The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

whatever76 · 10-06-2017 04:12PM

https://fora.ie/emporium-company-cork-3429204-Jun2017/
Only ever been to the castle - anyone reports on their other venues ?
Smart choice aiming for the suburbs !

sporina · 10-06-2017 08:55PM

whatever76 wrote: »

https://fora.ie/emporium-company-cork-3429204-Jun2017/
Only ever been to the castle - anyone reports on their other venues ?
Smart choice aiming for the suburbs !

what other venues do they own?

pwurple · 10-06-2017 10:12PM

sporina wrote: »

what other venues do they own?

"The company currently has a portfolio of four properties: the Castle, JJ Coppinger’s in Midleton, the Hunted Hog in Castlemartyr and Ballincollig’s TradeHouse Central."

Have to say, I never thought of midleton castlemartyr or ballincollig as being suburbs of Cork. I was expecting Wilton or Douglas.

Water John · 10-06-2017 11:03PM

Well they will be, with Ballincollig in Cork as per new City/County division.

12-06-2017 11:31AM

rob316 wrote: »

So I just had lunch in Spitjack.

.............. I had the pork porchetta sandwich and its never a good sign when there is more fillings than meat in the sandwich. From what I did taste it was nice, the pork was melt in your mouth, the crackling was lovely and the fillings worked well in combination. But one slice of meat for €13? Not good enough.

The side was skinny fries which the portion was the size of small mug, there wasn't much taste to this as they were cut so thin there wasn't really any potato just crispy skins.

My lunch partner had the roast chicken, commented the chicken was melt in your mouth, while the portion was better than mine it was still small................. €13 for that was not even close to good value.

On another note, the interior is amazing, great job they did.

Hope it improves.

€13 for a light lunch is unfortunately to be expected in a sit down eatery that's not a pub IMO.

Quality was good, decor was good, venue was good.

We over eat as a nation so often we expect too much IMO.

wally1990 · 12-06-2017 06:50PM

Spent €16 in soho on bacon cheese burger and Spanish fries

Normally €14 but swap normal fries for Spanish fries is €2 extra

Was v nice but €16 was expensive I thought ( I knew the price prior anyway so my fault ) but upon reflection it's a bit OTT maybe ?

Haven't tried the other burger places heard good reviews tho

the beer revolu · 12-06-2017 07:07PM

What are Spanish fries?

wally1990 · 12-06-2017 07:16PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

What are Spanish fries?

In soho they make them with

Chips covered in melted grated cheese
The chips are seasoned with Paprika
There is small hallopinos and olives mixed in ( can take them out if you wish) I don't eat them myself

Basically they are so so tasty ! Mega recommend them ,

wally1990 · 12-06-2017 07:19PM

wally1990 wrote: »

In soho they make them with

Chips covered in melted grated cheese
The chips are seasoned with Paprika
There is small hallopinos and olives mixed in ( can take them out if you wish) I don't eat them myself

Basically they are so so tasty ! Mega recommend them ,

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.pinterest.se/amp/pin/312226186638964494/

Nonoperational · 12-06-2017 07:50PM

:eek:

the beer revolu wrote: »

What are Spanish fries?

JP Liz V1 · 12-06-2017 09:20PM

Anyone recommend best place for afternoon tea?

Harika · 12-06-2017 09:23PM

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Anyone recommend best place for afternoon tea?

Hayfield Manor

Water John · 12-06-2017 10:11PM

Yes Hayfield, but the price is high. A real special occasion. But it's still just high tea.

JP Liz V1 · 12-06-2017 10:40PM

Harika wrote: »

Hayfield Manor

What's the price and is it worth cost if pricey?

pwurple · 13-06-2017 05:16AM

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

What's the price and is it worth cost if pricey?

34 per person. Here is the link: http://www.hayfieldmanor.ie/afternoon-tea-cork

I think electric do afternoon tea.. two days notice required.
http://electriccork.ie/

Probably the other hotels around as well... maryborough house, the imperial maybe. Give them a call sure.

.red. · 13-06-2017 06:36AM

pwurple wrote: »

34 per person. Here is the link: http://www.hayfieldmanor.ie/afternoon-tea-cork.

Holy Sh#t! Id expect a fillet steak sandwich with gold leaf for that price lol.

The Montenotte is nice, pick a good day and its lovely out on the balcony. Great views right up to the airport.

Surreptitious · 13-06-2017 07:36AM

The Kingsley do a nice afternoon tea as far as I know. I can't remember what it cost but it was when it was a 5 star so bound to cost less now.

pwurple · 13-06-2017 09:23AM

.red. wrote: »

Holy Sh#t! Id expect a fillet steak sandwich with gold leaf for that price lol.

