Good restaurant for first date

shortcorner

Hi there,

I am heading out on a date next week and I'm looking for a nice restaurant to go to. Nothing to off the wall yet comfortable with a friendly atmosphere. Oh and nice food off course. No food prefeneces but most people say try and stay away from spicy stuff on a first date. I would prefer somewhere around the city centre. I have had a look at menupages.ie and findarestaurant.ie but I'm not sure how trusting the reviews and ratings are. Any suggestions on this would be very grateful.

Thanks
A

Lola123

try one of these, they're all nice;

milano's
little ceasars
pizza stop
yamamori
salamanca
peploes
elephant and castle

markpb

Italian Connection on Talbot St (under Holiday Inn) is small, cosy, great food, good atmosphosphe and reasonably priced.

Personally I always find pubs like Grand Central (O'Connell St / Abbey St) very informal and relaxed, especially on a first date. The food is quite good there too and they have veeery comfortable seats.

shortcorner

Thanks for the suggestions I think Milano's or Salamanca are looking top of the list
A

IRLConor

I'd second Peploe's, but if you're thinking about Milano's perhaps it might be a little pricey. I ate in Peploe's 3/4 months ago and it came to about EUR75/person (3 courses, wine, coffee & tip).

I'm a big fan of the Ely Wine Bar. Very good food and friendly and knowledgeable staff. Their Ely Place restaurant has a nice atmosphere for a date too if you sit downstairs (where most of the seats are anyway). If you (or your date) drink wine it's great, the staff know loads yet aren't snooty about it. When I first went there with my girlfriend we said "this is what we've ordered, can you recommend a wine to go with it?" and they brought out glasses of two wines for us to try. Both were tasty and they didn't try to push us to the expensive end of the wine list. Try the bangers and mash.

I'd also recommend Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St. Excellent food, about the same price ballpark as Ely. The service was great 2/3 times and the other time it was good but slow. Their steaks are fantastic.

admiralofthefleet

Lola123 wrote:

elephant and castle

seconded, great place for a date

Ibjiba

There is a restaurant called Evolution (anybody know the exact name) or something similar. Though not the most romantic setting it is well done with an evolution-theme. They offer you very good food for a decent price if you get there for the early-bird.

shrapnel222

le gueuleton just off george street, yum and not too pricey

IRLConor

shrapnel222 wrote:

le gueuleton just off george street, yum and not too pricey

Oh yeah, I love that place. Very nice food. The only reason I didn't suggest it is because the "no reservations, queue up at 6" model may not be good for a date.

delta_bravo

Gotta be KFC, nothing more romantic than sharing a bucket of chicken

shortcorner

Well thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
I decided with Salamanca's as girl I meeting is from Spain and heard she likes that place. If I get as far as a second date, I will consider KFC lol (Only joking)
Definitely Peploes if I go on a second date

Cheers
A

lightening

She's Spanish? I don't know if salamanca will be up to it dude! Try the Port House, ignore the online reviews, the food is great. Went there with two really fussy Spanish girls who turn their nose up at most things in Ireland.

http://menupages.ie/Restaurants/The_Port_House.aspx?gclid=CIbohPG-s40CFQjtlAodUyD1rw

http://www.ireland-guide.com/establishment/the_port_house.5306.html

The only thing is... you can't get bookings, so you might have to wait around, get a few drinks, but that can be fun too. Its worth it though, really really good tapas and great prices. The next best place for Tapas would be the Market Bar on Georges st. Really good Irish atmosphere with good spanish food. Its pretty informal, good for a first date.

I wouldn't be very impressed with salamanca to be honest.

John Mason

markpb wrote:

Italian Connection on Talbot St (under Holiday Inn) is small, cosy, great food, good atmosphosphe and reasonably priced.

Personally I always find pubs like Grand Central (O'Connell St / Abbey St) very informal and relaxed, especially on a first date. The food is quite good there too and they have veeery comfortable seats.

oh Grand Central is my first date pub too

jdivision

Port House has become awful. Went to Fallon & Byrne once and never again, the food was absolutely rubbish. I'd second most of the others listed above but depending on what time you're meeting there's also Pearl Brasserie on Merrion Row, Odessa on Dame Lane and La Mere Zou on Stephen's Green. I wouldn't do tapas with a Spanish person tbh, might seem a bit too obvious??

