Restaurant Guide

spacecoyote

DominoDub wrote:

Just back from SaBa . ( Very Nice food and Good vibe)

A new Thai and Vietnamese restaurant off Clarendon Street ,from a former owner who brought us Diep le Shaker and Diep Noodle Bar.

First time ,,but will be back lots on the menu ( see below )that I will have to try.

http://www.sabadublin.com/index.html

Nice buzz in the place tonight , good for a bank holiday,,clean and new with chillout music playing , (sigur ros & RED Curry goes down well )

went here for lunch on friday afternoon. Have to say the atmosphere and layout of the place was very nice. The staff were all extremely good too, not too in your face, just polite and readily available.

the lunch menu is not massive, but seemed to have a nice selection to keep people of all tastes happy. the food was good, but not fantastic and the portions do flatter to deceive a little. Overall i was impressed, but for a lunchtime meal i would probably still prefer the food in wagamama

Tazz T

Anyone been to the restaurant in Fallon & Byrne's yet?

If so, what was the food/menu like?

catho_monster

Was at F&B's for lunch on Thursday,
I'd heard bad things from old relatives of mine, and totally disregarded them deciding they were just senile or something.
i really wanted it to be good.
and was bitterly disappointed.

the quality of the products used was second-to-none, as was tasted in my steak with bernaise sauce and rocket on the side. it was to die for. exactly what i was looking for tbh - let the food speak for itself and dont mess with it.

the person dining with me was really not moved by the standard of her food, or the dishes in general.

In addition:
the only thing i could compare my chocolate tart with lemon curd to was the standard of brownie you would get on the train from dublin to cork. i mean genuinely i have never bought such godawful-tastless rubbish. to top that off, the sauce that came with it was disgusting and didnt complement the chocolate at all. in fact the person dining with me got for desert a creme brulee which was cold and therefore really not nice, with that suggery orange peel (having a brain dead day - cant remember the term) and some shortcrust biscuits. now the orange improved my chocolate (didnt make it good, but improved it from utter rubbish) and the biscuits were to die for, and went fantastically with the lemon curd.

It disturbs me that such difference of standard can come out of the one kitchen and that the chef is unable to construct dishes that work. sack the chef, thats what i say.
what a waste of good produce.
and the standard of waiting staff left a lot to be desired. i have a food allergy, and the waiters reply was 'well the sauce will be on the side anyway'. and no you cant have that, or that, or that - only for me to send him to the kitchen to find out exactly what i could have - to be told that he was wrong before, and i could have most of those things. he then proceeded to laugh at me when i asked if the bread he offered to us contained what im allergic to.

I had hoped for the equivalent to the place above the english market in Cork. i was so disappointed and will never be going back.

AND. as if i needed an AND. it was not lunch prices. not by any stretch of the imagination.

blorg

Soulgirl wrote:

Just wondering if anyone has been to the new place Venu ? I had a pretty bad experience there last week and would NOT be tempted to go back. What do you think of this ?

I've been to Venu and thought it extremely good value, the quality of the food well exceeded the price. No problem with the service the one time I was there. I don't particularly like the room though. In fairness, it _is_ a "restaurant restaurant" and not the sort of place that I would expect to be able to sit at a table just having wine and not eating. It can also actually be quite difficult to get a table there (I have popped in at six myself trying to book an early enough dinner for seven, and while it was _completely_ empty at six they were actually completely booked out for the evening.) So I can completely understand why they wouldn't want to have you a table drinking wine. (This is pretty standard in most restaurants in fact.)

blorg

LFCFan wrote:

we were in Saagar on Harcourt Street on Saturday and although the food was very nice, the service was extremely slow even though there was plenty of staff and not that many customers. Took 15 minutes for them to take our order and never took a drinks order to begin with and then it took nearly 20 minutes to get our bill depsite asking for it twice.

