Nice retaurant in Cork city?

Oafley Jones

RoverJames wrote: »

ie Panda Mama ? I wouldn't class Market Lane as expensive to be honest.

Nor would I, it's about the same as any good mid-tier restaurant. Cafe Paradiso is excellent as well.

kingtut

RoverJames wrote: »

ie Panda Mama ? I wouldn't class Market Lane as expensive to be honest.

No not i.e. Panda Mama however that is one example (as well as places like Luigi Malone, Tandoori Palace and Scotts to name just a few)
I would class the food you get in these places to be worth the money you pay based on the quality of the food, the ambience and the service.

That's just my opinion and not everyone will agree with me (in the same way that not everyone will agree that Market Lane is not expensive).

OP - Where did you end up going out of curiousity?

4arc

Zac's on marlboro street is a really nice restaurant, its really nice inside, does really nice food and do pretty good deals as well

jacko1

the early bird at Jacques (beside Counihans) is the best in town and they serve it all night on Mon Tues and Wed

stwome01

Love Il Padrinos though they do rush you at times. Wasn't overly impressed with Market Lane. For Chinnese "The Aroma" across from the opera house or "The Ambassador" on Cook St (I think) are great. The following is a good place to get ideas about restaurants.

http://www.menupages.ie/Cork/cork_central/cork_city.aspx

PKen

jacko1 wrote: »

the early bird at Jacques (beside Counihans) is the best in town and they serve it all night on Mon Tues and Wed

I'm making my usual pilgrimage to Cork this October for the Jazz Festival. What street is "Jacques" located on? I know the city quite well, so the street name would be sufficient. Do they do the "early bird" at weekends? Is it "Haute Cuisine"? In other words, all plate and FA food? Will I be strarving coming out of it? Thanks for the recommendation and Bon Apetite. :pac:

It's on the street next to the GPO, between South Mall and Oliver Plunkett Street.

SouthernBelle

PaintDoctor wrote: »

If you can muster the enthusiasm to get out to Ballincollig, Bacco is probably the best Italian restaurant in Ireland. Italian owner, staff, and the food is incredible. It's not a big restaurant either, which makes the service so much better.

I agree. It makes me feel like I'm in Italy when I'm there (wishful thinking!).

The Bay Leaf in Douglas (over O'Driscoll's Bar) is relatively new and has a great early bird for €20.00.

ANarcho-Munk

I think the Strasbourg Goose definitely do the best value and highest quality meals in Cork, i'm a big fan.

PKen

ANarcho-Munk wrote: »

I think the Strasbourg Goose definitely do the best value and highest quality meals in Cork, i'm a big fan.

I agree. Looking forward to my October (jazz festival) visit. Never disapoints. Nice, friendly staff and good Bistro style food.
Cork's lucky to have such a concentration of good restaurants. Wish I could say the same for Dublin - they're few and far between. :pac:

clarelad

Where would be the best place to go for a good steak

overmantle

I wouldn't go past The Cornstore.

clarelad

clarelad wrote: »

Where would be the best place to go for a good steak

I had a savage steak in Jacques a few weeks ago, it was unreal in fairness. Starter wasn't great, one of these arty farty ones with cold veg and hot black pudding :eek:

PKen

clarelad wrote: »

Where would be the best place to go for a good steak

I'd recommend Clancy's for steaks. The Cornstore didn't impress me. Quality and service are hit and miss. However, I do like their Limerick branch.

golfdiva

SouthernBelle wrote: »

I agree. It makes me feel like I'm in Italy when I'm there (wishful thinking!).

The Bay Leaf in Douglas (over O'Driscoll's Bar) is relatively new and has a great early bird for €20.00.

The Bay Leaf is quite good value - although theres no steak on the ealybird menu:(

opus

PaintDoctor wrote: »

If you can muster the enthusiasm to get out to Ballincollig, Bacco is probably the best Italian restaurant in Ireland. Italian owner, staff, and the food is incredible. It's not a big restaurant either, which makes the service so much better.

Interesting never heard of that place, must try it out at some stage although it's a (small) bit of a trek.

onlyrocknroll

I think it's sad that a city like Cork, which is so good for the home cook with its delis and butchers and fish mongers etc., and has excellent places to get sandwiches and coffees etc. for lunch, has so few good restaurants. Actually I think that both Clonakilty and Kinsale probably have better restaurant scenes than Cork.

Actually I think that there are a lot of restaurants in Cork that are quite sub-par, and wouldn't be able to survive in Dublin or Galway or even in many medium sized towns around the country. I would recommend that anybody visiting Cork should ask a friend or consult a guide book for restaurant choices, because walking in somewhere at random is likely to disappoint.

