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Matsugawa
Member since: 06 April 2008
Location:
No. of Reviews: 19
Status: Connoisseur
Last Visit: 03 December 2011
Member since: 06 April 2008
Location:
No. of Reviews: 19
Status: Connoisseur
Last Visit: 03 December 2011
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62% |
Penang gardenPosted on 02 January 2012
This was my 3rd visit, most likely to be my last. The food has never been "bad" but when Penang Garden opened the it was better in ever respect - decor, atmosphere, food. Service is still friendly but the place is scruffy now, like lots of restaurants in Wicklow it's seldom full and the food is now what I would describe as "takeaway" quality. It's tasty - but it's just too salty, soused in generic sauce and thrown together in a bowl. It's still better than the other two Chinese restaraunts in Wicklow - but that's faint praise!
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An Port Mór RestaurantPosted on 10 October 2011
A new place, and a great recommendation by a taxi driver! Really interesting menu too and the starters alone had us rushing for the door. I had pigs cheek salad which was a revelation - really tender and tasty. For the main course I had lamb (which they offer to cook whichever way I wanted, which was unusual) which was again delicious and perfectly cooked. The service was really friendly too, which you don't often get when you're a bunch of lads and being fairly noisy but we were tucked away in one of the alcoves so we didn't disturb people. I'd class it as more of a couples or for special occasions. We had a great meal. It was pretty decent value with 3 courses, coffees and a lot of wine for 50 euro a head.
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Three QsPosted on 10 October 2011
My first visit to Three Q's after hearing great things for years. It's smaller than I thought, and our large group took up about a quarter of the seating. But it's a mark of a good restaurant that serve a large group and not mess up the service. I had a very large started - a mini kofta kebab thing with a minty yogurt that was really tasty. For mains most of the group ordered steaks an mine was perfectly done. Portions were on the large side so I skipped desert. Overall really impressed with the place and the friendly service and next time I am in Greystones I'll go! Highly recommend it.
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Black 'n Blue Grill - ClosedPosted on 04 July 2011
Had Sunday Lunch as part of a large group, with two babies so we were tricky customers. Made feel very welcome with babies which was nice! The lunch menu wasn't too limited - there was something fro everyone including vegetarians in the group. Tw waitresses handled the large group really well - my started (roast quail) was really tasty. Main course was a really tasty home made burger served with chunky chips! One of the nicest I've had in a while. I was most impressed by the service and the fact that a group of 14 people had no complaints about the food or service. The Al la carte menu seemed more expensive but I didn't feel too guilty letting my brother pay for it all as it wasn't madly expensive.
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Ouzos Bar and GrillPosted on 04 July 2011
Ouzos was recommended by a friend as one of the better places to eat in Dalkey. It was busy when we arrived and we were dispatched by the receiving waiter to our table (an awful table near the toilets at the back). That was the only black mark on otherwise nice service. All three of us ordered seafood - mussels, crab claws and crab-on-a-mushroom. no complaints though I would have liked more than 5 crab claws! Still, only a starter and for 10 euro it was so-so value. Mains were disappointing. Fish and chips were ok, but my partners seafood bake was weird with parmesan (on fish - ugh!) and weirdly large and tasteless "Boston" shrimp that tasted of nothing. The other diner had a tiny portion of monkfish at 30 euro which we all thought was very expensive. Deserts were pretty forgettable - a rum sundae with little enough rum! Bill came to Euro 150 with a bottle of very nice house wine. Overall poor value and so-so food but a nice place to eat. Would not rush back and we were all a bit disappointed.
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KajjalPosted on 08 August 2009
Kajjal is a hard place to get into without a booking - it seems full almost anytime you visit which is a good sign. After several abortive last-minute attempts we managed to get a table mid-week. So the first lesson is to book this place.
The menu is a departure from the paint-by-numbers Indian places that are so prevalent.
The wine list is a little on the expensive side and there was no Gewurztraminer or Voignier which I think goes well with hot oriental food.
