Review: Gotham South, Stillorgan

Last year, Jean posted a middling to bad review of Gotham Cafe on this site. Both of us were very  impressed by Gotham’s response.

Almost immediately, the management got in touch with Jean and were very apologetic, inviting her back for another meal at their expense. CheapEats was reasonably new at the time and had significantly less readers than we do today, so it was a very professional, decent, and courteous response. Another restaurant sent me snotty and offensive messages when I complained about a bad customer experience; Quinn’s could learn a lot from Gotham.

Jean meant to take them up on the offer, but it fell off her radar. With some trepidation – would my meal disappoint too? – I brought my family to lunch in Gotham South, a new branch that’s opened up in Stillorgan on the former site of the China Sichuan restaurant. We had something to celebrate.

Luckily, this meal was far from the disappointment Jean experienced. We began with a starter plate of ribs, which was deceptively large for a starter; we comfortably shared the plate between four. Two of our party had a chicken and guacamole wrap (€7.95) – it’s not a wrap, it’s served on flatbread, but that didn’t matter – which came with salad and very delicious chips. My very fussy, very non-passremarkable dad was almost cooing over his steak sandwich (€7.95), while I was happy with my pizza of anchovies, olive, artichoke, and sundried tomatoes (€12.45). The base was a little thicker than I like, though I’ve since eaten a second pizza from Gotham South which was much improved – let’s hope they’re on an upward trajectory.

The total bill for one starter, four mains, and two organic colas came to €46.05 before service (which was also excellent). We enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch. The chicken wrap was particularly good value when you consider that lunch across the road in McDonald’s would be only about €2 less. Gotham South is welcome addition to the lunchtime abyss of Stillorgan. I’m looking forward to trying their dinner options.

• Gotham South, 4 Kilmacud Road Lower (on the same row as The Millhouse pub/ opp the Texaco garage), Stillorgan. Tel 012122505 for bookings.
• Disclosure: a good friend of mine is a chef at Gotham South, but he was not working on the day we went for our meal.