The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

Markcheese · 12-10-2017 07:18PM

JackieChang wrote:

I've heard good things about Yuang Ming Jang or whatever it's called. Apparently you're supposed to ask in a shifty way for the "real Chinese" menu.

But Shur, what if it's written in Chinese?
. . I wouldn't have a clue... :-)

Harika · 12-10-2017 09:01PM

Markcheese wrote: »

But Shur, what if it's written in Chinese?
. . I wouldn't have a clue... :-)

Point with your finger on something, best way to discover new dishes. Did this in Bangkok China town, best food I had there without knowing what I ordered.

pwurple · 12-10-2017 10:03PM

Markcheese wrote: »

But Shur, what if it's written in Chinese?
. . I wouldn't have a clue... :-)

It is in both mandarin and english... it’s got different food on it. Better dim sum, taro root, chicken feet etc.

No shifty asking needed. Just say it to Eric.

limnam · 12-10-2017 10:21PM

JackieChang wrote: »

I've heard good things about Yuang Ming Jang or whatever it's called. Apparently you're supposed to ask in a shifty way for the "real Chinese" menu.

That's the "other" chinese menu

There's the menu.

The "chinese" menu for people who think they want the "real" Chinese menu and then the actual "real" one

You need to be in the trusted circled for the third one. :pac:

nerwen · 13-10-2017 10:34AM

Went to West Cork Burger last night, was really good. It's either build your own burger or chose from a few "pre-built" ones. They have some really interesting toppings and sides on the menu, like pickled shiitake mushrooms, smoked chili jam and miso slaw. You get to chose between angus or wagyu beef, 6 or 8 ounces.

I had wagyu on brioche with sriracha ketchup, fried mushroom, smoked cheese and some other bits and bobs, was excellent. Bun is big enough to cover the entire burger and it kept structural integrity while eating the entire thing, I was impressed.

The garlic mayo was so garlicky you could knock out an entire vampire movie, which personally I loved.

Not cheap though, burger, fries and coke was €20. I'll go back anyway.

Also, twice fried fries. Nom.

pwurple · 13-10-2017 11:56AM

Docklands Popped in last night with a group. Very nice revamp. Place is so bright and airy now.

Menu is kinda tapas type, casual. Section of small things , like corstini, calimari, pate, a salad. All around the 5 - 8 euro mark. Tried the calamari, baked goat cheese with chilli, mushroom crostini. All delicious.
Section of medium sized things, around 12 to 14 euros, King Prawns, duck confit...

Section of pizzas. We tried the pizza with lamb and spices on it. Perfect pizza. Really good.

Bigger dishes: Steaks, three different fish dishes (sea bass, roast cod and moules), slow cooked lamb, a veg tagine I think. I had the cod, and tried the steak, Both excellent.

Desserts: White choc & raspberry cheesecake, espresso parfait and a beetroot cake with ginger. My fav was the ginger beetroot cake. Stunning looking, loads of ginger. I'm going to try to copy it at home.

Nice new long bar there. And to the right as you come in is a deli sandwich cake area.

Only downside I'd say, is that it was feckin JAMMERS and a bit chaotic, but given it's opening week I'd cut them a bit of slack. I think we were 30 minutes or more looking to put in an order. They explained that they are happy for people to order a couple of dishes, and then order more later etc. But honestly, no where near enough staff around to pull that off yet. Couldn't get hold of people when we wanted them. Food and wine made it all ok.

D'Agger · 13-10-2017 12:20PM

Glad to hear of more places trying tapas in the City given the fact that Ireland has good quality ingredients available to make top notch, small dishes for relatively okay prices. Can't wait to try out Docklands now

Went to Arthur Maynes again the other night, second time trying their tapas and loved it.

Myself and herself had the mushroom bruschetta, rustic potatoes with blue cheese and horseraddish dip & chicken and sausage skewers between us. Enjoyed them all and was a perfect amount of food for us.

snotboogie · 14-10-2017 12:33AM

JackieChang wrote: »

If you have a car the only other "authentic" asian place I know of is Golden Elephant Thai restaurant in Douglas.

I've heard good things about Yuang Ming Jang or whatever it's called. Apparently you're supposed to ask in a shifty way for the "real Chinese" menu.

