The Stone Haven, Maynooth
"Award winning restaurant", we were promised.
The question we were asking by the end of the night was "What award and when?"
With an evening of unexpected (and free) babysitting thrust upon us, Con and I were only too delighted to head out for a drink and dinner. We'd been meaning to sample the delights of the Stone Haven since we'd moved to the area. Anyone who ventured an opinion was highly complimentary. We got off to a promising start: the service was friendly; the atmosphere, relaxed and informal. The first downer of the evening was an early trip to the loo. Grim does not begin to cover it. Ugh. Say no more.
Con decided to go with the evening's specials and ordered a salmon and crab thingie for his starter. It tasted a little off, apparently. Not rotten-fish-off, just over-oily-not-nice-off. I was a little less adventurous and had the duck spring rolls, which to be fair were fairly tasty.
Con's dinner stepped up a gear with his ostrich (thumbs up), while mine ratcheted down a notch with overcooked monkfish. Both were served with fries and a side salad. And an incredibly elaborate garnish of knotted chives.
To finish, Con took a chance and ordered the cheeseboard - this was alright. There was a decent selection of cheese and quantity of crackers and grapes and even a glass of port. I had spotted the profiteroles going to someone else's table earlier and decided to grab me a bit of that action. Good job too. Delicious.
All in all, the grotty toilets had soured the experience for us. Poor standards of hygiene in an eatery are not acceptable. Con's fishy starter was blamed for a feeling of general malaise the following day and while I didn't feel ill, I don't think there's much excuse for serving up overcooked fish at an "award winning" restaurant.
We won't be heading back in a hurry. Or at all.
The question we were asking by the end of the night was "What award and when?"
With an evening of unexpected (and free) babysitting thrust upon us, Con and I were only too delighted to head out for a drink and dinner. We'd been meaning to sample the delights of the Stone Haven since we'd moved to the area. Anyone who ventured an opinion was highly complimentary. We got off to a promising start: the service was friendly; the atmosphere, relaxed and informal. The first downer of the evening was an early trip to the loo. Grim does not begin to cover it. Ugh. Say no more.
Con decided to go with the evening's specials and ordered a salmon and crab thingie for his starter. It tasted a little off, apparently. Not rotten-fish-off, just over-oily-not-nice-off. I was a little less adventurous and had the duck spring rolls, which to be fair were fairly tasty.
Con's dinner stepped up a gear with his ostrich (thumbs up), while mine ratcheted down a notch with overcooked monkfish. Both were served with fries and a side salad. And an incredibly elaborate garnish of knotted chives.
To finish, Con took a chance and ordered the cheeseboard - this was alright. There was a decent selection of cheese and quantity of crackers and grapes and even a glass of port. I had spotted the profiteroles going to someone else's table earlier and decided to grab me a bit of that action. Good job too. Delicious.
All in all, the grotty toilets had soured the experience for us. Poor standards of hygiene in an eatery are not acceptable. Con's fishy starter was blamed for a feeling of general malaise the following day and while I didn't feel ill, I don't think there's much excuse for serving up overcooked fish at an "award winning" restaurant.
We won't be heading back in a hurry. Or at all.
posted by Sinéad at 12:43 AM
3 Comments:
gotta tell ya... i'm so with you on the toilet thing. good toilets reaffirm the quality of a restaurant, bad ones drag it down and stomp on it.
The place does seem very hit and miss, I had the kangeroo and found it quite tasty, my companion on the other had to have her omlette returned.
With you again on the toilets but HEY WHO EATS IN THE TOILET......
The food is amazing there with that slightly unusual menu. Eddie
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