On my recent trip to Riga the capital of the Baltics I stumbled upon the Theatre restaurant hidden in a courtyard away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. With pleasant weather touching 20 degrees it was perfect for sitting outside. A really nice place to relax. Shame about the food. Cheaping out on the salad sauce by using sunflower oil instead of olive oil. Bizarre considering the effort taken to create a nice atmosphere in the restaurant. The portions were decidedly small. After my useless salad starter I indulged in some pasta carbonara. This was also so-so. Not as good as I would cook at home which is not good enough from a professional chef. Deserts?… nah why bother with being underwhelmed again?
On the up side the coffee, drinks and cocktails were good. Would definitely recommend it for a tipple in the sunshine but avoid the food. I’ll be covering a better option for grub, just around the corner, in my next post.
Sick of hearing about this recession drivel my colleague and I decided the best detox would be to visit The Unicorn just off St Stephens Green for lunch. Rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of the Irish finance industry during this lunch hour it was clear by their pot bellies that their recession is confined to sensational newspaper headlines and an is primarily an event that is happening elsewhere. How fitting that the people who caused this mess get off scot-free. I digress….
The place was rammed to the gills and we were lucky to get a seat. After enjoying an excellent lunch it is easy to see how this place remains so popular during these supposedly tough times. The variety on offer for the buffet starter would have been enough to satisfy even the most choosy of eaters. After enjoying the juicy olives, mozzarella, tomatoes salad and a range of other tasty morsels it was onto a main course of roast lamb. The lamb was slightly over done by my taste but I’ve unfortunately come to expect this in many Irish establishments. The roast potatoes, veg and yorkshire puddings which were served as accompaniments were however excellent. As we had a full schedule in the afternoon we stuck to water though the extensive wine list was enticing.
If you’re ever down at the Portobello Market and feeling a bit peckish but don’t feel like spending a fortune I can only recommend Banger Bros. The name says it all. They specialise in the finest sausages the UK has to offer, between a bun. The result is a burger like sausage sandwich which out-strips the efforts of any ‘insert nasty faceless corporation here’ . I walked away feeling satisfied safe in the knowledge that my money was well spent and didn’t feel the usual headheades and pangs of hunger half an hour later which I normally associate with fast food. Top effort. Check out the menu.
I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the brand new designer Hotel, Barcelona ME, when I was visiting the city for a show earlier this month. This hotel had it all but you would want deep pockets. Maybe not the ideal time to open a hotel of this grandeur. On the other hand if you want to escape the rat race with a weekend in Barcelona I would highly recommend the ME. Situated in the 22nd district near the Pobleneu Metro station it’s stunning architecture (see the slide reel below) and everything possible concierge left me with a feeling of awe. I can only thank God that I wasn’t paying with a double pack of Durex (flavoured albeit) coming in at a tidy 15 Euro and a bag of crisps (small snack size) at 6.50 Euro.
The room was small but comfortable with a large panorama window giving a eye catching view which had you looking straight down the outer wall. The bathroom was all you would expect and featured a large window into the bedroom which gave the room a spacious feel. If you like a good book there was also a Roman style triclinia in the corner. It was 160 Euro a night. The cheapest option.
Breakfast was quality. A buffet with a large selection of tropical fruits, cereal, pastries, cheese, bread, cold cuts, juice, coffee and tea along with a menu where you could order a range of cooked items. I couldn’t resist the chorizo sausage, bacon and eggs (along with a good helping from the buffet). They do say breakfast is the most important meal! The butter was, strangely, noticeable through it’s absence and if I have to admit it, it wasn’t missed so grand was the selection on offer.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any time to get stuck in at the pool or gym (after a breakfast like that it would have probably been a good idea) or any of the bars or lounges. I did however manage a few sneaky pics for you on my final morning.
The Irish government, with the foresight and moral fibre it’s become world famous for, is busy increasing taxes on consumption to fix our economy. They plainly miss good ol Charlie Haughey and want a throw back to the days of belt ‘tightening’.
One Pico are working against this trend, as are a number of other restaurants in Dublin. They want to let our belts out a few notches by stuffing us with cheap, gourmet lunches. I applaud their grasp of economics, the political classes should take a leaf out of their book.
