Patrick Guilbaud Restaurant

€ 55 lunch menu! Really is 5 courses with unlimited bread. Drinks were amazing. Service truly outstanding. Food was amazing!

Patrick Guilbaud is absolutely the best –hands down– restaurant in Dublin! This is a ‘mecca’ for foodies in Ireland and for those who want an extraordinary dining experience.
Here’s what I ordered and enjoyed: lobster ravioli, black fillet of sole, and peanut chocolate salted caramel dessert, all paired with lovely french white wines selected by the sommelier.
Here’s what they added (on the house): blue cheese filled pastry balls; bacon onion rolls, rosemary and tomato fennel rolls; crusted walnut in coconut cream; beautiful petit fours; and dark chocolate caramel truffels. It’s these extra complimentary items that literally *add* to the experience!
We left feeling completely satisfied yet not over-​stuffed. This is an experience of tasting some amazing flavors in an artistically designed contemporary dining room.
Start off with drinks in the ‘Aqua room’ — you’ll feel like you’ve entered a Picasso blue period painting. Then enjoy the lovely dining room space. Ask for a crescent shaped ‘booth’ as the sweet real estate will give you quite a view of the room.
To top it all off, Mr. Guilbaud himself vists each table to welcome you to his restaurant. Now that’s class!
Yes, it comes with a bit of a higher price tag but once in a while a bucket-​list dinner is in order!

I dined here on a recent trip to Dublin and had an absolutely fantastic experience. Being a two Michelin stared restaurant my expectations were high, yet they were exceeded in every way. The food was outstanding; by using local ingredients with French know-​how every item served was an experience unto itself. The service was extremely efficient, attentive and warm; the staff all had their roles to play and they performed them flawlessly and made the night proceed without any issue whatsoever. A nice touch towards the end of our dinner was Patrick Guilbaud visiting our table to introduce himself and thanking us for visiting his establishment. I highly recommend making Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud a part of your Ireland itinerary.

Went here with a party of four for work; and let me first off say it was none of our first time dining in a Michelin star establishment. Was told this is a 2 star restaurant, but have had better service/​food at, I dare say, a local steak house.
First the service— was atrocious. The group was given their menus, and offered no explanation of the menu. We weren’t certain who our actual waiter was, but when we started asking questions of wait staff, was told «a manager will have to talk to you about that.» Weird. When we sat, dark napkins were not offered to any of us (wearing dark clothes), nor did any of the staff place the napkins in our lap– I think a hallmark of a 2 – 3 start establishment. We ended up having to refill our own water glasses, and serve ourselves food. In fact, as one member of our party made a request, the waiter actually walked away as she was still talking. Wtf? As the eventual bathroom trips were needed, only one of us got pointed in the general direction of the facilities. Otherwise we were on our own. The wine/​food pairings were not served at the same time either. And while we are on that subject…
The food
So for the record we all ordered the 8 course menu plus pairing. To circle back to the pairings were okay at best and at times absolutely clashed with food. One selection was almost undrinkable. We got served foie gras and the membrane had not been removed and paired terribly. When asked by the waiter if I didn’t like it, I replied yes, and he just shrugged. Uumm okay. The crab roll was fishy. The lobster was clearly over cooked and chewy. We could barely cut it with our silverware. The mash potatoes served with the venison was grainy. However, we were hungry and when we wanted more, we actually had to serve ourselves from the side table. With the cheese course, my friend tried for 10 min to get a waiter, any waiters, attention to get more crackers (they had given her 2 water crackers for an entire cheese tray). The food was not innovative at all.
Needless to say, I would not recommend this place at all. And the dining experience was not worth one Michelin star let alone two.
To quote Michelin: a 2 star restaurant is «worth a detour, indicating excellent cuisine and skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality.» I would recommend «carefully detouring» to the local fish n chips establishment and save yourself the time.

