The Grapevine — Restaurant in The Municipal District of Kilkenny City

Service: As we arrived, we were met with a smiling waiter, lovely. Then showed to our table or should I say pointed in a "sit here manner" maybe I'm just been petty now but very unwelcoming after a first initial smile. Sat down in a lovely table for 2 just on the left beside a table of 4 and a table of 8 I'm sure it was? Received our menus and tap water, not informed of house specials or offered sparkling water (not that we would have got it anyway for €6 but you know... Service) I was wrong with how I poured our water, I poured it into the wine glasses instead of the water glasses. Ops. What I didn't expect was the little dance our waiter did (halarious to watch) as he stared in disgust at my mistake saying "I guess I'll take... theeessseee... glasses then" with his body language to express just how displeased he was as a result of my mistake. I apologized for my mistake which was met in an eye roll. Fair enough I understand the pain of polishing wine glasses that were not needed to used however... These are embossed wine glasses?? Very similar to a fancy whiskey glass. Very minimal polishing needed for these type of glasses. If you don't want mistakes like this, a simple half glass pour for each Customer as they are presented their water saves the bother of needing to put on the drama show. Our table was not checked on for more drinks or water. Our food was checked on... For the last 2 bites of prawns... Not the usual 3 bite rule (or somewhere around that time) into dining to ensure everything is fine but it was checked at least? Sassy pants sticks out however, bringing everything else to attention which to be fair wouldn't have been an issue.

Atmosphere: Nice decor, I didn't pay to much attention to be fair I was more focused on spending my evening here with my partner. What I did notice however is it was so noisy, I couldn't hear my partner at times and we felt as if we had to shout at each other. I understand a restaurant cant be held accountable for the people there at the time of dining but this is where table planning comes into effect. Noone in our surrounding area was loud drunk or anything they all were just trying to hear eachother at their own tables in a very compact and stuffy environment. We are both just gone 30 so... Maybe it's hitting us hard but I feel the same experience would be met in a fairly rough pub that would let you fall in with a bag of chips. The 4 tile decor of the ship that I was in eye view from my seat was very beautiful however. I pointed it out to my partner during the frequent "I can't hear you so I'll nod and change conversation" moments. Food: The food wasn't bad. It wasn't Spanish but it wasn't bad. The portion sizes are shocking for it's price. Shameful even. The cost of living in Ireland isn't easy and for a business with a fully functional kitchen it's worse! I get that.

However, we ordered Patata Brava, not Patata salsa. Brava sauce is a spicy sauce. This sauce was tomato but tasteless. Tomato sauce (red sauce) would have been a better suit. At least then the vinegary hit would have had some flavor. The stuffed jalapenos are not stuffed jalapenos. They are cheese infused with jalapenos rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried. Served on top of mayo. Mayo, not even alioli? You can literally buy that in Dublin online for a inexpensive price. The Gambas was grand not grainy or anything. The chorizo in red wine was very nice. So it's great to know frying meat in oil is a specialty. I particularly liked the chorizo as it gave the spice that was missing in the brava and it softened the stale taste from the bread offered with the Gambas. The pimientos de padron (new to the menu) are not pimientos de padron. I appreciate the effort as many Spanish restaurants can not find these peppers as they are very expensive and very much in demand. These large full of seed peppers however are a very embarrassing attempt from a Spanish restaurant. (In my opinion)

I had much more to say but.....

Really disappointed with our experience. Some of our group had been in December and loved the place & food. The food was very very good, unfortunately we won’t be going back. We were sat at the back of the restaurant as our table wasn’t ready (even 10 minutes after our booking time) so we agreed to take a table at the back as we were hungry and didn’t want to wait. Unfortunately we were not told that there was a closed off bathroom behind a curtain directly behind our table and the smell was vile. All 6 of our group began to feel sick after our meal as the smell grew worse everytime some flushed the upstairs toilet it seemed. We asked the waitress and she said the smell coming from an unused part of the restaurant and in response to us asking for more candles to help with the smell, handed us a spray air freshener for us to spray ourselves, which was laughable. We couldn’t stay for dessert as we were all so ill from the smell, and when we went to speak with the manager about the issue, he had his back to us the entire time, would not speak with us and left his staff to handle it. He also refused to give us any kind of discount as gesture of apology until the 3rd time speaking to his staff. The manager also wouldn’t look at us leaving the restaurant. Really dissatisfied and sadly we won’t be coming back more so from the way we were treated on top of the lack of care for a serious health and...

What a fantastic experience at Grapevine Kilkenny! The atmosphere was warm and lively, the service friendly and attentive, and the food absolutely delicious. We tried several dishes, but the highlight for us was definitely the paella — perfectly cooked, full of fresh seafood, rich flavours, and that authentic Spanish touch that made us feel like we were on holiday. The tapas were all beautifully presented and bursting with taste, especially the prawns with chorizo and the patatas bravas.

The wine list is impressive too, with great Spanish options that pair perfectly with the food. The staff were so kind, taking the time to recommend both dishes and wines, which really made our evening special.

A wonderful place to relax, enjoy amazing food, and soak up the great vibe. Highly recommended — we’ll definitely...