The Definitive Limerick Restaurant and Takeaway Thread

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Wise Old Elf wrote: »

There's a car park around the back, behind the houses on New street.
Another positive vote for the Green yard (and howdy neighbours). My other half was there at about half nine this morning and it was busy so it seems they're doing well so far.

Will definately be giving it a try so on Friday or Saturday. Do I just go left there at punches cross as I'm heading towards town?

James Bond Junior

It will be fine and busy this weekend, a geansai load of my colleagues are trying it this weekend. The reviews on here are all very positive so I hope it goes from strength to strength.

Any ideas when the bar is open? I fancy an alternative to fenneseys for a wee while..

Wise Old Elf

Turn left just after the garage and before the hotel as you're heading for town and car park is at the bend where you see the railings.

Haven't heard anything on the bar but loads of work on the ground floor. Tempted to drop up to Fennessy's now that you've mentioned it!!

James Bond Junior

Wise Old Elf wrote: »

Turn left just after the garage and before the hotel as you're heading for town and car park is at the bend where you see the railings.

Haven't heard anything on the bar but loads of work on the ground floor. Tempted to drop up to Fennessy's now that you've mentioned it!!

Guinness was good last night if that helps you make your mind up!

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Cafe followed by fennesys pints impromptu Limerick beers??

Leonita

Went in there around 12 today and it was so busy. We were in a rush and had to leave because nobody came to take our orders. Don't even think they noticed tbh. Which is unlike previous experiences we have had there

Noveight

Work went late for myself and the missus during the week, so with no plans made for dinner we said we'd go for a casual bite to eat. Decided on McGettigans as neither of us had ever been and we just wanted simple grub :P

I got the 8oz steak burger while she got the beef sandwich. Really enjoyed the food, portions were generous and the fries were lovely. Service was quick and friendly. Had a fine pint of Guinness too, no fault there.

One thing that struck me was the atmosphere. It's a big open space and without a crowd it makes it felt very empty, some of the staff were just kind of walking around. It was a Wednesday night however, so maybe that's to be expected.

Overall it was fine, nice spot for a casual bit of pub grub and a pint. Will I be back? Probably, yes

banie01

Went to Tuscany in the Granary today, while the food was good.
The service was dire!

Plenty of floor staff working but noone seemed to have a clue what areas/customers they were looking after.
As an example, I had the seafood stew it was dropped to the table with no spoon and the waitress said, "sorry about that, I'll drop you one now" Then never came back.
I had to ask twice for one to be brought, was almost 10 minutes waiting to get the attention of staff for a spoon!

Similar situation with dessert, 2 hot beverages and a dessert, drinks dropped to the table 15minutes after ordering them and it was another 15 minutes before the ordered dessert was dropped.

Its a lovely set up, nice decor and in fairness with the same food standard as Annacotty.
But while there was a party/function of some sort on in there today, the main restaurant was quiet when I was there and the standard of service was shockingly poor.
The staff were polite and attentive when you could get hold of them....
Getting hold of them was a serious problem tho!

Staff standing idle and chatting whilst customers are trying to get there attention is a bugbear of mine and I encountered too much of that in there today.

I know from earlier posts in the thread that people reported similar and have ascribed it to getting new staff up and running in the new location, so with that in mind I will head back there again in the next few weeks.

Long story short, food was grand. Service not so grand.

sioda

banie01 wrote: »

Went to Tuscany in the Granary today, while the food was good.
The service was dire!

Plenty of floor staff working but noone seemed to have a clue what areas/customers they were looking after.
As an example, I had the seafood stew it was dropped to the table with no spoon and the waitress said, "sorry about that, I'll drop you one now" Then never came back.
I had to ask twice for one to be brought, was almost 10 minutes waiting to get the attention of staff for a spoon!

Similar situation with dessert, 2 hot beverages and a dessert, drinks dropped to the table 15minutes after ordering them and it was another 15 minutes before the ordered dessert was dropped.

Its a lovely set up, nice decor and in fairness with the same food standard as Annacotty.
But while there was a party/function of some sort on in there today, the main restaurant was quiet when I was there and the standard of service was shockingly poor.
The staff were polite and attentive when you could get hold of them....
Getting hold of them was a serious problem tho!

Staff standing idle and chatting whilst customers are trying to get there attention is a bugbear of mine and I encountered too much of that in there today.

I know from earlier posts in the thread that people reported similar and have ascribed it to getting new staff up and running in the new location, so with that in mind I will head back there again in the next few weeks.

Long story short, food was grand. Service not so grand.

Very similar experience there myself

daisybelle2008

Same experience in Tuscany last week, very hard to get staff attention to take our order.
Plenty of them there but not really clued in. I think it's fairly common problem in a lot of restaurants. I think it's part time staff poorly trained, earning a few quid through college.

Wasn't blown away by the food, I had the pizza, was grand but over priced - it was Lunch time and the bill for 3 starters, 3 mains and two wines was almost €100

bigpink

daisybelle2008 wrote: »

Same experience in Tuscany last week, very hard to get staff attention to take our order.
Plenty of them there but not really clued in. I think it's fairly common problem in a lot of restaurants. I think it's part time staff poorly trained, earning a few quid through college.

Wasn't blown away by the food, I had the pizza, was grand but over priced - it was Lunch time and the bill for 3 starters, 3 mains and two wines was almost €100

Jesus thas expensive

Special Circumstances

I used to frequent the Mogul Emperor but kinda got distracted when all the new Asian fusion etc options appeared.

Went back tonight and it was just fantastic. Haven't had a naan bread elsewhere that would match their garlic coriander one. Big thumbs up.

