Mr Fox — Restaurant in Dublin

*please forgive any typos. I am awaiting reading glasses so my errors are truly down to my lack of sight.

For those those aren't into reading long reviews The food is fantastic, the best you'll get at this level in Dublin. Its let down a bit by the service but I'm a chef so my review is for the food. This review is based on this being a more upmarket dining experience. I've given far inferior places 5 stars however the reader must take my expectations were far far higher for a restaurant such as this.

The food is excellent, the chef obviously has a fantastic love for food and understands his craft well. His Yellow Fin Tuna is up there with some of the best starters I've eaten even compared to Michelin dishes I have both cooked and eaten.

The thing that takes away is the service and its such a shame. The manager is fantastic, attentive but not to a level where you she's annoying, the opposite in fact. She made herself endearing by her obvious belief in their chef and how much us enjoying our evening mattered to her. This is obviously a lady who is as passionate as the chef.

Unfortunately I think, like so many fine food establishments they suffer the staff crisis and it shows at times. You can see the ones who are dedicated and passionate and you feel for them when they are let down by the grunt we got from a waiter who greeted us on entry or being served a craft cider in a wine glass topped to the brim with ice or the lack of any implimet to eat greasy olives with then being presented with a soup spoon and finally a dessert fork, very tasty olives may I add, Or the twice empty glass in front of me or my friend having to go ask for a wine because he got sick of waiting. The amazing things were so great, parmesan cream and a mushroom cream with handmade sourdough. The let down, the bread was cut too thick which overpowered the flavours the chef worked so hard to create. A thinner bread would have complimented both perfectly. A small thing to many but big to some including me.

If the front of house backed the kitchen talent up then this place would be up there with the best I've ever experienced at this level. My honest verdict. Eat here if you love food and aren't fussy about perfect service. The staff were lovely but you could see the inexperience at times. On the other hand, the manageress will go out of her way to make you feel like the most special people there and she's good at it. It's just such a shame there is only one of her. If it were my restaurant I'd take her off the floor, give the menial management stuff to supervisors and then give this woman free reign. The rest of the place would very quickly match the food.

I am not connected to this establishment in any way. I dined here for the first time tonight without them knowing who I am. We paid full price for our meal and drinks and of course tipped generously as was deserved. Dining here tonight made a great night with friends so much more special. Very hight recommended, in fact, for food this...

Had dinner here on my first night in Dublin. I got the premium wine pairing with my meal. Here are some notable and memorable highlights from my experience. To be noted- Their menu has since changed.

Ham hock - the perfect bite. Texture varied in every layer. Savory and creamy and smokey and salty and slightly sweet. Most delicious bite I've ever had.

Tuna tartare with chipotle tartlet- amazing fish quality. Never had tuna that tasted that fresh. Well seasoned. Perfectly spicy chipotle cream. Textures also on point with the thin crispy tartlet shell.

Scallops "Waldorf" Amazing tender scallops. Not fishy at all. The apple and cabbage and yellow (can't remember what it was) mousse were amazing. The walnuts were a perfect nutty addition that added a bit of sweetness and crunch that the dish truly benefited from. Stunning presentation.

Cod and mussel- amazingly tender. Melt in your mouth. Most buttery tender mussels and cod literally melts when you chew. So good. The green curry sauce was a tad overpowering for the delicacy of the fish, but was still good flavor. Just left my mouth tingly and unable to really taste the fish. The squash with crispy seeds was a good addition. I always enjoy crispy grains and seeds on a plate with soft textures.

Duck and blackberry with cevennes(caramelized onion) and salsify- Duck wasn't as tender as I expected. A tiny bit on the chewy side. The salsify- never had it before but absolutely loved it. Large portion for a main in a tasting menu. I was getting too full to finish because I wanted room for dessert so they gladly gave me a take away box to finish it later. The blackberry and onion accompaniments were delightful and cut through the richness of the duck perfectly. Still wish the duck wasn't so chewy and hard to cut through but the flavor was delightful.

Lemon and rhubarb dessert was phenomenal and perfectly tart. The dessert wine pairing went perfectly with the flavor. Was a perfect intro to their sweet offerings. The coconut and chocolate desserts weren't my jam but I'm not a huge fan of either flavor. However the coconut ice cream between dehydrated chocolate mousse wafers was great and I'd definitely eat that again.

The passion fruit jelly with passion mousse was delightful. Perfect ending bite.

Ambiance was noisy. Conversations at every table were very overpowering. Definitely feels very casual vibe despite the menu and drinks. Decor was minimal in a good way, a tad rustic and homey. Staff were very friendly and helpful but were less attentive than expected. Dirty plates/glasses sat on the table until right before the next course was served.

Overall delicious and good experience. Food: 4/5 Ambiance: 3/5 Service: 4/5 Drink pairings:...

TLDR / BLUF: Wonderful food, mediocre service, amateur pacing.

Absolutely delicious food. Couldn’t want for anything with presentation and flavor. I also do LOVE that they don’t take the plates away until everyone at the table is finished. Keeps from making someone feel like they’re taking too long compared to anyone else at the table. Also, in response to some of the vegetarian reviews, we had a couple allergies. They did a great job of substituting. They might have a problem with vegetarian, but the substitutions for allergies was quite sufficient. However, main server WOULD look away to try to avoid eye contact during meals. And by during meals, I mean it takes 2 minutes to eat a course, but they’ll leave the plate on the table for 20. Makes for apparent awkward moments as the servers look away. Other feedback…absolutely, painfully loud. Not much as far as auditory deafening design/layout/decor. The patrons were so loud, unnecessarily loud, but there was a hard floor, hard walls with right angles…nothing to deaden the noise. ‘Strict 2-hour rule’ is just lip service. 2 hours into the meal and still had 2 courses to go. With 20 minutes of waiting per course, we’ll have no less than 30 minutes more. Most of the food is already prepared, we are waiting for maybe the duck to be sautéed or the fish to be cooked. Sauces are made, pastries are in the fridge…what are we waiting on? The bar was set high with the phrases ‘strict 2-hour rule’ and ‘if cancellation within 24 hours, full cost will still be charged.’ But THEY don’t stick to it, and it wasn’t as impressive an atmosphere as a Michelin Star restaurant would imply. Also, the timeline that they advertise, we would have been late had we had any other plans after dinner. Didn’t come by to see if we wanted more wine after the first time. And with an over-2-hour meal, there should be multiple glasses of wine. We were expecting smaller portions, we get it. But, with the spaced-out timing and smaller portions, we were looking forward to a post-dinner fish-and-chips. Only, because dinner took 3 hours, we couldn’t find anything open and were left unsatisfied. Again. On point for...