Dinner Tonight! Where to go? - Restaurant & Eating Out Recommendations for NCD

cloud493

The Hill Billy wrote: »

What was awful about it - food, service, something else?

Well I ordered at 9, food didn't show up 10.40, the delivery driver wasn't friendly. I only live a 15 minute walk from malahide village, so not very far at all. Then the food was just terrible, so greasy and.... untasty? Hardly even edible, I had deep fried onion rings, chicken balls, spring rolls, yum yums, and fried rice with spare ribs, and it was all awful, greasy, made me sick.

But lesson learned, I got my refund and I wont be going there again

The Hill Billy

Cheers for that. It is just that one man's awful may be another man's acceptable depending on the circumstances. So it's always good to know what the problem was.

Dizzyblonde

That's a pity about the Green Cottage, it's been there for a long time and back when there were hardly any takeaways in Swords we used to get our Chinese takeaway over there. The food was excellent.

Tilly

I got a beef curry and one of the girls got chicken satay from green cottage last weekend and it was delish. Maybe the chef was having an off night.

cloud493

Aye its possible. The meal I got was excessively poor though, so I was very disappointed.

Kintarō Hattori

So after living in Balbriggan for almost three and a half years the missus and I got to experience Ollies in Skerries for the first time........ and it was good.

We arrived relatively early in the night but still had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. A minor inconvenience as we were both starving so we just sat at the bar until a table came free.
For starters the missus had Risotto of which I had a wee taste and wow- that's what I'll be ordering next time I go back. I had the Potato Bravas myself with a BBQ sauce. It was delicious but the portion was so large that I didn't eat it all.

For mains she had the Thai Beef Salad which she thoroughly enjoyed. I had ordered the Smokey burger...... but I'm not entirely convinced that's what came. Regardless, I'm not a demanding eater and whichever burger came it was delicious.
Drinks wise she had a white wine and I had coke as I was driving.

All in all the atmosphere was pleasant, the waiting staff were attentive without being fussy, food was delicious and the price was very reasonable. Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, to the point the missus has stated we'll be going back!

Shred

I saw someone recommending Fabio's (http://www.fabios.ie) on another thread so the wife and I gave it a go tonight and it was absolutely delicious. She had Chicken Cacciatore which was huge with 2 chicken breasts and lots of spaghetti in a lovely sauce with a nice spicy after kick for €10, my 3 year old son even had some (half of it is in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, nom nom)! I had Ravioli Della Casa which was also really lovely and had plenty in it too. We'll definitely be eating from here again!

Jimdagym

Shred wrote: »

I saw someone recommending Fabio's (http://www.fabios.ie) on another thread so the wife and I gave it a go tonight and it was absolutely delicious. She had Chicken Cacciatore which was huge with 2 chicken breasts and lots of spaghetti in a lovely sauce with a nice spicy after kick for €10, my 3 year old son even had some (half of it is in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, nom nom)! I had Ravioli Della Casa which was also really lovely and had plenty in it too. We'll definitely be eating from here again!

Looks good, but coolock village is not NCD.

jibberjive

Fabio's gave a branch in Swords Manor

Jimdagym

jibberjive wrote: »

Fabio's gave a branch in Swords Manor

Ahh, I apologise. I didn't know.

The Davestator

My wife and I ate in Raffs on the corner, Skerries on Thursday night. We had a grabone voucher, so cant speak for price. It was 2 x Steak on a stone. I'm not a mad fan of steak on a stone as it always ends up overcooked by the time you come to eat the last few bits, but it was nice. Chips and dips were nice.
Waited ages for apple crumble, and it was a huge disappoinment. Very bland.

Service was excellent at the start, and got a little worse toward the end. Had to stand up and walk around to ask for the bill but no major issues.

Nice place, but didnt blow me away.

cathy01

Guys I spent a few hours in Raffs .horrible experiance .
Indidnt have my
Classss with me and asked the lounge boy would he help me
Pick out a wine .we where discussing it and the barman dressed all in black took the wine menu from
Me and asked what wine do you want.snapping the menu.our group had tk send back two meals .one table got no veg .we arrived at 7 I asked the staff to stsrt taking food orders at 7.45 and she said no she wants tk wait till we where all there.we where 5-7 people short.late arrivals .the manager would rush her answer and as for the entertainment .the owner sang a few songs then a Christmas caroll .this was a Christmas party for 45 people .
Never again .
Save yourself time and money and stay away.