Party of 10 at a 2 star Michelin restaurant and the execution was still as expected. Appropriate knowledge of the food and wines by the staff.
It’s very hard to make diners not feel as though their dinner is last too long and I will say the rhythm and flow of this dinner was as good as it gets.

a great french style restaurant
A very good 4+ tasting menu (98 Euro)
a great amuse bouche
Foie-​gras was amazing
Great turbot fish
Very good duck, great souse and mush
pre-​desert tapioca — very good
Petit fours — great
Chocolate cake — very good
I added cheese selection — exceptional, 3 stars restaurant level — non-​pasteurized cheeses, like Appoise-​du-​bourgogne (included matching wine tasting !)
good wine selection by the glass
Overall — meet the expectations as a 2 stars Michelin

Simply fantastic. It’s hard to imagine that food gets this good. Service was delightful, and Stéphane was always there to make sure we’re having the best possible time. From scrumptious opener scallops to perfectly prepared veal, along with interim surprise snacks and a mouth-​watering chocolate tart for dessert, every bite came complete with a sensation that much thought has been put into it.

Such a let down. Starting off, they have me bread so hard I cut my tongue. Not a good way to start a 150 $ meal. Then the amuse bouche. Which was ok, then lobster ravioli that tastes like nothing, then more lame disappointment. Worst meal I’ve had in Dublin.

Impeccable service and food. My family enjoyed the four course tasting menu. Beautifully plates courses. Well deserving of it’s reputation.

We decided to go all out and try Ireland’s only 2 star Michelin restaurant. It was very good — we went with the 8 course degustation menu. The staff are all from France and were very attentive for most of the meal. I wanted to give this place 5 stars but something is holding me back. We started with a couple of glasses of champagne and had an amuse bouche of gougeres. After perusing the wine list we settled on a couple of wines from Burgundy — a chassagne Montrachet and a chambolle musigny
The courses we had were all quite delicious — soup with some confit of lemon on the bottom with a deconstructed bite of caprese salad. The next course was a perfectly cooked scallop with some fresh peas followed by an onion tart with some frisée. Next courses — duck breast with potato purée — cheese course with all sorts of different French cheese — even epoisses! Then there were 3 dessert courses — interesting that the one course gives you a small assortment but you have to share them. Not bad if you are close to the person you are dining with but could be interesting if you were not close. At this point in the evening it seems like the service sort of fell flat — we wanted more coffee and more water and our bill to settle up. We had to search for someone to help us. This is where they lost the 5^th star — We sort of felt ignored a bit. And when you are paying the kind of money to dine at such an establishment with 2 stars the expectation is that from start to finish you are taken care of…

A group of lads (ok, confession, we are 50 somethings, but feel like lads) on tour booked here as our final dinner for a two week jaunt around the region. As reputedly Ireland’s top fine dining establishment, with two Michelin stars, we had high expectations indeed. And these match the prices, of course.
We are definitely The Hard Table, as we are all seasoned fine dining acolytes with experience around the world.
So, it is in this light that I award only 4 stars to this fine establishment. Seriously, it could have been 5, but you see when you have very high standards to live up to, well, you need to live up to them.
The restaurant itself is in a hotel and has a rather interesting waiting area that is essentially a lounge room. A drink is to be had while waiting and then through to the restaurant itself, which is well designed and beautifully fitted out. Each table is highlighted in a pool of light and the sound is suitably muted.
The maitre’d was very helpful and before long we have ordered food and some wine is on the way. However, it all felt a tiny bit rushed and disorganised. This came to a head when after tasting and approving of a suitably expensive white wine the server filled all of our glasses — and the tasting glass. And didn’t notice. Whoops. So five glasses of an exquisite wine for 4 people — ok you say, a small enough mistake, and I agree. But nevertheless, a small strike one there — it was very expensive wine.
However, the next issue was more challenging. After some bread and an amuse bouche our first course of lobster tail arrived. It looked beautiful. It was, regrettably, very tough. In fact, almost too tough to eat. But eat it we did. Strike two.
One of our party, on a trip to the amenities, alerted the maitre’d to the fact that they needed to lift their game, explaining why. In short order the next bottle of wine we ordered turned up as a much more expensive vintage, courtesy of the house, and a course or so later Chef himself, Patrick Guilbaud, came out to apologise to us for the mistake. A great recovery, I must say, and from there on the maitre’d hovered over our table all night and indeed added some additional bits and pieces to our evening.
So, a great recovery. On the other hand, if we had not spoken up, what then? Most diners would not, in all likelihood, have done so.
On that basis I deduct one star — for a 2 Michelin star restaurant to get 5 stars, it should, indeed, be faultless.
Despite all that, the food is wonderful, I must say, and the experience generally fantastic. The maitre’d was a real sport and even joined us for some whiskys and a selfie afterwards.
Well worth a visit if you are up for dropping some serious money on a great meal.

