if i could give less than 1 star, i would.

i decided to meet some friends here at the last minute as they had a reservation for 730. we arrived early, at 700 and the waiter nearly had a coronary " you are half an hour early - your table isn't ready OK!? can you come back later?"

well, our table WAS ready. it was set but there was only room for 12. they had told a couple in the corner to leave by 730 so their table of 2 could be added to ours...so they prefer ed that the 8 of us already there leave, as opposed to sitting down, having a drink and waiting for the rest of our party to show up which would surely take the next 30 mins anyway.

as we were discussing this, waiter #2 walked by and put both his hands on my hips. i found it wildly unnecessary but let it go.

i asked waiter #1 if we couldnt just sit down and wait for our party to which he said " fine but you guys better not complain when we start moving your table later"
his attitude was really bothering me more than anything.

we sat down at the absolutely horrendously decorated table ; red tablecloths with red fanned paper napkins, little white vases with fake red roses in them, ick.

waiter #2 came by and dropped of one jug of water for 10 ppl and walked away. no one took a drink order, no one dropped off menus. my friend was sitting beside a stack of menus and handed them down the table. it had a la carte, lunch and a 3 course/35euro menu for xmas.

waiter #1 came over and ripped the menus from our hands without saying a word, and passed out the 3/35 menu. to which i said " sorry isnt there and a la carte menu as well?"

"no. we use this menu for groups otherwise it's too hard to keep track of"

so they're forcing customers to get the 3/35 menu cos they're disorganized. good stuff. we have a set menu at my place of work. when a customer orders you ask if they want the set menu, if they say yes, you put an "s" beside their order. i promise it's not rocket science. by not giving that excuse, he gives a bad name to waiters everywhere and actually is making himself look stupid.

i told my friend that we were only getting these menus and she said it wasnt possible and tried to ask waiter #1 about it.

"sorry but this menu..."
"THIS is the menu we're using, OK!?"

the mix of his snobby american accent with his utter cluelessness about customer service was making me batty. (disclaimer not all american accents are snobby but this one was)

i finally told him, " if you are going to force this menu on people, that needs to be said while the booking is being made - as this one was made 4 days ago. you dont just surprise people with it. also you're being quite rude."

he stormed off and returned with the original menus and handed them out but i had enough at that point and got up to leave. after i put on my coat waiter # 2 actually came up and grabbed me again by the hips to which i told him he was being very inappropriate and that 'excuse me' would suffice."
"yea ok, sorry!" he said like a drunken 18 yr old at a nightclub who grabs your ass.

i left. my friends said i should stay but i work hard all week, as A WAITRESS and i didnt feel like spending my night off in such a horrible establishment. if i treated my customers this way, i would have been fired a long time ago.

it's not the 3/35 that bothered me - it was the principle, the waiter's attitude and the fact that while you shouldnt judge a book by its cover, if a decor of the place was a sign of how the food would be, it wasn't worth it anyway.

i will stay far far away from this place as long as i live in dublin

La Cave is a favorite spot of mine. It's a great place for just a glass of wine or for a three course meal. They do a great value early bird menu with a nice steak option for main course. It has a lovely Parisian feel - like an old wine bar. There is also an extensive wine list and seating upstairs.

Lovely restaurant - nice and cosy and great if you intend to stay up late as it turns into quite the rocking wine bar after 12 and stays open til late. Also well worth a visit for late night glass of wine - all dark and welcomming - Highly recommended

Cosy little French restaurant serving good food but it's all about the wine here - enjoy a romantic dinner for two downstairs or a private function upstairs (with your own private bar!). I've been to a couple of functions here and can't fault the place.