Botticelli, City Centre South

Food was dull and we really could have made better at home (we are not particularly great cooks.) Decor nothing special. Very poor value only saving grace was the wine which was not cheap but nice. Very poor value given quality. Same dull salad with all dishes and pizza was no better than a good frozen one from tesco.

Popped in here while passing with the girlfriend, the early bird was on so we sampled it. They've 2 different early bird menus, 1 for €15 - starter/main with the mains being different pastas/pizzas, and a second for €19, the mains being more meaty standard dishes. It's a big restaurant, 1 side faces the quays, the other into Temple Bar, the latter having more tourists and a bit more noise from the passing crowd. The courses came out quickly which is fine if you want to be in and out quickly but if you're on a date, you might want the meal to last longer than 20 mins. I had the suppli, 2 deep fried croquettes of mozzarella cheese, tasty but 3/4 of them would have been better. My partner had crostini with proscutti ham and cheese - it wasn't great, reminded us of a basic ham and cheese toasty from a bar. For the mains we had the pasta with chicken pieces, garlic and olive oil for me, creamy white wine sauce for her. We were wary eating it as we had to send back our plates the first time as the chicken wasn't cooked as required. The waiter/cook didn't make a fuss, he could see it was wrong, changed it quickly and apologised profusely. Both dishes were tasty, mine had a bit too much olive oil as it splashed all over the plate. Overall, not too impressed with the place, food was ok but I was still hungry an hour later.

Visited Botticelli's last week for their Early Bird menu. Had the 'suppli' to start - croquettes with risotto rice and mozzerella inside and the carbonara for the main. I'm a huge carbonara fan and this was by far the most authentic Italian carbonara I've ever gotten outside Italy! It was perfect, not too heavy or creamy. Our waiter was also extremely friendly and helpful. Such a bargain for only €15 per person. Will definitely be going back!