The Thai lad and his wife who cook in Kubo know what they're doing, they don't have the quality of ingredients of Golden Elephant but they know how to cook good South East Asian food.

Yuan Ming Yuan isnt great, no matter what menu you pick from, I've been in there with Chinese friends. You can't really do Dim Sum on a secret menu or as one dish out of 40 odd on a menu, it can be a tough dish to do right and you really need chefs who are purely focused on dim sum, I think a DinTai Fung or a direct rip off of it could do really well in Ireland but the Chinese who open restaurants here are incredibly unimaginative. Chinese food in Ireland is all round appalling, even in Dublin. There is a huge gap in the market here to open a good authentic Chinese restaurant, there are plenty of simple Chinese dishes that are not that exotic to our pallet which you either can't get at all or are universally terrible in Ireland; for instance hot pot is taking off in London, there are plenty of simple Sichuan dishes and genuinely good Sichuan restaurants almost everywhere in Europe, Chinese BBQ, Xingjiang noodles, dry hot pot, even xiaolongbao isn't that hard. Yet here we get gloopy flavorless blandness or half assed attempts at ridiculously complicated Cantonese dishes. It's a pity that one of the great culinary nations of the world is rightfully viewed as a cheap fast food joke here especially given their population in Ireland. Sorry rant over.

blackdog2 · 14-10-2017 03:12AM

snotboogie wrote: »

The Thai lad and his wife who cook in Kubo know what they're doing, they don't have the quality of ingredients of Golden Elephant but they know how to cook good South East Asian food.

Yuan Ming Yuan isnt great, no matter what menu you pick from, I've been in there with Chinese friends. You can't really do Dim Sum on a secret menu or as one dish out of 40 odd on a menu, it can be a tough dish to do right and you really need chefs who are purely focused on dim sum, I think a DinTai Fung or a direct rip off of it could do really well in Ireland but the Chinese who open restaurants here are incredibly unimaginative. Chinese food in Ireland is all round appalling, even in Dublin. There is a huge gap in the market here to open a good authentic Chinese restaurant, there are plenty of simple Chinese dishes that are not that exotic to our pallet which you either can't get at all or are universally terrible in Ireland; for instance hot pot is taking off in London, there are plenty of simple Sichuan dishes and genuinely good Sichuan restaurants almost everywhere in Europe, Chinese BBQ, Xingjiang noodles, dry hot pot, even xiaolongbao isn't that hard. Yet here we get gloopy flavorless blandness or half assed attempts at ridiculously complicated Cantonese dishes. It's a pity that one of the great culinary nations of the world is rightfully viewed as a cheap fast food joke here especially given their population in Ireland. Sorry rant over.

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain that hasn't really taken off in the mainland, I wouldn't be surprised if most Chinese restaurateurs in Ireland have never been. A more likely mainland chain would be Gou Bu Li, which as far as I remember has a clone on Parnell Street. In terms of
Hotpot, there is a clone of the most famous mainland chain, Hai Di Lao, again on Parnell Street, and has been there for about 5 years. There is a another restaurant there called Lee Kee, which has food as fragrant and exciting as anything I have tried here in China. M&L seems to get good reviews but to me seems pretty average, except for the Kou Shui Ji which is by far the best in Dublin.

The Dim Sum restaurant on Georges Street (New Good World I think?) gets good reviews from my ethnic Chinese friends (of Hong Kongese extraction, know far more about Dim Sum than I do), wasn't my cup of tea but my knowledge of Dim Sum is limited thanks to not being able to eat seafood!

snotboogie · 14-10-2017 02:17PM

blackdog2 wrote: »

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain that hasn't really taken off in the mainland, I wouldn't be surprised if most Chinese restaurateurs in Ireland have never been. A more likely mainland chain would be Gou Bu Li, which as far as I remember has a clone on Parnell Street. In terms of
Hotpot, there is a clone of the most famous mainland chain, Hai Di Lao, again on Parnell Street, and has been there for about 5 years. There is a another restaurant there called Lee Kee, which has food as fragrant and exciting as anything I have tried here in China. M&L seems to get good reviews but to me seems pretty average, except for the Kou Shui Ji which is by far the best in Dublin.

