The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

nerwen wrote: »

Went past Zamora earlier today, there's a notice in the window about it being closed down. Shame.

That's a pity! It was a lovely place and always seemed so busy when I was there, wether that was lunch, dinner, weekend, weekday.

pwurple wrote: »

I hoped zamora would do well, given the owners had another business going.

What is the other place? I never got into Zamora but heard great things about it... Pity!

peekachoo wrote: »

Went to 14A last night, think I remember it not having great reviews on here.
The price was good, 20€ for three courses. The food was actually quite nice too. We were unfortunately sat beside a table of 4 women who i think were fairly drunk as they were very rowdy and I couldn't even hear what the bf was saying to me from across the table. Everyone in the restaurant was clearly disgruntled as they were so loud and many comments were said to the staff but I'm not sure if anything could be done by the staff without seeming rude.
Also I found the staff absolutely useless tbh. It wasn't overly busy when we were there but every table seemed to be waiting ages to be served! Even in between courses we were left with empty plates for 15-20 minutes. I wouldn't have minded if it was busy but the staff were all standing around the bar talking and not taking any notice of their customers.

Anyway, good food but bad service.

its bad..

kcb wrote: »

A shame to see Zamora go and also baffling to consider that a decent place like that would not succeed while an over hyped fast food joint like Coqbull a few doors up survives (for now anyway)

Zamora have less than 1500 likes on FB, Coqbull have over 15,000. Maybe better marketing was a factor? Zamora was nice when I was in, shame it's gone.

dudara wrote: »

Cork is weird like that - Over the years I've seen lots of good restaurants close up while other (worse but more popular) spots continue. I don't see the same in Dublin in comparison

hit the nail on the head !! I cant understand it either how average resturants survive and places that try to be differant and up standards to mid range have to close up - its such a shame.

nerwen wrote: »

Went past Zamora earlier today, there's a notice in the window about it being closed down. Shame.

Noooooooo

Lia_lia wrote: »

Never went to Zamora, heard good things though. The menu looked a bit expensive compared to other places in the area.

Honestly I never found it expensive relative to anywhere else we'd eat out, as a veggie I've had lunch and evening meals there and it's always been both excellent and reasonable. Sad times, a lovely restaurant, lovely staff too.

Right everyone, maybe this isn't breaking news and I'm late to the party but obviously TripAdvisor's reviews and ratings have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

I went to the Workshop Cafe in Ballygarvan Saturday (the number 1 place to eat in Cork according to TripAdvisor)

And wow was it an anticlimax,
you walk in and I can see how the hipsters might rate the place because it's retro with the record player pumping out the tunes, different table cloths on every table, teacups hanging from trees and antique Darth Vader lunch box for sale, but that's not everyone's cup of tea,
So I see the place packed and we have to wait for a table so I say to myself the menu and food must be unbelievable.

So after a short wait we get shown to our table and I pick up this laminated double sided 8x10 menu, there were 5 sandwich choices on either white or brown, soup and a tapas salad, the other side of the menu was too many coffees to mention sodas and wine I think.

I went for the tapas salad as I came to the number 1 place to eat in Cork for food not sambos, my wife and daughter went for the toasted special, one with soup.

It arrived out and the sandwich's were no different than 80% of other cafes the only difference being that the ham was carved and not packet which a lot of places insist on now, the veg soup was in a cup and tbh rather bland, my tapas salad consisted of some rocket leaves, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, two small balls of mozzarella cheese, grated white cheddar, a blob of pesto, a blob of Mayo and a spoon of caramelised onions, don't get me wrong it was nice but if they replaced the Mayo with a garlic Mayo or French dressing and if they replaced the grated cheddar with some crumbled blue cheese it would look far more presentable and be far more satisfying.

I went to pay only to find they were trying to charge me for three sambos instead of two, easily solved, so for one kids sandwich, one toasted special with a cup of soup, one tapas salad, a coke and a cappuccino it came to almost €27, not overly expensive but not that reasonable either for what it was.

One thing I must commend is the staff, they were outstanding and on the ball, the four we dealt with.

I left feeling underwhelmed and completely puzzled as to why this forgettable, mediocre coffee shop is outscoring some of best restaurants in Cork, is it marketing, is it a close knit community and network of friends who have flooded TripAdvisor with 5 star reviews?
I certainly don't know and I certainly didn't get "it".

flangemeistro wrote: »

Right everyone, maybe this isn't breaking news and I'm late to the party but obviously TripAdvisor's reviews and ratings have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

I went to the Workshop Cafe in Ballygarvan Saturday (the number 1 place to eat in Cork according to TripAdvisor)

And wow was it an anticlimax,
you walk in and I can see how the hipsters might rate the place because it's retro with the record player pumping out the tunes, different table cloths on every table, teacups hanging from trees and antique Darth Vader lunch box for sale, but that's not everyone's cup of tea,
So I see the place packed and we have to wait for a table so I say to myself the menu and food must be unbelievable.