Well, the poster asked for "The best place for afternoon tea". Is it really a surprise that what people recommended as "best", happens to be fairly expensive? It's pretty posh there. Smoked salmon, fancy pants loose leaf tea, even the china plates you eat off are around €60 a pop to buy if you go looking for them. Might be a bit of gold leaf in there for ya if you scrape the plate with your scone knife like a heathen.

If the poster wants "Not the best afterall, I want the cheapest", then I'm sure the boardsies will come up with something.

ncmc · 13-06-2017 09:36AM

.red. wrote: »

Holy Sh#t! Id expect a fillet steak sandwich with gold leaf for that price lol.

The Montenotte is nice, pick a good day and its lovely out on the balcony. Great views right up to the airport.

That's not actually that expensive as afternoon tea goes. You should look at some of the fancy hotels in London, £50 p.p. is the norm there.

I can second the recommendation for the Montenotte. I have been there a couple of times when they were doing the 2 for 1 offer on Pigsback. Nice view over the city and food is tasty and plentiful. It's probably gone up a bit in price now, but think it was around €20 p.p. at the time. My husband brought me to Castlemartyr for a treat when I was in early pregnancy. I was so disappointed. We were seated in the bar, no table cloths, steel teapot. The food was average and there was a hair in the scone :eek: I said it to the waitress and she just shrugged :mad: It wasn't cheap either. I regret not following it up with management.

Oafley Jones · 13-06-2017 09:43AM

ncmc wrote: »

That's not actually that expensive as afternoon tea goes. You should look at some of the fancy hotels in London, ?50 p.p. is the norm there.

I can second the recommendation for the Montenotte. I have been there a couple of times when they were doing the 2 for 1 offer on Pigsback. Nice view over the city and food is tasty and plentiful. It's probably gone up a bit in price now, but think it was around ?20 p.p. at the time. My husband brought me to Castlemartyr for a treat when I was in early pregnancy. I was so disappointed. We were seated in the bar, no table cloths, steel teapot. The food was average and there was a hair in the scone :eek: I said it to the waitress and she just shrugged :mad: It wasn't cheap either. I regret not following it up with management.

Out of curiosity when was that? I'm hearing from a few people that the overall standard there has really fallen off again. Not as bad as when Capella was just about to go under, but really below what people have experienced before.

jadie · 13-06-2017 12:04PM

The Oriel Hotel does a lovely afternoon tea as does Tara's Tea Rooms. I haven't been to Hayfield, looks basic enough sandwich selection-egg mayonaise, cucumer & cream cheese etc.

ncmc · 13-06-2017 12:09PM

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Out of curiosity when was that? I'm hearing from a few people that the overall standard there has really fallen off again. Not as bad as when Capella was just about to go under, but really below what people have experienced before.

Ah this was a couple of years back in fairness, so it may have improved since then. I think we were just unlucky with being slung in the bar, it says on their website that there are lounges they used for AT. It's just disappointing when you're expecting a real treat and your food is slung up on the table like it's pub grub. As an aside, Castlemartyr seems to be constantly on Pigsback and the like which I think is never a good sign.

byronbay2 · 13-06-2017 12:48PM

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Out of curiosity when was that? I'm hearing from a few people that the overall standard there has really fallen off again. Not as bad as when Capella was just about to go under, but really below what people have experienced before.

I wasn't going to review it here (not Cork City) but we had dinner in Franchini's restaurant in The Castlemartyr Resort about a month ago and it was absolutely AWFUL! It was a family occasion (in-laws were there) so I didn't want to make a fuss at the time but there was so much wrong with the food/service it was ridiculous.

The main problems were: 1) The house red wine, a €27.50 (!) Sangiovese, was undrinkable plonk. 2) The calamari were inedible. You could chew them all night but they never weakened. 3) The pizza was terrible. I have never seen my children leave so much pizza and they did NOT want to bring the leftovers home! 4) The wait for food was interminable.

Other problems were: we were seated at a terrible table (mainly due to draught), the manager missed my glass completely when pouring our second bottle of wine and the ice-cream dessert came in a cone, which was not mentioned on the menu and did not suit our elderly guests at all.

Worst meal I have had for a long time and ridiculously expensive to boot! I was speaking to a local in the pub the following night and he told me that everybody around Castlemartyr knows how bad it is and the place gets absolutely no return visits - strictly a tourist trap. The strange thing is, it gets very good reviews on Trip Advisor/Booking.com etc.

Oafley Jones · 13-06-2017 12:56PM

jadie wrote: »

The Oriel Hotel does a lovely afternoon tea as does Tara's Tea Rooms. I haven't been to Hayfield, looks basic enough sandwich selection-egg mayonaise, cucumer & cream cheese etc.

