Brazen Head Pub Avis 5

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A disappointing return after 15 years.

I visited The Brazen Head 15 years ago and remembered a special room completely covered in foreign money and handwritten notes — I even left one myself. I came back today, excited to show it to my husband.

When I asked a waiter (around 45+) about “the room with money on the walls,” he mockingly repeated the question to a blonde colleague, and then walked off sarcastically saying “Jesus,” as if my question was stupid. Absolutely disgusting attitude.

I later realised we were in that same room, only now half the walls have photos instead of notes. After having lunch upstairs, we returned when it was quiet to have an espresso there — but the same blonde woman, smirkingly told us we couldn’t sit in that room (that is was a meals only room) and had to move elsewhere (even after I said the staff upstairs said we could finish our meal downstairs).

When I told the man we’d just been kicked out, he grunted “fine.” When I said I’d be leaving a poor review, he asked why, I explained why and he shouted “whatever.”

Completely rude and disrespectful staff. Such a shame to see a place with so much history and charm ruined by people who clearly don’t care about guests. Never again.

It is quite surprising as outside, it didn't look special, but inside, I could experience 4 different ambiences, with different songs and live music in one of the ambiences. The food was very Irish traditional and delicious. I'm definitely coming back.

Great food, great service. Friendly atmosphere, very pleased overall.

We got the Country Cottage pie, which, not surprisingly, was brilliant. Next time I am going to put it all on the line and inquire as to whether I can substitute their Havarti cheddar (which I adore a lot for its stringy, dispensed goodness) for the cheddar.

This time I chose to experiment with the artichoke plunge that accompanies a little roll of round domed bread to use for plunging.

It is removed at the top, in order to put plunge inside the "bread bowl." The bread was heavenly. Fresh with a crunchy outside and delicate chewy inside.

The artichoke plunge was somewhat of an amazement though...... It simply wasn't up to the quality that I anticipated from BrazenHead. It was tepid, best case scenario (and I'm being thoughtful) and the flavor was...bland. I am a "super taster" so for it to be "insipid" for me, I need an awful chilly and I don't.

It had the shading, consistency and taste of thick broccoli soup. I like broccoli soup however I needed artichoke plunge. At that point I thought "perhaps they committed an error in placing it in the" to go" holder." I don't have the foggiest idea. Next time I'll ask what the formula has in it, so I can make sure. Something else, dependably reliably great!