Poor bang for the buck/euro. Another service, that shall not be named, listed the Latin Quarter Wine Bar & Bistro as the #2 restaurant in Galway. It was on that premise that Marisa and I visited. At first blush, the place struck us as quaint: small white rooms and a gentle susurrus of conversation. Without reservations, on a Friday night, we were shown to a table on the second floor – a touch more peaceful than the first. Our starters were pleasant – I had a seafood chowder which was replete with fresh vegetables and fish and my girlfriend the fennel and parsnip soup that tasted far better than its provenance may suggest. But the entrees disappointed. First, the server had mistakenly given me the vegetable risotto when I’d ordered the seafood special risotto. Normally, I wouldn’t fuss but the special risotto had sounded far more appealing. I wouldn’t see my risotto for several more minutes. My girlfriends ribeye steak came with lovely browned house cut chips. But the steak itself was a bit tough and inconsistently cooked. She’d ordered a medium. The outer parts of the steak were well and only the center most was medium. After perhaps 10 minutes, my risotto arrived. However, the portion was far less generous than the vegetable risotto, the rice itself(I’m not even sure it was arborio…) was mushy, and the dish was severely over-salted. The help had the decency to compensate us my glass of wine for the mistake over the dish.
