Volpe Nera - Dublin

Amazing excellent restaurant what a brilliant neighbourhood resturant awesome starters had the pineapple tomato and the tuna for main had the duck perfectly cooked breast with a side of hispi cabbage

I always start this off with me, I’m a former award winning chef from fine dining background and world renowned luxury hotels, just to let you as a reader know that I know what I am talking about. Food. Top notch. Can’t fault a thing. The dishes were absolutely delicious. We shared the oysters to start, my wife had the tuna, duck and Mille foie. I had the cep dumplings, turbot (substitute for the fish that day) and chocolate mousse, and we shared a bacon cabbage. Everything was to die for and full marks, bar the mousse was good, a 4 out of 5… it was just missing something. Next time I may just order the CEP dumplings for starter, main and dessert it was so good. Wines. We went with the wine pairing with the dishes. Reasonable price and very well paired. I think they could have done better with the wine for the duck but none the less paired quite well. Service was the only downside. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t hold up to the same level. The meal was too slow. I had good company so didn’t mind but for 3 courses (plus oysters) it took three hours nearly. I expect they are short staff due to the location and what I would expect as their ebbs and troughs of businesses, so I would say expect this if you are going on a busy day. The front of house staff are very knowledgeable and friendly but attire and demeanour are slightly less refined than the food. Decor, well it is cozy but there is not much decor to speak of. In the end, unless you’re looking for a quick meal, I would highly recommend this restaurant. I know I’ll be going back.

The food was good but service was terrible. Our waitress was disinterested from the start, we waited a while for the wine to arrive after ordering, even then the bottle of wine was not opened at the table as you would expect, but presented as an open bottle. Not once did the waitress top up our wine glasses or water during the meal. The Starter came out without any plates which we had to ask for separately. The side order was totally forgotten until we reminded the waitress. We had been looking forward to visiting this restaurant, but overall it was disappointing due to inattentive staff, unfortunately we won’t be recommending or returning.

We had a booking for 6 adults at 8PM on Saturday 15th April. First the good news the food quality is excellent. However other critical aspects of this dining experience for all of us (dining here for the 1st time) mean we would not return unless we knew certain essential factors (below) are addressed. This restaurant is getting very good reviews....but excellent food alone will not guarantee it's future. Fixing these shortcomings is also not a question of cost. WAITING IN A SMALL STAIRWAY AREA We arrived on time and found ourselves having to wait in the narrow stairway immediately inside the entrance door that connects the ground with the 1st floor. Three other parties of 2 also arrived as we waited ...making a total of 12 people waiting. The manager passed us several times and at no point indicated why we were in the stairwell, who would be seated first , second etc. Some couples who arrived after others were seated before them (parties of 2) leading to visible annoyance in those who had arrived earlier. We were eventually seated at 8.25PM. SLOW SERVICE Despite a booking for 8PM our starters arrived at 9.30PM. No explanation. Not good enough. COLD BREEZE FROM FRONT DOOR On the ground floor the main door opens towards the seating area meaning a cold breeze every time someone either entered or left the restaurant. I think the restaurant needs to put a simple curtain in place as a draught excluder. INDIFFERENT SERVICE Despite all the delay, waiting on a stairs, a 90 min wait to our starters....no one apologised for any of this....until I informed the manager at the end of the meal. Not good enough and a recipe to kill customer loyalty.

Wonderful meal, great service and no problem parking with an elderly family member! I very much enjoyed a Sunday lunch along with our party of 8. Everyone loved the food in our family of foodies. Great wine...sadly I was a driver so didn't get to partake in the wine! Would recommend to anyone thinking of booking. We had a table on the ground floor, I would suggest if you eating with an elderly member in your party, request the ground floor and away from the open plan kitchen. Not an issue in our case but I would imagine the stairs to the first floor general kitchen noise might be an issue for those with hearing issues. The ceviche was the best I think I've ever had.