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The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

Faith

There's been a crazy number of threads recently looking for restaurant recommendations, so I'd like to start a specific thread for it. Please post below about your favourite restaurants - why you like them, what price range they are, what type of food they serve, if they have an early bird, opening hours if you know them, where they're located. If you could include a link to the website, that would be great. The more details, the better. This is not a thread to post negative reviews - there's a thread in the main Food & Drink forum for that if you like. Basically, I want this thread to be full of recommendations, not positive and negative reviews. That being said, you can disagree with a recommendation briefly if you really feel the need to, but you must have a really valid reason such as an awful experience, rather than "I don't really like the food" or "It's too expensive".

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Ludo

rob316 wrote: »

Chilli Padi is cheaper than Ramen or equal in price on all dishes. I am constantly in there.

Ah sorry...Thanks. Previous post made me think it was more expensive with the euro symbol.

gimmick

Went to Dashi on Cook St for noodles the other day. It was really nice. Pity they dont serve beer. But would definitely go back.

sporina

rob316 wrote: »

Chilli Padi is cheaper than Ramen or equal in price on all dishes. I am constantly in there.

well actually i only ever get stirfrys and Chilli Padi's are €11.95 while Ramen's are €10.95 - and I only ever get them delivered for a meal for two is circa €27.. but I will pay that for the quality of Chilli Padi - once in a while... I would not pay that for Ramen - not in a fit.. as the quality is not there for me..

but hey, we won't argue over a €1 - I am saying that for me - who cooks - and only gets deliveries once in a while, it is €.. (defo not gonna pay for bad quality though)

TrustedApple

Went to rockat man the other day for Falafel after reading so many good things on here about them. Before this i never had one and always wonted to try one and i was not disappointed at all with it and tasted just fantastic. I had the Mexican one and for 6.50 you really cant go wrong as i full after it. Will be going back again soon.

Also went to burritos and blue for a burritos was also very nice i had a steak, black beans and cheese and spicy salsa was nice but felt it was quite small compare to what other people got and was still a small bit hungry after it.

Box noodle is also not bad went here on a date not to long ago i know i know how cheap. But we where both hugy and we seen that they had a one of 3 things for 7.50 with a drink and if you had a student card another 10% off so worked out 6.75 each for us. I used for the honey and chili crispy chicken while my date had the chicken chow main. Both very nice and loads of food for 6.75 so will be going back there soon.

kcb

I don't think there is much difference in price between Ramen and Chilli Padi, aside from the €6 thing in Ramen (which is €6 as they put very little meat in it it seems!). Exact same market.

This has gone off topic a bit alright!

I won't ever understand it but it seems there are certain places that people will just go to regardless of quality or service. Come forward Cornstore, Coqbull, Eco. Also places that are not bad but not good enough to have a queue outside in the rain; Liberty Grill, KCs!

the beer revolu

Went to the rocketman falafel place today. I ordered the standard sandwich but with extra jalapeños. Is it just me or does €0.50 seem an outrageous charge for a few slices of jalapeños in a €6.50 sandwich. I declined.

ncmc

My husband and I had lunch in the Linen Weaver recently. I had never been to a Wetherspoons before and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The décor is lovely and it was busy with a buzzing atmosphere so I didn’t notice the lack of music. I have no issues with ordering at the bar, a lot of pubs in the UK do this and it saves waiting around for a waiter to come to you. My husband had a ham and cheese panini, I had the philly cheese steak baguette which came with chips and onion rings. It was an outrageous amount of food for the price! The panini was pretty good – how exciting can a ham and cheese panini be! But my philly cheese steak was nice, the meat was really tasty and nicely done. The onion rings were a bit soggy, but the chips were fantastic! Lovely and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside and so tasty. I’d go back for the chips alone! The two meals with two soft drinks came to €15 which is superb value in anyone’s language. I have read that the staff aren’t good, but our waiter was pleasant and came and checked on us a couple of times.

