Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

Geuze

munchkin_utd wrote: »

a ) thats some great value. Ireland is a funny place in that nearly all hotels have to be "luxory" and all restaurants offering a "top restaurant experience" and justify costing the price of a small holiday by saying its value for money.
The idea that someone will just want a cheapish basic bed or a cheapish (non fast food) feed makes the country a very hard sell for tourists. More places like this can only be good from that point of view.

Good points.

I was in a pub/restaurant on Sunday afternoon in a small tourist village in the west of Ireland- some main dishes:

Caesar salad with chicken/salmon = 14.35
Homemade burger 1/2 pound = 11.50 / 13.40 for a fancier version
12oz sirloin = 24
Penne pasta = 14.80


These prices are too high. They seem higher than some prices in central Dublin.

In central Berlin, an Italian restaurant sells pasta dishes for 8-10.

Geuze

munchkin_utd wrote: »

a ) thats some great value. Ireland is a funny place in that nearly all hotels have to be "luxory" and all restaurants offering a "top restaurant experience" and justify costing the price of a small holiday by saying its value for money.
The idea that someone will just want a cheapish basic bed or a cheapish (non fast food) feed makes the country a very hard sell for tourists. More places like this can only be good from that point of view.
.

Yes, did you ever notice that when the Irish go abroad they seem more price-conscious, yet at home they won't demand value.

There is a well-known restaurant selling pizzas at 17.25, this is in a provincial town. Unreal price, compared to 7-10 abroad.

Yet it's busy. I can't understand it.

This restaurant is in central Berlin:

http://marinelli-berlin.de/de/speisekarte/

Pizzas start at 7.00, up to 9.50.

Bear in mind these are city centre prices, and that the min wage to be introduced in Germany in 2015 will be 8.50, close to the 8.65 here.

Heroditas

A Caesar salad for that much? Ridiculous price. That's much more expensive than many places in Dublin.

oblivious

Heroditas wrote: »

A Caesar salad for that much? Ridiculous price. That's much more expensive than many places in Dublin.

As main course it looks about right for Dublin prices

Heroditas

oblivious wrote: »

As main course it looks about right for Dublin prices

True enough!

sofireland

bennyineire wrote: »

So has anyone actually been to "the spoons" yet and if so can we have little review, how was the beer/food/decor etc.

I was out on the opening night, got out there at half fiveish, was nicely busy without feeling packed.

Didn't have food, but looked well presented apart from the questionable plates! :pac:

Will go back out in a few weeks when they've bedded in.

Have posted a few thoughts on the blog, Oblivious put the link up earlier, but the link is on my sig,

sonicstrav

Quality of the cask ale was excellent, better than anyone I've been in Dublin (although I've heard Mulligans the Grocer do good cask as well). Good to see quite a few punters trying the cask out...certainly helps when it's cheaper than all the other pints (instead of it being at a premium cost). The cask stuff should catch on if they keep the standards up and don't leave it on when it's starting to go off (3+ days).

sofireland

Had the Ghostship and the quality was exceptional. A lot of pubs selling cask round the city could learn from Spoons.
I've had one or two ropey casks in Mulligans, the cask was too far gone and shouldve been hooked.
Kavanaghs was exceptional when Declan was there.

rubadub

jonnny68 wrote: »

Rip off charging €4.75 for Heineken

"rip off" really?!, you'd be banned from the rip off forum if you posted that!

I would guess its below the average price in Blackrock.

THIS is an expensive pint, though after midnight.

Ravelleman

Like it says on the receipt though, 'no cover charge'. If you went to a nightclub you might pay €10 to get in, something which would compensate for the price of the pints over a few hours. The Gogarty's model is tourists and music. If you were to go in there treating it as your local then you'd be sadly mistaken.

Technocentral

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Phibsboro? What's wrong with it?

Rough crowd (have bouncers on door even on Sunday afternoons), no cask options and they sell (dread word) Guinness on draft.

rubadub

Ravelleman wrote: »

Like it says on the receipt though, 'no cover charge'

Yeah, lots jack the price up as an alternative, I prefer it. Still 4.75 can hardly be described as a ripoff with a straight face.

This site shows some dublin pub prices
http://publin.ie/2011/price-guide/

You can sort by price on particular pints. There are 150 pubs listed, 20 are 4.75 or less. Gogartys are shown as 6.25, joint top.

