Meal for 12 in The Waterfront

Posted Sunday, December 31, 2006

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Craic On at Moville's Waterfront Restaurant

This was my second time in a month at The Waterfront restaurant.

The previous time I was there with my wife and two children and there were only two other people there.

Full Restaurant

This time it was right bang in the middle of the Christmas / New Year period on the 28th of December and the restaurant appeared to be pretty full, which is good going considering there are 120 seats.

Also, this time we were in a big group of twelve, all of which were adults.

Bill

I might appear to be jumping the gun a bit, mentioning it at this stage, but the bill came to €480.45, which is about €40 a head or £27 in sterling terms, which is on the steeper side for Moville, but it is an upmarket restaurant.

Also, the drinks bill came to around a third of that at €161.80.

That included, amongst other things, three bottles of the house white and three of the house red as well as various Jack Daniels, Jamesons and Ginger Ales, Bulmers, Carlsbergs, Budweisers and my mum's Pineapple Juice.

Ordering

The menus were on our table when we arrived.

The waitress came up at about the right time to our table to ask if we were ready for our Starter orders to be taken.

At the same time another waitress took our drinks orders.

We had a bit of a delay as one of our party had thought that it was an 8:30 reservation rather than an 8pm one.

However, once she arrived the order was taken quite quickly.

Starters

It's always good in a busy restaurant to get a starter as you would expect that you might have to wait a while for your main course.

Normally I would have had the melon, but last time I had it there I thought that it was a bit small of a portion so I had the vegetable soup. It was pureed. It was quite good and was about the right quantity but I would have preferred a non-pureed vegetable soup.

Chowder

My wife had the Chowder and said it was as good as the Chowder back home in Rhode Island, USA which is a big seafood area.

Mediterranean Mushrooms

Three of the group had the Mediterranean Mushrooms. They all enjoyed them. They said they were delicious.

One of the group, (Des Conlon from South Armagh), said that the portions were too big for a starter.

Another, his wife Maura Conlon, though the goat's cheese was a bit heavy.

But these were minor comments on a starter they enjoyed enormously.

Main Course

For my main course I had the Maryland Chicken. Unusually it was Cajun Chicken rather than battered chicken, but that was the reason I chose it.

It may seem strange but I wasn't sure whether it was a well cooked meal or not.

The reason that I say that is that it was different from the usual Chicken Marylands I've eaten elsewhere and I'm not sure whether it was deliberate or not, i.e. whether that is the restaurant's style or whether they were just overdone.

Contents

There were two pieces of chicken and a piece each of battered pineapple and banana.

There would normally be more than this in a Chicken Maryland but perhaps the restaurant believed that shoving in a sausage and piece of bacon would not be appropriate in an upmarket restaurant.

Normally the batter on the fruit would be light coloured and softish but this was brown and crisp.

I suppose the only way then to judge it is on whether I liked it or not and I did reasonably although I thought the portions were a bit small.

Chicken Maryland

My father, Gerry McLaughlin senior, also had the Chicken Maryland and said he enjoyed it very much.

He said he liked the way it was done and felt it was superior to the normal Chicken Maryland you would get.

He did agree that the portion was smaller than you would normally get and did say the banana was a bit soggy, but they were only minor points in a meal that he enjoyed very much.

Sirloin & Fillet Steaks

Two people had the sirloin steak and one person in the party had the fillet steak.

One ordered it medium, another, medium rare and the other one rare. The first two were Americans and the third one was a chef himself.

They all enjoyed the steaks and got decent sized portions.

Medium to Rare

One thing that was noticeable was that they were all probably one step up on what they ordered, i.e. the medium looked to be pretty well done with the meat being all brown.

I like well done steak myself and that one would have done me.

Problems in Paris

I used to work in Paris as an IT Freelancer and this always gave me a problem. When I ordered a well done steak it would always come out with the middle of it pink.

A French girl I knew told me that there was a step up from Bien Cueilli (if that is the spelling of well done in French). It was basically 'like a cinder' but I've since forgotten the French for it.

One Up

When in Paris always order the steak one up from what you would order in Britain or Ireland.

I'm not well enough acquainted with The Waterfront or Moville's restaurants to say whether you should order a step down. Perhaps it was just a one-off on a busy night.

Don't read too much into this, though, as they all enjoyed their steaks.

It's better to have a good well cooked steak that you enjoy which is medium rather than medium/rare than one which is what you ordered but tough and tasteless, and they all agreed that the steaks were very tasty and tender.

Smoked Haddock

My mum had the smoked haddock and she said it was really lovely.

She said it was tender and it was tasty and 'easy to eat'.

Salmon

Des had the salmon on a bed of cabbage and said it was absolutely delicious.

He thought it was very well presented and just the right size of portion.

Monkfish

My sister had Monkfish skewered with rosemary and said it was perfect, absolutely beautiful.

Vegetables

One thing that a few of the diners said was that the vegetables that came as part of the meal, e.g. the cabbage that came with the salmon, were very good but that the side order vegetables were only all right.

Chilli Chicken

Another of my sisters had the Chilli Chicken and gave it a high mark. She said that she often selected that when she ate at the Waterfront.

Having had it previously myself and enjoyed it I would also recommend it too.

Included in the bill were eight desserts and one coffee.

Good Night Out

It was a splendid night out which everyone enjoyed and the food was very well presented and of a high quality.

One thing that everyone said was that the young people who worked there were very helpful and friendly and couldn't do enough for you.

The Names

Those who served us so well were Aislinn McCann, Lori McCann and Simon McElroy.

Whilst you are in Moville make sure you eat at least once at The Waterfront.

I don't think you'll be disappointed.