Last month, I named Cafe Leon as one of my favourite cheap eats in Dublin. Not everybody agrees. My good friend Roisin, who always provides me with reliable advice, had a bad experience there recently.
I’ve always liked Cafe Leon but friends give it mixed reviews. What do you think?
Lunch at Leon
In Leon today I paid ten euro for a toasted ham and cheese sambo (they called it “croque-monsieur” but that doesn’t mean it’s not just a fecking ham and cheese sambo). The staff were really rude, ignoring us for AGES as we stood there obediently waiting, like the sign instructed us, to be seated at one of the many free tables.
They didn’t give us any lunch menus and seemed surprised and irritated when we finally asked for them. They snapped that they’d “get to us!” when we tried to signal to them we wanted to order and then avoided eye contact and didn’t bother coming anywhere near us again after we finally got our food. We had to get up and pay at the counter in order to be able to leave the place. We paid the EXACT bill amount in as much small change as we possibly could to make a point. Before today I’ve only ever gone there for coffee and those exquisite sweet things they have. I’ll stick to those in future if I’m ever forced to return. Shocking.
Tuesday 24 February, 2009 at 12:57 pm
It’s a shame, because the interiors are gorgeous and the sweet things are, as you say, exquisite- but it is so overpriced, I can’t justify it
Tuesday 24 February, 2009 at 9:16 pm
My friend adores this place and I really don’t get it, it’s overpriced and service is always average to poor. Nice decor though, v continental feel to it!
Thursday 26 February, 2009 at 4:45 pm
A friend of mine was there before Christmas and was charged €80 for a three course meal (which was very poor) and two glasses of wine. She told me she will not be going back ever ever ever again! I can’t say I’m tempted.
Tuesday 10 March, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Just thought it should be mentioned that Cafe Leon (33 Exchequer Street) has received a Closure Order from the Food Safety Authority during the month of February for “breaches of food safety legislation”.
(What do you think about listing the FSAI monthly closure orders in this site? I certainly would like to know about it before I venture out to eat in one of these restaurants….)