Snail omelette experience

We treated ourselves to a meal in Richard Corrigan's new place Park Café on Shelbourne Road this evening. It got ecstatic reviews when it opened and we thought we deserved a visit as a finale to the Christmas season.

We began with a cocktail in the upstairs bar. Tasteful décor, a really pleasant atmosphere, and excellent staff. Then back downstairs to a perfectly situated, round, comfortably sized table. I had delicious oysters to start — none of your sliding it down the throat stuff. These and their fabulous garnish just cried out to be bitten into. The Irish Times review waxed lyrical about what they went on to describe in a year-end wrap-up as Dublin's latest signature dish: omelette with snails! The best omelette I've ever had, and the sautéd snail bites were gorgeous. I finished with a just-lije-your-mother-made steamed pudding. Carl's choices were artichoke soup, lamb kebabs and 'Burnt' cheescake.

The dining space is tastefully decorated, the staff (lots of them!) were attentive without being intrusive and the service was excellent. A sour note at the end though: when the bill arrived we were surprised and disappointed to see that a 'discretionary' service charge had been added. We kicked up a bit of a fuss and asked for a revised bill without the discretion. We would have given a generous tip if the 'discretionary' charge hadn't been made in the first place and just rounded the figure up a bit, tipping far less generously than we might have.