It’s not fine dining by any stretch, but it’s pretty good food at a very reasonable price in nice surroundings. I will definitely go again and I think it’s a good addition to the Cork dining scene.

kcb

the beer revolu wrote: »

Went to the rocketman falafel place today. I ordered the standard sandwich but with extra jalapeños. Is it just me or does €0.50 seem an outrageous charge for a few slices of jalapeños in a €6.50 sandwich. I declined.

€6.50 for a sandwich?!

the beer revolu

kcb wrote: »

€6.50 for a sandwich?!

Essentially, yes. Or €7 if you want a few slices of jalapeño in it.
It's a falafel sandwich in flatbread with some salad stuff and hummus.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

dropped the brother back down to Cork yesterday (disgrace that cork-limerick road was completely shelved but i digress) and checked out two places, fenn's quay and gourmet burger bistro.

we didn't know whether to go to elbow lane for the 3rd time or not, but we said we'd check out fenn's quay for a change. early bird was decent value but nothing jumped out so we just went for two mains. i got the venison special and he got shoulder beef, along with two sides of mash. venison nothing to write home about, sauce not great and small portion but i suppose that's standard at these 'kind' of restaurants. mash was fecking delish though! my venison was €20, his beef was €17 and mash side was €3 each so it was fecking pricey. definitely not going back, elbow lane all the way which was similiar prices but way better fare. here's a pic of the venison: https://goo.gl/photos/4kZ9vYkVFv3wgxTR8

i was still hungry (!) so walked around town for a while checking out somewhere else to go. town was abssolutely DEAD Monday night, most places were empty, barmen on their phones in front of an empty bar which is to be expected the first Monday after Xmas. Little did I know that everyone was hiding out in Son of a Bun! i headed up there with plans to go to Bad Boys BBQ but I didn't know (and yelp didn't tell me) that it's closed a Monday. here's a crappy photo of the crowd in Son of a Bun then, with 4 girls also waiting for a table at 9pm: https://goo.gl/photos/n7qyhjNwdRXQpuWb7
it's like there was more people here than the rest of Cork's restaurants combined! i must give it another chance when i can get a seat, didn't think much of if when I tried before Xmas, not a patch on any of the Dublin burger joints

I just headed to an empty Gourmet Burger Bistro and got the Lamb burger/blue cheese special. It was alright, nothing to write home about. I could barely taste the blue cheese.

[Deleted User]

Can anyone recommend a good seafood restaurant in the city? One that is open on a Sunday evening. I know there is one in Electric. Haven't heard much about them though! Been to Quinlans and like it but looking for something more suited to a special occasion.

sporina

Lia_lia wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good seafood restaurant in the city? One that is open on a Sunday evening. I know there is one in Electric. Haven't heard much about them though! Been to Quinlans and like it but looking for something more suited to a special occasion.

one should never eat Seafood on a Sunday as its not fresh - on deliveries on Sunday..

11214

sporina wrote: »

one should never eat Seafood on a Sunday as its not fresh - on deliveries on Sunday..

Out of curiosity how fresh do you think fresh fish is?

Herb Powell

sporina wrote: »

one should never eat Seafood on a Sunday as its not fresh - on deliveries on Sunday..

Ah be grand like

Bacchus

11214 wrote: »

Out of curiosity how fresh do you think fresh fish is?

Caught that morning.

Never really thought about fish not being caught & delivered on a Sunday before... is that true? Can't imagine it makes a world of difference anyway.

.red.

sporina wrote: »

one should never eat Seafood on a Sunday as its not fresh - on deliveries on Sunday..

The old fishmonger story of "it was caught off ballycotton night" is as believable as fish having fingers.
The large trawlers leave and depending n their catch rate could be gone to sea for 3/4 days to a week. Everything that is caught is filleted and iced. You could collect it off the boat and it could be 4/5/6 days old.
All seabass sold in Ireland is imported, its supposed to be anyway. It's all farmed in Greece. If they tell you its wild and Irish their either lying or selling illegal fish.
Lastly, a lot of corks sales of cod and other white fish are caught in Iceland, processed over there and flown via a cargo aircraft to shannon. Our local fishmongers drive up to collect it from a warehouse 4 nights a week and tell the mugs in their shop its fresh from castletownbere last night

sporina

well I was told that by a reputable restaurant owner and the bally cotton guys..

but i guess it depends how fussy you are - i do not eat cod these days - we know its not local.. i always get the local stuff in the market..

