Delahunt — Restaurant in Dublin

I don’t often write reviews, but my family’s experience at Delahunt was so disappointing and, frankly, unsafe, that I feel like warning other potential diners to avoid this restaurant. I’ll start with the positives: 1) they were able to accommodate a switch from the front table to a back corner which was much better for my dad who is hard of hearing; 2) the bread with butter and leek oil was fantastic to start; 3) the final dessert was interesting and flavorful. However, two out of three meat dishes were undercooked, including the quail and cod. We didn’t say anything about the quail since it was early in the tasting menu and such a small dish. The cod was so undercooked that it had a strong smell of raw fish when placed on the table. It was also very over-salted. We asked politely if it was supposed to be served raw in the middle and our server said yes. He offered to take the dishes back and cook them more, but we declined. Even if the dish had been properly cooked, the flavors were not great, especially with the level of salt. One of the courses resembled a granola bar with apple butter on it which tasted good but seemed like something I could pick up at a convenience store. Severely under-whelming considering this place has overall good reviews and a high price point. By the end of the meal we were all concerned about possible food poisoning given how under-cooked the quail and cod were. The lamb was certainly on the rare side but obviously appropriately cooked and the flavor concepts were much better than the other meat dishes. Fortunately, no one in my family got sick from the meal, but we should not have had this concern after a meal at a place of...

This happened a few years ago, but whenever I tell my friends about this horrible dining experience, they always remind me to post it here - so here we go.

My mom and I went to Delahunt in November 2022 to celebrate my graduation, a special occasion that was essentially ruined. Our reservation was at 8:30pm and we arrived five minutes early. However, we were told our table wasn’t ready and were directed to wait in the cocktail area, which was fine at first. But after 20 minutes of waiting, I asked when our table would be ready, only to be told by the hostess that she didn’t know and she will let us know when ready. I had to ask three more times before we were finally seated—40 minutes past our reservation time.

When we were eventually seated, I must say the food was amazing, which is the only positive thing I can mention. However, partway through our tasting menu, about three dishes in, the light at our table (which was controlled remotely and installed into the wall) suddenly turned off, leaving us sitting in near darkness with just a candle, no other tables’ lights were turned off. When I flagged down the waitress to ask about it, she explained that the person at the table beside us had a migraine, so they turned off our light to accommodate her—without asking or even warning us.

The service was absolutely appalling (and for a Michelin starred restaurant!) and completely ruined what should have been a special occasion. I would never...

Had previously had a very good evening meal here 2/3 years ago and was looking forward to returning for a Christmas lunch with a group of friends.

Unfortunately, the latest trip was a big let down. "Bland" was the adjective shared pretty much equally amongst the group. Goats cheese starter was fine, but had the consistency of a thick paste. The main courses were uniformly unimaginative, with the beef cheek being a particular let down. A thin sliver of a heavy sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream to finish (albeit, could have been worse - the blue cheese and cracker choice looked an abomination), coupled with a watery Espresso martini resulted in defeatist shrugs around the table and an embarrassed apology from the person who had suggested the group go here for this years lunch. Wasn't his fault - everyone had previously had good experiences here but this was a severe setback in our view of Delahunt.

Finally, rather than charge €38pp for the set lunch, for a group of 8 (or more) they arbitrarily up the price to €45pp (along with a separate 12% service charge, which we were happy to pay - service being one of the few bright spots) - thought this was also a bit on the sharp side of practice...

Anyway, lesson learned. 8 people emerging from the lunch with a radically changed opinion...