We were invited guests and had been told that this place was as good as Fitzpatrick's without the high cost. It's not as good.
That said there were lots of five star elements here but while I settled on four stars I've knocked one off for reasons that follow.
If you hit Fitzpatricks on a good day it's exceptional and the difference in cost between these two places is not significant.
The key problem with the food put before me was lack of proper seasoning. I had scallops to start and they were very good indeed. The seasoning in this dish relied on chorizo 'crumb' and chorizo featured in other dishes. It added to taste but not enough so chef needs to be brave.
There was no sea salt on the table and when you offer crab claws, prawns pil pil and scallops then tables should have sea salt, black pepper and tabasco as norm with smoked paprika, if required.
My mushroom pasta main was a generous portion but very poor tasting. The pasta wasn't fresh but a dried product - the quality could have been better so go for the higher cost bronze die cut pasta.
My main was not an enjoyable eat. I left half of it - there was not enough cream, not enough butter and not enough high quality parmesan and just not seasoned; great parmesan alone with sea salt and pepper would have greatly benefited the dish.
My wife had the Caesar salad and a hake main and she thought both very good. One of the party shared a sage croquette and it tasted excellent.
The restaurant was bright, airy and warm but the problem with seating is that four of us were at a small corner table so it wasn't as comfortable as I'd like.
What I really disliked was one of the party - a customer that makes paydays - asked for onion rings with his main and he was refused. Yet onion rings come with their steaks. What's the problem - just not good enough really so a star off but I'd still like to know why not and I know Fitzpatrick's certainly wouldn't refuse?
The staff were ace and very attentive.
We didn't have desserts and the cappuccino was just about ok and needs focus to improve which isn't hard. Fitzpatrick's do do great coffee.
We will likely return as two where I can be more fussy about the food. In fact I look forward to it. read more