The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

dudara · 25-06-2017 08:04PM

Very common for BBQs done for catering to be pre-cooked then finished on the BBQ. In fact, if actually be surprised if a mass catering BBQ was done any other way

sporina · 25-06-2017 08:30PM

dudara wrote: »

Very common for BBQs done for catering to be pre-cooked then finished on the BBQ. In fact, if actually be surprised if a mass catering BBQ was done any other way

yeah this is what we expected but it was brought out fully cooked - was put on bbq just to be served - the queue was already formed before the food went on bbq and then plated immediately

rob316 · 26-06-2017 09:23AM

Yeah I had a BBQ at my wedding after party and the meats were half cooked conventionally and then finished on the coal BBQ. Lovely it was anyway.

26-06-2017 12:29PM

sporina wrote: »

..........

Is this normal practice for event held BBQ's?........

Most definitely.
I've never recently been to a hotel/event BBQ where the meat was actually barbequed in the way you'd do so at home.
Maybe 10/15 years ago they'd have tackled it the old fashioned way

sporina · 26-06-2017 08:06PM

i wonder if the FSAI have guidelines on this for the food service industry..

pwurple · 27-06-2017 06:45AM

sporina wrote: »

yeah this is what we expected but it was brought out fully cooked - was put on bbq just to be served - the queue was already formed before the food went on bbq and then plated immediately

I would expect this of any place that does the numbers the Elm tree does... they are a mass caterer, Pallas Food industrial meat supplies -> quantity quantity quantity.

Markcheese · 27-06-2017 07:30AM

sporina wrote:

i wonder if the FSAI have guidelines on this for the food service industry..

Yup they do.. Big time.. It's all about thorough cooking, prompt chilling and reheating properly.. I'd bet they have blast chiller in the elm tree..

sporina · 27-06-2017 07:42AM

Markcheese wrote: »

Yup they do.. Big time.. It's all about thorough cooking, prompt chilling and reheating properly.. I'd bet they have blast chiller in the elm tree..

how does that relate to a bbq? i am talking about bbqing guidelines? link?

Markcheese · 27-06-2017 11:05AM

sporina wrote:

how does that relate to a bbq? i am talking about bbqing guidelines? link?

There wouldnt be specific guidelines for bbqs... But there are for cook/chill and reheating, it's all about core temperatures, cooling times, reheating temperatures ect.. It's all on FSAI website if you can be bothered looking, I can't ðŸ˜
. . They definitely prefer that items are thoroughly precooked and chilled or held hot, and then just browned on the grill...

sporina · 27-06-2017 08:35PM

Markcheese wrote: »

There wouldnt be specific guidelines for bbqs... But there are for cook/chill and reheating, it's all about core temperatures, cooling times, reheating temperatures ect.. It's all on FSAI website if you can be bothered looking, I can't ðŸ˜
. . They definitely prefer that items are thoroughly precooked and chilled or held hot, and then just browned on the grill...

thats fine but as i said, in this case, the food was not bbq'd AT ALL.. it was 100% cooked in a kitchen .. twas just put on the bbq to serve - which is pointless.. like we are not stupid..
v disappointing
we would have been happy with cooking shared between kitchen/bbq - but that was not the case..

Water John · 27-06-2017 08:39PM

You are correct. Core cooking up to recommended temp and then transfer to BBQ for finish, 10/12 mins, I would think.

sporina · 27-06-2017 08:40PM

Water John wrote: »

You are correct. Core cooking up to recommended temp and then transfer to BBQ for finish, 10/12 mins, I would think.

yes we would have been happy with this but it was 100% cooked in house

Water John · 27-06-2017 08:46PM

Just double cooking. As you would do with an omlette. Cook in the pan and flash under the grill.

sporina · 27-06-2017 08:56PM

Water John wrote: »

Just double cooking. As you would do with an omlette. Cook in the pan and flash under the grill.

yeah but that was not the case... had barely touched the bbq before it got to our plates... nooo bbq smell or flavour at all... at my table we were all like "well, the food is nice but its not a bbq".. anyway..

rob316 · 28-06-2017 02:19PM

Anyone else see Rachel's took a hammering in the Examiner's review? Think they got 6/10 for food and 5/10 for service. Pretty appalling for such an expensive spot.

BullBlackNova · 28-06-2017 02:46PM

rob316 wrote: »

Anyone else see Rachel's took a hammering in the Examiner's review? Think they got 6/10 for food and 5/10 for service. Pretty appalling for such an expensive spot.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/foodanddrink/restaurant-review-rachels-28-washington-street-cork-453121.html

If anyone wants to read ^^

The main issues seem to be regarding service and wine. Service experience sounds bad for any restaurant, let alone an expensive spot.

I've not heard too many positives about the place I must say. I don't think I was ever really the target audience for it but I was curious when it was announced. Think the menu is pretty un-adventurous but if we're throwing bad service and bad wine on top of it, I just won't bother I'd say!!

--

Got a sandwich in the bakery on Washington St near the Kino - Cameron Fine Home Bakery (I think).

Holy crap, that bread was delicious! I got a ham, lettuce, tomato and cheese roll - they offered to toast it for me but I was on the go so didn't bother. Wish I had as it was a little dry - I added my own mustard after I got home but I'd happily go back as the components all tasted great.

Cork doesn't have a huge amount of non-chain sandwich places (excluding all the Spar/Centra delis, O'Briens and Subway, I mean) so it's nice to have a few options. Big fan of the sandwiches in Rocket Man (the avocado in particular) and the sandwich stall in the English Market is nice, though a little overpriced.

My sandwich in Cameron was €5.50, the same that you'd spend on a roll in the market, and was considerably bigger - I didn't come close to finishing it.

