Restaurant Reviews

Mongolian Barbeque, Dublin, Ireland

- Alex Leave a comment

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date of visit: Monday 22 October 2012

Getting to Dublin had meant a very early start: up at 0330 to be ready to wake and feed the baby before jumping in a cab at 0430 for an early bargain basement flight.

This meant it was a long day and, by the time the toddler’s dinner time rolled around, we were all hungry, tired and ready to sit on the sofa in our apartment. Rock and roll.

And so we happened on Dublin’s Mongolian Barbeque, in the depths of Temple Bar. We were there so early we qualified for the early bird discount – all you can eat BBQ for €12 per person, rather than €16.

You may have realised, by now, that I normally eschew anything ‘all you can eat’, ‘buffet’ and such. However, I have done Mongolian BBQ once before (a long time ago) and enjoyed it and I knew that this was going to be the perfect way to feed a hungry toddler.

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The premise of Mongolian BBQ is that the diner makes a selection of foods which is then cooked by a chef on a large grill plate. It’s quite an interactive way of dining as you are up out of your chair, picking your food and watching it being cooked. It’s great for picky eaters as they have ultimate control over what goes in their bowl.

At Dublin’s Mongolian BBQ we were greeted warmly, and pram and high chair were sorted out swiftly. Wine and bowls of rice arrived and we were ready to hit the food.

There were suggested combinations although we found that making up our own was both more fun and tastier!

The tandoori chicken was a big hit with all of us, but there was also pork, beef and plain chicken. In addition, there was tofu, meaning that vegetarians are well catered for. There were plenty of fresh vegetables and a huge pile of egg noodles. After making your selection you add sauces and sauces before handing over to the chef.

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While it’s not an Irish night out by any stretch of the imagination, the Mongolian BBQ is a fun, flexible and cheap dinner. It is probably better suited to smaller groups – in a large group you could well find yourself doing a bit of waiting.

Early in the evening the restaurant was quiet but it was getting busier as we left, so consider an earlier start. The BBQ does also offer an extremely cheap lunch deal. However, I’d recommend the Mongolian BBQ for a fun meal even if you aren’t short of cash!

Mongolian Barbeque on Urbanspoon

Albert’s Shed, Manchester

- Alex Leave a comment

date of visit: Sunday 14 October 2012

Manchester. Funny place. It’s a big, spread out kind of city and one that, to be honest, I’ve never really got along with that well. My first ever visit saw me deposited at the bus station (the trains were cancelled) in a less than salubrious part of town. And that has pretty much typified my experiences since: you can find the shiny shops and bars but, just as easily as you found them, you can find yourself in a street that looks and feels decidedly down at heel.

As we were scheduled to arrive in Manchester at around 7am, we knew we needed to have a plan to fill the afternoon, in order to get ourselves on UK time as soon as possible. Fortunately, a good few years food blogging while living in Leeds meant I knew where to start – by asking Alistair Bathgate. Good food, good surrounds, a decent wine list and (of course) toddler friendly were all on my list of requirements. We had a short list of two, which was whittled down to just one, Albert’s Shed, by the fact that we could get off the train at Manchester Piccadilly and walk there (thanks to the free wifi of various venues on Deansgate Locks because otherwise we might not have found it!).

Albert’s Shed is on the canal and has a spacious beer garden. Inside, it’s neutrally stylish and massive windows do a fantastic job of catching weak early winter sun and turning the dining area into a comfortable, light filled space.

We were warmly greeted, given a choice of tables and offered a high chair. Without asking. And without asking the Toddler was presented with colouring sheets and crayons. Before we even sat down, I was Albert’s Shed newest number one fan.

On a Sunday there’s a set lunch menu which is about 17 for 2 courses – it focusses on roasts, and the a la carte menu features modern British cooking. I was tempted by the gnocchi with rabbit but it was a starter and it was late and I was hungry so in the end I opted for the smoked haddock risotto, served with poached egg. Andy chose the Brunch Burger (at 3pm!) which featured egg, bacon, and bblack pudding along with the usual burger suspects. We ordered the Toddler the smoked haddock fish cakes – available on both the children’s menu (6.75 for two courses, including a drink) and the main menu. I’d been tempted by the fish cakes myself, which was lucky because he was far more interested in my risotto and his chips than his own fish cakes …

I really enjoyed the risotto – the rice had a good toothsomeness to it, there was plenty of fish but there was no overpowering smokiness, and the perfectly poached egg added extra creaminess and richness. Popping a poached egg on top of risotto is something I certainly need to do more of!

The fish cakes were good too – quite generous in size, with a lovely crispy outer and the right combination of fluffy potatoes and fish in the inner. I didn’t get to try any of the burger, but the fact that it was huge and there were no complaints from the other side of the table suggests that there were no issues there.

Drinks wise I started with a glass of the house Pierre Mignon Champagne. If Champagne is on offer for 6.95 a glass, I’ll be having it, thanks. It was pretty indifferent Champagne, if I’m brutally honest, but at that price my expectations were limited to something cold and fizzy! I followed this with a small glass of Airen (4). Airen is the most widely grown grape in Spain and is mostly used for the production of Spanish Brandy. It makes a reasonably neutral dry white wine – a little bit of weight, a little bit of stone fruit … Not the most interesting wine you’ll ever drink by the glass but also one you’re not likely to find on wine lists in Australia!

