Myself and himself went to Mitchel House last night for a bite to eat.
We phoned at about six and asked was there a possibility of getting a table that evening. Our luck was in - they said they could seat us at 9.15. That was grand as when we phoned we happened to be half way down the side of a mountain, returning from a nice "healthy" walk.
We got home, finished watching the remainder of the Grand Slam (Woohoooo!!), then got ourselves ready to head out.
It's about 40 minutes drive away and we were both ravenous when we got there. A bit of difficulty getting parking, but if we'd checked the
restaurant website (duh!) before we had left, we would have seen that the restaurant has a car park which can be accessed from St. Mary's Avenue, which runs parallel to Mitchel Street.
We ditched the car anyway and tried to walk in a leisurely fashion to the doors of the restaurant, in an attempt not to look like two people who hadn't had a morsel of food since lunch time. Thankfully, no sooner were we inside when we were greeted by the owner of the restaurant and duly seated at a table - I mean like, my chair was pulled out from the table for me and all - thank you! :) We were handed the menus and a drinks order was taken - orange for himself as he was driving, and a glass of white (Sauvignon) for me.
The menu was hugely interesting and my mouth was watering just looking at it. But, don't take my word for it. Have a look
here.
I ordered the Roasted Field Mushroom and the Chicken while himself went for the Salmon Chowder and the Mitchel House Fish and Chips. We sipped on our drinks (well, actually I guzzled mine) and enjoyed the buzz of the crowd beside us who were out celebrating a birthday. Like ourselves, the couple opposite us seemed intent on examining the surroundings, which I have to say were quite impressive.
Himself was admiring the dado rail and thought it might be a good idea to have something similar at home. I'm not sure where he was thinking of "installing" it, but I thought it might be a better idea not to have one at all as I'd be the one who would end up having to dust it. I had just knocked that idea on the head anyway when the starter arrived.
The first thing that struck me was that the correct starter was put in front of each of us, despite the fact that it had been a different waitress had taken the order. In fact, during the course of the night it was never necessary for us to say who had ordered what.
My mushroom was very tasty and plenty of salad with it. The salmon chowder, which I tasted, was delicious, although I felt it could have been slightly thicker - my own personal view.
The main course arrived and I have to say it was to die for. The wild forest mushroom cream on the chicken was absolutely divine, the mash potato SO creamy and tasty. The fish batter was heavenly, not too thick, and a subtle sweetness that was incredible. I had ordered a portion of garlic potatos as well which were devoured by us both - really wonderful! All this as well as new potatos and extra veg too.
We had just enough room for dessert - Bailys and Toblerone cheesecake for me, and sticky toffee pudding for himself. I had a cappuccino to sober myself up a little - my own fault for ordering a second glass of Sauvignon and drinking it as quickly as I had the first, but it was lovely.
A quick visit to the bathroom (very mod, very clean) followed, where I took special notice of a flyer for ladies nights on Wednesdays - special offers on starters and main courses with no onus on buying a main course. What more could you ask for?
The evening at an end and being stuffed to the gills, we practically waddled (or at least I did) to the bar out front to pay, where we were pleasantly surprised by how unexpectedly "nice" the bill was.
All in all a great evening, well worth the drive - great food and top notch service. We'll definitely return there again!
