Review of Fallons

Review of Fallons, Main Street, Kilcullen

Type: Irish/ European

Price: ****

Service: *****

Mmm Rating: 4.0

Bucket List: You'd survive without this place,

This was somewhere we had wanted to go for a while, Ev’s folks had kindly given me a voucher for Christmas and we had cancelled our previous reservation due to unforeseen circumstances.

First Impressions:

Having eaten there several times before, I was surprised to be seated in a different area, a little snug hidden away from the main dining area- very nice though- a feel of Man Friday in Kinsale, Cork without the conservatory-esque touch. We were seated and brought lovely homemade brown bread, real (soft) butter and a large bottle of chilled water- I like this J

We were presented with both the standard menu and also the set menu, unlike some restaurants who would probably do well under torture for not giving away information!

We decided to go for the set menu which was two courses for €25 or three for €30. The waitress was gone for no more than two minutes, by which time we had decided what to eat and were therefore pleased with the efficiency of it all.  Service throughout the meal was prompt, despite the restaurant being very busy.

Starters: *****

We both ordered the Caesar Salad, which I have to say was fab. I have included a photo below, which should also appear on FoodSpotting, something I am getting into in a big way- imagine seeing the photos of what the food really looks like before you go in. Great FREE App!!

The dressing was very flavoursome with a strong anchovy taste, essential in my view! The lardons/pancetta/ bacon - whatever you want to call it - tasted like Fried Christmas Ham and was consequently delicious. Last thing to say was that the Baby Gem lettuce was crisp and the Parmesan was fresh and plentiful.

Mains: ****

Ev ordered the Chicken Breast with Orzo Pasta (the one that looks like rice) served in a creamy pesto-like sauce, garnished with some rocket/ spinach mix. She had a tough time getting through it all but thoroughly enjoyed it: the chicken was tender, and the tomatoes in the dish had a sharp taste which livened up the creamy sauce.

I ordered the Sirloin steak (€2 Supplement) and had it cooked medium-rare (as I believe all steaks should be cooked!). It was served with Chunky Chips, A mushroom/ onion mix and some rich pepper sauce. I have to say that the Steak was cooked very well, it was tender and juicy and the sauce was just the right viscosity- always wanted to use that word.

Issues: the only issues that I had were that I wasn’t given a steak knife, which made the meal somewhat difficult and I think they could have made a better effort at crisping up the fat/gristle on the side.

Desserts:

Ev and I decided that we had reached our sufficiency and would not order dessert, even though they were very tempting with their Mini-Pud offerings. It was in short a mini version of any dessert for €1.95 – Great Idea for those of us with a sweet tooth but a small appetite!

Overall:

The bill came to €59.50, for two starters, two mains, one house white wine (€6.50 a glass L) and a dash of blackcurrant (€1L) which I have to say is a bit expensive: it did win Kildare’s best restaurant 2010, but for the same money you could eat at the Brown Bear, which just has that extra edge, in my view!