Need a quickie dinner

beardybrewer

I know dinner threads are all too common but this one is slightly different.

Going to the town hall theater but won't have much time to grab dinner beforehand. Would like to avoid a burger if possible, but must be able to sit down and be served within 1 hour.

Any place in the vicinity come to mind?

biko

Somewhere on Mary street? Charcoal, Asian Tea-house, Golden Rickshaw.
Or McSwiggans.

dilallio

MacSwiggans perhaps - just stick to a main, and tell your server that you need to be in and out quickly.

squonk

Hard to get somewhere good around there. McSwiggans is the best. The others are a bit burgery & fast foody.

biko

Actually a quesadilla from La Salsa on Mary street is lovely. I always go for vegetarian without chickpeas because their beef isn't all that great, bit too chewy for my taste.

beardybrewer

Interesting, we used to love McSwiggans but then they got rid of pub grub downstairs. I've been burned by them in the past trying to get out of the restaurant to make a movie on time. To be honest, I never bother with the place anymore.

Really pub grub is all we're after. When we have time to burn we go to the Front Door but their service is always atrociously slow. Anyplace for quick pub grub (other than Buskers which we always go to)?

beardybrewer

biko wrote: »

Actually a quesadilla from La Salsa on Mary street is lovely. I always go for vegetarian without chickpeas because their beef isn't all that great, bit too chewy for my taste.

I am keeping that in my back pocket if I get desperate. I'm actually a huge fan of authentic mexican food and cook it at home regularly. La Salsa is to mexican food as Dr Oetker is to pizza.... imho... sorry.

Mrs OBumble

The new Spanish tapas place above Barr an Challadagh? Lunares, I think it's called.

No idea if it's fast or slow, but if you tell 'em you need food fast, they could advise what dishes are fast ...

inisboffin

newkie wrote: »

Interesting, we used to love McSwiggans but then they got rid of pub grub downstairs. I've been burned by them in the past trying to get out of the restaurant to make a movie on time. To be honest, I never bother with the place anymore.

Really pub grub is all we're after. When we have time to burn we go to the Front Door but their service is always atrociously slow. Anyplace for quick pub grub (other than Buskers which we always go to)?

The Dáil is pretty good if it isn't packed. Just ask which dish will be fastest. Then just cut across up Cross/Market St.

How about a sit down kebab/fish? Capital Kebabs isn't quite luxury, but fast service, way cheaper than Eddie Rockets, and the staff are great.

joeKel73

+1 for Capital Kebabs. If you haven't been I'd say you'll be pleasantly surprised.

PauricTheLodger

Don't know what it's like at the moment but over the summer Cafe Express on Eyre Square was doing fierce decent grub.

eveya

newkie wrote: »

I know dinner threads are all too common but this one is slightly different.

Going to the town hall theater but won't have much time to grab dinner beforehand. Would like to avoid a burger if possible, but must be able to sit down and be served within 1 hour.

Any place in the vicinity come to mind?

Maxwells (i think) on the corner of Eglinton street across from Eyre Square shopping centre isn't too bad, got a lovely stew there one day, perfect cure for getting soaked in the Galway rain! Was a little disappointed the last time I ate there, but I'm hoping that was just a once off. I think they've good dinner deals as well if you want 2 course.

topcat77

Cellar Bar???? Not the best but certainly not the worst.

Seaneh

Massimos.

beardybrewer

Hey guys, love all these recommendations and will certainly keep them in mind.

Seaneh wrote: »

Massimos.

Yeah, ok. Unforunately the hour we have needs to include walking time. I'm not opposed to walking across town normally but time walk there, eat, and walk back to the theatre in 60 minutes or less.

Couple of options above I hadn't thought of. I was thinking back to Buon Appetito from years back and remember them being very fast.

Is the new Tappas place, Dáil bar, cellar, or Maxwell's pretty fast service?

thesandeman

Jaysus Seaneh are you stalking that poor chef or what?

Seaneh

Nah, just like the food there and it's been quick any time I've been there is all.

