Nice wine at least

Carl brought me to dinner this evening. We went to the restaurant in Dylan's hotel. I wouldn't rush back.

Our booking was for 8.00, but we thought it would be nicely civilised to have a quiet cocktail in the hotel bar before our meal. Unfortunately, the place was far from quiet, service wasn't great, and the cocktails weren't the best, so things didn't get off to the best start. We both pushed the boat out a bit, with me opting for the scallops and prawn starter (supplement 7 euro) and Carl going for the half lobster (supplement 7 euro 50). My starter tasted really nice, and the scallops were perfectly cooked, but it seemed a bit much to charge an extra 7 euro for what I got. Carl enjoyed his pea and ham soup and his lobster, and my lamb dish was enjoyable enough, though I had to ask for extra gravy to make up for the skimpiness of what came on the plate.

Carl decided to skip dessert and have a French coffee instead, while I went for 'Tahitian Vanilla Pannacotta with poached rhubarb'. I really like both pannacotta and rhubarb but I couldn't eat what they served up. The rhubarb was the problem: 4 pieces on the plate which looked more like asparagus than rhubarb and were so under-cooked as to be inedible. So, not a good experience - but at least the wine was good.

We needed something to lift our spirits afterwards and asked at the front desk if there was wine bar nearby. There was. It's The French Paradox, on Shelbourne Road. We spent an enjoyable time there, sampling a few different wines until it was time for them to shut up shop and for us to get a taxi to Carl's place.