You could be fairly reductive about any afternoon tea if you reduce it down to it's core components in fairness. Been twice to Hayfield manor for afternoon tea, not really my thing, but I was really impressed by the quality. My wife's a fan but feels there could be more savoury elements.

Oafley Jones · 13-06-2017 01:18PM

byronbay2 wrote: »

I wasn't going to review it here (not Cork City) but we had dinner in Franchini's restaurant in The Castlemartyr Resort about a month ago and it was absolutely AWFUL! It was a family occasion (in-laws were there) so I didn't want to make a fuss at the time but there was so much wrong with the food/service it was ridiculous.

The main problems were: 1) The house red wine, a ?27.50 (!) Sangiovese, was undrinkable plonk. 2) The calamari were inedible. You could chew them all night but they never weakened. 3) The pizza was terrible. I have never seen my children leave so much pizza and they did NOT want to bring the leftovers home! 4) The wait for food was interminable.

Other problems were: we were seated at a terrible table (mainly due to draught), the manager missed my glass completely when pouring our second bottle of wine and the ice-cream dessert came in a cone, which was not mentioned on the menu and did not suit our elderly guests at all.

Worst meal I have had for a long time and ridiculously expensive to boot! I was speaking to a local in the pub the following night and he told me that everybody around Castlemartyr knows how bad it is and the place gets absolutely no return visits - strictly a tourist trap. The strange thing is, it gets very good reviews on Trip Advisor/Booking.com etc.

My wife rates her one stay at Capella as her worst hotel experience ever in terms of service. This was at the very end and it was clear that they were going out of business, skeleton staff that didn't give a hoot and nearly everything food wise (especially breakfasts!) were off the menu.

We've been three times since the re-launch and it was always excellent. Having said that, the last time was probably three years ago. Started hearing from friends that it had majorly slipped backwards in the past year. There's a lot of warning signs alright if you look - the constant promos being a major red flag to me. I wouldn't go there at the moment myself. Shame, as the building is lovely.

Toto Wolfcastle · 13-06-2017 03:58PM

Oafley Jones wrote: »

You could be fairly reductive about any afternoon tea if you reduce it down to it's core components in fairness. Been twice to Hayfield manor for afternoon tea, not really my thing, but I was really impressed by the quality. My wife's a fan but feels there could be more savoury elements.

I was there recently and I'm a sweet person so I was happy but a couple of people would have preferred more of the savoury stuff. It was very nice but I would have liked to have been in a lounge setting rather than in the restaurant.

Apparently the afternoon tea in the Cork International Airport Hotel is lovely and has plenty of savoury options.

Malari · 13-06-2017 04:05PM

Toto Wolfcastle wrote: »

Apparently the afternoon tea in the Cork International Airport Hotel is lovely and has plenty of savoury options.

That's good to know. I love a good afternoon tea from time to time, but I really only enjoy the savoury stuff.

.red. · 13-06-2017 06:01PM

pwurple wrote: »

Well, the poster asked for "The best place for afternoon tea". Is it really a surprise that what people recommended as "best", happens to be fairly expensive? It's pretty posh there. Smoked salmon, fancy pants loose leaf tea, even the china plates you eat off are around €60 a pop to buy if you go looking for them. Might be a bit of gold leaf in there for ya if you scrape the plate with your scone knife like a heathen.

If the poster wants "Not the best afterall, I want the cheapest", then I'm sure the boardsies will come up with something.

That's fair enough but €68 for what's effectively a sandwich and a pastry with a cup of tea is a bit much, for me anyway.
I've had it twice in the montenotte and also in the oriel house as well as a few times outside of cork and don't think we've ever paid more than €40.

D'Agger · 14-06-2017 06:48AM

Ate in White Rabbit recently and the food was slow coming out considering how quiet it was, that said I'm wondering what the etiquette is regarding pancakes - I don't tend to order them. The girlfriend went for banana pancakes and I was shocked that they came out swimming in syrup - as in they were destroyed & she said as much herself. Would they normally come with the syrup on the side?

northgirl · 14-06-2017 07:08AM

D'Agger wrote: »

Ate in White Rabbit recently and the food was slow coming out considering how quiet it was, that said I'm wondering what the etiquette is regarding pancakes - I don't tend to order them. The girlfriend went for banana pancakes and I was shocked that they came out swimming in syrup - as in they were destroyed & she said as much herself. Would they normally come with the syrup on the side?

On the side would definitely be my preference. In Idaho and Brick Lane, syrup is served on the side.

The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

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