Gary E.
Yelp
Right. Two visits here, and both went about the same.
Reasonable food. Not great food, reasonable. Better than a greasy spoon of course, but places like Electric and Market Lane blow the doors off this place.
Service both nights was appalling. First night it was three of us, and our waiter took a half hour to take our drinks orders. Wife had a vegetable stew that was basically bland grey gravy with some veg and barley lurking about. God forbid they season it. My duck was okay, to be fair, and our friend said his steak was so-so. Said friend ordered a side of chips, and was informed that the complementary potatoes would be enough. We were still charged for them, mind you.
Second night was even worse. Went in there with a group for a birthday dinner, and once more the service was a mess. My wife had to flag someone down to order a drink, (20 minutes after sitting down) and rather than take the hint and ask the rest of the table if they wanted something, she just legged it. Said drink didn't arrive until almost a half hour later, at which point - over three quarters of an hour in - the rest of us got to order as well. When pouring wine for one of the ladies in the party, one of the waiters refused to pour into her glass unless it was on the table and her hand away from it. When she didn't hear what he was saying, he just snatched it out of her hand and slapped it down, glugging wine in. Sorry to be an inconvenience there.
Food was once more average at best. We were early enough so I ordered off the prix fixe menu, grabbing the wings, the ribeye, and the chocolate cake. Wings were quite good, but the steak I had was certainly not a ribeye, was instead three arse ends of sirloin, massively overcooked, and whacked on a bed of mash. I was told this place was famous for it's dry-aged steak, but this was awful. The chocolate cake I ordered never reared it's head, just like the side of chips in the first visit. (And like the first visit, better believe we were charged for it.) I pointed it out when the bill arrived, and was informed that they did indeed bring it out, and someone else must have eaten it. There was just a couple of euro difference between the two and three course, so in the interests of just getting the hell out of there, I let it slide.
Won't be back, and would suggest you stop into one of the many other fine establishments in Cork instead.