Camden Kitchen — Restaurant in Dublin

This should be a really lovely restaurant. The dishes are skilfully prepared, the wine list and menu are great, and it should be one of those places where the extra cost is absolutely worth it. But the actual experience on the night we went was really bad. The food, beautifully prepared, was uniformly under seasoned, so that all our starters and mains tasted of nearly nothing. Chefs need to taste what they’re cooking. At the level they’re aiming for a Cabernet franc should have been served or at least offered slightly chilled. The worst were two features of the service. On the night we went the waiter/manager was complaining audibly towards the end of the evening to his colleagues about his streaming cold. It hadn’t stopped him serving and handling everything that came to everyone’s table without washing his hands, wiping his nose as he moved around the restaurant. He shouldn’t have been working that night. They also didn’t bother to ask whether we wanted desserts (we did - the menu looks amazing) and by the time we realised that we were going to have to ask ourselves we’d lost appetite and moved on. Frustrating because this place should be wonderful, so hoping that this was a glitch. Looking down the reviews I can see others with similar issues, but also some who’ve had a brilliant time. So we might try again, and hope that the chefs have found the salt pot. Note: no vegan options on the menu on the night we went so you’d probably need to...

The experience had its ups and downs, not quite as impressive as its Michelin-star days in 2018, but still had some good points. The seating felt awkward if you were facing inward: leaning back made eating uncomfortable, and leaning forward felt unnatural. It might work better for a casual conversation, though. I tried the duck breast, which was cooked well and tasted good, but the dish lacked variety in textures. The arancini, with its soft filling and four different sauces, ended up feeling a bit soggy. It tasted fine but could have used something crisp to balance it out. The service wasn’t perfect, our wine glasses and water bottle were left empty for too long, but the staff were polite and helpful when they were around. We were seated at a table for four without asking, which was fine until we were asked to move mid-meal. It wasn’t a huge deal but made me question why we were seated there in the first place. There wasn’t a wine sommelier, which was disappointing for a restaurant with such a strong reputation. However, the wine list itself was decent. Overall, it’s a good place with potential, but it doesn’t quite live up to the standards of its...

Food: 4/5 we got multiple courses including starter, main, side, and dessert. The starter was salt cod croquette. It was decent, however the croquette itself was a bit dry with the best being the squid ink Mayo. Main was the duck and beef cheek, both of which were a little dried out and we were disappointed. Side was a salad and honestly that was the better part of the meal. Dessert was a panini cotta, crème brûlée, and passion fruit mouse. The panini cotta was the best while the passion fruit overpowered that dessert. Keeping the food off the heating element until serving would be best and slight tweaks to the recipes would make this 5/5.

Environment: 5/5 very cozy and welcoming insight. Ambiance was warm and felt like everyone belonged. Wait staff was very nice and knowledgeable and worked with a few of us that had allergies.

Cost: 4/5 a little bit on the pricier side, but that’s what to be expected for a Michelin recommend restaurant. To be clear, this is not a Michelin...