Cafe Paradiso is wonderful, but quite expensive for dinner. Only in my price range for lunch I'm afraid, but it's excellent. Don't be put off by the fact that it's vegetarian.

Augustine's on Washington street used to be very good. Tom Doorley said it was one of the best restaurants in Munster. It's closed since but has opened again in the Clarion Hotel. Haven't tried it since the move but I'd imagine it is still very good.

onlyrocknroll

PKen wrote: »

I'm making my usual pilgrimage to Cork this October for the Jazz Festival. What street is "Jacques" located on? I know the city quite well, so the street name would be sufficient. Do they do the "early bird" at weekends? Is it "Haute Cuisine"? In other words, all plate and FA food? Will I be strarving coming out of it? Thanks for the recommendation and Bon Apetite. :pac:

It's on Pheonix Street.

It's not Haute Cuisine at all. More French country cooking I'd say. You'll be well fed.

Dudess

Annie's on Sunday's Well - bit of a walk out from town, but oh so worth it. The food is superb! Not the cheapest but not insanely expensive either, and so worth it. Only discovered it recently - presume it used to be an ordinary pub that got turned into a kinda posh place?

rebs23

onlyrocknroll wrote: »

Actually I think that there are a lot of restaurants in Cork that are quite sub-par, and wouldn't be able to survive in Dublin or Galway or even in many medium sized towns around the country. I would recommend that anybody visiting Cork should ask a friend or consult a guide book for restaurant choices, because walking in somewhere at random is likely to disappoint.

Cafe Paradiso is wonderful, but quite expensive for dinner. Only in my price range for lunch I'm afraid, but it's excellent. Don't be put off by the fact that it's vegetarian.

Augustine's on Washington street used to be very good. Tom Doorley said it was one of the best restaurants in Munster. It's closed since but has opened again in the Clarion Hotel. Haven't tried it since the move but I'd imagine it is still very good.

You would be probably one of a small minority with that view. For a city of its size the quality of restaurants is excellent. Most of the guides would agree on this.Have you had a look at any of the food guides? Which ones do you think are poor? What you are probably referring to is the lack of Michellin Star restaurants which is a different argument?
Galway is pretty renowned for its poor restaurants and Dublin does not have the all encompassing food culture that Cork does. (by that I mean the mix of urban and rural, food producers, markets, fish, the sea, etc)

onlyrocknroll

rebs23 wrote: »

You would be probably one of a small minority with that view. For a city of its size the quality of restaurants is excellent. Most of the guides would agree on this.Have you had a look at any of the food guides? Which ones do you think are poor? What you are probably referring to is the lack of Michellin Star restaurants which is a different argument?
Galway is pretty renowned for its poor restaurants and Dublin does not have the all encompassing food culture that Cork does. (by that I mean the mix of urban and rural, food producers, markets, fish, the sea, etc)

I don't think that I'm in a minority view on this, I've heard it said often. Cork does have a wonderful food culture, but that centres mostly around its coffee and sandwich places, delis, fishmongers, cafes that do lunch, the English Market etc. It's these places, and the few quality restaurants that are expensive, that the guide books refer to when they compliment Cork.

But it has a lack of decent restaurants that are in a reasonable price range. I don't want to list bad restaurants because people's livelihoods depend on them. I think it's fairer to list the good ones.

These are but good pricey. (I know I've probably left out a couple of good ones, but I doubt many)

Jacques (The early bird is very good)
Cafe Paradiso
The Silk Ear
The Ivory Tower
Les Gourmandise
Casanova (cheap for Pizza, but expensive for pasta and meat courses)
Augustines
Star Anise
Boqueria

Lunch is different, there are lots of decent inexpensive places to go, already named in thi thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=184332

Other cheaper restaurants in Cork are poor IMO. The usual sins of

frozen prawns,
fish that isn't fresh enough,
"carbonaras" that are just pasta and half a pint of cream :mad:
menus that don't change with the seasons,
"vegetables" meaning peppers and onions and nothing else,
chicken cooked to the consistency of leather,

You should be able to eat good unpretentious food for E10-15 a head, you can in Galway and Dublin, you can't in Cork (unless you get soup/sandwichs/pizza etc. which as I've said are excellent)

(Actually sorry, one good exception is Liberty Grill on Washington Street, they do really good breakfasts/salads/burgers and are pretty reasonable)

evilivor

onlyrocknroll wrote: »

The Silk Ear

Do you mean The Silk Purse?

onlyrocknroll

evilivor wrote: »

Do you mean The Silk Purse?

