Bramley Abbeyleix — Restaurant in The Municipal District of Portlaoise

A love letter to my favorite restaurant. What is there to say about this place, the biggest wonder is how is this place not booked out months in advance and how it doesn't yet have a Michelin star, it is that good. We have been to ireland twice and came here to dine both times, the food here is worth a trip in itself, if we lived closer we would be here every week, Chef Sam Moody knows his way around a kitchen, from vegetables to meats to desserts and everything in between, Front house always greets you warmly and is very attentive and helpful with suggestions. We had the tasting menu, you get an amuse bouche first that gives you a hint of all the wonderful flavors you are about to experience. then comes homemade Irish bread with butter, that is already soft to spread, this little detail is sometimes overlooked at other restaurants not here, the attention to detail is supreme. A tiny cup of mushroom soup took our breath away with the depth of flavor, followed by a Jerusalem artichoke dish that was above any level of vegetable dish I've ever had (the celeriac salad we had here last year ranks as a tie) now I'm not a vegetable first person in the slightest, but sam knows how to make it taste sublime. The quail dish was served next, it's so tasty and perfectly cooked that the only think left on our plates were the tiny bones, next we had a dish dish of melt in your mouth haddock on a milky corn sauce that was enjoyed to the last drop (yes I drank the broth) Chef Sam came by to say hi and surprised us with a bonus dish of smoked and raw trout on a thin crispy cracker that I finished in 2 bites (I ate my wifes dish too) The Irish beef dish that followed was perfectly pink and so tasty. Followed by 2 desserts, a apple ice parfait that was delicious with its sweet and tart contrast, then the piece de resistance the hot chocolate souffle, this is a dessert you should fly in for, my only regret was I ate it too fast, it's so perfectly baked and just sweet enough it's really sublime. Thank you Chef Sam and team, we look forward to seeing...

I visited the Gallic Kitchen in Abbeyleix today, first time since they moved to the old Bramley property but will definately be my last time.

We ordered two warm duck salads, much to our dissapointment. There was a pile of tastless salad leaves, some very bland shredded duck, coupla cherry tomatoes which looked as though they were thrown into the bowl on one side and a bit of thickly cut chopped cucumber on the other side together with couscous that was so soggy it stuck to the dish. There was an amount of either chick pea or some type of beans mixed through the couscous, impossibal to know which but it was all disgusting. To top it all the complete dish was saturated in pesto which even made the salad leaves so soggy. There was no atmosphere in the building. Large tables for groups rather than couples or individuals. All i saw was two tables for two. I noticed two young guys came into the restaurant, went behind the deli counter, helping themselves to food, some picked up by hand, no gloves, no hair covering, and indeed i did not notice any of the staff having proper dress ware for serving food. I have been a regular customer of the Galic Kitchen in Francis Street for many years but this is such a let down. We wished to purchase some cakes etc but was told they did not have any. It is such a dissapointment instead of improvement from the little shop accross the road where they started out. It may have been small but it had everything including excellent service from an english lady who worked there and a lovely atmosphere all of which we did not find today. A...

Booked for Saturday Lunch a Birthday treat for my son. A disappointment from start to finish. Staff apologised for delay in getting our food to table but did not explain the reason for the delay. It eventually arrived both Ragu tasted good but the pasta was cold , my lamb was dreadful, it looked like it was dumped on the plate absolutely no finesse in plating. The lamb was so tough it was inedible. The waitress offered to remake how much longer would that take hours! I had the set lunch instead the soup was completely under seasoned the herb oil carried the dish & the open sandwiche was very tasty except for the sourdough which was so burned as to render the crusts inedible. The desserts saved the day. The owner brought over 4 portions of delicious brown bread by way of apology but again no explanation. The most annoying thing was that all the time we were sitting waiting the staff were tucking into their lunch...I love to see staff eating in a restaurant but just a tip feed the paying guest's first. Not sure who was cooking for us but owner was sitting in same corner as staff on a laptop presumably doing very urgent work. Not my first time to visit Bramleys but won't be in a hurry back. The restaurant was very quiet & we were the last to leave despite my awful experience I left a tip for our server as I felt she was abandoned by...