Taste of Christmas

Yumee

Promises to be a foodies delight! Anyone going??:pac:

nyeb2007

Yep, I'm heading there tomorrow night - looking forward to it

jonathanmatt

I went to the taste of christmas today and was disappointed

It was too full, and it's so expensive inside there, typically 6-8 euros worth of florins to get a midget sized portion of food from one of the restaurant stands - You feel like you're getting gouged and I really don't enjoy that feeling

We chose to come at the time to see Heston Blumenthal, and felt cheated really ... The show with Hector and Gino D'Acampo was funny, but Heston just came on stage in the show for about 25 mins and didn't impart or demonstrate any recipes, he just talked and answered questions ... really don't know what the point of that was --- We'll still go to the fat duck one day, and when we do, we'll have a word with him about that if he's on site!

The food was tasty, the good food ireland area had some great produce and the drink sellers were sometimes offering quite competitive value ... But we left the venue hungry and with a bitter taste due to Heston and the rip off prices in general

Yumee

I have to agree with you Johnathanmatt. I was expecting, as the tickets were quite expensive, to get lots of freebies and goodies but to be honest I felt it was more of a glorified trade market, a shopping experience that should have been free or at the very least half the paid ticket price, with the option of buying 'florins' (the events currency 1 florin = 1 euro) for the very small dishes the participating restaurants were offering. The dish cooked there is hardly going to give an accurate measure of what the food is like in the actual restaurant anyway.

The samples M&S gave were the most generous, with half mince pies, chocolates and mini shot samples of wine but they are giving the same samples in store at the moment.

The chocolate stand, can't think of it's name, nuccaico or something, were quite generous with their samples too.

One of the worst was the fudge stand, bits of dust of fudge on a plate which was kept inside the counter and brought out occasionlly for someone who was expressing an interest to buy!!! (Sorry but I love my samples)

Didn't go to a theatre show, glad now! All in all disappointing.

jonathanmatt

When I go to a good restaurant, I will spend lots more than 6-8 euros on a main course, but built in to the price is comfortable surroundings, service, information about the menu, a reasonable amount of food and value for money

However for the 6-8 euros at taste of christmas you often have to join a disorganised queue, you get a confused canteen-style service with no time to answer questions about the food, no condiments and the amount of food in some cases is very bad value compared to what you would have received in the restaurant that is showcasing

I don't believe the restaurants are properly showcasing as they purport to be, or they would have included some service... With the value offered it seems to me that the taste festivals are by and large just a revenue opportunity

I'm done with the taste festivals

goodie2

Myself and my wife went yesterday. I found it a bit disorganised. I thought there would be more food stands there as i thought they got non food stands to fill the gaps. I was at The Taste of London last June and it was far superior. I thought the standard of food served at some of the stands was poor and i was disapointed. I understood by the advertising that Heston would be doing a demonstration but he didnt which was one of the main reasons i went. That too annoyed me. I thought Gino was funny and Hector did a good job. Overall the whole experience was only average and i left thinking did i learn anything. I think not.

lovelymama

I went last weekend and was really disappointed. I too thought it was poor value. But more than that I thought it really badly organised. The queuing was a mess and although it was billed as a family event, it wasn't. The trade stands were very tight with samples but you can't blame then when they are charged through the nose for the stand space AND those who charge florins, are charged 25% of the florins by the event organisers when they cash in at the end.

I'm interested that Taste of London was far better - although it's a different company in the UK. My husband did Top Gear at the weekend, which is run by the same company here in Ireland, and he said the organization there was awful too. It's a pity the Irish Company Brand Events can't get it right.

I wouldn't bother with it again and would prefer to spend the same on a delicious meal in Dax Restaurant.