Pipmae

That sounds really disappointing cathy01.

I was in Okra in Howth last night and it was delicious. I couldn't fault it. I started with the poppadums and dips - delicious. Then I had the sharing platter as a starter - it was all fab but a special mention on the lamb chops - they were delicious. I went for the jalfrezi prawn for my main and it was faultless. The pilau rice was nice and the peshwari naan also nice. Nobody got dessert.

The service was excellent - a really lovely waitress - super helpful regarding recommendations for both food and wine. When I asked for the bill she offered us a drink on the house. A drink of choice so we had a G&T, Baileys, Tia Maria, Sambuca & a diet coke (the driver) - there were 5 of us.

One comment I will make is that my sister and mum both had the beef jalfrezi and some of their beef was a bit tough - not all of it - a couple of pieces each. I didn't taste it myself.

The only other comment I will make is that for a Saturday night in December in Howth I thought the restaurant was a bit quiet. Then again we got there early (a 5.30pm booking) so maybe it picked up later in the evening.

Cats.Whiskers

I like Raffs, I always go for the battered cod with big chunky chips and I'm never disappointed.

I'd agree about the apple crumble dessert, I would image it is made in bulk earlier in the day and then just zapped in the microwave as the crumble is never crunchy and their pavlova is a bit soapy.

Jimmy is a real asset I think it's a very nice touch for him to go around and talk to his guests, I know the chef in the red bank does this also and it makes you feel a bit more welcome and valued.

It's a lovely venue and although not to everyones tastes i.e. his monthly acoustic night, the fact there is free live music and some entertainment after your dinner is welcomed by me.

Stheno

Dunno have I mentioned them before (DUH checked and I have), but the Oh and I have had a couple of meals the past few months in Sale e Pepe in Malahide, early bird all night Mon - Thurs. 21e for two courses.

The food is lovely, the restaurant layout is great, and the service is superb, every time we go there, we ask ourselves why we keep forgetting about the place.

We were there tonight for our "Christmas is soon" kickoff evening, and it was just delightful

Oh is not a drinker and this time of year we tend to favour restaurants as neither of us are into noisy raucous pubs, and we'd the most lovely evening. Twas also a surprise for me from the OH which made it all the nicer.

I did enjoy a lovely brandy after my meal

The Hill Billy

I brought the Billy Family to Blue Bar in Skerries for a festive dinner the other night - what a bonus that you can now book your table online!

All the others went for burgers & wings which were fantastic as usual. I went for the baked Ray wing & roasted Mediterranean veg. It was sublime. The best bit of fish I have had in ages & a huge portion too! Kudos to the staff for great service also.

I gotta say that between Blue Bar & Ollie's we are really spoilt in Skerries for top quality wings.

BKWDR

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I gotta say that between Blue Bar & Ollie's we are really spoilt in Skerries for top quality wings.

I regularly just travel from Swords to have the wings in Blue...The Cock Tavern in swords is my fave but they feed ya well in Blue

Dizzyblonde

BKWDR wrote: »

I regularly just travel from Swords to have the wings in Blue...

Me too, they're the best although I like the BBQ wings in the Old Schoolhouse too.

Stheno

Must try out Blues have been to Ollies

sgarvan

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I gotta say that between Blue Bar & Ollie's we are really spoilt in Skerries for top quality wings.

Love the food in Blue & Ollies, just find Ollies better value overall.

How did you find the price in Blue? Went there a while ago and noticed a big jump in their prices and a smaller menu.

Stheno

Just home after dinner in Empire in Swords, formerly the Slaughtered Lamb.

Was never there when it was the slam and we'd lunch there a few weeks ago which I put down to them just opening.

I don't have one single positive from the evening. From being seated to someone taking drinks orders was fifteen minutes.

I ordered wings, which came whole rather than the more usual being split into two, and were soggy so that seperating the two sides/pieces was a battle.

OH had lamb for mains, which was fatty and sparse in terms of the portion, I'd the roast beef, which was so tough I literally sawed at it to get it to edible sizes. My roast potatoes were either burnt or soggy, and the yorkshire pud would have made an excellent sliotar, so tough was it.