Open to any recommendations for good sandwich options too btw - only so many ham toasties I can handle for lunch!!

pwurple · 28-06-2017 03:18PM

They are going for the mid-range farm-to-fork San Fran style place, not high end or wild and exciting. That's just the style of food they went for.

The review, couldn't fault it really, everything rang true.

Food: 6.5/10 (higher if in-house standards were met)
Service: 5.5/10
Value: 6/10 (higher if in-house standards were met)
Atmosphere: 8.5/10

The wine really let them down, he had 3 paragraphs on the wine frustrations, and I can heartily agree with this. I've been in Rachel's three times now, and after the first wine mess we had (massive delay, wrong bottle, topped up without asking to rim of the glass, and then no sign of it an hour later when we wanted a top up), we just didn't order wine the other two times. They really need to sort the wine out.

I mean, there's good bits scattered in there, but fecking up the simple stuff at the start gets everyone off on the wrong foot.

my buttered lobster tail pairs well with a balanced citrus beurre blanc

MHDâ€™s roast free range chicken is excellent: Good meat, perfectly cooked, served with umami-rich parmesan and artichoke puree and peppery watercress. Salt-cured egg yolk completes the ultimate mother and child reunion.

Anyway, all constructive there, so here's hoping lessons can be learned.

(ninja edit) One more gripe actually, the review didn't mention the booking system. Maybe it gets booked by someone else... anyway, the online booking doesn't bloody work. You look it up, it looks booked out, you phone and there's a table available. Lads, don't do that. Don't waste my time. Either have a functional online booking system, or don't bother.

D'Agger · 28-06-2017 03:21PM

pwurple wrote: »

The wine really let them down, he had 3 paragraphs on the wine frustrations, and I can heartily agree with this. I've been in Rachel's three times now, and after the first wine mess we had (massive delay, wrong bottle, topped up without asking to rim of the glass, and then no sign of it an hour later when we wanted a top up), we just didn't order wine the other two times. They really need to sort the wine out.

WTF

That's a staff problem tbh - who in their right mind fills a glass of wine to the rim! Without asking is even worse, I'd have asked them what they were doing! :eek:

livedadream · 28-06-2017 03:31PM

interesting since when they opened they reviewed it as well and it got 7s and 8s all around...

pwurple · 28-06-2017 03:31PM

D'Agger wrote: »

WTF

That's a staff problem tbh - who in their right mind fills a glass of wine to the rim! Without asking is even worse, I'd have asked them what they were doing! :eek:

Ah maybe I'm being a bit soft-hearted here, but this was practically a child. She looked about 15, was shaking like a leaf, opening weekend, (new job) a wee bit nervous. It's noisy enough in there, you have to raise the voice a small bit. I just didn't want to publically humiliate her. Generally I don't take that kind of thing lying down at all, but I let her off on it under the circumstances.

D'Agger · 28-06-2017 03:41PM

pwurple wrote: »

Ah maybe I'm being a bit soft-hearted here, but this was practically a child. She looked about 15, was shaking like a leaf, opening weekend, (new job) a wee bit nervous. It's noisy enough in there, you have to raise the voice a small bit. I just didn't want to publically humiliate her. Generally I don't take that kind of thing lying down at all, but I let her off on it under the circumstances.

Sounded like a rookie move alright in fairness, still...we'll have to blame somebody so lets go for the hiring manager this time around!

Nonoperational · 28-06-2017 03:47PM

The time I was there the service was terrible too.

rob316 · 28-06-2017 04:57PM

Been to Spitjack 3 times now and I've given it every chance, it just doesn't do it for me. The nicest thing I had was the brisket burger but it was poorly paired with over cooked chips.

I was expecting great food to go with what is IMO the best looking restaurant in the city, and it's just not there. A place that promised so much but just didn't deliver.

A good restaurant to me is when I say to myself "I cant wait to go back there"

sporina · 28-06-2017 05:21PM

With regards to Rachel's - i think the problem is basically that expectations are v v high! She puts her name on the door - so high expectations are "expected"! Any aspect of the dining experience is bound to be majorly frowned upon. one would expect "exceptional" - especially at the prices that are being charged.
It should do what it says on the tin - major flop if not!

northgirl · 28-06-2017 07:46PM

rob316 wrote: »

A good restaurant to me is when I say to myself "I cant wait to go back there"

For me that's Orso

sporina · 28-06-2017 07:54PM

northgirl wrote: »

For me that's Orso

ditto!!!!!!!!

and at a risk of sounding corny - every time is like the 1st time ... lol

SomeFool · 28-06-2017 08:02PM

northgirl wrote: »

For me that's Orso

A smaller operation though so much easier to ensure the quality of whats on offer food and service wise, are they a part of Market/Elbow Lane/ Blackrock Castle? Whoever is overseeing those places is doing a dam fine job, never had a poor experience in any of them, always a treat!

JP Liz V1 · 01-07-2017 12:22AM

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.

We went to Oriel in Ballincollig for afternoon tea and it was lovely

sporina · 01-07-2017 10:06AM

SomeFool wrote: »

A smaller operation though so much easier to ensure the quality of whats on offer food and service wise, are they a part of Market/Elbow Lane/ Blackrock Castle? Whoever is overseeing those places is doing a dam fine job, never had a poor experience in any of them, always a treat!

i had a slightly bad experience in Market lane but when I brought it to their attention it was handled so well.. they took total accountability.. and in such a professional manner - they know customer service!

limnam · 01-07-2017 10:21AM

Something that's disappointed me in the past in Cork is the lack of falafel options (good ones)

I tried Umi falafel yesterday. So so good.

Really fresh high quality ingredients the best falafel I've had in Cork

Partner had spinach filo rolls and really enjoyed them also.

Loving salads and umi falafel are really great additions , hopefully as popularity peaks standards don't drop as it tends to.

The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

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