The toddler wrapped up with a bowl of fruit and we finished with coffees. The damage was 50 – that’s for 2 adult main courses, 2 glasses of wine, 2 beers (Andy was thrilled that Budvar was on the menu!), 2 coffees and the children’s menu. Probably not the cheapest lunch you can have in Manchester but certainly a very very pleasant lunch.

Food, wine and venue all ticked the right boxes but the real stars at Albert’s Shed were the staff. Absolutely everyone on the floor was unfailingly polite, ccompetent, cheerful and thoughtful.

I know it’s a cliche, but people really are friendlier in the north of England …

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Fish Glenelg

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Disclaimer: GroupOn sent me a $30 voucher to use as I liked. I chose the Fish deal which was selling for $49.

Date of visit: Sunday 23 September 2012

First up I’m going to talk about my GroupOn experience. But you can jump straight to the review of Fish.

Quite a while back now, GroupOn approached me, offering me a voucher to use as I wished and provide feedback on the whole experience.

Group buying sites, as a whole, seem to have a pretty bad reputation. I think that part of it is that buyers often have unrealistic expectations (they really do want to get something for nothing!) – personally I’ve only had positive experiences, but them, I’m very cautious. For more on that, check out my top tips for deal buyers.

I hadn’t actually bought from GroupOn before but I accepted the offer because Fish at Glenelg was offering a seafood platter for 2, with wine, for $49. As it was going to cost me $19 I figured there was almost no way I could be disappointed.

I had a bit of a struggle logging on to GroupOn – you’re offered the option of signing up either through Facebook or using an email – so you do have to remember which and, on my first go, the website did get its knickers in a bit of a twist but on a subsequent attempt it was smart enough to remind me how I’d signed up.

Buying the deal was easy (another smart tip for punters – if you have a credit card always use that for online purchases, it’s safer than a debit card) but after a couple of days I realised I hadn’t received any email confirmation of my purchase and it wasn’t showing up in my account on the site either. I checked my card statement and I had indeed been charged. I sent a query to GroupOn through the site and this was answered promptly and my problem solved. All you see on the internet is people complaining about the service offered by group buying sites when there’s an issue so please note that I had a positive experience!

The problem was that I’d managed to mistype my email address so my email confirmation had disappeared and, for the same reason, my purchase hadn’t made it into my GroupOn account either. Note to the GroupOn guys: look at updating the website so that it verifies email addresses (regardless of log on method) and autofills them when people order.

It took me a while to use my voucher (busy busy and all that!) so I was really pleased that GroupOn sent me an email a few weeks before the voucher expired, reminding me to use it.


As we were dining early on a Sunday I only rang Fish a couple of days in advance to make our booking. They open at 6pm so that’s the time we were booked for. We’re usually pretty prompt but we weren’t actually the first people through the door!

The restaurant is a lot smaller than I expected, but has plenty of outdoor seating and faces directly onto the marina. It’s not quite dinner outside weather just yet but it would be perfect in summer – both for boat and people watching.

The kitchen area is really open – it’s really like a fish and chip shop in that respect because you can watch absolutely everything that’s going on. There’s a small bar at the rear of the restaurant but otherwise the floor is given over to seating.

As our GroupOn deal specified what we were getting there was no umming and aahing over food or wine. We opted not to have entrées because we weren’t sure how long the baby’s tolerance would last. The food came out quickly and you could tell it was all freshly done.

The platter consisted of 2 oysters, a bowl of mussels, 3 garfish fillets (doubles), salt and pepper squid, chips and salad.

The Sauvignon Blanc was a pretty generic dilute NZ number – completely inoffensive but certainly nothing to write home about. However, the food was all pretty good. Up until now, the baby has resolutely shown no interest in squid, but the salt and pepper squid, all tender and crispy, was his favourite – outstripping even the chips. The chips were excellent: gorgeously golden brown, irregularly shaped and fluffy on the inside. Much much better than the standard chip. I also really enjoyed the mussels – I think about one in the bowl was not open (something I don’t have a problem with when you have a whole bowl) – and they came in a tomato broth with tons of parsley which was lovely. The garfish was lightly battered and super fresh. The salad stood out for not being too ridiculously over dressed.

By the time we finished, we were full. It wasn’t the most giant fish platter in the world, but it was certainly enough for dinner (even if you do have to share the squid with a small eating machine). We rounded off the meal with coffees and headed home more than happy.

The big point of difference eating at Fish was the excellent service. Our waitress took the time to ensure the high chair was wiped down, she stowed the pram away for us, she offered us both cutlery and crockery for the baby and, when we neglected to order him a babycino (!) she was thoughtful enough to bring one out for him. And when I managed to forget his booster chair – she spotted it and reminded me.

As far as I’m concerned, Fish did everything right with this deal. Do I think it was worth the touted ‘original’ price of nearly $100? No – but it’s also not something you can order from their standard menu. Is it worth $50? ABSOLUTELY. The restaurant has successfully put together a deal which showcases what it can do and should entice you to return.

For the service alone, I’d go back to Fish, but the food is definitely good enough to warrant a return visit. Next time, I’ll go on a sunny day for lunch, sit outside, enjoy one of the lunch specials and order the baby his own serve of salt and pepper squid …

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