Amy Austin — Restaurant in Dublin

The quirky location is well matched with the slightly off-beat hipster interior. The painted concrete walls made no attempt to hide the somewhat humble past of this former car park building, now Dublin's newest wine bar. Unfortunately after visiting this restaurant on it's opening evening any novelty factor the unusual location had inspired has already worn entirely thin. I had been excited for my visit so had pre-checked the menu and ordered immediately after being seated. Despite this it took over 15 mins for a simple glass of wine to arrive! I had ordered one of the 'tap' wines so I cannot imagine what caused such a delay. It was, however, entirely delicious (the South African white, Savage, for those taking notes) and nearly worth the wait. The cheese I ordered to start arrived shortly after; without bread despite what the menu promised. After waiting 5 mins I was forced to ask for some bread and the waitress looked shocked that I would make such an absurd request! When I eventually got my bread the flavour of the cheddar was somewhat spoiled by the fact the knife had clearly been used to cut blue cheese right before. The pork belly I had also ordered was visually stunning and the meat itself was very tasty and perfectly cooked, however it was quite overpowered by the very strong flavour of the pickled cabbage that accompanied it. For desert I tried the pear and frangipan tart and was actually very impressed. I would definitely have tried more of the wines (after all the main feature of a wine bar!) if I had been lucky enough to be offered any further drinks. The place was busy, but with a total capacity of around 30 people I would really have expected a check-back or at least the offer of another glass of wine when my first empty glass was cleared. Overall an entirely average experience. The food and wine both had serious high points, with only minor things spoiling the flavours but it was definitely the service that let it down overall. I don't think in honesty I would have rated as high as three stars, but the bonus of getting 50% off the bill because it was the opening evening went a long way to make up for the...

Upon arrival to this quaintly intimate venue, we were shown to our seats, which although were grosly unbalanced, set the scene perfectly for the rest of the dinner.

The bar set by the bland and unisnpiring butternut squash was practically a tripping hazard in hell, where I truely believe would have provided a better meal than this.

€14 for a single chatrelle may sound like extortionate prices, but the addition of a single button mushroom to obfuscate the arogance not only makes this dish tasteless, but distasteful.

When ordering the torched scallops I would have prefered the slap across the face then and there, rather than spending €16 for a single scallop cut into slices, drowned in a self-important foam that both masked how poorly the scallops were prepared, and how underwhelming the "wish-brand" caviar was.

The yakitori was smothered in an overpowering tare glaze which made one lament for the death of good cuisine, rendering the surrounding purée as useless as a flashlight on the sun.

The popcorn rice pudding was the best dish by default, yet sticking to the theme of the night, was disappointingly unbalanced with the coconut acting like a petulant child, demanding all your attention.

If you make the mistake of dining here, don't worry, they make the entire event laughable when delivering the bill, and revealing that they charge for tap water (the reason being very justified, as they chill the water for you).

The owner and Head Chef should be downright ashamed of themselves, as this entire night was a creation of apathy and unimaginative distain for appetite. 1 star as I would have liked to take more stars away like they took away my will to live.

EDIT: Hi John, I'm assuming by your response on this that you were unsatisfied by my response "off-line". As I mentioned, my review was purely just based on how unbalanced and disappointing your food was, and I even mentioned how your staff member "was a delight" to have serving us. I will, again, offer an olive branch and ask if you would like to meet and discuss this further; but if you just want to throw a tantrum, then by all means, knock...

I spent a long time going to the Asian shop on the same street, always glancing at this place and thinking, I need to book it! Hahaha. So naturally, I built up high expectations—which is never a good thing! But honestly, my experience was incredible.

From the very beginning, the staff set the tone. Donavon (apologies if I got the name wrong—I really wanted to give credit, so I checked the receipt) was fantastic. Truly, well done! The kitchen team was also incredibly attentive, which I absolutely loved.

Now, onto the most important part—the food. It’s been a while since I left a restaurant feeling genuinely happy. Dublin’s restaurant scene has been growing rapidly, but it’s rare to walk out truly excited. So, huge congratulations, because this time, I did!

A special shoutout to the Beef Cheeks and the mind-blowing cheesecake. When I saw it on the menu, I thought, Oh great, another boring chef’s dessert. But the moment I took a bite of that cheesecake base, I swear I heard music! It was perfect—the acidity from the lemon, my god! I could eat a giant bowl of it and die happy. Hahahaha.

So, I just want to say a massive thank you for this incredible experience. Wishing you all the best, and congratulations on the...