Waterford City Restaurants (2010 - Present)

Straycat

pub grub, becketts. la fontana for fine italian dining, or sabai for delicate thai.

Dreams aloud

Maybe the imperial garden (new-ish chinese on the manor) 4 courses for 17.50 as an early bird (before 7) & really nice if you're watching the pennies.

Otherwise l'atmosphere the french restaurant on henrietta street is lovely (quaint & romantic for a birthday) & they do a 3 course meal with a glass of wine for 20 euro & it's on all night, so might be worth a try.

Enjoy

pinky1980

molby wrote: »

Anybody try the Hairy Pig over the Exchange,menu looks very nice.3 courses and 5 pints 35 euro.

yes i did try the hairy pig the food is fab and the service was great the food is 5 star for the price i will definitely be back well done to all involved.

Aquos76

You wouldn't happen to be involved with this premises now would you?

poppies2

Have had lunch in the new restaurant where the Wine Vault is, McLeary's, twice now thought it was fab. Also think New York Burger is great too.

Aquos76

poppies2 wrote: »

Have had lunch in the new restaurant where the Wine Vault is, McLeary's, twice now thought it was fab.

Im delighted to hear that, we have a meal booked for later on tonight, I ve heard quite a few good reports about the place, so looking forward to trying it for myself. I was a massive fan of the olde stand back in the day, and Ken and Kevin both ran the restaurant part of that, so hopefully it will be as good if not better.

poppies2

Aquos76 wrote: »

Im delighted to hear that, we have a meal booked for later on tonight, I ve heard quite a few good reports about the place, so looking forward to trying it for myself. I was a massive fan of the olde stand back in the day, and Ken and Kevin both ran the restaurant part of that, so hopefully it will be as good if not better.

With you on the Olde Stand, we used to love it. Hope you have (are having!) a lovely time! A friend of mine has also had dinner there, went for the early bird and she loved it, she thought it was very good value.

Aquos76

Just home from an excellent night out, the food in Mclearys is only fabulous and offers excellent value for money, 4 starters, 4 main courses, 6 drinks, and 4 tea/coffees all for €120. The service was top class to.

Afterwards we headed into The front lounge, this was our first time in there also, really relaxing atmosphere on there and very reasonably priced also, €4 for their pints and bottles, very good for a city centre premises. Must say, when we left there after 1.30 the place was still buzzing.

Trotter

Aquos76 wrote: »

Just home from an excellent night out, the food in Mclearys is only fabulous and offers excellent value for money, 4 starters, 4 main courses, 6 drinks, and 4 tea/coffees all for €120. The service was top class to.

Afterwards we headed into The front lounge, this was our first time in there also, really relaxing atmosphere on there and very reasonably priced also, €4 for their pints and bottles, very good for a city centre premises. Must say, when we left there after 1.30 the place was still buzzing.

Definitely gonna give that restaurant a whirl soon. Its getting great reviews here and elsewhere.

Where's the Front Lounge again?

Aquos76

The front lounge is where twister vicks used to be, just down from the woodman, one of the regular contributors on here, "abouttobebanned" in involved with the running of it.

AdMMM

Went for a meal in Bodega the other night and I'm going to go against the grain here and say that it was the worst service I ever saw in a formal dining setting. Each table is equipped with service buzzers that you press if you require service. Such a system is woefully inadequate as is discourages waiters from, y'know, waiting on their tables and instead just hang around by their counter and wait for people to run out of water, ask for the cutlery they didn't get, ask for the milk they didn't get, ask for the specials that they weren't told about etc.

They also didn't have any Beef or Lamb which I found to be a complete and utter joke!

AdMMM

Just went for lunch in Sabai earlier. Starter and main course for €14.50 which I think is fantastic value. Chicken Satay skewers for starters with a wonderful peanut based sauce and a creamy Vietnamese curry for mains for myself. Very attentive and chatty waiting staff (but not in the over the top and fake manner) even as the place got busy! It was my first time there because I've never really been a fan of Thai food but it's a wonderful setting for a restaurant and the cosy atmosphere makes it a nice place to enjoy your food.

kryogen

Have pretty much gone through the menu in Sabai at this stage, never lets ya down

deisemum

My friends and I went to Sabai a while back and everyone of us were very disappointed with it. Extremely poor service and the food was a mess, maybe they were having a bad night but none of us will go back.

I went to Lime Leaf recently and everything was lovely.