It’s hard to put in words the experience we had here.
Voted the best restaurant in Ireland. It fully deserves this title. The meal was out of this world. The wine was the best I’ve ever tasted.
I promise to eat here once a year.
Patrick Guilbaud came round to chat with us and we got a private tour of the wives cellar!
Thank you.

This place’s reputation speaks for itself. It’s just been awarded the RAI best restaurant in Ireland and is Ireland’s only 2 Michelin star restaurant.
I brought my 9 year old nephew here for lunch last month and he absolutely adored it. He was overwhelmed by the food giving his fish course «12/​10, even though that doesn’t make any sense». He go loads of attention from the maître d’ and waiting staff which was super cute and he was wide — eyed at the trappings of a such fancy restaurant: being presented a straw on a silver platter; the silver domes being simultaneously removed from our mains, his napkin being put on his lap.etc.
I’ve been before and always had an amazing experience but I can honestly say doing something like this with a budding gourmand really made the experience so much more enjoyable. The food and service were absolutely flawless and € 50 per head for the 3 — course lunch it’s an absolute bargain. I’ve been for the dinner tasting menu as well and that came in at around € 150 per head including wine.
If you’re seriously into your food I think Guilbaud’s is a must in Dublin and the lunch is a really good value way to tick it off your list. Make sure to book well in advance as it is often booked out.

An extremely fancy restaurant complete with bow ties, tails, white glove treatment… And you pay for it too. The 4 course degustation menu costs € 98 with a wine pairing that costs € 80!!! The amuse bouche of celery and apple was wonderfully refreshing and had me looking forward to the meal. I was then presented with a lovely lobster appetiser. It was wrapped in cucumber and the lobster was the highlight of the dish so perfectly cooked. Then the hake came out. Which was over seasoned but cooked perfectly. The venison then came out which had the same thing as the hake. Perfectly cooked but over seasoned. Then came this lovely rhubarb tapioca palate cleanser with caramel corn. Then I had a chocolate tart for dessert which was divine. What put a special touch to this was that Patrick Guillbaud himself came out to greet each diner and ask how they were enjoying their meal. This is definitely a special occasion restaurant with the prices reflecting that. Not my favorite fine dining but def top 3

Patrick Guilbaud Restaurant: a perfect waste of a couple of Michelin stars and money!
My wife and I have been to several Michelin star restaurants all over the world and we recently ate here on a trip to Dublin. I will never eat here again and I will actively dissuade anyone I know visiting Dublin to stay clear of this place.
Negatives
1) They did not have the lobster dish that was on their menu, a huge no-​no for a Michelin rated restaurant. They should always have every item on their menu… otherwise, they should forfeit their Michelin rating. Or I would recommend not printing menus with fictitious items.
2) They overcharged us on our bill that I only noticed in my hotel room later that night.
3) They IMMEDIATELY bring a champagne trolley around asking if you would like a glass before you even get settled at your table. At 20 – 40 euros a glass, they should have the patience to allow guests to be settled before asking this.
4) The staff is overzealous in their efforts to the point of being intrusive, a real turn off for a romantic evening. The wait person felt obligated to present each food item with a lengthy detailed description in very poor English, something I could have done without.
Postive
The food is fine, not superb, but fine.
Suggestion to the restaurant
Make the wine list more compact. The bedbox-​sized, 5 pound tome they pass to a client is an embarrassment. I didn’t even bother looking at it. As I have said, I have been in many restaurants and that is the least efficient wine list I have ever seen. It should be no more than a third that size at most.
Price tag for the night? Without being too crass I can tell you it was 30% more than a similar dinner that we had at Le Bernadine in Manhattan.
There are much better places to eat in Dublin.

