Dinner three in Dublin.
Third time lucky is the phrase, yes, it’s correct. We have been let down by the
fancier Dublin restaurants so we thought why not downscale even more and eat at
a pub. To be sure we were going to the correct place, in our usual obsessive
way, we check with 3 different Concierges on duty at the Hotel. Every one
recommended O’Neill’s as their first choice. One Concierge casually mentioned O’Neill’s
is basically a carvery and most food is served that way. So on to O’Neill’s it
was.
O’Neill’s is a short walk
away from the Hotel. It’s a very large Pub seating almost 400 people in many
levels. You cannot get an idea of its size as the Pub has lots of nooks and
crannies and passages leading to more seating areas, labyrinth would be an
appropriate word to describe its interiors. It’s much like Khyber in Bombay. I
must say that you do not realise that there are as many as 400 other people in
the place. There are several bars drink dispensers all over the place each
serving an area. A band plays Irish music every night from 9.30 pm onwards. At
the lowest level was the food.
There was a huge selection
of liquor on offer. Several brands of each category viz: 3 types of Stout on
tap plus many others in bottles, two types of Cider on tap and bottles and so
on and so forth. To start, I had Stout, not Guinness but an O’Hara, which I
quite liked. HRH the Queen had a pint of Cider. Once that was done, I got
myself another Stout and taking advantage of the wide range of Irish Whiskeys
available, I chose a small – 35 ml - shot each, of three mid priced Whiskeys
with a cube of ice in each glass for HRH the Queen to try. Each was different,
each was reasonably good, and each was drunk. Now it was time for dinner.
As I mentioned, O’Neill’s is
a carvery. On the lowest level was the food. A large steam table in which was
the various foods on offer. A carvery is an establishment where cooked meat is
freshly sliced to order and served with a selection of vegetables which the
diner chooses. The food is served cafeteria style which means you pay per
plate, however you can load your plate as much or as little as you like with
the vegetables, the meat being carved and served to you in a limited portion. HRH
the Queen had a traditional Irish Stew of Lamb with a side of red cabbage and
mashed potato. I had a slice of boiled ham with red & green cabbage with
some roast potato all doused in a gravy. You carried your tray of food back up
to your table to eat. Both of us were happy bunnies. The food was hot, tasty
and robust and rustic. No short-changing, no mis-decription no inadequate
seasoning. All this at a super cheap price of about 12 euro a plate. Thank God
for O’Neill’s. As we were leaving, the band was setting up.
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| Irish Lamb Stew |
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| Boiled Ham |
The next morning we had to
leave for London. It would be lunch time when we would be in the aircraft. We
both do not eat a heavy lunch at all. A simple soup or sandwich is about what we
can handle. As we were walking for the last time on Grafton Street we saw
several pubs offering a `Full Irish’ breakfast – sausages, bacon, eggs, black
or white pudding, mushrooms, potato in some form, tomato, baked beans & tea
was a bit much for us. So we popped into the nearby Burger King and got
ourselves a Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bap and a Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bap
with an order of hash brown potato. I could not believe how cheap it was. The Sausage,
Egg & Cheese Bap was only 1 Euro. All in all in some 7 Euro we had a most
satisfying, clean, hygienic and freshly made breakfast that would hold us thru
to the evening.
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| A Bap |
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| Opened with the egg |
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| Unbelievable prices |
Thus ended our stay in
Dublin. All in all, disappointing, both as far as what the city had to offer as
well as gastronomically.
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