The Dim Sum restaurant on Georges Street (New Good World I think?) gets good reviews from my ethnic Chinese friends (of Hong Kongese extraction, know far more about Dim Sum than I do), wasn't my cup of tea but my knowledge of Dim Sum is limited thanks to not being able to eat seafood!

Din Tai Fung is in almost every major mainland city, I know of at least 3 in Beijing alone, all with queues out the door every day. It's medium high end so they were never going to be on every street corner. It's Taiwanese but they cook Shanghaienese food, it started with Shanghai chefs cooking in a Taiwanese factory and the factory gave up producing and became a restaurant, they cook Chinese cuisine, not Taiwanese. They have opened in Australia and the Wst Coast recently.

Haidilao in Dublin doesn't even make an effort to rip off the Chinese Haidilao in anything other than name. I'm a huge fan of the original Haidilao and I think they have started to go international recently too. The Dublin one is appalling. Lee Kee is not my thing at all so can't really comment.

Markcheese · 15-10-2017 08:58AM

Bastion in kinsale last night... And it gets the thumbs up... Really cool place and top end food, we hummed and hawwed but went a la carte rather than the tasting menu, small menu ( which I like).
We had pumpkin soup, and a ballatine starter, a fillet of beef and a duck main, (the star for me was the duck wing croquet and the barley risotto...) and dessert- a strawberry "cheese cake" and a chocolate fondant with a chocolately/ liquoricey aniseedy ice-cream...

blackdog2 · 15-10-2017 09:32AM

snotboogie wrote: »

Din Tai Fung is in almost every major mainland city, I know of at least 3 in Beijing alone, all with queues out the door every day. It's medium high end so they were never going to be on every street corner. It's Taiwanese but they cook Shanghaienese food, it started with Shanghai chefs cooking in a Taiwanese factory and the factory gave up producing and became a restaurant, they cook Chinese cuisine, not Taiwanese. They have opened in Australia and the Wst Coast recently.

Haidilao in Dublin doesn't even make an effort to rip off the Chinese Haidilao in anything other than name. I'm a huge fan of the original Haidilao and I think they have started to go international recently too. The Dublin one is appalling. Lee Kee is not my thing at all so can't really comment.

It's in 8 cities, none further south than Hangzhou as far as I know.

I thought it was started by a dude who distributed cooking oil? That's the story they told me in Taipei anyhow. Haidilao and Goubuli in Dublin sell roughly the same style of food, that's essentially it. Had a decent breakfast in Goubuli, and Haidilao was just like most generic hotpot places I have tried here (not as nice as Haidilao in China).

pwurple · 15-10-2017 11:36AM

Markcheese wrote: »

Bastion in kinsale last night... And it gets the thumbs up... Really cool place and top end food, we hummed and hawwed but went a la carte rather than the tasting menu, small menu ( which I like).
We had pumpkin soup, and a ballatine starter, a fillet of beef and a duck main, (the star for me was the duck wing croquet and the barley risotto...) and dessert- a strawberry "cheese cake" and a chocolate fondant with a chocolately/ liquoricey aniseedy ice-cream...

Oh lucky you! I love that place. They took their chowder off the menu though... i still miss it.

what the hell! · 24-10-2017 07:44AM

Went to the Old Bank Cafe in Mayfield at the weekend for breakfast. O'Connors butchers run it. Really really nice spot. I had the fry which was very tasty. They use proper sausages, rashers, black and white pudding from the butchers. Great feed with tea or coffee for €10. Seem to have nice other options too -Benedict etc. Nice lunch options too and lots of cakes.

Malari · 24-10-2017 01:24PM

Ate in Spitjack last night and really enjoyed it. I had the steak (as someone previously recommended here) and my dining companion had the porchetta (not-so-secretly envious) :pac: The steak was very tasty, but the mix of textures of flavours in the pork was really something else. Next time!

They did take quite a while to bring the food, but the restaurant was stuffed with people and we were chatting and enjoying our drinks so didn't really notice, however when we ordered a second drink they told us they'd be complementary because of the wait. A nice touch.

When the restaurant is THAT busy, it feels a little bit cramped, but the atmosphere is great and the staff were all very pleasant and knowledgable (our waitress went into great detail about how the dishes were cooked).

I'm looking forward to my next visit.

