Hawksmoor Dublin

This was a special occasion. My wife's birthday. I booked this place because it showed up in a few top lists for Dublin. While I give it 4 stars, it was quite disappointing, for a few reasons. On arrival our table wasn't ready, and we were directed to wait at the (somewhat cold) bar for about 10 minutes. After being seated, we wanted to order our starters, but was told the chef prefers to have mains ordered at the same time. Okay, so we decided on mains. The sole reason I booked this place was because my wife wanted lobster... Of course, the one thing they didn't have on the night. Waiter could have set expectations upfront so she wouldn't be disappointed and then have to figure out a consolation meal. Why did we have to order in 1 go if we sat for about 25 mins after completing our starters? Presentation of mains were appalling. A steak just placed on a large plate. A burger just placed on a large plate. At this price point? no! Also, extremely blunt knives. The steak was really difficult to work with. Ok so all the negatives aside... This is a 4 star review, so surely it wasn't all bad. Well, it wasn't. Our starters were decent. My wife's steak was really well seasoned and cooked perfectly medium. Dessert was really good and the nice touch of happy birthday in chocolate on the plate. Staff were really friendly. All and all, I likely won't be going back, because the price point of this restaurant probably doesn't make sense given some of the fundamentals it's lacking. Still a good place for others to visit.

Went here for lunch before a graduation ceremony, for context we all had the express lunch menu which is a set price of €35 per person I believe. Of course set menu experiences will never be the same as à la carte, and overall we had a lovely time. There was a person with a soybean allergy present and the staff were really attentive about it, ensuring they let us know which options were unavailable to them. However, for starters we all had the potted beef and bacon which is supposed to be served room temperature but came out freezing cold, as if it had literally just been taken out of the fridge. All of us also had the rump steak with different preferences for how it was cooked. The well done was VERY well done, but the medium rare would be better described as medium well, which could be considered picky but fair. One thing that was quite disappointing was the cocktail that one of us ordered. It was delicious but ludicrously small, and 15 euro anywhere else would get you a decent sized drink at least. The staff were extremely thoughtful and brought out an apple pie for the table to congratulate the graduate as it had been mentioned in the booking note which was a really lovely touch.

Second to none! My Hawksmoor experience here is superbly flawless. Steak was beyond my expectation. Personally, love the beef here than those in London. Porterhouse and steak tartare are the best.