So after a short wait we get shown to our table and I pick up this laminated double sided 8x10 menu, there were 5 sandwich choices on either white or brown, soup and a tapas salad, the other side of the menu was too many coffees to mention sodas and wine I think.

I went for the tapas salad as I came to the number 1 place to eat in Cork for food not sambos, my wife and daughter went for the toasted special, one with soup.

It arrived out and the sandwich's were no different than 80% of other cafes the only difference being that the ham was carved and not packet which a lot of places insist on now, the veg soup was in a cup and tbh rather bland, my tapas salad consisted of some rocket leaves, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, two small balls of mozzarella cheese, grated white cheddar, a blob of pesto, a blob of Mayo and a spoon of caramelised onions, don't get me wrong it was nice but if they replaced the Mayo with a garlic Mayo or French dressing and if they replaced the grated cheddar with some crumbled blue cheese it would look far more presentable and be far more satisfying.

I went to pay only to find they were trying to charge me for three sambos instead of two, easily solved, so for one kids sandwich, one toasted special with a cup of soup, one tapas salad, a coke and a cappuccino it came to almost €27, not overly expensive but not that reasonable either for what it was.

One thing I must commend is the staff, they were outstanding and on the ball, the four we dealt with.

I left feeling underwhelmed and completely puzzled as to why this forgettable, mediocre coffee shop is outscoring some of best restaurants in Cork, is it marketing, is it a close knit community and network of friends who have flooded TripAdvisor with 5 star reviews?
I certainly don't know and I certainly didn't get "it".

i have been there once and didn't return - found it so stiff..

Re. The workshop I was also underwhelmed with the menu.The staff are lovely but our teas and coffees arrived way before the sandwiches and as they dont do refills we had to order more coffees.Sandwiches are fine but nothing special,cakes/scones are also fine...I suppose the setting is nice when you can sit outside in fine weather and I like the place but wouldnt be rushing back due to fabulous food but in saying that I would go back there.

Agreed on the Workshop - poor sandwiches, poor soup,terrible coffee and slow service the time we were there. Won't be going back.

Nice decor though.

Went to Diva recently on ballinspittle - loved it ! Really cool place and food was delish - nice day trip from the city and can go to beach afterwards for a stroll !

whatever76 wrote: »

Went to Diva recently on ballinspittle - loved it ! Really cool place and food was delish - nice day trip from the city and can go to beach afterwards for a stroll !

Diva is unreal; was very sad when they had their fire accident last year

Malari wrote: »

After a few positive reviews here, I tried Holy Smoke. I wasn't really impressed. :cool:

When we were seated, we quickly discovered the chairs were very narrow! Not designed for the "business-class ass", so to speak, and we noticed the larger customers were seated on benches. I'm a size 8 and it was a snug fit. My husband is not a large man, but he asked them to change his chair, as it just wasn't comfortable.

We ordered the chicken and pork, and the food was very flavoursome, and although the portion looked quite small I was definitely full after it. However, I had a vague notion there was meant to be more than one side with it...I couldn't remember. The menu seemed a bit hard to read as well, and the place is fairly dimly lit. Another niggle: I don't have a problem with food served on trays, per se, and pulled pork was easy enough to eat, but if you tried to cut with a knife and fork, it spun around all the time! Frustrating.

Anyway, the waitress brought the menu again for dessert and I was right - I should have had two sides and I only got one - not one that was listed either. I mentioned it to her and she asked if I wanted to eat the cornbread now! Eh, no! I think she did tell the manager, but nothing else was said, or comped off the bill.

I don't think I'd be back. It just wasn't a great overall dining experience, despite the food being tasty enough.

We went last week and I'd agree with your ergonomic comments, the chair should be wider than my ass and the table wider than my elbows, neither applied the evening we went. There were loads of bigger tables but they planted us on a little yoke that you might eat your dinner off in front of the telly. The tray for my meal took up nearly half the table and there was a huge (relatively speaking) box of sauces, kitchen roll and not enough cutlery which took up 20% of the width of the table. Despite the plethora of empty tables where we would have been more comfortable, they didn't offer us a move, but we didn't ask either, it was early evening and we thought they might be expecting/hoping for a rush.

We had to get out our mobiles to light the menu because it is so dark in there, I would have liked more light also to see my chicken leg as the texture was AFU, tough as boots on the outside but suspiciously juicy on he inside, as in I was not confident that it was cooked to the bone but I was not confident that it wasn't enough to complain (and I couldn't see it).

I got a combo tray (can't remember the menu name) chicken leg, pulled pork and babyback ribs with salad and cornbread. Overall it was good with the chicken the low point and the ribs a sublime high point. The pulled pork was nice and thankfully was not drowned in jammy BBQ sauce but could have been better seasoned. I also got a side order of bone marrow gravy mash, the gravy tasted nothing like bone marrow and the mash tasted almost exactly like packet Smash albeit with a bit more texture.

I'd go again, but I'll only get the Ribs and some chips and I will have to ask for salt and vinegar because despite the size of the huge box on the table they don't provide the simple bare necessities.