Update Task #3

Our task from the last meal was to read four books - The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Carry on Jeeves by PG Wodehouse, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball. We completed the task and talked about the books during the meal, which led to some lively discussion. While a new task was discussed, nothing was finally agreed.

Meal #4, Quaglino's Dundalk

As Broken Wing has already brilliantly reviewed our evening out on the 2nd of October, I will make my comments brief. We went to Quaglino's over the Century Bar in Dundalk's town centre. I have been there a few times before but never with my fellow S.R's. As on previous occasions, it was very quiet. It is not accessible for those with mobility issues as it is at the top of an old, narrow flight of stairs, but for those who can climb, the decor is pleasant and there is a nice view of Dundalk, especially St. Patrick's church. The menu is extensive and high class, with the prices being at the higher end of the scale. Because we arrived at an early hour, we were eligible for the early bird menu which included starter, main course, dessert plate and coffee for only €26. This was exceptionally good value, especially when one of the main courses on the menu - the medallions of Angus beef - was €25 on the Ala carte. The service was efficient, although perhaps not as speedy as Gonzalez would have liked, and our waiter was extremely nice and attentive without being obtrusive. The early bird menu had a good choice of starters and main dishes. I chose vegetable soup followed by medallions of Angus beef. The soup looked terrible, but tasted quite nice, although I couldn't stomach the veg pulp at the bottom of the bowl. I had asked for my beef to be well done, as always, but it was very pink in the middle when it arrived. I was hungry so I didn't send it back and decided to eat it, but I would consider it medium rare rather than well done. It was served with mashed potatoes and a Diane sauce (which I asked to be served on the side) and there were vegetables for the table, which included carrots, mange tout and cauliflower. Potatoes also came with the meal, but Dancer and Gonzalez asked for chips instead. The beef and vegetables were very tasty and made a good combination. The helpings were large, I would consider them country helpings, and the food was well done, if simple. For dessert we all got a selection of four different desserts, which was a lovely idea and it was nice to try them without filling up too much on any of them. We finished our meal with coffee and, totally satiated by our meal and happy with the value, we returned home. On a minor note, the bill came with chocolates, which was nice, except my chocolate had mould growing on it, which was not so nice. My rating is 8/10 Highly Recommended.

Quaglinos

It has been 6 weeks at least since the last blog entry and I am sure fans of this site(!!!) must have been disappointed in the intervening period. The stardust gang were just too busy doing other exciting (!!!) things to go out for a meal together. Even todays entry owes more to the fact that it was the Dancer's birthday than the obligations that the stardust team has to their reveiwing duties.

Qualinos is in Roden Place in Dundalk. It used to be in Clanbrassil Street and I had gone to it many years ago in that location and really liked it. I am not really sure if there is much overlap in ownership or personal between the old and the new. ITs new locality is over the Century Bar and you have to climb up some steep over the century old staircases to reach it. Its decor is understated but pleasant. I think there are 2 room, in our room, there were only 4 tables with seating capacity for 12.

We were served by one waiter throughout and he was very friendly pleasant and attentive. The food arrived without any undue delay. It was a little bit cold but that could have been because we were the only diners.

We all choose from the Early Bird Menu which was €26 for 3 courses and coffee. I thought it was excellant value and there was a good choice in courses.

I had vegatable soup for my first course which was ok but certainly not appetising to look out. I choose it mainly to leave room for the rest of my meal and I guessed (correctly) that helpings would be large.

I had madellions of beef for the main course. They were served with vegatables (carrots, mange tout and cauliflower ), a sauce and potatoes. The medallions themselves were on some sort of potatoe as well. THe meat was delicious as were the vegatables. My only quible was that the helping was way too large for me and I asked for well done and it was medium rare (although still delicious).

Desert was a medley of cheesecake, ice cream, toffee pudding and cake with marzipan. I love medleys. They are my favourite kind of desert and indeed I would love starters and even main courses on that principal.

