The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

fin12 · 14-12-2018 5:28pm

If ye are not going to name the restaurants what’s the point in this thread then?

Cotts72 · 14-12-2018 6:38pm

fin12 wrote: »

If ye are not going to name the restaurants what’s the point in this thread then?

Agreed, juat sets ppl up for potential similar complaints... Replace a letter in the name.. . Abbreviate etc

.red. · 14-12-2018 9:31pm

fin12 wrote: »

If ye are not going to name the restaurants what’s the point in this thread then?

I was going to name them if I got a bad response from them.
I ended up on the phone to the manager who seemed genuinely shocked at what I told him.
The food we got was all good, it was the waiting times, poor service and reaction when I complained I had the issue with. He assured me it wouldn't happen again and offered a full refund or a voucher to the same amount(which I took). I've been in there plenty of times before, once in a group of about 15/16ish and the service was always good.
Personally I'd feel like a bit of a hypocrite accepting an apology and a voucher for €75 and then slating them by name on a public forum.
When I do go back, if it's bad again I won't hesitate.

sporina · 14-12-2018 11:10pm

in response to the previous posts, i won't name a restaurant where issues have been resolved.. that just feels wrong..

richiepurgas · 15-12-2018 2:17pm

The reason I haven't named the restaurant is that I wasn't there and so would not be in a position to discuss minutae of the experience. However, I have complete confidence in the person who told me about it.
I intended , in a general way, to shed some light on the issue of service standards in restaurants no matter how good the food is.

15-12-2018 2:21pm

Not a restaurant but was in Dulce bun house there on Oliver Plunkett street

Loved it there, and staff were so nice!

Curb Your Enthusiasm · 15-12-2018 3:27pm

Zayn Colossal Stance wrote: »

Not a restaurant but was in Dulce bun house there on Oliver Plunkett street

Loved it there, and staff were so nice!

One that I've walked past many times when on the street - must really pop in and try it soon!

Had West Cork Burger last night - delish! Had the Chicken burger, chips are lovely (twice cooked!) and prices reasonable enough, around €15 incl. a soft drink and chips with your burger.

Must go back and try their Wagyu beef next time around!

D'Agger · 15-12-2018 9:45pm

sporina wrote: »

in response to the previous posts, i won't name a restaurant where issues have been resolved.. that just feels wrong..

It's personal preference and I respect that for what it's worth, I think it's something that the mods could clear up? If it's not a recommendation or an open review of a restaurant, then really what's the point in it on this thread as it teaches me nothing and only serves to perk my interest and lead to speculation about other establishments.

Anyway, I think I've derailed things enough, apologies.

Ate in Coqbull this evening and was lovely, wasn't too stuffed coming out of there and the burger I had was manageable and delicious without being messy. Really, really want to go back to Bunsen too as I've only been there twice and that's well over a year ago. Burger season is upon me it seems.

fin12 · 16-12-2018 12:39pm

Anyone have food in the Thomand Bar? I’ve been there before a few times but only ever had drinks.

Richmond Ultra · 16-12-2018 12:55pm

fin12 wrote: »

Anyone have food in the Thomand Bar? I’ve been there before a few times but only ever had drinks.

Good pub grub, big portion for a reasonable price.

PreCocious · 16-12-2018 9:19pm

Richmond Ultra wrote: »

Long valley

I dunno. We went for a pint after a movie two weeks ago and the Guinness there was muck - way too cold and a nasty bitter taste. Went on to Goldberg's and the pints were brilliant.

16-12-2018 9:21pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

One that I've walked past many times when on the street - must really pop in and try it soon!

Had West Cork Burger last night - delish! Had the Chicken burger, chips are lovely (twice cooked!) and prices reasonable enough, around €15 incl. a soft drink and chips with your burger.

Must go back and try their Wagyu beef next time around!

Got the 8oz wagyu burger from them on deliveroo, delicious.

Curb Your Enthusiasm · 16-12-2018 10:25pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Got the 8oz wagyu burger from them on deliveroo, delicious.

Must try it the next time so!

Had the special Chicken Satay (€6.90) from the new Soba Asian Street food restaurant on Careys Lane this afternoon.

Delicious, and big portion sizes with rice.

Nice touch to have complimentary prawn crackers and water served to your table as you take your seat. Staff very pleasant and friendly, nice vibe in there too and upstairs seating which is a plus, as from looking in the window it looks quite small! Definitely worth a try.

Slim Charles · 21-12-2018 1:48pm

.red. wrote: »

I ended up in a restaurant last week that gets slated here a bit, the service was absolutely shocking. I complained when paying the bill and was pretty much told to fcuk off. I emailed them Sunday and got no reply. Some places just don't care. I'm gonna give them a week to reply before I call them out on social media.
I'll leave a proper review here too.