And as for Sunday's, I only really eat fish when I am out for a nice meal - but I forgot this rule on two occasions..

One was in Electric - the special was suppose to be hake but they ran out so they gave me something that was suppose to be Cod - when i took the skin off all that was left were a few flakes of what was suppose to be fish (defrosted to long in MW i'd say)..

On another occasion it was in a restaurant in Killarney - was so unwell for hours afterwards.. again - probably defrosted.. or just not fresh..

and the thing is, you pay a lot for fish when out - so I make sure its from a reputable source and get the catch of the day...

But perhaps its not a hard and fast rule - depends on where you go..
Thats my twopence worth anyway

the beer revolu

Lovely lunch in Iyer's today.
Ordered my masala dosa with some extra pickle (ramekin of gorgeous made-in -house mango pickle) and guess what? No extra charge!

Real value imo.
The more I think about it, the rocketman falafel place is really quite expensive for what is essentially a takeaway place with a couple of cramped semi outdoor seats. The extra charge for some jalapeños just brought it home to me.

In Iyer's for €6.95 you can get a masala dosa that comes with 2 chutneys and a little bowl of sambar (like a thin soup) on a plate with cutlery, a carafe of water with a real glass and eat it indoors at a clean table.

.red.

sporina wrote: »

well I was told that by a reputable restaurant owner and the bally cotton guys..

i always get the local stuff in the market..

I wouldnt believe a word anyone in the market tells me. A few years ago there was a lot of hassle at cork airport. The licak trawler lads were picketing over the amount of fish being brought in on a cargo flight. Half the vans that were collecting it were from well known shops around the county and from the english market. That flight moved to shannon a while back and afaik it still lands there. If you ask where it comes from none of them will tell you its Icelandic fish flown into Ireland. Sure its all local!
The only fish that is defo gonna be fresh in Cork is anything caught by an angler who is giving away his catch. Anything else can be sitting in fridge on a boat for whatever amount if days before it hits the counter or restaurant. That doesnt mean theres anything wrong with it tho. If someone offered you a nice plunp codling that they caught in monkstown 3 days earlier you probably wouldnt eat it tho.

sporina

.red. wrote: »

I wouldnt believe a word anyone in the market tells me. A few years ago there was a lot of hassle at cork airport. The licak trawler lads were picketing over the amount of fish being brought in on a cargo flight. Half the vans that were collecting it were from well known shops around the county and from the english market. That flight moved to shannon a while back and afaik it still lands there. If you ask where it comes from none of them will tell you its Icelandic fish flown into Ireland. Sure its all local!
The only fish that is defo gonna be fresh in Cork is anything caught by an angler who is giving away his catch. Anything else can be sitting in fridge on a boat for whatever amount if days before it hits the counter or restaurant. That doesnt mean theres anything wrong with it tho. If someone offered you a nice plunp codling that they caught in monkstown 3 days earlier you probably wouldnt eat it tho.

that is why one has to be mindful of where and when you eat fish.. the proof is in the pudding - hence i had two bad experiences

in one of those restaurants i will NEVER eat again and in the other, I might, but I won't order fish on a sunday

roundymac

If you go into The Good Fish in Carrigaline they have the origins if all their fish on display. Very little of it local . If you want really fresh fish you would need to be at the pier when the day boats come in and try and buy some from them.

rob316

Lovely lunch to today in Tiramisu (La Dolce Vitas new café). Got a baguette with salami, leaves, fennel, and mayo, toasted and a pancetta and lentil soup.
The soup was so good, chunks and chunks of pancetta, taste was beautiful.
€7 for a nice roll and soup, cant go wrong there and it was busy enough in there when I was there.

Décor is great in there and it really feels authentic Italian.

kcb

rob316 wrote: »

Lovely lunch to today in Tiramisu (La Dolce Vitas new café). Got a baguette with salami, leaves, fennel, and mayo, toasted and a pancetta and lentil soup.
The soup was so good, chunks and chunks of pancetta, taste was beautiful.
€7 for a nice roll and soup, cant go wrong there and it was busy enough in there when I was there.

