Mara

Flawless tasting menu with the perfect pairing of wine. A must try! We ended the dinner feeling happy, satisfied and not overly full, which is always a risk with this type of food experience. We found the pace to be perfect. We never had a dull moment. There was a perfect cadence of: bring the wine, explain the wine, allow a few minutes to enjoy it, bring the new course, explain the course, taste the course, clean, bring the new glass & restart. Toward the end of the dinner we started noticing how they adapted seamlessly to the pace of every table so that it felt they always left exactly the same time in between stages while they clearly weren't. Very smooth. Luis has great storytelling and a very good sense of humor that brought lightheartedness to the dinner, something that we always like and made us feel super comfortable. In fact, while it's clear there a lot of work went into preparing the dinner and then in serving it, I would never call this a "fancy dinner". It just didn't feel so, which means bonus points for me. All the 7 wines served were very interesting and tasty. Some were even surprising (like the first, which was a sweet wine!). All the courses were an explosion of flavour, often presented in surprising ways and the base ingredients were clearly very good. If I have to call out one single area of improvement, I think the finale could be improved. I found the mini madeleine of the petit-fours underwhelming. I then lacked a strong taste to end, something like coffee as they don't have decaf (they said they are getting a new machine) or a spirit (I think they only have wine & dessert wine)

Unique dining experience! Professional in every aspect. It shows that the owner puts all his wisdom and talent into every meal! Perfect wine pairing for the courses! I recommend this place with all my heart! 💖

Most disappointing 3 course meal our group had in memory. (a mix of ok - what happened here? plates). What was unforgivable was no seasoning, raw rice, an unseasoned tin of beans with parsley, incinerated dry pork belly and a dry slab of baclava that tasted of fish. We informed the waitress of the issues each time which received a feined "I'll tell the chef" (3 times). However she was running the entire front of house and only spent a maximum of 10 seconds at each table. Given the reviews I was expecting something similar to the standard of the previous restaurant but this wasn't even close. *Whoever made the cheesecake, you earned a star.

Small but mighty. Not for an empty wallet but if going out to experience something new and try new stuff it's great. Staff friendly but unobtrusive. Food fantastic and stuff you definitely aren't making at home as it's much work to make that art. Saving up for the next round

Fabulous Dining experience , we had the taster menu and wines to match. It was an outstanding night. the attention to detail and the engagement from the owner and chef was amazing .... would highly recommend.

We had the tasting menu just after Christmas and it was amazing. Everything is well prepared and we would love to come back when we get the chance.

One of the best meals I've ever eaten in the world, let alone Ireland. Luis and his colleagues demonstrate a genuine love for food and simply good quality genuine ingredients, and will inspire the same love for all his guests. I cannot state how out of all the dining experiences in Ireland, this humble restaurant in Waterford is the one and only that you MUST try.

Great experience at Mara - we went for the 10-course tasting menu to celebrate a special occasion and can't speak highly enough of the food, venue and especially the service...the waitress was incredibly attentive and obliging considering she was largely on the floor by herself, playing a blinder on introducing all the dishes with enthusiasm and very knowledgeable when follow up questions asked. Food was fantastic, all dishes tasted amazing with genuinely great value for money as some would be considered mains-sized portions in other venues! Something that can't be said for some other tasting menus I've had at times but you really will be full afterwards, we were rolling home afterwards 😄 Venue is very nice as well, like other reviews, have to acknowledge the small but cosy space created by the team - can't help but think they could fit a few more seats/tables in if they wanted but not complaining as it feels spacious but still welcoming for patrons presently. 5 star experience and we will be back 👍