Pizza Stop - Ristorante Italiano
6/10 Chatham House, Chatham Lane, Off Grafton Street, Dublin 2
We had visitors this weekend so things got very touristy! We visited The Boyne Valley, New grange, Malahide castle, Howth head, and even ended up going to river dance which was staged at the Gaiety theatre in Dublin which is a pretty small venue and I felt took away from the colossal event, the name river dance normally conjures.
After River dance we were stuck for a place to eat and everyone was in the mood for Italian so I remembered a little place nuzzled at the back of HMV off Grafton Street. I had been to Pizza Stop - Ristorante Italiano a few years ago and enjoyed the meal then. The restaurant itself has got a bit of charm if not a little grubby, but the staff are very friendly and there was lots of laughing and joking.
Our guest and I ordered a Pizza du chef (which the menu promised a blend of tomato sauce, salami, mozzarella, peppers and pepperoni sausage) and my girlfriend had Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino. Most Italian restaurants are traditionally owned and run by Italians and pizza stop is no exception. We were seated right beside the bar and while waiting for our food to be served, a fight broke out between what looked to be the owner and one of the chefs. From what I could overhear the chef had been filling in his time sheet wrong and the owner was shouting "You do not make the time, I do!" after which he threw down the time sheet.
The rest of the staff looked very uncomfortable as the owner then proceeded to viciously restock the wine, practically throwing the bottles in to their slots! Although highly unprofessional it was quite amusing to watch, and gave us a great source of conversation as we waited for the food.
When the food arrived I was not that impressed, the pasta was over cooked and the dish itself didn't seem to have any strong flavor. The pizzas were a lot more promising with a nice crispy classic Italian base, there was a bit too much cheese but overall quite tasty.
The meal was quite cheap at 43 Euro, so I guess it's priced correctly for what you get! Not to mention the entertainment!
Rated 2/5 on Aug 09 2007 by Donal Skehan
LouderVoice Review Tags: italian, restaurant, review
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