I think that Quaglinos is suited to people who like quiet unpretentious but quality food and surroundings. There was nothing flashy or novel about anything but everything was really pleasant . The value was excellent. Overall I would give it an 7-8.

Da Robertos

Reading my last 2 blogs I realise that I have a tendenacy to ramble on and, in consequence, they are a bit on the long side. So this one will be shorter. A crisp guide to Da Robertos. It wasn't the S.R. team's first choice for the evening. It had been recommended to me but not by a totally reliable source so I was a bit dubious.

Da RObertos is in Dundalk and is fairly small and unpretentious in appearance. THe service was second to none. Although it was busy, we were shown a table immediately. A candle was lit and the menus were presented. We were given small appertiffs (I think rose but I'm not sure- it was very nice anyway) as we studied the menus. And I mean studied as they were very long! So absolutely loads of choice. A quick aside. I think the free apertiff is a wonderful idea. Firsty we all like something free. Secondly, it got the mood going and was a perfect accompaniment to menu reading.

After we had ordered, we were given free bruscetti like things. A small very tasty snack. This second freebe was totally unexpected. The starters arrived fairly soon. I hadn't ordered one but the bits I sampled from my companions were very nice. Then the third freebie - truly an embarrassment of riches! It was a small lemon sorbet to clense the palette.

I had ordered spagetti bolognese. I have avoided doing this for years as it never lives up to my expectations and I don't know why I broke with tradition this night but it was an excellant inspiration. It was truly delicious. My mouth is watering even now thinking about it. I took the starter size helping which was sufficient for me but it was so nice I might have squeezed the main size portion in. (I usually find the pasta helpings are very big so I was pleased you had the starter size option.)

For desert I had tirimirsu. It was tasty but not up to the standard of the rest of the meal.

I will give DaRobertos a 9 because of its lovely food, wide choice, warm and excellant service, reasonable prices and all round excellance. If the seating was a little more cosy or if an amaretto biscuit was served with the coffee or it the desert menu was half way decent I would have easily given a 10.

Food in the North east

As I roll over in bed on Sunday morning, I think to myself, mmm, to-night I will be going out for some fine food. Sunday, I think is an apical day for dining out; something to reward ourselves for the week behind, while also barricading ourselves to face the inevitable Monday of the following week. At the moment I live in the North east of Ireland, so I with my three companions are going systematically through all the restaurants in the area, except of course the ones we are barred from due to idiomatic reasons, such as we refuse to wear evening dress; nothing of course of social condemnation. So far I have sampled food from three places, McBrides, La Cucina and Da Robertos. Well what will I comment on, the décor, the atmosphere or what I found most tantalizing. I think I start with the last, the ice-cream at La Cucina is delicious, mouth-watering, soul fulfilling, an item I heartily recommend. I also noticed that La Cucina does take out pizza, something to note down as a change from the usual Domino’s, not that I criticising American food; as all my friends know I am a great advocate for American food, and nothing is better for a quick snack, than a portion of fries at MacDonalds. However though I should avoid clichés, I can’t help saying, that a change is as good as a break. McBrides, I found had a very spacious atmosphere, the waiter here certainly couldn’t overhear your conversation, a point worth noticing if you were on a romantic meal, La Cucina and Da Robertos unfortunately were negative in this aspect, though both had a friendly and unassuming atmosphere. The pasta at Da Robertos was very nice, I had carbonara and it went down very well, the helpings were generous and I must say extremely filling. Da Roberto’s also had little extra touches, such as a small lemon sorbet between the starter and main course to cleanse the palette, and an aperitif to start the meal off which put us all in rollicking form. In all, so far, I have being pleasantly surprised, by the district’s quality of restaurant.

Meal #3 - Da Robertos, Dundalk

There is a funny story about tonights restaurant. It almost didn't happen. I'm afraid to say Da Robertos was not our first choice. We drove all the way to Ardee to sample one of its many eateries, only to find it closed, so we returned to Dundalk and tried Da Robertos as we were in the mood for Italian.