Everything from the service to the venue to the food is flawless, the wine list is the best I’ve seen in Dublin.
Yes it’s expensive, but for a once in a while treat it’s worth it. Treat yourself, you deserve it!

This was my first trip to a michelin star restaurant and it exceeded my expectations. The food was amazing and the service exceptional. The way the food was served was a real spectacle — fantastic. I have attached some photos. We had a pre-​dinner drink in the merrion which set the scene. The artworks displayed on the walls are exquisite. Definitely worth a visit as a treat. It is expensive but rightly so. Finally, Patrick himself came around to everyone to ask how their food was — nice touch!

A very fine place to eat. Attractive relaxing surroundings, attentive friendly staff and just beautiful food. And some reasonable wines on the list.
A Must do.

First Michelin rate restaurant overseas! I have to admit the service is way better than any Michelin restaurant service in the US. Maybe it’s just a different culture, but the people there are a lot more polite.
The meal last for about 3 hours long, which is pretty standard for a Michelin rated restaurant since they tend to serve your meals spread out so you have more time to enjoy and converse with your dining companions.
Meals are brought out at the same time so that everyone can eat at the same time instead of waiting while another person is already eating. Employees escort you to the restrooms and helps fold your handkercheif while you are away.
The food itself was good, but not amazing. However, the presentation was great. There are also lots of additional complimentary items for dessert. They also bring you bread occassionally.

Patrick Guilbaud’s … now there’s name — Ireland’s only two star restaurant. We went there with work last week and God was I looking forward to it. Not my first Michelin star dining experience, but so far I’d only ventured into the one star league.
If there’s one word to describe the whole experience, it’d be classy.
The service was impeccable from welcome desk (let me take that umbrella for you, sir) over champagne reception to dessert (at around midnight). We were a bit unlucky with the weather, since we had booked the terrace for our champagne reception, but it was roofed and they put up heaters to make it bearable. The (French) servant (waiter doesn’t really do him justice) fit my stereotype quite well and was very courteous.
We then moved on to the hotel bar to accommodate the ladies while waiting for our tables.
The dinner, oh the dinner.
With our group of ~25 we had arranged a 3 course menu and I chose crab cannelloni followed by steak with foie gras and the cheese plate for dessert.
The food was absolutely delicious. The cannelloni were a nice combination of flavours with their sauces and the steak was cooked to perfection (medium rare, as ordered). The combination of foie gras and steak worked surprisingly well. The side of mashed potatoes was a bit too creamy for my taste.
The poor service personal was in for a treat, since we switched up the tables to make sure everybody got a chance to talk to everybody and that messed up their notes as to who ordered what. But they handled it brilliantly.
The dessert itself let me down quite a bit, unfortunately. The cheeses were quite pungent and that’s one of my pet hates. And seeing the other dishes I deeply regretted my choice. Even though I wanted to go out of there singing «je né regrette riens» ;-) As a matter of fact, I seem to remember that some of us were singing when we left at around midnight … but that’s probably for other reasons ;-)
Why am I only giving 4 stars? First of all, I’m obviously no Michelin critic. Secondly, I expected to be blown away and that just didn’t happen. I had a brilliant evening, thought the experience was excellent and stylish and will absolutely come back, but I didn’t feel like the food catapulted me into a different galaxy. It was excellently executed and tasted great, but it was just that. Any other restaurant would have earned a 5 star for this. Hats off to the service though, world class.
If you’re looking for a special experience, maybe for a special occasion, then Patrick Guilbaud’s is for you. Dress up and take your partner for a treat! Oh and make sure that you booked a table months in advance ;-)