I had squid rings (unusual to find them in an Pakistani restaurant) to start followed by a pepper-hot biryiani. Both were very nice, the biryiani had an unusual flavor of cloves/black pepper/coriander. Portions are, if anything, too generous. No one managed to finish their mains after having starters.
Dinner for 4 with a bottle of wine came to Euro 150 which was so-so value considering we did not have any desert of coffee. Food and service were very good and I'll be back for sure - though I think I'll try to book.
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Coppinger RowPosted on 01 August 2009
Came here after rave reviews from some friends. It's a buzzy little place but the food was a real let down. Salt Cod croquettes tasted mainly of potato - very little salt cod in them, almost imperceptible. My wife had a very bland mushroom on toast. Main was worse - far worse. We thought the menu was very reasonable before we came in what you got was bad value. A really tasteless lamb chop with an equally bland citrus/pomegranate "gremolata" - I think it was just lemon juice and pomegranate and a tiny portion of risotto that tasted to me like canned peas. Brownies for desert were OK but tasted a bit of raw cocoa. Just plain poor food - maybe they are scrimping on ingredients to keep costs down. The croquettes and the risotto you could probably get out of a freezer Service was nice and friendly, wine list of good. Very disappointing though!
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The Winding Stair RestaurantPosted on 18 October 2008
We ate at the Winding Stair on Friday, for lunch. The entrance is a little inauspicious, but upstairs it's a nice, airy room with large windows. Service was very friendly. I had the crab claws (perfectly done) followed by the duck confit (again, really well done with a nice red cabbage side). The dessert was a pear and ginger tart but it was a tad too sweet. Overall, everyone thought it was a great choice for lunch. Downsides? None really - it's a little gem of a place.
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Peploes Wine BistroPosted on 15 October 2008
This was my second visit and I was looking forward to it, having eaten very well here several months ago. It was midweek and the place was almost full - a good sign. However, the first thing the waiter dropped at the table was bread and olive oil - rancid olive oil. It had probably been left out open in a hot kitchen too long. No problem; just skip the oil! I prefer butter anyway (not that I had any). We ordered and our starters arrived quickly. The menu is a bit dated (fried brie...carpaccio of beef...) but I had the cepe risotto, laced with a little of the rancid oil around the edges. Luckily it has been poured over and pooled at the edges. At this stage I wanted to say something but the waiter simply rushed in when we were finished, not a word and no eye contact and took the plates. I was really waiting for him to ask how everything was. Mains arrived (venison and an odd haddock lasagna with cold cucumber strings on top) and to finish me off they tossed the vegetables lightly in yet more rancid olive oil. I was getting a bit cross at this stage, and wanted to speak to a waiter but they just kept passing by so I left the veg and ate the rest. Again plates cleared in seconds. Dessert and coffee served in a blur and again no one asking if everything was all right. In fact we were getting our coats and I thought I might mention it but our coats were fired at us with fairly charmless haste and we were outside in the cold. So because no one in Peploe's was interested in how my experience was I can only contribute this.
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Marios RestaurantPosted on 26 June 2008
As a former Sandymount resident I used to visit Marios regularly. It was always a reliable pizza and pasta place. I'd moved away about 2 years ago but decided to give it a bash for old times sake as we were in the area. What a mistake. Got a rude reception, 2 menus thrown at us. We gave them the benefit of the doubt, waited at the bar for about 15 minutes. When we were seated we were then left to wait for a further 15 minutes, despite trying to get the attention of waiters around us. I decided to give them 5 more minutes. This passed, so I rang next door and asked if they had any tables (they did). We left, and to be fair a waitress did come over and apologise but it was too little attention and far too late to make us stay. Won't be back.
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Square SteakhousePosted on 26 June 2008
I'd never been to this place, though I'd lived in Wicklow almost all my life. Just the wrong end of the town, but I had been looking forward to trying it. We were a large group and we all ordered fillet steaks, cooked in different ways. To their credit, they got everyone's right, and they were very efficient. The only problem was the steak! The meat was bland, didn't have a great flavour and the vegetables were simple steamed/boiled veg. Great service, decent value but could do better with the produce I think. I've had some fantastic steaks in unlikely places but for a steakhouse not to have great steaks..well..need I say more?