As an aside, the building in which Da Robertos is housed has also been the home to two previous Italian restaurants, and I have eaten in both former establishments. Neither of them were particularly nice, so I was somewhat nervous about trying Da Robertos, but third time lucky, or so they say!

The restaurant was plying a lively trade for a Sunday evening. We were welcomed into the restaurant and seated immediately. The room was very small, with large windows facing the street, and our table was at the back in a corner near the till. Access to the building was up one fairly thick step, however the toilets were situated at the top of quite a steep set of stairs, which might make things awkward for people with mobility issues. The decor was colourful, cheerful and pleasant, although the proliferation of pictures clustering the walls was a tad chaotic. The tables all had real table cloths and genuine linen napkins, which added a touch of class. The waiter was extremely pleasant and welcomed us with a free aperitif, which was a rose coloured liquid with a sweet smell served in a shot glass. I didn't taste it, because I believe it was alcoholic and I was driving, but it set the evening off to a good start.

The menu was very varied for an Italian, with plenty of pasta, meat and fish, however I noticed a distinct lack of pizza. Chips were also not on the menu, and the wide variety of potatoes available as side orders did not contain one type of wedge, fry or crisp that could substitute. However, our waiter offered to get some from the nearby chippie when we asked him about it.

After we had ordered, we were presented with a plate of little cheesy bread things, two for each of us, which were quite tasty.

Before I continue, I just want to let you all know that I like mushrooms. I like mushrooms a lot. I think I might be half hobbit (well, a quarter anyway, I don't like pipe weed, but I have hairy feet and a penchant for coloured waistcoats).

My first course was mushrooms with bacon, onions and cheese, and was very nice. After the plates had been cleared away, we were served with shot glasses of lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate. I had always heard that sorbet was good for that, but I had never tried it before this evening - and you know what? It works! I was also very impressed with this touch of class from the restaurant. My main course was mushroom risotto (I thought I would take a change from steak). I know this is not an Italian dish, but it was a perfect risotto - creamy, yet with a bite, tasty without being too rich, flavoured without being oily or overpowered with wine. I also sampled some of Broken Wing's bolognese and even though I only got a string of saucy spaghetti, it was delicious. Likewise were Gonzalez's potatoes, which I also tasted. On a side note, the main courses were brought to our table covered with large silver warmers, which were whisked off with a flourish by our waiter. I thought it was a nice touch.

Having sampled such culinary delights, I had high expectations for dessert. I was a little disappointed there were no more free goodies between the main course and the dessert, but that was because I had already been spoiled by such good service. Isn't that the terrible thing about human nature? If they hadn't provided the aperitif, appetisers and sorbet I would never have missed them, yet because they had, I expected something between each course. The dessert menu provided further disappointment. The prepackaged choices popped up again (whoever makes those things must be a millionaire) but there were also two homemade dishes - Tiramisu and Creme Caramel. Not being the biggest fan of Tiramisu and not having a notion of what Creme Caramel was, I went with the latter over the former. I am sure it was a delicious example of this dessert, however I have discovered that I dislike Creme Caramel quite a lot. I also had cappuccino, which was nice, and mints came with the bill.

I would like to give Da Robertos ten stars out of ten because the service was as near perfect as humanly possible, the atmosphere was pleasant, the menu extensive, the food delicious and the price reasonable, not to mention all the extras that made me feel very special. However, the lack of a decent dessert menu and no pizza reduces its score to a mere 9/10 - almost perfect

Update Task #2 and Task #3

Task #2 - Each member of Stardust Ratatouille had to do something new that they had never done before.

Result: Broken Wing spent an afternoon in the A&E of The Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Rapheala spent an afternoon in the woods of St Anne's Park Raheny and Dancer & Gonzalez declined to complete the task.

Task #3 - Each member nominated a book for S.R to read before the next meal. The nominations are -

1. Rapheala - The Princess Bride by William Goldman

2. Broken Wing - Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball

3. Gonzalez - Carry on Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

4. Dancer - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

(click on the names of the books to find out more about them at amazon.co.uk)