Taste of Dublin

dav1b

So what seems to be the consensus on the Taste of Dublin festival?

I was there on Friday and I thought it was pretty cool, but a bit of a rip off... I mean what the hell are these florins..???

Those black pudding tarts from Locks were amazing though, even at 8 'florins' a pop!

Dizzyblonde

Pre-decimal days a florin was 2 shillings, which then became 20p.

ponder2

A complete rip off. 25 quid + 3.50 quid booking fee per person. For that you get some free nibbles and advertising. Great for pretentious foodie watching. The Iveagh Gardens are nice though (and free any other time!).

Alun

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Pre-decimal days a florin was 2 shillings, which then became 20p.

... or even 10p 1 shilling = 5p

ClassicDisaster

Thaught it was realy good, but next time i wont be buying the €40 ticket. i was seriously disapointed with the ricew pudding from locks and the "yogurt" from Ramsay, bon apettit was briliant, and oliver dunne had by far the best demonstration!

Victor_M

I was very disapointed with it this year, a bit like every thing else in Ireland the prices are shooting up and the quality is dropping.

8 Euro for a tiny portion of Fish and chips from the merrion hotel, and they were frozen chips, not the hand cut homemade ones you get in the hotel itself.

Ramsay's Fois Gras yoghurt was revolting, that was the biggest let down for me as I was really looking forward to trying some of his food.

Town bar and Grill was nice, lamb chop and red pepper dressing, alomst a bit too simple though.

Poulot's Sea Bass Bouilleabaise was delicious too.

All in all, I spent over 80 Euro, there was no bar area like last year to sit down and have a pint, it was 5 Euro for a 1/2 litre of Bavaria in a plastic glass.

I just felt like they were taking the pi$$ out of the visitors with the prices of everything.

dee8839

It was my first experience of anything of this kind, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were some very interesting displays and I found an excellent Fathers Day gift in the form of a bottle of single malt whiskey from Conamara. I also thought the display of different lagers and stouts was of interest.

I will say though, the World of Wine wasn't up to much. The samples were a little too big, and some of the staff were less than helpful. Also, to buy a bottle of wine, they didn't take florins. I spent so long in the wine tent that at 9.25pm on Friday, I had 16 florins left to spend. Cue panicked rush to find somewhere to spend (read: waste) my last few paper notes.

I think the highlights for me were the expresso cocktails Bewleys provided and the cocktails and sushi from the Ice Bar. If I was going again, I'd skip the wine ticket and plan my time better to sample more of the food on sale. All in all, a great excuse to dress up and sip some champagne in those gorgeous gardens.

Beruthiel

Victor_M wrote: »

Ramsay's Fois Gras yoghurt was revolting.

:eek:
It was devine!

I went Saturday afternoon with 5 other people. We had a ball.
Chapter One, the Still and Gordon Ramsays food came out tops.

As for the wine tasting, a total bargin! I got more than one freebie from the vine yard owners and fell out of the place. Eduardo on the Rioja stand was a dote.
We had a fantastic day and I'll defo be going back next year.

dee8839 wrote:

I will say though, the World of Wine wasn't up to much. The samples were a little too big

I'm sorry, but that does not compute

As far as I'm concerned, the O'Brians Tent made the day for me. The food was fantastic, but the Wine Tent was the cherry on top.

gucci

dee8839 wrote: »

I found an excellent Fathers Day gift in the form of a bottle of single malt whiskey from Conamara. I also thought the display of different lagers and stouts was of interest.

How much was that? I tasted that before, its a nice whiskey, just be interested to see what the price was at this event

dee8839

gucci wrote: »

How much was that? I tasted that before, its a nice whiskey, just be interested to see what the price was at this event

It was €30 for the bottle, which was roughly 700ml, I'm not sure exactly. Not sure how that adds up to regular prices in an offie but it wasn't bad. I don't like whiskey normally but it was so unusual, a really smoky taste because of something to do with a peat fire in the process of making it, I don't know the details, I'm no whiskey brewer!

ClassicDisaster

Beruthiel wrote: »

:eek:
It was devine

No it wasnt, it was disgusting!

I was devastated that Chapter One wasnt there on friday was hoping for some free food!

Beruthiel

ClassicDisaster wrote: »

No it wasnt, it was disgusting!

Then I can only assume that there is something drastically wrong with your taste buds and you should consult a GP at once!

Mr Magnolia

Beruthiel wrote: »

Then I can only assume that there is something drastically wrong with your taste buds and you should consult a GP at once!

You forgot the lock :-D

olaola

I had a cold foie gras amuse bouche in Gordon's restaurant with some type of jelly on top. I wonder was it the same thing??
I can honestly say it was the most vile thing I've ever tasted, and I adore foie gras. It tasted like the worst halitosis smells, and all other 5 people at the table agreed.

Dizzyblonde

Alun wrote: »

... or even 10p 1 shilling = 5p

Oops, you got me. I was wracking my brains trying to remember - and I'm old enough to!! Premature senility creeping in maybe........:eek:

catho_monster

+1 for the fois gras being absolutely to die for.
as was the chocolate fondant from the still at dylan.
YUM!

shrapnel222

i thought it was utter rubbish. i love food but everything i tasted was precooked and reheated. i also went on the day it rained, which meant that everyone was pushing and shoving to try and stay out of the rain. We were invited there last year and given lots of free money, and probably will be again this year, but no doubt about it we will politely decline.