Looking forward to trying McLeary's in the near future.

kryogen

deisemum wrote: »

My friends and I went to Sabai a while back and everyone of us were very disappointed with it. Extremely poor service and the food was a mess, maybe they were having a bad night but none of us will go back.

I went to Lime Leaf recently and everything was lovely.

Looking forward to trying McLeary's in the near future.

Im absolutely shocked by that deisemum!

Of course everyone can have a bad night i guess, I would urge you to consider giving it another go though at some stage.

kayaksurfbum

AdMMM wrote: »

Went for a meal in Bodega the other night and I'm going to go against the grain here and say that it was the worst service I ever saw in a formal dining setting. Each table is equipped with service buzzers that you press if you require service. Such a system is woefully inadequate as is discourages waiters from, y'know, waiting on their tables and instead just hang around by their counter and wait for people to run out of water, ask for the cutlery they didn't get, ask for the milk they didn't get, ask for the specials that they weren't told about etc.

They also didn't have any Beef or Lamb which I found to be a complete and utter joke!

Had the same experience there a while back. really bad service. I asked could i have rice instead of spuds on a dish and was given a big "NO, we dont do rice"!

Wont be going back there.

The buzzer thing is pretty weird too.

poppies2

I think the service in Bodega is dire too, it would put me off going again to be honest even though anytime we went there the food was lovely. Is the buzzer a new thing?

Has anyone been to La Palma recently? Going there this weekend

kryogen

La Palma is in my top 3 or 4 restaurants in the city, never had a complaint there

poppies2

kryogen wrote: »

La Palma is in my top 3 or 4 restaurants in the city, never had a complaint there

thanks Kryogen, that's good to know

slainte1

The early bird in La Palma at €25 is wonderful value. For a €3 supplement try the rib eye steak. Well worth the money. My only quibble, and it's a very minor one, is that the lighting is quite dim. This might suit some people perfectly well.

Crusty Blaa

Hi, I'm a new poster. Just thought I'd share a few recent dining experiences.

I drove back from Dublin yesterday and picked my girlfriend up with the intention of going for something cheap and cheerful for dinner. Neither of us were pushed about going into the town centre as we had a table already booked at L'Atmosphere for tonight. We decided to try out Imperial Garden across from Dunphy's shop on the Cork Rd. I have to say I havn't had a Chinese as good as it in Waterford since Happy Garden back in the early/mid nineties (anyone old enough to remember back then will know what I'm talking about). The service was attentive without being too annoying and the food was tasty and excellent value. I would really recommend the Imperial Garden Roast Duck.

As I mentioned above I had a table booked in L'Atmosphere tonight. We were seated at 6pm and decided to try out the early bird (€20 for 3 courses and glass of wine). I had Goats Cheese Mousse served with tomato bruschetta and beetroot to start, Venison and Mash Pie for mains and Homemade Choc Eclair for dessert. The girlfriend had Red cabbage served with a poached egg for starters, Salmon stew for mains and Meringue souffle for dessert. The Salmon stew stole the show - fantastic. We indulged in an extra bottle of red wine at €24.95 and two coffees at the end. The only downside to L'Atmosphere is the speed of service. The French waiting girls are really pleasant and attentive but appear to be under orders from higher up to get people seated, feed them and get them out. This really annoys me when in a restaurant. There was no more than 3/4 minutes break between our starter/main/dessert. One of the waitresses even took my empty plate even though my girlfriend was still eating, she seemed a bit uncomfortable doing it aswell which indicated to me that it's not her choice. I must say the food was excellent and theres a great buzz around the liitle restaurant

I would definitely go to Imperial Garden again, as for L'Atmosphere I would probably go again just to see if the service was as 'speedy' if we were ordering off the normal (more expensive) menu.

On a sidenote, MacLearys is our next 'port of call'. Great to see the premises operating as a restaurant again. The Wine Vault was one of the best restaurants in the country in my opinion and always seemed ahead of it's time, I wouldn't say I was the only disapointed Waterford native when that closed down a few years back. MacLearys has a lot to live up to following on from The Vault - some of the reviews sound promising so far.

danjo-xx

Went in just after 4 on Sunday, place empty, 3 staff near the front door, one of whom I'm sure was the owner, one sweeping the floor rushed us to our seats..back in a mo... left there for over 10 minutes while the owner and one of them had a heated argument, eg she should have known this, I was only helping her, etc

Charming.... as we were leaving they rushed over, are you all right, we'll be over to you now, I replied your obviously not open for business.