Special Circumstances

daisybelle2008 wrote: »

Same experience in Tuscany last week, very hard to get staff attention to take our order.
Plenty of them there but not really clued in. I think it's fairly common problem in a lot of restaurants. I think it's part time staff poorly trained, earning a few quid through college.

Increasingly common now. Speaking in general now rather than in particular but it's so obvious when they haven't a clue what they're at - who is running these places? Take new staff to one side when they start and show them the basics if they haven't done it before.

If they're not taking in the basics then find somebody else!

James Bond Junior

Feeling pretty hungover today so a greasy takeaway was in order. Better half had a very good maasaman curry from Kaya whilst I opted for the tastiest thing on offer in this fair city, chicken fillet burger and gravy chips from Chicken Hut. It's been a while but it did not disappoint!

Conor Bourke

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I used to frequent the Mogul Emperor but kinda got distracted when all the new Asian fusion etc options appeared.

Went back tonight and it was just fantastic. Haven't had a naan bread elsewhere that would match their garlic coriander one. Big thumbs up.

Oh man, I haven't had a takeaway from Mogul Emperor in about 6 years, I loved that place. Glad to hear it's still consistently excellent. May hit it up next time I'm back in town.
/drool

bennyl10

Craving a spice box tonight.. any god ones in town?!

paulers06

bennyl10 wrote: »

Craving a spice box tonight.. any god ones in town?!

What is a spice box? I've seen mention of it a few times on here. Feel like i might be missing out on something great.

MarkR

paulers06 wrote: »

What is a spice box? I've seen mention of it a few times on here. Feel like i might be missing out on something great.

http://www.dailyedge.ie/spice-bag-2064545-Apr2015/

Looks like chips chicken and... um.. spice?

daisybelle2008

bigpink wrote: »

Jesus thas expensive

The starters were around tenner each including a bruschetta.
The wines were glasses of house wine.

I just noticed they have a 'Great Value' menu that would have applied but we weren't even offered that, had no idea it existed. :mad:

daisybelle2008

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Increasingly common now. Speaking in general now rather than in particular but it's so obvious when they haven't a clue what they're at - who is running these places? Take new staff to one side when they start and show them the basics if they haven't done it before.

If they're not taking in the basics then find somebody else!

I don't think they see service as important as it is. It seems to be just reacting when being requested often a few times instead of proactively serving and attending to assigned tables.

I think they are being told to do as they are asked, which means you have to ask for menus, ask for water and then try to compete with everyone in the restaurant to get served and catch attention of whoever is walking past at the time.

To be fair it's not everywhere but god there some places appalling.

Noveight

Ate at the Hi Way pub/restaurant next door to the hospital during the week.

Service was quick and friendly, the food was fine. Had the lasagna which seemed to have more cheese than meat :P Good value for money is the highlight and the pint of Guinness was spot on.

A nice walk in, eat, walk out type of place. Perfect if you need a munch and feel like something better than SuperMacs/Subway/etc.

Strettie11

Sunday Times / Mckennas 100 best restaurants for 2017 was published over the weekend and again Limerick have the same 3 restaurants as last year and 2015 ???

La Cucina
Canteen
1826

No change in 3 years

Parchment

Strettie11 wrote: »

Sunday Times / Mckennas 100 best restaurants for 2017 was published over the weekend and again Limerick have the same 3 restaurants as last year and 2015 ???

La Cucina
Canteen
1826

No change in 3 years

I think that shows how poor the food scene in Limerick is!

dominatinMC

Parchment wrote: »

I think that shows how poor the food scene in Limerick is!

Maybe it's more of an indictment of John & Sally McKenna and their lack of research? Not saying Limerick is a haven of haute cuisine, but anyone who eats out regularly would tell you that the French Table or Freddys is much better than La Cucina!

Strettie11

dominatinMC

They were the 2 restaurants that immediately came to mind for me as well.

Also considering La Cucina Centro does not even rank in the top 100 in Limerick on tripadvisor it is strange

Swiper the fox

dominatinMC wrote: »

Maybe it's more of an indictment of John & Sally McKenna and their lack of research? Not saying Limerick is a haven of haute cuisine, but anyone who eats out regularly would tell you that the French Table or Freddys is much better than La Cucina!

I used to buy and use those Mckenna guides for years when travelling around the country, mostly good but sometimes shockingly inaccurate. It was when they included Cafe Bar Deli in the Limerick section when it was no more than a rumour that I gave up on them.
LaCucina got a decent enough review in this month's food and wine magazine, I've still to visit it, I assume that lime it's Castletroy outlet it's just fine, no more or less than that.
Paul from Canteen seems to be a media darling, again it's a grand spot to get a bit of lunch, a bit overpriced maybe, but one of the best eating houses in the County? Ridiculous.
1826 is outrageously good though.

Mc Love

Strettie11 wrote: »

dominatinMC

They were the 2 restaurants that immediately came to mind for me as well.

Also considering La Cucina Centro does not even rank in the top 100 in Limerick on tripadvisor it is strange

Would you really use tripadvisor as a guide? I wouldnt even say half of the people that visit restaurants add their review unless its encouraged by the establishment.

Special Circumstances

Trip Advisor was "alternative facts" before it was cool.

Strettie11

I have found it very useful and has taken a lot of the guesswork out of finding a good restaurant/hotel.

Yes you have some favourable once off reviews that can skew ratings but I have found the biggest review contributors on there are excellent to follow to point you in the right direction.

What does everyone else use as a guide for restaurants / hotels ?

Exeggcute

I always take guides/lists with a pinch of salt because more often than not, like most things in Ireland, they are tainted by cronyism, who you know, social media influence etc

La Cucina is grossly overrated. I'd say their reputation owes more to their twitter account than any dish they serve