This is pretty common in Dublin Indian restaurants unfortunately, even when they are _completely_ empty it still can take an age. I have put it down to the culture (as the food can be very good in these very slow places.)

blorg

Back on topic- where in Dublin has not gone shíte with the overpriced "Christmas menu" and is likely to have a table for two available earlyish (6.30-7) tomorrow night?

AM1971

Was recommended Il Primo on Montague Street. Went last night.

Will never go back.

I read about the owner being a very convivial host but it's changed hands in the last while. The new owner needs to work on his customer service skills and make sure his steaks aren't made from old leather. He blamed his suppliers and was rather uppity when suggested to him that it would be a good idea not to charge for something that couldn't be eaten.

A very disappointing evening, a very limited menu for the price and we didn't even bother with dessert or coffee.

magicwine

Hi Drakol,
You were asking what Akasaka meant.
It's the name of a place in Tokyo, the meaning would be "red hill"

Used to live over there so feel free to ask me more.

luckat

Has anyone been to Akasaka recently? I was looking at an online review site and there were a series of great reviews, then one devastating one - which either means that someone didn't like it or that it had changed.

I'm thinking of buying someone a restaurant voucher for Christmas, so it would be good to know where to get it for - they like japanese food.

Schlemm

luckat wrote:

Has anyone been to Akasaka recently? I was looking at an online review site and there were a series of great reviews, then one devastating one - which either means that someone didn't like it or that it had changed.

I'm thinking of buying someone a restaurant voucher for Christmas, so it would be good to know where to get it for - they like japanese food.

I think Wagamama on South King St do vouchers in addition to really yummy Japanese fud.

Here are some other nice restaraunts in Dublin:

L'Gueleton (can't spell or pronounce the name of that place for the life of me but the food is outstanding)

Wagamama (fried gyoza and yasi yaki soba and a fruit juice please)

Nectar (in Ranelagh...the option for when you want nice food but the money is tight)

Chapter One (the sophisticated option)

and finally...

Burdock's!!! (the ultimate in comfort food!)

quinta

Great reading through all the posts but the one restaurant I was looking for is not listed. El Baccarro in Meeting Hosue Square. Has anyone been?

Also does anyone have a working number for them? The number listed is no longer in use: 016714597

blorg

It's Il Baccaro, excellent restaurant. That number is the one in the phone book, are you sure they weren't just closed?

quinta

Ended up going in without a booking. Very nice place, food was fantastic, great atmosphere. Will be going back.

I actually asked them about their phone telling them I couldn't get through, they said it was always on the blink, which is nice

Pauge 2

Has anyone been to the Elwoods in terenure, used to be Sayers, thinking of paying a visit and was wondering if anyone has a review, thanks in advance

still

Hi Folks

I'm looking for a nice place to eat in Newbridge, Kildare.

Can't seem to see anything here or google does not really help for a nice place.

Are there any nice places to eat in Newbridge or maybe should I open a new one?

sandy_claus

Hey guys, my aussie bf is mad about sushi and is driving me nuts moaning about not being able to eat it in galway. (He moans WORSE than a girl about it! ) However, having never lived in Oz or Dublin for that matter have never tried it. Is there anywhere in Galway we can try it (aside from the market) or eve somewhere that doesnn't take too long to drive to to give it a go and satisfy his cravings?

ri_ra

Well let me say that the service is not great and the ladies toilets leave a lot to be desired! They are not very clean, with overflowing bins. This is not the first time that I have seen this here. For an expensive place they could improve the service and the cleaniness in the ladies.

dereko1969

Parents have friend coming over from France in a couple of weeks, want to bring him to a good restaurant. They tried booking Chapter One but it's all booked out, they particularly want a restaurant that highlights 'local' ingredients, where would people recommend? Think they were a little surprised when I pointed out the prices in Chapter One so perhaps something a little below that price level - anyone been to Mermaid recently? Or Eden? Any other suggestions?

olaola

Mermaid is supposed to be very good - I haven't made it there yet though!
I ate in Eden last week - it was quite good, but the service is a bit snooty!
I do like the dining room though.
Mackerel? Great fish - and they do the 'Eden Smokies' there. And if you're bring tourists, it is a lovely building.
What about L'gueleton? Peploes?