Kerry25x · 24-10-2017 02:08PM

pwurple wrote: »

Docklands Popped in last night with a group. Very nice revamp. Place is so bright and airy now.

Thanks for the review! What's it like price wise for pizzas and mains?

pwurple · 24-10-2017 02:56PM

Kerry25x wrote: »

Thanks for the review! What's it like price wise for pizzas and mains?

I think the pizza was in the teens... 15 maybe?
Mains, all generally into the 20's.

Harika · 28-10-2017 11:27AM

what the hell! wrote: »

Went to the Old Bank Cafe in Mayfield at the weekend for breakfast. O'Connors butchers run it. Really really nice spot. I had the fry which was very tasty. They use proper sausages, rashers, black and white pudding from the butchers. Great feed with tea or coffee for €10. Seem to have nice other options too -Benedict etc. Nice lunch options too and lots of cakes.

Can confirm that, nice addition for Mayfield where else there are no options at all.

CptMackey · 28-10-2017 04:11PM

Going to the opera house next week and looking for some light bites and some wine before the show. Any recommendations?

limnam · 28-10-2017 04:24PM

CptMackey wrote: »

Going to the opera house next week and looking for some light bites and some wine before the show. Any recommendations?

http://www.latitude51.ie/

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 28-10-2017 04:25PM

Jacques on Oliver Plunkett St could be a good shout too. Lovely tapas in the front.

the beer revolu · 29-10-2017 02:08PM

Anyone know what's going on with Sliced? I passed yesterday afternoon and it was closed and again today at midday.
Website says open from 11.30.
Strange to be closed during the day over the jazz weekend.
Has it closed down already?

TrustedApple · 29-10-2017 02:12PM

Dear customers,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have taken the step to temporarily close our Cork City restaurant for a short time to address a small number of technical planning issues that have arisen in the new premises.

We are currently working with Cork City Council to resolve the matter in the shortest time possible.

We would like to say a big thank you to our staff, suppliers, local businesses and of course our customers for all their support in the last few weeks. We hope to welcome you back very soon. Until then we would be delighted to see you at our Ballincollig restaurant.

Thank you,
Sliced Team/QUOTE]

From there Facebook I wonder what they have issues with I say it could be the pizza oven ?. And the vents to do with it?

what the hell! · 29-10-2017 06:25PM

TrustedApple wrote: »

Dear customers,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have taken the step to temporarily close our Cork City restaurant for a short time to address a small number of technical planning issues that have arisen in the new premises.

We are currently working with Cork City Council to resolve the matter in the shortest time possible.

We would like to say a big thank you to our staff, suppliers, local businesses and of course our customers for all their support in the last few weeks. We hope to welcome you back very soon. Until then we would be delighted to see you at our Ballincollig restaurant.

Thank you,
Sliced Team/QUOTE]

From there Facebook I wonder what they have issues with I say it could be the pizza oven ?. And the vents to do with it?

Flip what a pity- and what a weekend to be closed!

the beer revolu · 30-10-2017 04:06PM

Any one notice that Thali seem to have put up their prices rather a lot?

€7.90 for a side order of dal seems pretty outrageous to me. I'm pretty sure that this was around €5 previously.

I really enjoyed this place for a tasty, inexpensive feed but now it's more "going out for dinner" prices. Don't really think it's worth the money anymore.

Cherry_Cola · 30-10-2017 06:37PM

Saw on a friends fb post that Wagamamas is closing down this coming Sunday, to be replaced by a burger place? Anyone hear anything?

what the hell! · 30-10-2017 07:39PM

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

Saw on a friends fb post that Wagamamas is closing down this coming Sunday, to be replaced by a burger place? Anyone hear anything?

Hard to see this happening? Always very busy I think.

Cherry_Cola · 30-10-2017 08:38PM

what the hell! wrote: »

Hard to see this happening? Always very busy I think.

You think so? It's always been half empty the times I've been there lately, all Friday/Sat evenings too.

what the hell! · 30-10-2017 08:43PM

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

You think so? It's always been half empty the times I've been there lately, all Friday/Sat evenings too.

Ah flip that’s a pity

Nonoperational · 30-10-2017 10:11PM

https://www.wagamama.ie/restaurants/cork

Closing Nov 5

The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

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