Amicus Restaurant

I came here a few years ago with my husband for dinner. We ended walking out 50 mins after we arrived when our appetizers failed to make it to the table (apparently they lost our order ticket). I was in Cork again this week so I decided to give it one more try. The food was very mediocre. I had the smoked salmon salad and I could barely eat it. It was so bland… I really don’t know what else to say about it. My friend had the chicken liver pâté which she liked. The place really didn’t blow me away.

I’ve been here more times than I can count and I have never had any problems. The service has always been decent, they’re always good to seat any drop ins, and the food is delicious and well-​portioned. I always struggle with the menu because there are so many choices I’d like to try, but my favourite and my go-​to is the chicken salad– I get a large portion as a main and I’m always stuffed!
They have a great drinks list too, and lots of nice options for non-​alcoholic drinks. The cocktails are a little expensive but you’ll have that sometimes.

Great food. I hadn’t had turnips in ages. The sides with my steak were what made it. The owner was meticulously shimming the legs of the table so it wouldn’t «wobble» as he joined two together. Great attention to detail.

Went for lunch today, tomato soup was very nice, quite different to the usual run of the mill tomato soup. Ordered the chicken pâté — I got 6 pieces of doorstop bread and a tiny pot with pâté. The sauce was in an identical pot (same size). For a condiment sized pot with pâté, it looked very mean for € 7.50. However it tasted well. Nice staff and a busy spot but need to look at portions.

Short review this. Went here for breakfast when in need of something to restore us after the night before. Turned out very well — nice brunch selection of food (this was a Sunday by the way), including pancakes, hangover fry, and eggs benedict etc. Nice to see that (lots of places don’t bother with a real brunch offering). The food was good — ideal for our needs and did the trick. Washed down with lots of coffee and tea (half decent coffee), it really fit the bill. And speaking of bill — it was well priced — I thought it was excellent value. Well worth a visit for a brekkie at least!

Great food at a good price. Their fajitas are to die for. I always get them when I visit here.

Very nice modern restaurant, food was really good and the staff very nice.
Highchairs for babies available, they have a kid menu and baby bowl.
Prices are ok.

Love this restaurant! Situated in a good area, helful and friendly staff with lovely food and the portions are very big!

Decent food. Sometimes slow service, just depends on staff. A bit pricey at times.

Group went for dinner on Saturday night. Place was packed. Service was slow even making allowances for group. Took half hour to figure out they were out of one of the requested beers.
Main course (lemon sole) was not good; fish was far from fresh; no real flavour from rest of the dish. Better half did enjoy her steak main course.
Desserts slow to arrive and not worth the wait — a dull crumble lacking in sweetness.
Not overly expensive but not happy to pay hard-​earned money for poor food.

I’d suggest the staff at Amicus sample their food some time, it might lead to some changes. Much of the lunch menu seems to have been «creatively inspired» by the Café Bar Deli up the road.
The last time I was here, I ordered a «gourmet sandwich» that was really neither. It was sandwich fillings spilled over two chunks of bread the size of doorstop novels. It was pretty horrible, which made the good service almost frustrating. If not for the staff, this would be a nuclear-​option one star review.

AMICUS (not a Spanish restaurant!!!)
(Paul Street)
021 4 276 455
My first impressions on entering Paul Street’s Amicus, after a long absence, were good. There was a jolly welcome and we were escorted to our lunchtime table upstairs. Seating was comfortably and the place looked good and clean.
The service was friendly and smooth throughout and we were asked if everything was okay two or three times which is about sufficient.
The food was excellent. I went for the specials, I often do. Started with a Celery and Bacon Soup, a hearty bowl of freshness with plenty of tasty bits in there.
Picked the main course off the board: Lamb with vegetables, garlic and rosemary mashed potato and a red win jus. Everything here was spot on, particular the vegetables which were cooked to a t, indeed a degree or two better than in a recent dish at Market Lane where they were a touch too hard.
They really have a huge menu here, huge choices and some bargains to be had. The drink list is also extensive and they sell red wines by the glass. I picked the De Gras Cabernet Sauvignon and this deep red medium bodied Chilean was great value at € 4.95.
The bill for two (2 starters, 2 mains and 2 wines) came to € 42.80. Would be quite willing to go back there again for an evening meal.

Overrated, tables packed in and very average food… Maybe sit outside for a coffee… Maybe

This place is pure disappointment. As Irish restaurants are often hit and miss, this is definitely a miss. It’s trying to do too many things I think — none of which it seems to be doing very well. It also seemed disorganised.
For € 50:
— I had dry, stale pitta bread and dry chunky chips for my chicken creole dish — a € 11 meal that you can get at KCs in Douglas for € 5 and its far tastier. My girlfriend had mussels and the bread platter — they were average at best. The half bottle of wine we got was the best thing about the meal.
— We got someone else’s ketchup, mayo and water — which is fine, once someone else’s lettuce isn’t in there too, which it was. Also one of the servers tried to steal the ketchup and mayo off the table when I was mid mouthful.
— The service was a shambles — why can’t Irish restaurant managers just assign one server to one, two or three tables instead of making the entire staff run around like they haven’t a clue… we got served by 6 different people for dinner — none of them were rude, but none of them had any clear responsibility for anything or any table.

Situated in the gorgeous former Gingerbread House building right in the middle of the popular youth-​oriented Paul Street area of the city, Amicus is an excellent all-​rounder restaurant which really does have something for everyone. The extensive menu, featuring Irish classics like mussels and stew, a number of Italian items like their pasta and pizza ranges, and an impressive array of international dishes such as curries, satays and fajitas, thus ensuring that even a large group with varied tastes will be able to find something they like. And with prices ranging from a very reasonable € 10.00 to € 14.00, you’re not likely to get a better feed in the city centre for less. They’ve also opened a tapas bar upstairs. However, due to its quality food and excellent value prices, it fills up quite quickly, and unfortunately doesn’t accept bookings, so you may occasionally need to wait — however, the ambience and the food make it worth it!