The Blind Pig Speakeasy — Restaurant in Dublin

The set up of the speakeasy is so good, the pig to enter and the door appearing behind the bookshelf is brilliant. The menu had mostly Italian dishes and they also had a second vegan menu which looked very good and there was a great variety on the vegan menu. For starters I got: Arancini Ai Funghi Con Salsa Al Gorgonzola, which came to 14€ I must say the presentation was not great, but the taste itself was magical. The sauce was a Parmesan sauce, when tasted alone had a very mature cheesy taste, the fried risotto balls were crispy on the outside and moist filling with a lovely aromatic mushroom flavour, the cheese sauce paired beautifully with the risotto balls. I am craving these again today. The serving size was perfect, there were four balls of risotto, but for 14€ for the dish I think one more ball would make it better value for money and the 5 would look better aesthetically on the big plate it is served on.

For mains I ordered Pasta e Fagioli. This dish cost 20€, the presentation was nice, it came with a garnish of cheese and a basil leaf. The dish contains Italian sausage but I chose to get the vegetarian version of this which is the dish minus the sausage. The dish was very disappointing, for starters the pasta was undercooked, and I presume it was store bought pasta? There was no flavour to it, I ordered salt and pepper to the table to try salvage the dish but it didn’t really do much to help. For 20€ you’d think the dish would have some excitement but it was very disappointing, basically a bowl of undercooked pasta.

My partner ordered 10oz Guancia Di Manzo which was 33€ This is a beef cheek cut, the presentation was nice, it came on a bed of Potatoes and a side of carrots. The potato’s were very tasty and flavourful, although the meat was very fatty and not enjoyable to eat we’d come to the conclusion it must just be that cut of meat is very fatty anyways, the flavours of the meat were good but consistency wise not the best. The price for this dish was reasonable considering the size of the cut of meat!

We’d paired the meal with a bottle of TAITTINGER BRUT RÉSERVE which was 130€ for the bottle. The bar man chilled up two champagne glasses before it was brought down to the table, it went nicely with the meal as it isn’t overly dry.

For desert we ordered Panna Cotta Ai Frutti Di Bosco which was 10€ This had a cute presentation, it is ideal size for a desert and came topped with a berry coulis and mint leaf, it was very nice but not worth 10€.

Also for desert Cannolo Siciliano Scomposto which was also 10€ This desert is a deconstructed cannoli, the filling of the cannoli was very light and creamy ricotta with a beautiful mild pistachio flavour. I’d prefer if the shell of the cannoli was not broken up inside the desert and maybe on the side instead.

The staff were excellent and very pleasant, 10/10 service, they were always keeping busy and very attentive, once a meal was finished they would clear the table within under 4 min of completing the dish and would ask if they’d bring the next one down, then bring down fresh cutlery. There was no waiting around, we were well taken care of and can’t praise the...

My partner brought me to the Blind Pig for my dinner last night, some where she had been before and had notified them it was my birthday. We were placed by the service door which was awkward, but there were a large number of American patrons who were there for the American football match. When we saw one become available, we requested that we be moved to another table from that beside the service door, which they kindly did. However, after this point, service seemed to non-exist. After a waiter took a drinks order, our initial waiter disappeared and we had to try to get the attention of another person working there a few times before we could order our mains. We later learnt that this was the manager. We were there for approx. 1hr 45m but at no point did anyone come down to ask us if we needed anything or ask us if we wanted another drink even though we both had near empty glasses, even water. When we had finished our food, it took about 10 to 15 minutes for the manager to take the plates even though we pushed them to the side so they could be taken. We stayed after this as my girlfriend had ordered a birthday dessert for me which, she had prepaid for. Again, after another 10 minutes or so, my girlfriend had to go up and ask them to bring it to our table. It was then brought down and dumped on the table between us without a word and no spoons to eat it. It was not even busy at this point as there were at least 3 or 4 other empty tables. It just seemed like we were either an interruption to their day or that they were more interested in the American customers who could potentially be bigger tippers rather than potential returning customers. As we were having dessert, the manager who was our main server was leaving and walked past us and I tried to get his attention twice but he just walked straight past. While the food and cocktails were nice, the service was terrible and I definitely would not recommend The Blind...

First time customer, celebrated our fifth anniversary here. Good experience overall (food would have been a five star, but the Salmone Marinato Agli Agrumi was way too salty). Here's a snag list for management' review on improvements and recommendations:

Cocktail menu: it's fancy and legible but in short supply. I know sharing is caring, but please print more menus so that your customers don't have to ask for them back each time they want to order a new cocktail. Goes a long way towards customer experience. Capacity: the seating area is tiny (very little to no space between tables and chairs) so perhaps rearrange the seating area to make the experience better. I wonder if safety regulations were passed with the number of people allowed in such a small space, using the same entrance as exit which did not adequately accommodate the maximize number of customers present at 6.30pm on Friday. See S.I. No. 147/1988(5) Atmosphere: you cannot hear the ambient music or your own conversation for that matter due to shouting coming from the very snuggled up restaurant patrons. Waiting area for diners: As booking is mandatory, please make it clear on your website that you operate like a Swiss watch and any early arrivals (booked in advance) cannot be accomdated at the bar and must only return at the allocated booking time, not a minute early - or this was the impression we were left with. As a reminder, the restaurant should have set aside a waiting area for the purpose of accommodating only persons waiting to enter the dining area of the restaurant to consume a meal (us 🫠) Hygiene: the first line of defense as they say. Personal grooming is essential in the service industry and while it's a busy and a very demanding job, a little check in the bathroom for perspiration odours ( and some deodorant top up) goes a long way in creating a hygienic and clean restaurant environment for...