I was in there for a birthday a little while ago, and decided to drop in while doing a photoshoot on the other side of the Liffey in the Belevedere hotel near O’Connell Street. It worked out to be a 13min brisk walk to just off molesworth street.
The return journey was a less brisk 20mins, an indicator of value for money in dining. Let me tell you why…
Arrived at the restaurant: the prices have gone down, but the service levels haven’t: they recognised a repeat customer from the birthday a week before and we got a friendly greeting and the last table free in the restaurant: An illustration of the concept of what our (not so wise) friends the economists call ‘Price Elasticity of Demand’, basically drop your prices, sell more and (hopefully) make money.
Straight into the meal: A fishcake with a posh name and some posh dressing for a starter, not huge but adequate portion and delicious. A winner.
Then, I had to do it: Confit du Canard on potatoes and a turnipy / squash thing. Apparently (according to a heavily worked looking chef) these things are cooked all night at a low temperature and then crisped quickly in one of those high temp ovens, thrown on the mash, covered in the sauce and served to me to make me late back to my client near Parnell Square.
Here’s the thing: I’ve seen these things in tins in France, eaten them and they were no where near as good as this, and they cost what my meal in One Pico did. How are they doing it? I don’t care as long as it is economically sustainable.
Not like our housing boom, where we were all going to do great having banks and builders sell substandard houses to us for inflated prices – and then we would live like kings on the benefits of trickle down economics. I can only assume One Pico were serving this food up to the great and the good before I could afford to eat there, and they made all their decisions after lunch. Mmm – it is around the corner from the Dail.
Onto desert: with my liver struggling to process the delicious crispy fat, I can barely remember something about little round donuts and in-house ice cream. I remember I thought it was good, and included in the 3 course price. I wouldn’t have been able for it if it wasn’t included in the price.
There are the little extras: sparkling water, a good espresso ristretto that add a small amount onto the bill, but even in the upsell they’re not gouging, and they’re not pushy.
The service is top class: unfussy, friendly and extremely professional. Surroundings are extremely agreeable. Long may it continue, finally some value for money in a restaurant in the middle of Dublin.
Take note politicos: In the 80’s good old Chas was urging belt tightening, robbing us blind, buying Kinsealy and cutting the health service. This decade we had the Mahon Tribunal to enrich the lawyers, while in the same sector the banks and builders were running the biggest ponzi scheme in Irish history. The mortgages taken out to pay these inflated prices will put a dampener on consumer spending for decades to come.
The common folk need to tighten the belts and share the pain? They already have plenty…Lucky for us that the silver lining may be that the little money we have can get us a decent meal in Dublin. And you never know: wasn’t it the MRSA that finished Charlie off? The universe may have a plan for these chumps yet.
Here’s the inside of One Pico, apologies for the poor quality, it was covert, as is the Guestspy approach to reviewing. They never see us coming
If you have an opinion on this restaurant or others like it (proper value/ proper food): Guestspy is always looking for reviewers: PLEASE COMMENT and if you’ve got what it takes I’ll make you an editor.
Located on The Strand a few hundred metres from Trafalgar Square Simpson’s In The Strand promised something special. Traditional British ingredients prepared in a traditional British manner (no not Donner kebabs after downing 1 or 10 too many!). The carvery at this establishment is famous and lessons are available so punters like you and me can become experts in this age old craft. According to the website Simpson’s have been practicing it professionally for over 150 years now. Seeing as this was the speciality of the restaurant and highly recommended by all who had been before our table of six all order the roast beef. The beef is the finest Scottish beef left on the bone and cured for 28 days and it tastes even better than the marketing blurb suggests if this is possible. Absolutely amazing. Our waiter/carver for the evening, Giuseppe, displayed his considerable talents of carvery table-side with the help of a antique silver-domed trolley for added effect (maybe this is why the room is so well lit!) . He also happily returned to serve seconds (at only £5 a go for seconds its a true bargain).
Giuseppe shows how it’s done!
With the added sides of horseradish garnish, cabbage, roast potatoes and (un)healthy amounts of wine I was stuffed. Dessert! I hope you like custard…..