Décor is great in there and it really feels authentic Italian.

Good to hear. Now that's decent value.
I didn't eat in there, just got a coffee (excellent by the way, but it felt like a real nice place, nice staff and the food looked great. Looking forward to going for a big lunch there.

I'd say they are open Sunday also (and they don't seem to tweet about multinationals!).

gimmick

Went to Rooster Pil Pil in Victoria Cross last night. It was quite good. Both chicken burger and wings were very nice.

Also they don't serve booze there but we asked could we get a few cans from Centra and it was no problem.

Pity we were literally the only people sitting down for the 2 hours we were there. Only 2 people came in for takeaway also. Hope they do better on other nights.

pwurple

the beer revolu wrote: »

The extra charge for some jalapeños just brought it home to me.

Did the owner serve you? I'm convinced that is what makes the difference. I tried Salt again (it's on my way into town), and the staff really are so bizaarly rigid! They have plates of scones etc on the counter, but if scone time is over, no amount of begging and pleading will persuade them to sell you one of them. Off they go to the bin.

Outkast_IRE

gimmick wrote: »

Went to Rooster Pil Pil in Victoria Cross last night. It was quite good. Both chicken burger and wings were very nice.

Also they don't serve booze there but we asked could we get a few cans from Centra and it was no problem.

Pity we were literally the only people sitting down for the 2 hours we were there. Only 2 people came in for takeaway also. Hope they do better on other nights.

To be honest i dont know how business savy the owners of this place are, i knew they were in for trouble a few weeks back when they had a hand written sign in the window saying they were looking for "Female Waitresses" , to post a sign like that in a place overloaded with well educated students is just stupidity at its finest

the beer revolu

pwurple wrote: »

Did the owner serve you? I'm convinced that is what makes the difference. I tried Salt again (it's on my way into town), and the staff really are so bizaarly rigid! They have plates of scones etc on the counter, but if scone time is over, no amount of begging and pleading will persuade them to sell you one of them. Off they go to the bin.

Surprisingly, it was the owner.
I had previously had one served by a staff member with no extra charge.

.red.

We ate in Electric last night and it was probably the nicest meal I've had in a long time.
4 of us ate and everyone was happy. The chicken and beef salad starters were really good and the only "fault" was that the chicken salad was a little big as a starter.
We had 3 burgers and fish/chips for the mains and everyone was happy, especially with the burgers.
The desserts were also very nice. I had baked alaska and it was 10/10. We had 2 orange cheesecakes that were maybe a little tangy/bitter for the people eating them but that was how they were meant to be, the last was a toffee pudding which again was a 10/10.
Add in a few teas, and a glass of wine and it came to €130 which for food that everyone was delighted with seemed very good value. The service was also really good in there.
I'll be back again.

roundymac

Eat in Taste the tapas bar in Carrigaline last night. We had the selection starter for two and a main each. I had Thai curry and herself had Cod. Food was very nice €82 with a bottle of wine, but the service was very slow. We were there over an half an hour before the starter arrived and another 45 mins before we got the main course. That might be alright in Spain but not over here.

Karmella

.red. wrote: »

We ate in Electric last night and it was probably the nicest meal I've had in a long time.
4 of us ate and everyone was happy. The chicken and beef salad starters were really good and the only "fault" was that the chicken salad was a little big as a starter.
We had 3 burgers and fish/chips for the mains and everyone was happy, especially with the burgers.
The desserts were also very nice. I had baked alaska and it was 10/10. We had 2 orange cheesecakes that were maybe a little tangy/bitter for the people eating them but that was how they were meant to be, the last was a toffee pudding which again was a 10/10.
Add in a few teas, and a glass of wine and it came to €130 which for food that everyone was delighted with seemed very good value. The service was also really good in there.
I'll be back again.

Oh this is good to know, I booked a birthday meal there for next month and I seem to remember a couple of people mentioning here that they weren't happy with service/food. Fingers crossed it'll go well!