Grande Restaurant — Restaurant in The Municipal District of Dundalk

In one word: disgraceful. As an Italian trained chef (from the Scuola Alberghiera di Ivrea, Torino, Italy) I can guarantee this restaurant is but a bad imitation of (simple, tasty and traditional) Italian cuisine. Having worked in many restaurants and hotels in Italy, England, and other countries, once I sat in this restaurant last week with two colleagues, I recognised the menu as something not made by Italian people, but at best by some ignorant chef with some perverse vision of Italian food. I should have listened to my gut feeling in retrospect, red flags were popping up right and left when reading that menu. Too many pasta dishes have cream (something we use very sparingly in Italy) and chicken in it, (a combination virtually unseen in classical Italian cuisine). Furthermore many pasta dishes had fries with it. This is likely having a sandwich filled with bread, come on!! The potato salad starter was more akin to food given to cows than a real potato salad, way too much iceberg lettuce, very few potatoes, cream/salad cream (instead of good mayonnaise), the onions and peppers in it where sliced way too thick. Just look at a good recipe online for what a good potato salad looks like, it's not difficult, its delicious and does not look/taste like anything I was served. For main course I skipped the pastas/cannelloni altogether and checked for some decent meat or fish dish. The roast chicken and roast potatoes dish sounded good but upon reading with more attention I discovered it had cream on it and while asking the waiter if It was possible to have it roasted normally, without cream, she looked at me incredulous, like I just landed from another planet. This is one of the simplest and most delicious dishes to make and yet, cream was here too. So I had a simple cod fillet, grilled, with some side vegetables. My hope was to choose something foolproof. Although it was marked as Fish of the Day (hence supposed to be fresh) it was almost definitely frozen since the fish was rubbery and dry, a a general sign of frozen fish. Furthermore, there were too many green herbs on top, masquerading the true taste of cod which is a very delicate tasting fish that should be served very simply. The "home made" tiramisu may have been homemade but had what it seemed like too much liqueur and possibly cream (two ingredients that do not belong in tiramisu) and did not taste good either (I just got the dessert because I felt sorry for the starter and main and wanted to wash off the bad taste). The small Italian espresso (spelled as "espress" in the menu, yet another sign that no Italian wrote that menu) that I asked for specifically small didn't arrive, I instead received a large cup of espresso filled to the bream. So I sent it back and ask for half an espresso cup, the way it's served in Italy. Anymore than that and you are drinking burned watery coffee, trust me on this one, I still remember well the lesson on espresso making when I was 15 years old. The service was disgraceful, the waiter was talking to a couple up front in the restaurant and left us looking at her for at least 20 minutes after we finished the bad main courses and had to call her a couple of times to get her attention. We were completely ignored and there were only 5 people in the restaurant (us 3 and another couple). After the desserts we went directly to the till to pay, to avoid another 20 minutes wait. Any decent waiter doesn't ever get called to a table by clients, because he is taking care and looking after them, anticipating any potential need. My two colleagues also did not enjoy their meals, I felt embarrassed for them. I almost never write reviews, but when food and service is this bad I feel compelled to, it's an insult to simple but amazing Italian food. It takes exceptional skill to cook and serve that badly, I honestly couldn't do it If I was shown how to. If you don't know how too cook just look up a reputable recipe online or in a cook book, this is what I do when I want to cook Asian or other dishes for which I do not have specific...

It wasn't obvious that no alcohol was sold. The waitress said to go to restaurant next door and buy some. Some writing abive the pasta said it was available in gluten free, but when I ordered my choice, I was told the top 2 pastas were not gf.. So labels need to be better. They had 4 tables in but we didn't feel looked after, waitress chatting in a very familiar way to next table. 2 pasta dishes we ordered were lovely.. We ordered home made bread, it wasn't homemade. Wouldn't go back despite tasty food because the whole experience wasn't...

I often go here for food, and in person the food was delicious. However I ordered delivery tonight. The prices were higher, the portions were smaller and the same dish I always get was not saucy but more watery and not cheesy as it usually is. It's also usually served with chips but they're extra on delivery 🙄. Husband got carbonara and it wasn't great either. Could have made it at home for a quarter of the price. So disappointed. Called the chef who just disregarded my complaint. I won't be going back in person either. I guess loyal customers...