Not sure how accurate it is but seems to be what I expected. They are city centre pubs but I would still maintain that 4.75 is below average for blackrock, and far from a ripoff.

blueshed

how far from the dart station to the pub, might take a spin out tomorrow

John_C

blueshed wrote: »

how far from the dart station to the pub, might take a spin out tomorrow

Less than 5 mins. Walk across the car park into the town and turn left. You'll see it on the corner.

petethebrick

Technocentral wrote: »

Rough crowd (have bouncers on door even on Sunday afternoons), no cask options and they sell (dread word) Guinness on draft.

If you think the crowd in porterhouse north is rough you obviously dont get out very much!
It would be nice if they had cask options.
So what if they sell Guiness? "Dread word"??

Ravelleman

Technocentral wrote: »

Rough crowd (have bouncers on door even on Sunday afternoons), no cask options and they sell (dread word) Guinness on draft.

I live opposite and have never found the crowd rough really. It's just on the north-side...

strobe

Technocentral wrote: »

Rough crowd

In porterhouse north? You must be a very gentle soul altogether...

adamski8

strobe wrote: »

In porterhouse north? You must be a very gentle soul altogether...

I think the last few years it is a much rougher crowd, not the roughest but still it is. doesnt bother me much. Just because you say its a rough crowd doesnt mean your nessecarily scared to go in etc

I think it got rougher and worse since it hasnt been run by ph themselves. Turns into a terrible nightclub thing on Saturdays as well.

Chelon

adamski8 wrote: »

I think the last few years it is a much rougher crowd, not the roughest but still it is. doesnt bother me much. Just because you say its a rough crowd doesnt mean your nessecarily scared to go in etc

I think it got rougher and worse since it hasnt been run by ph themselves. Turns into a terrible nightclub thing on Saturdays as well.

Who runs it now? I thought Porterhouse kept close control of all their pubs.

Chelon

sofireland wrote: »

Had the Ghostship and the quality was exceptional. A lot of pubs selling cask round the city could learn from Spoons.
I've had one or two ropey casks in Mulligans, the cask was too far gone and shouldve been hooked.
Kavanaghs was exceptional when Declan was there.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one questioning the quality of Dublin pubs cask ales.

Asked earlier for a pointer to to an excellent pint of Irish cask ale in the city - I don't think anyone replied.

Can't wait to get down to Spoons sometime soon.

Big Nasty

Been meaning to get down myself, how's their IPA?

adamski8

Chelon wrote: »

Who runs it now? I thought Porterhouse kept close control of all their pubs.

Not that one. I forget now who owns it but its some group that has another pub near clontarf i think.

Ronan|Raven

Convinced herindoors to come down for some dinner. Bengali tiger to start. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop

strobe

adamski8 wrote: »

I think the last few years it is a much rougher crowd, not the roughest but still it is. doesnt bother me much. Just because you say its a rough crowd doesnt mean your nessecarily scared to go in etc

I think it got rougher and worse since it hasnt been run by ph themselves. Turns into a terrible nightclub thing on Saturdays as well.

I'd actually forgotten about the awful nightclubbing of the place on a Saturday night. That's fairly horrendous all right.

Creamy Goodness

Was in here today albeit very quickly. I wanted to pick up the six point stuff to take away but was told they're not allowed sell them unopened so I had a Bengali tiger.

The beer was very nice, the pub was very clean and was fairly packed. One thing I noticed and it may be opening jitters but staff were very slow, asked for a water and the guy had to ask the manager where the tap was and the waiting staff seemed slow (10-15 mins) to clear away plates.

Other than that it looked fairly decent and inoffensive. Will be back again to sample the rest of the beers they have that are difficult to get elsewhere.

Ronan|Raven

Agree with that regarding the staff. There were a few who looked to be learning as they went. That said it was their first weekend. It was very full when I was there between 7 to 10. Enjoyed the cask available. They had no Irish cask however when I was there

irish_goat

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Was in here today albeit very quickly. I wanted to pick up the six point stuff to take away but was told they're not allowed sell them unopened so I had a Bengali tiger.

