Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Dublino - part 2!!

                  

Alessandro has been in Italy for the last month so has only seen the new place through email and excited descriptions from us, so he flew back yesterday!! We decided he should fly into Dublin and we'd pick him up and stay up for the night and do a little bit of "food and wine" research - oh life is good:) There were a couple of new places that I wanted to try like Carluccio's and the Cornerhouse Grill so we made a day and night of it!! We decided to stay in the Trinity Capital Hotel which just had a complete refurbishment last year and I have to say I highly recommend it. It's so cheap compared to other city centre hotels, is in a great location and I love the new decor so it's my new place of sleep when in Dublin.

As usual we tried to pack as much food and drink in as one's body can physically handle, Carluccio's was first on the list but only for a sandwich as we were going for steaks so we only wanted something small for lunch. I'v eaten in Carlcuccio's in London lots of times and I really like it!! Ok, so it's not Italian food like "mama would make" but it is a chain at the end of the day and the quality is very good for a chain. The Dublin outlet is pretty impressive I think, very modern, fresh and absolutely spotless, everything shines. The presentation in the deli is excellent as you can see from the picture above and I wanted to buy everything but we just settled on 3 very good panini. I think it will do very well but if you're looking for more traditional Italian food I suggest Dunne & Crescenzi around the corner, they even use tazza d'oro coffee which anyone who has been to Rome would have heard of, it's the most famous spot for coffee in Rome!!

                                  

I've spoke of Fallon & Byrne in my last post on Dublin so this time we went down to the wine cellar and had a couple of glasses of vino and some oysters as an "aperitivo" which were delicious and the boys loved!!

            

Dinner was booked in the Cornerhouse Grill at 9pm and I was interested to see what it would be like as it has had some pretty bad reviews recently. We started with the spicy chicken wings, lamb skewers and the roast beef salad.




For mains we had 3 rib-eye's, chips and a side of broccoli

 

I wish I could tell you it was a great meal as I love the concept and think we badly need this kind of dining option but it really wasn't up to standard and is pretty expensive. We all agreed the quality of the steak was really good with lots of flavour but that's where it stopped!! The service was good with really friendly waiting staff but other than that it was a big disappointment. We tried to get in there the last time we were in Dublin on a Tuesday night but it was packed but last night it was fairly quiet which is such a shame as it has everything going for it but at the end of the day no matter how nice the place is, it's all about the food!! 

                                          

There's lots of discussion lately about the best steak so my question to you today is what's your favourite???

 - fillet
 - sirloin
 - ribeye
 - striploin
 - t-bone

I'm loving ribeye at the moment, would love to hear your favourite, it's a little bit of market research for the new place!!

Ciao!!
Posted by LOR&BRU at 22:05:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (20) |
Comments
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1 - blue ribeye.....no question....oddly enough most waiters I know will say the same, maybe not blue but almost always ribeye.....most flavour..fillet is overpriced everywhere and just not worth it.... (Comment this)

Written by: Manuel at 2008/05/01 - 00:03:58
2 - Lor, All those desserts are calling my name! Whats hiding under all that merinque I wonder! Sounds like fun taste testing all those foods for the new business. I love a good rib eye, the flavor is just great, but when I'm in the mood for a leaner cut, I'll go for a New York strip, thats what we call it, so I'm quessing it would be your striploin. (Comment this)

Written by: Marie at 2008/05/01 - 01:53:20
3 - Hi Lorraine :)
I like fillet mignon these days. (Comment this)

Written by: Maryann at 2008/05/01 - 03:25:50
4 - It has to be ribeye. O'Connell butchers in Little Catherine Street, Limerick do the best ribeye I have ever tasted. Jamie Oliver has a great recipe in his new book for ribeye. It is very simple which is always the best way to cook steak, you should check it out. (Comment this)

Written by: susan at 2008/05/01 - 10:23:33
5 - Hi, I'm with Susan on this-O'Connell's rib eye, served rare. My least favourite is fillet-I'm not a fan of the texture-or the taste for that matter. (Comment this)

Written by: gingergirl at 2008/05/01 - 11:22:47
6 - Can't beat a good T-Bone. Hmmm the flavour

Ronan (Comment this)

Written by: Anonymous at 2008/05/01 - 11:37:20
7 - Market research like this is the best, isn't it?? ;-) I'm a fan of Carluccio's, too - although the individual branches can vary in standard. The best ones I've been to in London are in Canary Wharf and South Kensington. Sounds like the Dublin one is up to scratch, which is great news for you! (Comment this)

Written by: aforkfulofspaghetti at 2008/05/01 - 12:06:15
8 - I really enjoyed Carluccio's when we visited recently. Bright, light space, the staff were helpful and it was kid-friendly (I have many nieces and nephews, so this is extremely important!). And the food was pretty good too. I had a decent risotto, which wasn't overcooked but nice and toothsome. Lovely little lemony biscuits too. Mmmmmmmmmm! (Comment this)

Written by: Wee Jen at 2008/05/01 - 12:29:30
9 - Ooooh, yumm! This reminds me that I've been cooking WAY too often. As for your question, that's a tough one for me.... I rarely order steak & it's usually when mom is in town so I always let her order for me (how old am I?!?!). My guess is that mom orders the sirloin. This is SO embarrassing for me - I'm from Texas for goodness sakes!!!

xoxox Amy (Comment this)

Written by: Amy B at 2008/05/01 - 16:31:15
10 - Definitely ribeye, with T-bone a close second ! (Comment this)

Written by: markh at 2008/05/01 - 19:51:50
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