Who is it...:-D

opus · 22-12-2018 8:13pm

JackieChang wrote: »

There's a new ish vegan place called 143 down near the train station. Supposed to be very good.

Had something to do on the Lower Road on Fri so took the opportunity to call into 143 Cafe. Very nice place & friendly staff but very small. However they're expanding into the room next door (see pic) so great to see it's doing well as I wondered given the location.

sporina · 23-12-2018 2:23pm

opus wrote: »

Had something to do on the Lower Road on Fri so took the opportunity to call into 143 Cafe. Very nice place & friendly staff but very small. However they're expanding into the room next door (see pic) so great to see it's doing well as I wondered given the location.

i often wonder how it does much business as its in such an inconspicuous location

fin12 · 23-12-2018 5:45pm

The brook inn in Sallybrook is really nice. Food is lovely.

sporina · 23-12-2018 6:00pm

was at a xmas party night in the lee valley golf and country club last night - food was top notch.. i had a goats cheese start to start.. with caramelised red onion and a pine nut dressing, then salmon prawn and spinach for main.. excellent - then warm chocolate fudge cake.. and some home made mince pies... then danced for about 3 hrs solid.. excellent night

oh and had a wonderful bottle on NZ sav nav hmmm - €26 which i thought was great value for a restaurant/hotel

23-12-2018 6:25pm

Ate in les gormandise last night

Just gorgeous.

.red. · 23-12-2018 7:48pm

sporina wrote: »

was at a xmas party night in the lee valley golf and country club last night - food was top notch..

The food is always very good there. They usually do 2 mains for the price of 1 during the winter so it can be fantastic value too. Not every main is included but plenty of choice. Not sure if it's on again this year but if it is it'll probably start again around the middle of January so keep an eye on their website and Facebook page.

richiepurgas · 26-12-2018 1:49pm

There's a new Italian restaurant in Maylor street, where Cashman's bookies were. Passed it this morning and was surprised there wasn't a menu on display. Anyone been there ?

Lia_lia · 31-12-2018 10:02pm

Got a takeaway from Soba on Carey’s Lane this evening. Would usually get one from Koto but it was closed/not available for delivery.

Christ it was awful! Only ate about a quarter of it. Got a veggie tikka masala (wanted something mild) and tasted like a thick gloopy sweet and sour. My partner got a stir fry which was advertised as having chillies in it, he found one tiny bit of chilli and the rest was poor. Prawn crackers were inedible. Won’t be getting anything from there again! Should have just cooked a curry myself.

snotboogie · 02-01-2019 3:41pm

Lia_lia wrote: »

Got a takeaway from Soba on Carey’s Lane this evening. Would usually get one from Koto but it was closed/not available for delivery.

Christ it was awful! Only ate about a quarter of it. Got a veggie tikka masala (wanted something mild) and tasted like a thick gloopy sweet and sour. My partner got a stir fry which was advertised as having chillies in it, he found one tiny bit of chilli and the rest was poor. Prawn crackers were inedible. Won’t be getting anything from there again! Should have just cooked a curry myself.

I think Soba and Koto are both poor. I'm not a fan of Sago's South East Asian cuisine either but they have hired a Chinese chef and now have an authentic Chinese menu that needs to be requested. It's been a big hit with the Chinese community here and has overtaken Yuan Ming Yuan as the most popular authentic menu. I still think that Kubo is head and shoulders above all other "Asian Street Food" in the city. Curries are massively inconsistent across all of Soba, Koto, Sago, Kubo and Ramen though, it seems to depend on the day and who is cooking. If you are going to get a curry in, spend the extra few euro and get it from Golden Elephant, they are always excellent.

the beer revolu · 02-01-2019 4:46pm

Went to Co-Mix today.
Big portions, inexpensive and friendly are the nice things I can say about it,
I had a so called chicken casserole. It really was pretty terrible. Chicken breast and tinned/jarred vegetables in a gloopy, corn flour thickened, bland sauce served with rice.
Rather like a packet vegetable soup with chicken or a bad Chinese chicken dish without the Chinese flavours.

sporina · 02-01-2019 7:25pm

snotboogie wrote: »

I think Soba and Koto are both poor. I'm not a fan of Sago's South East Asian cuisine either but they have hired a Chinese chef and now have an authentic Chinese menu that needs to be requested. It's been a big hit with the Chinese community here and has overtaken Yuan Ming Yuan as the most popular authentic menu. I still think that Kubo is head and shoulders above all other "Asian Street Food" in the city. Curries are massively inconsistent across all of Soba, Koto, Sago, Kubo and Ramen though, it seems to depend on the day and who is cooking. If you are going to get a curry in, spend the extra few euro and get it from Golden Elephant, they are always excellent.

are you talking about Sago Asian Bistro?

opus · 04-01-2019 3:31pm

whatever76 wrote: »

Any reports on the new pizza place opened on princess st ?
https://www.oakfirepizza.ie/

Was in there for lunch today, lunch menu seemed good enough value, €10 for a pizza & a coffee (or soft drink). Pizza was pretty tasty as well & I was very impressed with how fast they managed to bring out our order.