I sure did.:o

And here's why I got those words confused

Dudess

Yeah, I think Cork has a lot of excellent restaurants - it's not a civic pride thing or anything, just genuinely think it's the case.
Have to say though, it's nearly always the mid-priced ones I've found to be the most enjoyable dining experiences (e.g. Isaac's, Fenn's Quay, Cornstore) whereas the "holy grail" expensive ones (Jacques, Jacobs, Hayfield Manor, The Kingsley, Star Anise etc) - extremely disappointing, in my (admittedly limited :pac:) experience. The only really renowned restaurant I've eaten in which lived up to its reputation, for me, was Café Paradiso. It more than lived up to it actually - superb.
Nash 19, which is somewhere between café and restaurant, does superb food too. Strange customer service though - can't put my finger on it. Some of the staff act like pushy sales robots and it's uncomfortable. I don't want to be fussed over and I DEFINITELY don't want to be referred to as "Ma'am"! :pac:
I love the savoury food in An Crúibín but its desserts are very poor (I'm talking about downstairs at the bar, haven't eaten in the restaurant).

Dudess

Went to the café in the English Market yesterday - food is fantastic but it's not a comfortable eating experience. Way too small for the amount of customers it attracts (you have to queue for ages and then wait for a seat) and it's a balcony café so it's really narrow and you spend a lot of time having to move out of people's way. Many of the seats are high stools too and not everyone finds those appealing - I personally hate them.

The restaurant is more comfortable but has to be booked well in advance, even for lunch. Hats off to the staff though - they're so efficient and must be under an awful lot of pressure.

Today is the last day of EatCork - only found out about it this morning. Does anyone know when Dine In Cork (is that what it's called?) is on again? What were people's opinions of the last one? I just went to one restaurant last time - The Boardwalk - and it was extremely disappointing.

ABajaninCork

Has anyone been there? Am thinking of trying it on Saturday...

TIA:)

rebs23

onlyrocknroll wrote: »

I don't think that I'm in a minority view on this, I've heard it said often. Cork does have a wonderful food culture, but that centres mostly around its coffee and sandwich places, delis, fishmongers, cafes that do lunch, the English Market etc. It's these places, and the few quality restaurants that are expensive, that the guide books refer to when they compliment Cork.

But it has a lack of decent restaurants that are in a reasonable price range. I don't want to list bad restaurants because people's livelihoods depend on them. I think it's fairer to list the good ones.

These are but good pricey. (I know I've probably left out a couple of good ones, but I doubt many)

Jacques (The early bird is very good)
Cafe Paradiso
The Silk Ear
The Ivory Tower
Les Gourmandise
Casanova (cheap for Pizza, but expensive for pasta and meat courses)
Augustines
Star Anise
Boqueria

Lunch is different, there are lots of decent inexpensive places to go, already named in thi thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=184332

Other cheaper restaurants in Cork are poor IMO. The usual sins of

frozen prawns,
fish that isn't fresh enough,
"carbonaras" that are just pasta and half a pint of cream :mad:
menus that don't change with the seasons,
"vegetables" meaning peppers and onions and nothing else,
chicken cooked to the consistency of leather,

You should be able to eat good unpretentious food for E10-15 a head, you can in Galway and Dublin, you can't in Cork (unless you get soup/sandwichs/pizza etc. which as I've said are excellent)

(Actually sorry, one good exception is Liberty Grill on Washington Street, they do really good breakfasts/salads/burgers and are pretty reasonable)

We'll just have to disagree because what I always find refreshing about the all encompassing food culture of Cork is the availablity of good food at reasonable prices in the restaurants/cafes. I could mention places like Isaacs, Boardwalk, Cornstore, Market Lane, Boquera, Amicus (Paul St), Club Brasserie, Fenns Quay, Hardwood all off the top of my head which would have good deals/menus for mains in that price bracket. Of course that excludes all the excellent cafes/lunch time places. Lets be honest if you want to pay €10 to €15 a head outside of lunchtime you would be hard pressed anywhere?
You are also the first person I have ever heard compliment the restaurant scene in Galway.

PS. I'm not being parochial about this but it is one thing the city does very well (which we should acknowledge and spread the word on)and Cork has a good national and international reputation for and the quality of its food culture and restaurant/cafe culture.

shnaek

rebs23 wrote: »

You are also the first person I have ever heard compliment the restaurant scene in Galway.

True. I find the scene up there pretty poor. Have you any recommendations for Galway (I know that is going a bit off topic...)

In general I think Cork is great for eating out.

ABajaninCork

shnaek wrote: »

True. I find the scene up there pretty poor. Have you any recommendations for Galway (I know that is going a bit off topic...)

In general I think Cork is great for eating out.

There's only one restaurant in Galway I'd recommend - MORAN'S!!!!! (If you like fish that is;))

Love the crab and whitefish there!

wispyman

I was in Amicus (Paul Street) on Friday night and the food was really nice and the pricing was decent enough - four people each had a (huge) main course and drinks for a total of EUR68. However you need to book ahead if you want to be sure of getting a table.

Malcolm