You can sometimes get them to leave them unopened in Derry, usually by picking the right bartender or by ordering 2 drinks and asking them nicely if they'll leave the can closed until you're ready for it.

Lovely Bloke

adamski8 wrote: »

Not that one. I forget now who owns it but its some group that has another pub near clontarf i think.

The Sheaf O'Wheat in Coolock, now called The Cock and Bull. They've done an amazing job doing the place up, but the choice of drinks is brutal and the crowd is what you'd expect for the location (I'm from the area and worked in the Sheaf years ago).

The people who run it are seemingly the accountants for the PH group or something. It's similar enough to the PHN, decor wise, and before they opened they used the PHN Menu and pictures to promote their food offering.

Krusty_Clown

Was in 3TT on Sunday and enjoyed a selection of the cask beers and some of the can/bottle-based offerings and some food, while watching the footie. The food is really good value, even when not running one of their 'food club nights'. Nothing particularly special; just really good value. Selection and pricing of the beers is superb. Great to be able to try out the various cask beers and switch to the 33cl bottles (which I'd ordinarily avoid, as they typically represent such awful value for money).

Good atmosphere in the pub, and families seemed very welcome. Lots of space, and while it was busy, everyone seemed to have no problems getting a table. Really not a good place to watch a sporting event though, and will avoid it in future (so maybe there is a place for the Dark Horse in this brave new Wetherspoons world!). It was funny watching the waiting staff wander around the pub with plates of food trying to locate a specific table number. They could really do with a map. Bar staff were courteous and efficient and it's great to see bars welcoming card-based transactions, instead of the usual grumpy 'you must spend at least xx if you want to use your card' type response. I was afraid that they might not replace the Irish cask ales with Irish fare once they had run dry so was glad to see the Trouble Brewing Dark Arts porter and Kenmare IPA back on tap.

I don't think it will ever be able to replicate the ambience or charm of a traditional Irish pub, but as a spot for some really good value food, wide variety of cask beers, they've done a bang-up job.

SteeveeDee

I was in this day last week for the steak night and have to say I enjoyed what was on offer. I have been to many Wetherspoons all over the UK,some are depressing,some are not. This is the latter in my book.

The place.. Wouldn't be my first choice for a quiet pint and a chat or a night out with a group or to watch the game but for the demographic they are going for it works. It's just a bit too sterile for me and the constant walking around of bouncers,although very pleasant and courteous, it threw me off a little.

The staff.. Probably need to find they're feet,there were a few small issues but nothing that can't be ironed out. Most were pleasant and efficient, a few just didn't seem with it or capable. I had a particular issue with ordering a drink alongside the food. It was a case of "computer says no" but logic and the menu dictates "yes!" I have to say this annoyed me as it immediately sets an air of unease but in the end it was all sorted by another member of staff who seemed to notice his fellow compatriot in distress....until.

The food.. I ordered the Sirloin rare but was given the Rump. I sent it back and got the Sirloin but more medium rare than rare. Having said that the steak was pretty good. The rest on the plate was grand, nothing fancy but not bad either. The plates themselves are hideous though, they make the food look unappetising. I can get past this but i don't see why they can't just have a simple no design and not blue plate! All Wetherspoons seem to have these plates so maybe it's some big in house joke we will never get.

The drink.. First off I ordered an Adnams Ghost Ship, it was great. I've had it before and know the beer and it was well served and fresh. Next up was the Adnams Broadside, again I know the beer and it was served well. I had a Six Points Bengahli Tiger can, I was hoping for more from this beer. It didn't really hit the nail on the head for me and I was disappointed to say the least as at 3.50 a can it is a steal, just not for me. I had a bottle of 8 degrees Knockmealdown Porter which was excellent and a better steal in my opinion also at 3.50. To finish up I wanted a whiskey but it was far too expensive, I just wanted a Powers, I didn't feel like anything too refined as the Redbreast or Powers John Lane which were probably OK value and I do mean OK but Powers at 5.50 is insane. I live in the city centre and in my local it's 4.05 at my folks place in the west it's 3.45, I just can't see the justification.

So to finish up. I will be coming back mostly for the quality and value of the cask beers and the value food. Both of these I think they are doing very well.
I'm looking forward to seeing more Irish craft beers on cask or in bottles. I'll leave the whiskey for another pub in Blackrock.