Of course now I'll have to try their bitter rivals across the road

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 04-01-2019 3:47pm

I was there before Christmas, found the service a bit off, ages to take our order but then the food was out quickly. It was Christmas week in fairness, I fully sympathise with service workers being fresh out of fcuks to give!

Food itself I really liked, tried the vegan pizza, they have some fake mozzarella sourced in Carraigaline on it. Really really good, I'd be interested to give it to someone in a blind test and see if they noticed. The starters and desserts looked lovely as well but we didn't have any.

I like the interior too, all tables were occupied when we were there but for such a small space you didn't feel that you were all sitting on top of each other. The decor is maybe a bit...strong and I imagine it'll date quickly but it's grand.

Bit off topic but before Burnt opened I saw a group of staff from each place encountering each other on Princes St and having what appeared to be a fairly good natured shouting match in Italian, pretty entertaining I must say.

leahyl · 04-01-2019 4:23pm

Was in Oak Fire pizza before Christmas also - the pizza was very nice and staff were friendly. Even though it's a small place I didn't feel like we were on top of others, which is good.

sporina · 04-01-2019 10:24pm

Leonel Putrid Cheddar wrote: »

I was there before Christmas, found the service a bit off, ages to take our order but then the food was out quickly. It was Christmas week in fairness, I fully sympathise with service workers being fresh out of fcuks to give!

Food itself I really liked, tried the vegan pizza, they have some fake mozzarella sourced in Carraigaline on it. Really really good, I'd be interested to give it to someone in a blind test and see if they noticed. The starters and desserts looked lovely as well but we didn't have any.

I like the interior too, all tables were occupied when we were there but for such a small space you didn't feel that you were all sitting on top of each other. The decor is maybe a bit...strong and I imagine it'll date quickly but it's grand.

Bit off topic but before Burnt opened I saw a group of staff from each place encountering each other on Princes St and having what appeared to be a fairly good natured shouting match in Italian, pretty entertaining I must say.

is Burnt another pizza place?

Nonoperational · 04-01-2019 10:26pm

Oyster Tavern for a bit of food recently. Limited menu but very nice. Good staff. Recommended for a nice informal bite.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 05-01-2019 12:00am

sporina wrote: »

is Burnt another pizza place?

Yeah, just opened before Christmas, right across the street from Oak Fire Pizza. Bit weird.

sporina · 05-01-2019 12:16am

Leonel Putrid Cheddar wrote: »

Yeah, just opened before Christmas, right across the street from Oak Fire Pizza. Bit weird.

wow and there is another italian place on OP street? i can't keep up

Mardyke · 05-01-2019 12:35am

sporina wrote: »

wow and there is another italian place on OP street? i can't keep up

Italee? It's not a pizzeria though.

There's a new Italian place on Maylor St.... Bocelli I think...

And a new Italian cafe, which looks good, on Washington St

hufpc8w3adnk65 · 05-01-2019 4:11am

sporina wrote: »

wow and there is another italian place on OP street? i can't keep up

Rossini’s?

BullBlackNova · 05-01-2019 1:00pm

Cafe on the corner of Washington Street is called Cafe Torino, I think. Where the Holy Grain and Hassetts used to be.

Good to see a few places popping up. Looking forward to trying them out.

the beer revolu · 05-01-2019 4:36pm

This has been coming for a while but I have to finally admit that my much loved Yuan Ming Yuan has gone seriously downhill.
I questioned if the dim sum had changed and was told that they have a new chef (don't know how recent but I reckon its been disimproving for at least a year).
I politely informed them that any of the dim sum I've tried was no longer any good. They apologised and charged me full whack!

It was the only Chinese restaurant in Cork that I'd eat in or recommend to others:mad:

So that's Yuan Ming Yuan and The Fishwife gone to sh1te. If Iyer's decide to go downhill, I don't think I'll be able to cope!

igCorcaigh · 05-01-2019 6:44pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Yuan Ming Yuan has gone seriously downhill.

That's a pity, loved YMY when I was there, especially those pork dim sum with the Chinese vinegar. Anyone know what type of vinegar that was? It was clear, not the black smokey one.

sporina · 05-01-2019 7:15pm

Mardyke wrote: »

Italee? It's not a pizzeria though.

There's a new Italian place on Maylor St.... Bocelli I think...

