The Dublin Community Blog

Might be worth a look if you’re looking for something to do this weekend! Weather forecasts are looking good, and I’d love to have a poke around some of the tall ships along with the Le Aoife.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/maritimefestival/

There’s an outdoor market, along with some street entertainment. Pat Liddy will be holding walking tours of the Docklands area over the weekend.

And I’m afraid that’s putting it mildly…

The Gourmet club decided to reunite for the dine in Dublin week and we managed to get a table in Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & grill on Dawson street (formerly Fitzers). Their set menu for this special week was €29.95 for three courses and coffee. A good deal, considering their normal prices. With a name like that you can imagine that we had been looking forward to this one!

The restaurant itself had a nice atmosphere, but just had too many tables to allow the waiters to move comfortably between them and for the guests to hear the conversation at the other end of the table. We were seated at a round table, which I personally always like, because it enables you to easily have a chat with all the people at the table without having to shift in your seat. The menu allowed for quite a few choices. 6 starters, 5 mains and 3 desserts, which is a nice selection for a set menu.

I chose the asparagus with Hollandaise sauce to start, followed by a goats cheese salad and creme brulee tot top it off.  The asparagus themselves were nice enough, but the Hollandaise sauce certainly lacked the tangy lemonyness that sets it apart from other butter based sauces. But at that time I was still looking forward to some goats cheese goodness. Until my plate arrives that is…. I got a starter size salad which was made up out of three goats cheese circles on top op 3 deepfied croutons surrounded with watercress lettuce and a few walnuts. And that was literally it. No dressing, nothing tangy or sweet to balance the flavour, no other ingredients at all.  The cheese itself was quite bland as well and tasted as if it was deepfried with the croutons it was presented on. The croutons were drenched in oil and it wasn’t a nice olive oil either, but something generic which leaked out of them and continued to grease up the rest of the plate as I was eating my meal. I decided to give up after I only ate about 2/3 of the food. My dessert, creme brulee, was very nice and what you’d expect from a creme brulee. Nothing more, nothing less.

The service we got was below standard for a restaurant that links its name to a high profile chef like Marco Pierre White. Our waiter needed us to point ot the selected wines on the menu and handed us our plates across the table, instead of serving them out the normal way. At one moment he even slid a spoon across the table for Orla’s dessert. When clearing the table after our main courses he put the cork he had in his hand from opening a bottle of wine at another table on Dervla’s plate before removing it from the table. I’m not sure where they had learnt their etiquette and hospitality skills, but it was sub-standard to say the least.

After having to ask for our change back, we decided that we would not return here. ever.

And now for the grades…

Atmosphere: 6/10. The decor was nice and well done, but there were too many tables, which made it very crowded and noisy.

Starter: 5/10. a pass but just barely

Main: 2/10. I think Supermacs would do a better job at a goats cheese salad

Dessert: 7/10. Nice

Overall experience: 4/10. I’d rather spend my money elswhere.

I’ll now pass on the mic to the other Gourmet club members for additional comments and reviews about their own meals.

Tomorrow is Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, and to mark the occasion there’ll be free scoops on offer at the following locations and times:

11:30am-1:00pm: IFSC George’s Dock

2:30pm-4:00pm: Grand Canal Dock (near Fresh)

5:30pm-7:00pm: Heuston Station Luas stop

More details can be found at the Free Cone Day Facebook page here. Hopefully the sunny weather will hold up!

The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants for 2009 is out and guess what, the top restaurant is one I can afford to eat in, or at least I could before it became the top restaurant. Jo’Burger in Rathmines. I’ve never eaten there, the queue outside always put us off and sent us down the road to Kafka, but everyone I know who has eaten there raves about it.

As a side story there appears to be a spin off from Jo’Burger called Jo’Banger on Baggot St. It’s just open during the work day, catering got the lunch market. Nice sausage wraps and great soups. Unfortunately it tends towards the expensive side for a lunch sandwich bar and there is a to-let sign up for the last few weeks.

The Paulaner Oktoberfest take place in Dublin’s George’s Dock over a ten day period (9-19th October). There is plenty to do for all, from having a Bavarian lunch during the week, to a great Bavarian night out with friends.

What to see and what to do (short selection): Beerbar and German Schwenkgrill specialties, German Bretzels, Black Forest specialties sausages & various meats, Mushrooms, dumplings, German rissoles and fried potatoes, German wines.

And, of course, a huuuuuuuge quantity of Paulaner beer! See you there. Free entrance.  Official site.

The official announcement goes like this:

This weekend (4,5 October) the Festival of World Food is taking place in Marlay Park in Rathfarnham. There will be food stalls from Palestine, Lebanon, Algeria, Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Japan, China, Thailand, Greece, Spain, Sri Lanka and India. The festival will also focus on the wonderful innovations taking place in this country at the farming and artisan levels, with priority being given to applicants from farming, growing and producing backgrounds.
From Ireland there will be bakeries, farm house cheeses, condiments, butchers, gluten free products, organic fruit and vegetables, beverages, hot-food and a selection of our best home produced products.

The admission is free.

UPDATE: Other photos, here.

I had the pleasure of visiting the new rooftop restaurant in Marks & Spencers on Grafton Street last Saturday. It was quite busy  but the queue for seating moved along quicky. A very cheery and efficient Hostess gave us the option of sitting outside or inside. Since we spotted a bright sun outside, we reckoned we’d check out the view. However, within 15 minutes a heavy rain shower shooed us all inside. They don’t have permanent covering outside, just large umbrellas that don’t cover all tables. Weather permitting, it really is a lovely space outside. The view of Grafton Street is great. The decor is quite modern, with clean lines and Eames style Eiffel Tower chairs.

Unfortunately I didn’t photograph the menu, and I can’t find any online. It is quite reasonable price from what I can remember and theres lots of choice. We went with the “special offer” which was a choice of mains, choice of dessert and a glass of wine all for eur12.99. I had sausage and mash for mains – 3 large sausages and a large portion of mash. Very yummy. My banana split for dessert was very good too. My friend had a very good lasagne (with chunky chips as extra) and the strawberry eton mess type dessert – which tasted as good as it looked!

Service is super efficient. I would recommend a visit and I’m looking forward to my return.