dereko1969

mackerel's a good idea, wouldn't bother with gueleton as yer man is living in france and my folks would rather show him something more 'local'. the brother recommended 'darwins' but my mother has an issue with it being on aungier street - sad.

olaola

Yeah - prob staying away from French Ressies might be a good idea.
Hope it goes well!

tabatha

Pauge 2 wrote:

Has anyone been to the Elwoods in terenure, used to be Sayers, thinking of paying a visit and was wondering if anyone has a review, thanks in advance

this place is now the most overpriced worthless restaurant i have ever eaten in. it was great when it was sayers now its just crap!

i went into it one night with my husband and daughter. she asked for chicken and chips. she got, no joke, half a chicken breast and 8 small wedges. that came to somthing like 9.80. i had steak. price was 28.50 on my menu and 24.50 on my husbands. when we questioned this we were told prices had changed (gone up). it had only been open 4 weeks!!! service was crap, table was also crap (paper napkins, no table cloth).....i know this might sound mad but when you pay these prices you expect more.

winnie29

1st post so not sure I am in the right place. But I was wondering if anyone can let me know if they have been to the Chili Club and if so was it a good place to bring two new friends to Dublin.

Galadriel

I was at the Chili Club recently, really nice food, good price also.

Pauge 2

tabatha wrote:

this place is now the most overpriced worthless restaurant i have ever eaten in. it was great when it was sayers now its just crap!

i went into it one night with my husband and daughter. she asked for chicken and chips. she got, no joke, half a chicken breast and 8 small wedges. that came to somthing like 9.80. i had steak. price was 28.50 on my menu and 24.50 on my husbands. when we questioned this we were told prices had changed (gone up). it had only been open 4 weeks!!! service was crap, table was also crap (paper napkins, no table cloth).....i know this might sound mad but when you pay these prices you expect more.

Just read your reply now, we (4 people) went to Elwoods just after my post in Jan.07 found it exactly like you say, no proper napkins or table cloths and the prices way over the top for what you got, the place was cold including the waiter, wont be eating there again

ActorSeeksJob

read a review of Elwoods in some magazine that came with the Sunday newspapers last weekend, seemed to get a decent review, although the prices seemed quite high. From the two users who have been there and posted feedback, it does sound quite bad.

dereko1969 personally id push the idea of Darwins on your parents, ive been there twice and was amazed. From outside it doesnt look great,and is small inside, but the food speaks for itself. Me and a friend went there ages ago, we h ad prawns in a batter, and a smoked salmon starter, both were delicious. I had duck breast for my main course(28euros but worth every penny) and he had a steak which was done really nicely. The duck was the best ive ever had, nothing has gotten close to it).

your friend has probably been over already, still thought id post bout Darwins as i love it. where did you go in the end?

copacetic

winnie29 wrote:

1st post so not sure I am in the right place. But I was wondering if anyone can let me know if they have been to the Chili Club and if so was it a good place to bring two new friends to Dublin.

another yes for the chili club, they've been going 15 years or so now and are consistently good. try the basil and chili beef..

kayasurf

Anyone ever been to floridita? where the old Life bar used to be.. Thinking of heading there for my B-day with a group of about 20 people.. Think its cuban food anyone know what its like?

drdre

kayasurf wrote:

Anyone ever been to floridita? where the old Life bar used to be.. Thinking of heading there for my B-day with a group of about 20 people.. Think its cuban food anyone know what its like?

Never heard of it before.

raven136

still wrote:

Hi Folks

I'm looking for a nice place to eat in Newbridge, Kildare.

Can't seem to see anything here or google does not really help for a nice place.

Are there any nice places to eat in Newbridge or maybe should I open a new one?

la tovalla doro and l'oliver are both excellent and decent prices.

Harrigans is a new and good thai place and the weeping thaiger is good but a small menu.Hope that helps