And a new Italian cafe, which looks good, on Washington St

no its the place on Maylor St I had in my head..

So many new places,..

I will have to check out the new Italian Cafe for sure

Outkast_IRE · 05-01-2019 7:19pm

igCorcaigh wrote: »

That's a pity, loved YMY when I was there, especially those pork dim sum with the Chinese vinegar. Anyone know what type of vinegar that was? It was clear, not the black smokey one.

Rice vinegar possibly ?

igCorcaigh · 05-01-2019 7:22pm

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Rice vinegar possibly ?

Don't think so, it had a very distinct flavour.

Mardyke · 05-01-2019 8:37pm

sporina wrote: »

no its the place on Maylor St I had in my head..

So many new places,..

I will have to check out the new Italian Cafe for sure

Bocelli is the new place on Maylor St. Had a peek in the door and it looks decent.

the beer revolu · 06-01-2019 10:35am

igCorcaigh wrote: »

That's a pity, loved YMY when I was there, especially those pork dim sum with the Chinese vinegar. Anyone know what type of vinegar that was? It was clear, not the black smokey one.

That's what I had yesterday. Only ate half of them. The dough was really heavy, thick and stodgy and the filling was just not tasty like it used to be.
I don't know what the vinegar is but I would describe it as light brown rather than clear.

JackieChang · 06-01-2019 2:11pm

Any good cheap fry ups in the city? Does a €5 fry up exist anywhere? I wouldn't be into huge belly busters of a fry up, just one of each item and a bit of toast.

Witherspoon's used to have a €4.95 fry up but tis gone from the menu.

snotboogie · 06-01-2019 2:12pm

igCorcaigh wrote: »

That's a pity, loved YMY when I was there, especially those pork dim sum with the Chinese vinegar. Anyone know what type of vinegar that was? It was clear, not the black smokey one.

I always thought that YMY was overrated. The average authentic chinese you’d walk into in any European city would blow it out of the water. Serious dearth of proper Chinese food in Cork.

I tried ninja sushi bento. Decent takeaway sushi, their California rolls were poor but all the rest of the sushi was decent for the price point. Seemed v busy and I hope it does well

the beer revolu · 06-01-2019 2:59pm

snotboogie wrote: »

I always thought that YMY was overrated. The average authentic chinese you’d walk into in any European city would blow it out of the water. Serious dearth of proper Chinese food in Cork.

l

Their dim sum used to be really good.

the beer revolu · 06-01-2019 4:32pm

I went to check out the two new pizza places and the new sushi place yesterday.
I wasn't planning on eating, I just wanted to check out the menus and prices.
None of them had a menu in the window. This is a real bugbear of mine. I don't want to enter a restaurant and engage with the staff just to look at a menu.
Bookshelf at the Elysian is the same.

I assume they have menus online but if I'm passing a place, I like to have a look at the menu. It doesn't cost anything to do this!!

PreCocious · 06-01-2019 6:24pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

I went to check out the two new pizza places and the new sushi place yesterday.
I wasn't planning on eating, I just wanted to check out the menus and prices.
None of them had a menu in the window. This is a real bugbear of mine. I don't want to enter a restaurant and engage with the staff just to look at a menu.
Bookshelf at the Elysian is the same.

I assume they have menus online but if I'm passing a place, I like to have a look at the menu. It doesn't cost anything to do this!!

Price lists should be clearly visible http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/pricing/price_display_of_goods_and_services.html

igCorcaigh · 06-01-2019 6:41pm

snotboogie wrote: »

I always thought that YMY was overrated. The average authentic chinese you’d walk into in any European city would blow it out of the water. Serious dearth of proper Chinese food in Cork.

I tried ninja sushi bento. Decent takeaway sushi, their California rolls were poor but all the rest of the sushi was decent for the price point. Seemed v busy and I hope it does well

It depends what you order in YMY, they have a separate menu in Chinese, with English translation. Sometimes you have to ask for it. Their crisy Lamb and dry curry lamb were great, and tofu hotpot.

Passed ninja today and it is tiny, just sit down at the counter for 4 or 5 people, and was busy. Good to see a Japanese lady eating in there!

the beer revolu · 06-01-2019 7:10pm

PreCocious wrote: »

Price lists should be clearly visible http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/pricing/price_display_of_goods_and_services.html

True, but it states that it must be clearly visible outside or just inside the entrance. No obligation to have it in the window.

JackieChang · 06-01-2019 10:14pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

None of them had a menu in the window.

Same as Son of a Bun. Pile of arse. We were starved looking for a place to eat the other night and skipped Son of a Bun just because of the no menu thing. Just went across the street to Novecento.

They probably don't care anyway, it's always full.

The Restaurant Recommendation Thread

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