The Pembroke @ The Imperial Hotel, Cork City

This was the first time I had been to the Pembroke. The restaurant was lively and welcoming and the starters, mussels, deep fried brie and baked mushrooms were pleasant enough. However, there were already minor niggles and they only got worse: *the bread had been cut some time ago and although not stale had become dried out. *To get a glass of water or a top up you had to seek out a staff member and specifically ask. *We ordered wine which was dumped onto the table while the waitress muttered something and walked away. *For the main course 2 guests ordered Plaice with a sun dried tomato salsa and I ordered monkfish with a plum, pineapple and cucumber salsa - all from the specials board. The description promised something fresh and tangy but what arrived was fish in a very average white sauce, served on roast root vegetables (I assume they were roasted, though there was no colour to be seen). The salsa was not present on any dish. *Upon mentioning to the waitress the manager was called over and preceded to claim that we were all mistaken and the salsa was indeed there! *after being asked to point it out he conceded it wasn't there and went to get some, returning with 2 pots of plum salsa and no sun dried tomato salsa. At the end of dinner we were not charged for the wine due to the errors made, however, I (and having asked them, my guests) would not eat at the Pembroke again.

I went for dinner last friday night and the place was bustling and hustling!!! No wonder why! We were shown to our table by the Maitre D who introduced us to our waitress. She was professional and bubbly. We didn't have starters as we weren't really hungry but we had a lovely steak and the traditional fish and chips. The quality of the food was second to none, the fish was really fresh and the presentation of the plates really good! We decided then to have desserts and they were amazing! We ordered the cheesecake as apparently is their speciality and the baileys creme brulee... The cheesecake was to die for and the creme brulee was cooked to perfection, with a lovely baileys hint. The restaurant is modern and tastefully decorated and the chairs are super comfortable, we could almost feel that we were glued to them. We weren't rushed in any moment so we had plenty of time to enjoy our coffees after the desserts. Definitely recommendable, 10/10 for the service, food and ambience!