And we were overcharged on the bill. The service was also appallingly slow

Even weirder, when going outside for a cigarette out the back, there is a conservatory which houses a back bar, four walls, fully enclosed roof, and everyone in there was smoking including the staff, appears they are breaking the anti smoking laws.

Won't be going back

Dizzyblonde

That sounds dreadful.

Stheno

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

That sounds dreadful.

It was absolutely horrid, there seem to be a surfeit of "management" types who stand around chatting. At one point as we were seated near the kitchen I overheard two waitresses trying to figure out who was going to cover which tables. When we were waiting for the first fifteen minutes we had members of the waiting staff pass us about 10 times without so much as asking if we wanted to order drinks/food

The manager is the former manager of Wrights cafe bar

I do actually have one positive, the place is beautifully done up, and if the service and food were about 1000% better, it's somewhere I'd happily spend a Saturday afternoon having a couple of drinks and chilling out.

Service when we had lunch there was the same, so nothing has changed in the past month or so

I remember slating hogs and heifers when it opened, but the food was decent, these guys can't even get bog standard roast lamb and beef right.

The Hill Billy

sgarvan wrote: »

Love the food in Blue & Ollies, just find Ollies better value overall.

How did you find the price in Blue? Went there a while ago and noticed a big jump in their prices and a smaller menu.

I find that the price reflects the quality of the food & service to be honest. Cutting back on the menu size probably allowed them concentrate on the better-selling dishes & also give more scope for daily/weekly specials.

If I didn't think that I was getting value for money I wouldn't go back.

Dizzyblonde

Stheno wrote: »

It was absolutely horrid, there seem to be a surfeit of "management" types who stand around chatting. At one point as we were seated near the kitchen I overheard two waitresses trying to figure out who was going to cover which tables. When we were waiting for the first fifteen minutes we had members of the waiting staff pass us about 10 times without so much as asking if we wanted to order drinks/food

The manager is the former manager of Wrights cafe bar

I do actually have one positive, the place is beautifully done up, and if the service and food were about 1000% better, it's somewhere I'd happily spend a Saturday afternoon having a couple of drinks and chilling out.

Service when we had lunch there was the same, so nothing has changed in the past month or so

I remember slating hogs and heifers when it opened, but the food was decent, these guys can't even get bog standard roast lamb and beef right.

They'll have to up their game if they're going to survive in Swords because there are so many good places to eat now.

cloud493

Didn't even know the slaughtered lamb had gone

I just had a pretty bad take out experience with pizza dog, on with a just eat rep now cos it was shocking. Won't be ordering there again.

Carter12

Stheno wrote: »

Just home after dinner in Empire in Swords, formerly the Slaughtered Lamb.

Was never there when it was the slam and we'd lunch there a few weeks ago which I put down to them just opening.

I don't have one single positive from the evening. From being seated to someone taking drinks orders was fifteen minutes.

I ordered wings, which came whole rather than the more usual being split into two, and were soggy so that seperating the two sides/pieces was a battle.

OH had lamb for mains, which was fatty and sparse in terms of the portion, I'd the roast beef, which was so tough I literally sawed at it to get it to edible sizes. My roast potatoes were either burnt or soggy, and the yorkshire pud would have made an excellent sliotar, so tough was it.

And we were overcharged on the bill. The service was also appallingly slow

Even weirder, when going outside for a cigarette out the back, there is a conservatory which houses a back bar, four walls, fully enclosed roof, and everyone in there was smoking including the staff, appears they are breaking the anti smoking laws.

Won't be going back

Hi, did you complain ?

Just wondering if you did and how they responded to it.

Stheno

Carter12 wrote: »

Hi, did you complain ?

Just wondering if you did and how they responded to it.

I asked why people were smoking in the enclosed back bar and was told it was part of the outdoor smoking area. When I pointed out it was fully enclosed the person I was talking to just shrugged and walked off.

Dizzyblonde

Better news about the Empire - my daughter and her boyfriend were there last night and said the food was excellent. No issues with service either, so it might be just a bit hit and miss at the minute.

Stheno

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Better news about the Empire - my daughter and her boyfriend were there last night and said the food was excellent. No issues with service either, so it might be just a bit hit and miss at the minute.

Could well be, it was packed the night I was there