between old and new. "It is still a challenge to get people across the bridge and into Ringsend," he says. "This is not yet the kind of hub that Grand Canal Street and Bath Avenue are, but we're getting there. The Artisan Parlour is becoming a destination, and that will continue to develop. I'd love to see some more restaurants, maybe a gastropub, opening. But barely a week goes by that someone doesn't come in here asking if we know of any units to rent."

RomanKnows · 17-08-2015 2:45pm

gavsmith wrote: »

. I'd love to see some more restaurants, maybe a gastropub, opening. But barely a week goes by that someone doesn't come in here asking if we know of any units to rent."

There is a gastropub in Ringsend Village. The Oarsman does really lovely food.

gavsmith · 17-08-2015 2:57pm

RomanKnows wrote: »

There is a gastropub in Ringsend Village. The Oarsman does really lovely food.

I thought that, when I saw it!
And The Vintage Pub opposite the police station!
I ate in The Oarsman a few times and the food was grand, but the landlady was the most sour thing I've ever come across and was quite rude so I didn't go back.
Usually go to The Vintage for soup in The Winter, it's grand, they do a decent fish & chips too.

Easy Rod · 18-08-2015 12:37pm

gavsmith wrote: »

I thought that, when I saw it!
And The Vintage Pub opposite the police station!
I ate in The Oarsman a few times and the food was grand, but the landlady was the most sour thing I've ever come across and was quite rude so I didn't go back.
Usually go to The Vintage for soup in The Winter, it's grand, they do a decent fish & chips too.

She's a bit of a character alright but I don't think she's rude. Food there is excellent alright.

As for Artisan, seems a good idea but didn't seem overly busy anytime I go by.

MagicMarker · 18-08-2015 12:50pm

When it started up I didn't see how it would last long tbh, still can't see it lasting. I've only been in there a couple of times to get a take away coffee, never really that busy. The chocolate brownies are feckin' awesome though (presumably not made in house?), and coffee is decent. Have no desire to sit in there though. Let's face it, these kinds of places are usually full of pretentious ass hats. So I kind of get in and out ASAP.

RomanKnows · 18-08-2015 1:03pm

Easy Rod wrote: »

She's a bit of a character alright but I don't think she's rude. Food there is excellent alright.

As for Artisan, seems a good idea but didn't seem overly busy anytime I go by.

The Oarsman is my local at this stage, and I've been there 5 or 6 times since I moved into the area. I've always found all the staff friendly. Excellent food as you say, and a great smoking area if that's a vice of yours. They also keeps the jacks clean and tidy which is a bit of a novelty for Ringsend.

quaalude · 18-08-2015 1:26pm

MagicMarker wrote: »

When it started up I didn't see how it would last long tbh, still can't see it lasting. I've only been in there a couple of times to get a take away coffee, never really that busy. The chocolate brownies are feckin' awesome though (presumably not made in house?), and coffee is decent. Have no desire to sit in there though. Let's face it, these kinds of places are usually full of pretentious ass hats. So I kind of get in and out ASAP.

The clientèle is diverse actually - people of all ages, from different backgrounds, and it's the kind of place where you can have something small to eat, or a coffee, or just a glass of wine, or a full meal.
I personally much prefer to go to places that attract old, young and everyone in-between - it means they're doing something right.

I've dropped in dishevelled for coffee after playing tennis in Ringsend Park on a Saturday morning, but I've also booked ahead, dressed up in something nice, and had a 3 course meal with wine over 2 hours with friends.

I believe the desserts are made in-house - the cakes deffo are, so I'm sure the brownies must be.

I never got a chance to drop in last weekend, but I will this weekend.

(I'm not sure what you mean about "pretentious ass hats" in this context - but maybe that means I am one!)

quaalude · 19-08-2015 12:02pm

I was in Artisan Parlour this morning, and the staff were as friendly as always; the waitress remembered me, and was like "I haven't seen you in a while, how are you?" which is always nice.

I had coffee and a brownie and both were delicious, and the two people I brought seemed to like it too, they'd never been before.

I asked about evening opening, what was the story there, and she told me they're opening up again for dinner mid-September.

rustyzip · 08-01-2016 12:44pm

Back in Ringsend today for the first time since November... The place is closed?! Apparently since Christmas and not open 'til the 15th?!

gavsmith · 11-05-2016 12:41pm

For sale sign on top of Artisan Parlour now..
Genuinely sad to see they're closed up, thought they'd pull up their socks with only being so new an all.
Hope something nice moves in.
Anyone know what happened?

Nokia6230i · 12-05-2016 1:07am

The owner Mr.Martin Thomas has a handle called "the Rescue Squad".

Fair sure this was supposed to be a spin-off from Connected, some class of a foodie version of At Your Service.

Not sure if there was even a pilot episode made but it's so long on from Connected now that I doubt anything's going to come from it.

Agasierpinska · 10-04-2017 2:08pm

Hi guys
Do you know any place/ cafe for rent in Ringsend?
Artisan Pourl cafe ( currently closed) - I would love 2 rent that place or even buy
Who's the owner of that building?
Any help?
Thanks a mil