God only knows what the food would have been like if we had stayed under those conditions.:(

Boooourns

danjo-xx wrote: »

Went in just after 4 on Sunday, place empty, 3 staff near the front door, one of whom I'm sure was the owner, one sweeping the floor rushed us to our seats..back in a mo... left there for over 10 minutes while the owner and one of them had a heated argument, eg she should have known this, I was only helping her, etc

Charming.... as we were leaving they rushed over, are you all right, we'll be over to you now, I replied your obviously not open for business.

God only knows what the food would have been like if we had stayed under those conditions.:(

I used to really like that place but it's all gone a bit tired in there. We were out for dinner today and myself and my wife passed it, months ago we would have gone in.

kryogen

Id echo the sentiments of the above posters, used to really love the bistro, shame

AdMMM

It's funny that in the times I've been there, it's always been the owner/manager that has always left me leaving with a terrible impression of the place. If she treats her staff anyway like she treats the customers, then it's no surprise why the place is in the dumps.

Boooourns

AdMMM wrote: »

It's funny that in the times I've been there, it's always been the owner/manager that has always left me leaving with a terrible impression of the place. If she treats her staff anyway like she treats the customers, then it's no surprise why the place is in the dumps.

Yeah i agree with that, she always has a face on her. I'd hate to work for her.

mount misery

Have been in Mc Leary's twice and I have to say that this place is a refreshing addition to the Restaurant scene. If these two lads can maintain their level of service and value they are here for the long haul! Despite being packed on both nights I was there the service and food were both excellent. It's great to see two local lads taking a chance and being supported. Then again, they've both been in this game a long time so they seem to know what they're at.

There has been a vacuum in the town for a good steak and seafood restaurant since the Olde Stande closed and these lads might just fill that niche. It has all the ingredients-great, friendly service, good, unpretentious, honest-unfancy but substantial Irish food and a really cosy, warm atmosphere in Waterford's emerging Viking quarter. Fair play on taking a chance at a difficult time but it shows that if people feel they are getting value for money they will return. Well done but it makes you wonder just how much restaurants were making during the good times if such value can now be offered! It's a pity it doesn't have draught beer license but we'll live with that!

poppies2

Boooourns wrote: »

Yeah i agree with that, she always has a face on her. I'd hate to work for her.

Agree, she is practically famous for it at this stage! We had lunch in there about 2 weeks ago and I have to say it was lovely, think they give generous portions.

Was in La Palma last week for dinner and it was absolutely delicious, no fault whatsoever and love the atmosphere in there. Went on to The Front Lounge after reading about it here and think it's a great pub, really nice barman in there too!

Straycat

took a trip out to Fitzpatrick's on the cork road on foot of a christmas voucher, and having a poor meal last few times i was there can say they have improved. there seems to be new management who is very efficient and attentive. there was a very reasonable wine and dine for €55, but a good selection on the a la carte. the veggie selection is a nice creamy mushroom tagliatelle, (which i had no complaints) only gripe i would had is the dessert selection, Fitzpatrick's never fail to do good desserts but on this menu there wasnt a sniff of a bit of chocolate. (fail for me!) had a lemon tart which was fine, but not a patch on a chocolate one! worth a visit.

sparkling sea

mount misery wrote: »

Have been in Mc Leary's twice and I have to say that this place is a refreshing addition to the Restaurant scene. If these two lads can maintain their level of service and value they are here for the long haul! Despite being packed on both nights I was there the service and food were both excellent. It's great to see two local lads taking a chance and being supported. Then again, they've both been in this game a long time so they seem to know what they're at.

There has been a vacuum in the town for a good steak and seafood restaurant since the Olde Stande closed and these lads might just fill that niche. It has all the ingredients-great, friendly service, good, unpretentious, honest-unfancy but substantial Irish food and a really cosy, warm atmosphere in Waterford's emerging Viking quarter. Fair play on taking a chance at a difficult time but it shows that if people feel they are getting value for money they will return. Well done but it makes you wonder just how much restaurants were making during the good times if such value can now be offered! It's a pity it doesn't have draught beer license but we'll live with that!

Was in town with my Mam and we decided to try Mc Learys having seen the above review. My Mam order chips with her lunch and received burnt chips with her lunch, when sho pointed out that her chips were burnt the waiter informed her that "that was exactly how he liked them" ?
There were two guys working there, one was gloved up,etc, really professional, very polite however the other guy is the complete opposite.
Unfortunately I won't be returning, its a pity cause its always nice to have somewhere different to go in town.

For what its worth La Boheme is still my favourite.