All in all a top meal with no expenses spared. At roughly £55 a head all in it’s not for the faint hearted but then again lifes too short. A must for anyone visiting London and seeking a truly British experience.
Posh night out? Bring it on! Having found Gaucho Grill on Swallow Street a nice little alley off of Regent Street we entered already salivating at our prospective feast. A good friend had recommended the food if we weren’t scared of breaking the bank. Greeted at the door by the porter. Nice touch. Led from the door to the cloak room counter by another greeter. This is service. At the counter yet another employee steps in to ask the cloak room assistant to take our coats. Okay this is getting intense. Led downstairs by a different employee again, the fifth and counting, and shown to our seats where a waiter would cater for us from hereon in.
Lighting. Low and mellow. I like it. Interior design. Cellar with curved ceiling. Also very tasteful. So far so good. Music. Slightly strange choice of funky house beats mostly drowned out by the chatter of fellow diners. All set. Skipping the starter we happily sipped wine and sampled bread with olive oil and a selection of dips as they bought out a platter with the finest selection of Argentine steak you are likely to find this side of the equator. The platter contained one of each cut of steak available on the menu. Rump, Sirloin, Fillet and Rib Eye (see the steak menu). As the waiter kindly explained the difference between all the cuts, how they are prepared and why they are prepared in this way I couldn’t help but feel impressed by the professional service we were experiencing. This must be what it’s like to be a sheik. I could get used to this.
Having failed to come to a decision we opted to try the Gaucho sampler, a platter featuring one of each cut, between us. Each steak would of course be cooked to perfection as recommended by Adam, our friendly waiter for the evening. As is the norm with establishment of such high esteem we custom ordered each component of the meal to ensure total satisfaction. Four different sauces, chips, fries, sweet potatoe chips, roasted vegetables, humitas (an interesting Native American corn based dish) and another couple of bottles of wine while we were at it. This was as good as it gets.
Our wine duly arrived shortly followed by our main courses. Words can’t even begin to express how good the food was. For a moment I thought I’d found utopia. The feeling of bliss started to fade soon after. Our meals devoured and wash down with wine we thought it would be a good idea to order another bottle or two of wine. We’ll order it when the waiter comes to take our empty plates away. 10 minutes pass. Hmmm they must be very busy…. 20 minutes pass still no sign of anyone to clean up our table or take our order for more wine…. 30 minutes…. 40 minutes…. 50 minutes….. The trip had reared is ugly head and turned on us. Tempers were fraying at an alarming rate. I have never in my life experience such a schizophrenic meal. This had snowballed into possibly the worst meal I’d had this side of the millenium. Still the waiters and waitresses rushed by, back and forth, back and forth, seemingly in a daze and not serving anyone. Using my rudimentary knowledge of the French language I could dicipher grunts of Gallic disatifaction coming from the table behind us for similar reasons. I’m not one for making wild and unfounded accusations regarding staff attempts to keep energy levels up throughout the evening but I have my suspisions that WADA would have a field day in here.
After an hour and ten minutes a physical intervention (don’t worry it was non-aggressive) was needed to attract the attention of a waiter. Our table still piled high with dirty dishes we had come down off our buzz and felt that the wine we had initially intended to order would have been a waste. However, as is to be expected with ladies in the group, the opportunity for dessert was not to be passed up. Having ordered and had our table cleared we waited diligently for our final course. This all arrived as expected expect for one dessert which for some reason took an extra 20 minutes to come out. As it was a cold dish I am still curious as to how this could be the case.The dessert was fine but again spoiled by the wait.
The four of us were, at this stage, all slightly disgruntled and keen to leave. We received our bill, all £165 plus tips of it, paid up and left. Whilest leaving I wondered who made the decision to have five people greet us at the door and only three to run a floor of 20 odd tables. It was hard to be angry at the waiter who served us as it was clear that it was an operational issue which was entirely out of his hands. For this reason we left a small gratuity but it has to be said, despite the fine quality of the food on offer, I will never set foot in a Gaucho Grill again.