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L'GueuletonPosted on 26 June 2008
Fantastic - friendly helpful staff, relaxed surroundings but the food is the star. I wasn't even hungry when I went and had the Foie Gras and Pate Parfait which was delicious. The the only thing the first time visitor may have a problem with is the way the menu is structured. No starters or mains, just whatever you feel like. Only downside - we seemed to be surrounded by good looking but miserable, poker faced couples!!!
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The Ballymore InnPosted on 06 May 2008
A lovely spot, well know to locals I suspect and great for big groups. It looks like a pub out front but inside it's laid out in big tables in with booth-like partitions. We skipped the starters after being warned that they were huge. We all ordered drinks and mains and they were very quick, arriving in quick succession. Most of us had the specials which I'm told never change either. Service was friendly, food was very tasty - for the standard the price was right. Would go again,
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China SichuanPosted on 06 May 2008
I was here on Friday with a wife and friends - service is very friendly, this place has a great not-so-run-of-the-mill menu with a fairly small selection of starters. I had the Hot Ribs and they were hot! Our mains were really tasty (smoked duck with plum sauce). The only thing that lets the place down is the dining room - it's probably quite authentic, it's got a very relaxed, worn feeling but and I wouldn't want to bring a first date there (unless she was into Chinese food!).
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Jamuna Indian Restaurant (wicklow)Posted on 14 April 2008
The only Indian in Wicklow, great for large groups. Friendly service, decent Indian fare - it's not pushing the boundaries but if you want a steady Indian in Wicklow this is it. Easily the best place to eat if you don't have a reservation.
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Fallon and ByrnePosted on 14 April 2008
Visited after work on Friday. We were quite early and the place was empty so atmosphere was non-existent. Room is nice - faded only it's brand new so it's a little "affected". Service was friendly, so this made up for it a bit. My caesar salad was fine, my wifes ravioli was in a watery tomato soup and she wasn't keen on it. However, our mains (steak and trout) were perfectly cooked and delicious. The desert we shared was a lemon ricotta cheesecake but tasted like something you'd buy in M&S. Overall bill came to Euro 100 and we had only a glass of wine each. The wine list is expensive, needlessly so because lots of places in Dublin have good wine lists for a lot less. So it falls down there - I can live with 100% markup but to me this looked more like 200%. You could do better easily enough...
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The BakeryPosted on 07 April 2008
Both upstairs and downstairs dining rooms are really nice, with a nice atmosphere when nearly full. Comfortable chairs, spacious - first impressions very good. Menu is fairly standard "Modern Irish". Very friendly service, though our waiter was very nervous and kept coming back. We went for the Early bird, which is 35 euro for 3 courses plus a glass of wine. My steak was perfectly cooked but didn't have much in the way of flavour. Deserts were huge! Too big IMO. The house wine (and indeed the wine list in general) is very good - they are supplied by the Wicklow Wine Company. However, the down side is that the early bird menu represents fair value. The food was average but the prices weren't. They quality of the food isn't there like similar priced places in Dublin. Still, for a new venture straight into the Top 3 of places to eat in Wicklow.
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SerpicosPosted on 06 April 2008
Great Pizza!
Pity it's so quiet. However, it means you always get a seat. The best pizza you'll get outside of Dublin. Has it's off nights fo some things (just stick to Pizza). They also do a roaring trade in take away so that'll tell you how good the pizza is.
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Siam Thai (Malahide)Posted on 06 April 2008
My 3rd visit and my last. As before, very poor food and service, and expensive for what is it (Euro 100 for 2). All dishes with coconut milk we're cloying, stodgy and sweet. My duck was supposed to be crispy but was soggy and very, very fatty (fatty is OK if it's crispy). Service was rushed and borderline unfriendly. The waitress was very glum. All courses are in the Euro 20 mark, and the quality is on par with poor chinese takeaway. It's not really Thai food at all.
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