Mr. Presentable

Trocadero is nice. Has a classy feel to it.

http://www.trocadero.ie/

lightening

jdivision wrote:

Port House has become awful. Went to Fallon & Byrne once and never again, the food was absolutely rubbish.

Wow... these places seem really up and down. Port house was great last Saturday and Fallon and Byrnes was great the last time I was there, but friends, like you thought it was bad. What exactly was bad?

jdivision wrote:

I wouldn't do tapas with a Spanish person tbh, might seem a bit too obvious??

Thats a really good point. but it shows he is making an effort!

PeakOutput

i think the restaurants listed are a bit too formal for a first date. great places but i would not go for a first date there like someone else said a pub/restaurant is a good compromise i think.

shortcorner

Again thanks all for comments, but its decided and I'm going to Salamanca's and as it turns out she really likes it there.
Cheers
A

Marcais

Bring her to London and take her up the Oxo tower. Fantastic views.

loyatemu

Marcais wrote:

...take her up the Oxo tower.

sounds too much like a dodgy euphemism.

JCDUB

IRLConor wrote:

Oh yeah, I love that place. Very nice food. The only reason I didn't suggest it is because the "no reservations, queue up at 6" model may not be good for a date.

Re: L'Geuleton off Georges St.
What is the deal with this place?I've been in about four or five times to get a table and still unsuccessful.:mad:
The last time was Saturday night around 8 (I know busiest time and all that) but there were a number of tables available and the rude maitre d or manager said they had nothing. Considering they don't take bookings I don't get why they couldn't give us an empty table, it's not as if it was reserved!!
He wasn't the slightest bit polite either. FYI I was with my girlfriend, both dressed well etc. (not that that should have anything to do with it.)
Anybody else found this?

copacetic

JCDUB wrote:

Re: L'Geuleton off Georges St.
What is the deal with this place?I've been in about four or five times to get a table and still unsuccessful.:mad:
The last time was Saturday night around 8 (I know busiest time and all that) but there were a number of tables available and the rude maitre d or manager said they had nothing. Considering they don't take bookings I don't get why they couldn't give us an empty table, it's not as if it was reserved!!
He wasn't the slightest bit polite either. FYI I was with my girlfriend, both dressed well etc. (not that that should have anything to do with it.)
Anybody else found this?

they were likely reserved though, by people in earlier that night. they take in person, on the day reservations. They take your number and then call you when a table is free, can't be fairer than that imo. Those free tables were likely waiting on their owners to arrive. In general, get there earlish, ask for a table, give them your number. Go across to market bar and wait for the call over a nice drink or two.

JCDUB

Fair enough I'll try an earlier approach next time, and I'll give the staff member the benefit of the doubt as I heard they're pretty easy-going and not snooty.
I believe the food is excellent though, so will try again..
Thanks.

Zascar

Check the Food and Drink forum for a thread on Teppanyakki. Loads of fun, I always thought it would be great for a date...

sportbilly

Havana on George's St is good. Tapas bar, informal, again though they don't take bookings.

IRLConor

JCDUB wrote:

Re: L'Geuleton off Georges St.
What is the deal with this place?I've been in about four or five times to get a table and still unsuccessful.:mad:
The last time was Saturday night around 8 (I know busiest time and all that) but there were a number of tables available and the rude maitre d or manager said they had nothing. Considering they don't take bookings I don't get why they couldn't give us an empty table, it's not as if it was reserved!!
He wasn't the slightest bit polite either. FYI I was with my girlfriend, both dressed well etc. (not that that should have anything to do with it.)
Anybody else found this?

You absolutely positively have to queue at 6 when they open. About half the people in the queue will be there to book for later on. When I was there last, I was seated at five past six and could hear the maitre d telling someone that they were booked out for the entire night. If you turn up after 6 you won't get a table. I was in the queue 15 minutes before it opened and got a seat (on a Saturday night) so you don't have to turn up that early.

The staff are pretty decent in my experience, perhaps the person you talked to was having a bad day.

VinceV

To be honest i never used the restaurant review websites but we have all started using findarestaurant.ie in work (AIB IFSC ) and love it. i posted a not so hot review and they put it up so it shows good reviews are not just been posted. Guys.. elephant and castle is soooo good ( chicken wings !!!!!!! )and then you can go to temple bar. Am i too late to give this guy advice on where to go ???!!