Before I start I must confess that I’m not the first to rave about this. It’s so good The Guardian did a 2 page write up. Real Italians with real Italian pizza at real Italian prices. What more could you ask for? These guys really know how to make pizza. Nestled deep in Brixton (last stop southbound Victoria Line) Market Arcade it would be easy to miss. Until the recent Guardian review it was locals only. Now, unfortunately, it’s not uncommon the find half hour queues despite the ‘approachable’ personality of the owner…. On my first visit he attempted to play match-maker between me and his male chef, patently ignoring the presence of my girlfriend…. The menu is simple (check it out here) yet effective with the basement prices making it a real treat to behold amidst the financial doom and gloom. If it wasn’t for the chilling breeze sweeping through the arcade you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Napoli. Simply the best pizza in London. Not to be missed!
Flying into London, the self professed ‘best city in the world’ (I love London, but really?), I’m always glad to escape the clutches of the direct selling personnel until I remember what comes next. Airports aren’t my type of place. Paranoid and expensive, if I’m lucky enough to land on-time and before the last train has left (this happens more often than I care to remember), I’m usually happy to step into the carriage anticipating what awaits. Not at Stansted. Shanghai has the Bullet Train, Toyko the Keisei Skyliner Airport Express so surely London would have something to shock and awe……
The Stansted Express. The train where it’s April 1st every day. Seriously, 1st class passengers pay double for the privilege of a different colour cloth on their seat and maybe a free drink if the staff remember to pass through with the drinks trolley. I only know 1st class exists because the conductor moved me on claiming that my presence in 1st class with a standard ticket was unfair to the passengers who had stumped up the cash for the real deal. The irony was entirely lost on him. I’ve travelled return 1st class London to Liverpool on Virgin for the same price as a standard single on the Stansted Express. Incidentally the only thing remotely express about the Stansted Express is the £2.50 instant coffee which they try flog. Presumably to add insult to injury.
I managed to combine two of my favourite activities: I got to test out the movie function on the Nikon D90 and I got material to opine on Dublin’s newest hotel. The Hampton opened this week on the site of an old Dublin landmark, the Sachs hotel.
I got to talk to several ladies of advancing age, having lunch and trying to relive their old stamping ground in the hotel. They seemed ’sporty’ (that’s a bad joke for those of you that have seen Intermission).
Since this is a blog that is meant to be about visits to places and what they’re like, I’m going to do the Hotel first and the camera second. Decor is interesting and particular in style as it should be in a Boutique Hotel, service is friendly and personal and the rooms are as good as I’ve seen, I had to look twice (and behind) a fireplace in the bedroom to see if it was electric or gas. It was electric, but they’ve moved on from a red bulb under a semi tranparent plastic mold of coal in yer grannys front room, I’ll get a pic of one later.
If you’re looking for a hotel with a pool and a gym, you wont want to stay there, you’d be better looking at other Donnybrook hotels. The building is an old row of nicely restored georgian houses, made to house the well heeled in centuries gone by. The hotels website says that it does have Free Internet, but I didn’t try it out to test the speed. I did however get this walk through of their drawing room, lobby and bar at about 3pm:
I had the cod and chips in the bar, nice pice of fish, would recommend a stop off when the traffics too bad to check out the bar and the fish. They showed me the suite, it had a double walk in shower and two toilets. I didn’t ask how much it was a night, I knew it wasn’t for me .
For those interested in reliving the glory days of the 70’s club scene, They tell me they’re going to do a history section on the old Sachs place and the infamous club that was in it on their website). Get ready for sepia tone images of dancing at the crossroads (of Anglesea road )
Now, onto the camera: Disappointed. I had images of movie camera quality with my 14-24mm f2.8 Nikon zoom, and while the youtube encoding doesn’t give it full justice, it also hides some of the problems with it.
The are black bands that go up the screen, reminiscent of the old days pre-satellite when the fog would come in and S4C would go a bit funny, and panning too quickly looks like it drops frames. I used a fast SD card as the shop recommended, but I’m sorry: it went back to the shop.
Never mind: looks like redone are doing a nikon mount from that space alien 4K movie camera they make.
Don’t think we’ll be seeing them in Lidl anytime soon. I’m drooling.
