Venice Restaurant ? Dunshaughlin

Unit 9 Dunshaughlin Town Centre, Off Main Street, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath

Telephone: 01 8240599



www.venicerestaurant.ie

If you’re not aware of this I haven’t always lived in Kilcock. I’m only living here 3 1/2 years. Before that I lived in Dunshaughlin for 7 years having moved from my town of birth, Dunboyne, Co. Meath, at the age of 18. I loved Dunshaughlin while I was there and I still miss it now. Indeed, most of my family lived there at one time or another and I still have 3 sisters living there. This is why Venice Restaurant was chosen as the venue for my mother and my sister Catherine’s birthday dinner. Venice wasn’t there when I lived in Dunshaughlin. It’s like most things, these things arrive when you’ve up sticks and left. Oh how I’d have loved an italian restaurant and an Indian (there’s a new one on the main street) when I lived there.



No matter. I hadn’t heard particularly great things about this restaurant which was probably why I was pleasantly surprised. There was 8 in our group and already seated was a huge party of kids & their parents who were very noisy. The waiter went out of his way to make sure we were seated where ever we felt most happy. I didn’t care. I knew we’d be making more noise than them before long. He was wonderful throughout the meal. Same cannot be said for the other waitress who was more than a little grumpy and took to randomly plonking plates onto the table in annoyance when no one claimed ownership.



As I previously said, I have a block when it comes to Irish/Italian restaurants but this was one of the better ones. Probably because the staff all seemed to be Italian. Always a good sign. There was plenty of bread on the table but no Olive Oil to dip – only butter But there were little ramekins of marinated green and black olives on the table which I happily demolished. They even obliged when I asked for more.

I chose the Primi (starter) of deep fried calamari & king prawns with garlic dip and salad. The whole thing was delicious (calamari was slightly overdone – literally by about 30 seconds – but not enough to make it inedible). I tasted the suppli which was delicious and the antipasti also. Have you ever had Mortadella? Oh

my God, treat yourself. It may look like Billy Roll but it’s yummy. The garlic mushrooms were nice but lets face it, they’re garlic mushrooms, kinda hard to get wrong. My Secondi (main course) of Ravioli di Carne was a little underdone. The pasta was a little more than al dente.The meat sauce seemed not to have much other flavour other than beef mince and tomato which was a little disappointing. I tasted other people’s meals and the flavour was definitely there. The flavour off Leanne’s Penny Arrabiata was stunning. It tasted like the tomatoes were roasted before making the sauce but sadly not much of a chilli kick which is what Arrabiata is supposed to be. I could taste the nutmeg from the bechemel in the lasagne which is no mean feat. In my opinion the sign of a decent Italian restaurant is a good ordinary Italian dish like Lasagne or Pizza. I also tried Grace’s Gnocci which was over cooked. The gnocci were just at the point of disintegrating into the sauce. She said it was a little soupy for her liking. I thought the sauce which was tomato based with mozzerella and parmasan (she got it minus the parmesan) was ill conceived. It made the gnocci hard to eat as with every forkful of gnocci there was a gloopy string of molten cheese to contend with. Again I can’t argue with the flavour but the texture was wrong.



At the end of the meal we were offered complimentary liqueurs – limoncello or sambuca. We all had a round of the limoncello’s. Those that knocked them back didn’t enjoy them but as it is a liqueur for sipping, I found it to be the perfect ending to my meal and very refreshing. At the end of the meal, a slice of tiramisu & banoffi with a candle in each was produced for the birthday people. We were all most surprised as they hadn’t been requested. The tiramisu was very well made, traditionally with the espresso soaked boudoir biscuits and not swimming in mascarpone as so often tiramisu’s are. The waiter earned his tip by picking up on us discussing the birthday girls and providing this little treat (and a song to boot). I was the only one to order coffee and the americano was delicious and very well made. All in all, a very good & enjoyable meal and at ?197 between 8 people, I was most impressed with the cost.




I certainly wouldn’t be averse to the idea of going back.

It just goes to show; good, polite, friendly service can go a heck of a long way.



Food: ***

Atmosphere: ****

Price: ***

Returnability: ***



Excellent ***** Very Good **** Good *** Fair ** Poor*