That said, it has been pretty inconsistant.

The hake with couscous normally has a cauliflower pure, which is lovely, but the last time I got it there was just lumps of under cooked cailiflower in the couscous.

Same for the pock belly, one time I got more puy lentals than you could shake a stick at and a good amount of apple pure, all in a nice deep pasta bowl, next time there was bugger all lentals, very light on the pure and served on a smaller flat plate.

I got the chicken Salad twice too, once the chicken was great, next time it was over cooked. It felt like they'd taken a roasted breast and then pan fried it to either reheat it or give it some caramalisation, the effect being that it was dry and tough.

inisboffin

newkie wrote: »

Is the new Tappas place, Dáil bar, cellar, or Maxwell's pretty fast service?

As I said before with The Dáil, just ask them what's faster. They have a varied menu and are pretty fast any time I've been there.

ben.schlomo

The Cellar is very good lately, two courses for a tenner and they can be served together if you ask, food has also been very tasty the 3 times i've been.

inisboffin

ben.schlomo wrote: »

The Cellar is very good lately, two courses for a tenner and they can be served together if you ask, food has also been very tasty the 3 times i've been.

Can't find a link to their current menu, do you have one that lists this deal?

ben.schlomo

inisboffin wrote: »

Can't find a link to their current menu, do you have one that lists this deal?

Nope, its their daily special every day, two courses €9.95, a choice of starter and main or main and dessert. Had Shepherds Pie and Cheesecake once and recently its been soup with a wrap and chips or something else.

Seaneh

In the cellar there is always two options.

First option is always a bowl of soup, a sandwich, side salad and chips/
It's a hell of a lot of food!/

Second option is alway a main course from their menu (whichever they choose for special that day) and a desert.

both are good deals.


If I was really hungry, I'd get the first option.

Mrs OBumble

thesandeman wrote: »

Jaysus Seaneh are you stalking that poor chef or what?

When I saw "quickie" in the thread title, dinner wasn't what I thought should go with it

cdublin

Charcoal is pretty good and fast

TerrorFirmer

The Cellar 9.95 is pretty flawless, fast service, good food, fresh and always incredibly tasty, and definitely fills you right up. I always go for the soup/main option.

beardybrewer

Thanks guys, I think we're going to try the Cellar Bar. Took at look at the menu and comments and sounds good: http://www.thecellar.ie/

ciano1

Must check out the cellar for food sometime actually.. Are the specials advertised outside?

ben.schlomo

ciano1 wrote: »

Must check out the cellar for food sometime actually.. Are the specials advertised outside?

Think it might only be inside clipped onto the menus.

Mrs OBumble

fyi, tried out Lunare tonight. Food was fast (and very nice). Service was fast-enough, for a Spanish outfit! Definitely got the feeling that if we'd said "lads, we need to be out in 50 minutes" they would have come to the party.

beardybrewer

Just wanted to post a follow-up to this thread. Thanks very much for the recommendation to The Cellar Bar. We hadn't been in there in 10 years. My memory of the place was more of a night club with dodgy low tables and cube shaped stools. Obviously the place has changed hands since then as it's much more a regular pub, good music, well full with student types doing a busy trade.

Sat down at 7, food arrived at 7:10. I did mention to the girl we had a show to catch at 8 but probably didn't need to. The staff seemed really attentive to everybody and were equally quick to serve all those around us. Truely impressed with the level of service from the girls there.

We got starters and mains together to save time. I can never pass up chicken wings and we shared the smaller of the two sizes available. We got a huge bowl with the proper Frank's style sauce. Really nice and a really generous portion size. The mains were massive! I had enough chips with my chicken burger to feed 2 or 3 people. My wife got lasagne and chips and said it was really good. They really could reduce their portion size as we were starving and only managed half our food. Shame really, but next time we'll split a main.

Great value all in all (€40 inc pints). This is my new place for fast pub grub. Thanks for the suggestion!

biko

Sound thanks for the update and the great review.