Elwood

Elwood's Restaurant, located in the luxurious Forster Hotel, possesses an extensive menu and offers an intimate dining experience. Elwood’s Restaurant does a marvelous carvery by day and a la carte by night, and the lunches here are first class. Diners can also relax and enjoy the informal setting of Morgan’s, the hotel’s bar, which is smartly laid out in elegant tones with a blue hue throughout adding to the sophisticated atmosphere. Elwood’s restaurant serves food from 12:30 to 9:30 pm.

Angela Says: After greeting a bunch of my college peers at the Citylink bus stop who had just traveled from York to the lush green fields of Ireland, I faced a dilemma: I needed to feed these tired, cranky, and hungry travelers … and fast! Conveniently, Elwood’s restaurant, located in the Forster Hotel, was just a minute walk from the bus stop, and seeing as my comrades were famished, I made the executive decision to give Elwood’s a try. The food at Elwood’s is fairly basic but good, especially considering the negative stereotypes surrounding hotel restaurants. The décor is posh and relaxed, and though the comfy, lounge – style chairs proved a bit low when eating dinner, they would be very relaxing to sit in while enjoying a cup of coffee and socializing. The food is fairly priced and the portions are quite large. On the night we visited, the bar was quite busy. The service was somewhat slow, probably because of the bar’s busyness. The staff did help accommodate the (unannounced) arrival of our big group by pushing tables together and did not seem at all put off by the inconvenience. The menu offered starters including “Smoked Atlantic Salmon Pate Maison with Cumberland Sauce and Fingers of Toast,” and “Glazed Cashel Blue on a Crouton with Crispy Leaves.” Entrees included “Jumbo Prawns Newbury Cooked in Cream and Drowned in Brandy,” “Cod Fillet Duglere Sirloin Steak au Poivre Fillet Arc de Triomphe,” and “Penne Pasta with Smoked Salmon.” Elwood’s also offers a delicious variety of ways to end the dining experience, including “Ice Cool Dark & White Chocolate Gateaux,” “Lemon & Lime Cheesecake,” and “Selection of Ice Cream in a Brandy Basket Snap.” The meals were garnished with a mini-salad and well-presented. The Chicken Parmigana (€9.95) and Fish and Chips (€8.75) were quite good. The Sirloin Steak (€16.50), which was supposed to be “well-done” was bloody and more medium to rare than thoroughly cooked. The vegetable soup, which consisted of mainly carrot and orange, was simple but very tasty. What this restaurant lacks in culinary distinction it makes up for with the trendy atmosphere in which the diner can linger for hours …

Atiba Says: Elwood’s restaurant is a contemporary spot to dine and there is a stacked bar at the restaurant with a big-screen TV. The seating is a little odd though, and the chairs are too short for the height of the tables. They serve really good Irish vegetable soup. If you like your steak red and bloody, this is the place from which you’d want to order steak. The chicken parm. I ordered was good, big, and inexpensive.