Boeuf — Restaurant in Dublin

I was super excited to dine at Boeuf. It is in a bit of a touristy area of Dublin, but on the edge too, and generally it seemed that there were a lot of locals dining there. To be clear, this is not a fancy restaurant in terms of its setting or tables etc - and in part that is what I wanted and why I was interested, in addition to the menu. I made a reservation - for one person at 7:00 PM. I highly recommend that because they seem to generally be busy. Getting into the restaurant and then finding where you are supposed to be greeted etc is a bit odd - but that is the nature of the setting and their space - so no worries. I was quickly sat after reservation confirmation and then after about 10 minutes my waiter finally arrived and asked for my order. To be clear, they were not that busy - about 60% of the tables were occupied and the kitchen staff (it is mostly an open kitchen) were chatting and seemingly relaxed. I thought 10 minutes was a bit long - but ok - no worries as I was not in a hurry. The menu is pretty fun - the selections are nice and layout is fine. One minus is that they only have on red by the glass and it is some generic Merlot... Would love to see a Cab by the glass too - although they did have several bottles available but as a one person diner that is a bit unrealistic. They also have an ok cocktail list - to be clear, cocktail bars are hopping in Dublin - time to up the game a bit perhaps, but no real complaints there. I ordered a few things - started with a Whisky Sour. For Mains and Sides, I ordered a NY Strip, Medium Rare, with blue cheese and a red wine reduction sauce, and a sauteed cauliflower and fried onion rings. I also asked for the only glass of red wine offered, the Merlot. The waiter, and this is the only time I ever saw him, asked if I wanted it with my mains and I said yes. My food arrived - and how they serve that is nice - the steak is on a heating iron plate and the sides in their own iron heated plates too. The sides were great - well done, although the cauliflower lacked seasoning. I had both a salt grinder (clear, and was obviously salt) and a pepper grinder - or so I though - the pepper grinder was typical wood etc - but turned out to be salt too. Bummer. So I grabbed one from an adjacent table that was actually pepper. The red wine sauce was excellent. The NY Strip was just ok- it had a farily substantial fat side to it (more or less expected) but was cooked one step into Medium Well.. It was certainly not any where near medium rare. I was mostly ok with that though but would have preferred it to be cooked how I asked. But here were the huge misses - and what makes me so frustrated.

1. I never saw the waiter - ever. When my food was delivered, I asked again for my glass of Merlot.
2. I started eating - and of course noted that the steak was well over cooked - but still tolerable. After about 10 minutes, I was tired of waiting for my twice-asked for merlot. So I got up and went to the folks at the kitchen and asked for a glass of merlot. It arrived at my table with a quick drop off in a glass that was fresh from the dishwasher - it was quite warm. Ok - I'd prefer it to be at least room temp but ...
3. I continued to eat - and not a single time did anyone EVER visit me and check in. I guess they were too busy chatting away in the back - which is what I observed.
4. When I was done - I waited for a while - but no one ever came.

I finally just got up and went to the hostess and said I wanted to pay. I noticed a sign next to the register noting how tips would be shared - in terms of how much the kitchen staff gets adn the waiter gets. I was not too worried about that at this point.

I am not totally sure, but I believe it was my waiter that walked up and ran my bill for me: I had only ever seen him once.

I normally tip very well - 20-25%. Typical American... not this time. NO service == no tip.

Dublin is amazing - so many places. Choose another one...

I've never had such a disrespectful and frustrating experience at any place before. The way we were treated was really upsetting and something we'll always remember.

Last Sunday, my partner and I went to Boeuf restaurant on William Street, a place we had enjoyed before. We ordered 2 “steaks and chips” and 2 soft drinks at around 2:25 PM. But just about 5 minutes later, at 2:30 PM, I got an unexpected message that I needed to leave earlier than planned. So, since the restaurant was busy and our food hadn’t started being made yet, we asked to cancel our order and we offered to pay for the drinks we had already had.

The waitress returned with a full bill, saying our food was being prepared and would be packed for takeaway. We didn't mind paying for the takeaway if the food was actually ready, because we needed to leave as quickly as possible, but that wasn't the case. We then spoke with the manager, who insisted we pay the full amount, including a 10% tip, without showing any proof that the food was ready or being prepared. He also mentioned he might call the Garda, treating us as if we were cr1min4ls. Despite our attempts to explain the situation and resolve it amicably, the manager didn’t seem to listen to us and acted as if we were trying to cheat him. We felt confused and intimidated, as he was being very rude in front of everyone.

After this, we asked one of the chefs about our food, and he informed us that it wasn’t ready at all and that the restaurant does not offer takeaway boxes. So the manager even suggested wrapping our food in a piece of aluminum foil, but he didn’t show us the food at all. We tried several times to pay just for the drinks, as we wanted to fairly compensate for what we actually consumed, but the manager refused and insisted on full payment.

After many attempts to pay for the drinks, we saw no other option but to leave the restaurant, as I had an urgent and unexpected situation. However, the manager was in front of us, physically blocking our way by push1ng us and not letting us leave, standing in the doorway. At this point, we were very confused and didn't know what to do, we felt humili4ted, misunderstood, and pressured by his behavior. We had thought it was an easy situation to be solved.

After a tense 10 minutes, when he was blocking the door with his body, he finally agreed to let us pay only for the drinks, which was what we had originally suggested.

This review is about the unacceptable treatment we received from the manager, not about the financial aspect. He did not provide us with his name when we asked, but he was a middle-aged man with a bald head. We hope that no one else has to go through such a frustrating experience. It is important to note that no other staff member...

Atmosphere & Cleanliness: The restaurant captures a classic steakhouse vibe with a calm, low-noise environment—ideal for chatting and enjoying a relaxed meal. However, there’s only one bathroom, which can be a bit inconvenient.

Menu & Food Quality: We tried the ribeye, sirloin, and their tasting plate-shared platter for 2. While the tasting plate offered variety, it didn’t deliver the full steakhouse experience—I'd recommend skipping it in favour of a full cut. Among the steaks, the ribeye stood out as the best, though the seasoning was a bit mild for my taste. We also ordered crispy calamari and duck pâté—calamari was crispy and enjoyable, but the pâté wasn’t to my personal taste. For sides, we had potato gratin, thick steak fries, and skinny fries—all satisfying. For steak topping mushroom and as enhancement nduja chilli sausage. Liked the nduja chilli sausage very much since added more salty taste to my steak.

Service: Service was smooth, and everything came in good time. Do note: steak sauces must be ordered separately—steaks are served plain by default, which is fair given the price point.

Pricing & Value: It’s a budget-friendly option for steak lovers. The quality and portion sizes are solid for the price, though it may not satisfy those looking for a premium steak experience.

Accessibility: Centrally located, easy to access from various parts of the city.

Overall Experience: Decent value and friendly atmosphere. Great for a casual steak night, especially if you’re watching...