Marmatiece Restaurant and Wine Bar
Food style/ethnicity: Modern Irish
Price: 25 – 40 (Euro)
Location:
Mill Race
MacSwiney Quay
Bandon Co Cork
Ireland
Marmatiece was opened a few weeks ago by the folks who used to run Roco’s until they closed late last year. We headed out last night for a sort of Father’s day treat for me and to see what it was like. I went in with a slight bias as I never thought Roco’s was much good. They have the dubious honour of serving me the worst risotto I’ve ever had. But the buzz about Marmatiece was good and I always like to support local business.
It is on the quay looking out on the Bandon river and it is great to see the river finally being embraced (the original design of the town has all of the buildings with their back to the river). Outside, the restaurant looks a bit dark but inside is fabulous. They clearly got a great interior designer to do the room. I loved it – bright, airy, mix of wood and tiled floors, interesting art and sculpture on the walls, lovely looking chairs. And I just loved the special corner table:
The menu was short which I like and it looked like pretty standard mid-range fare with plenty of things which suited me. The wine list was weird tho. They call themselves a restaurant and wine-bar but they only have 8 or 9 whites and the same number of reds. That makes zero sense. And all of the wine was low end stuff priced below the level they were pitching the food at. We got a Pinot Grigio at about €21 which was grand and one of the most expensive ones on the list. I am a huge fan of good value in wine but the list needs to be extended.
Salad starters were both good. I wasn’t fond of the veg in the timbale but overall it was decent and the dressing and salami were both excellent. Catherine really enjoyed hers and we both thought the onions with capers was really spot on.
Catherine didn’t really enjoy her rolled plaice stuffed with crab but I thought my chicken on a chorizo mash was very good. Side veg were decent but the spuds had a crust on them from the heat lamp.
Her tiramisu was very good but my “Panna Cotta” was brutal. It was a heavy dense mousse, not a pannacotta which should be holding on to solidity by willpower alone. I couldn’t finish it.
This is a place that deserves success – the food is good tasty fare executed well and could easily rise to being excellent as time goes on. The room is fabulous and the service isn’t bad – lacking a bit in personality and it was tough to get the bill. I really think they will do well, despite the mental name 
They were nearly full as we were leaving. Just add some more wines and learn how to spell risotto.
Open from 12-3pm Mon-Fri, Dinner 6-10pm Sun-Sat. Closed Monday evening. Call them on 023-42715.
On the way home we noticed that The Bandon River Grill (based where Roco’s used to be) was closed. I really do hope they have not failed after such a short period of time (they only opened at Easter). Does anyone know? I’ll be very disappointed if it is true – I wanted to check out their lunch burger menu which sounded excellent.
[tags]Maramatiece, Rocos, Bandon River[/tags]
December 14, 2006 at 9:40 am
Booked a table in Marmatiece on 12DEC06 for 6.15pm. Bit of a sudden decision as I needed to take ‘Er Indoors out as she has not been feeling well of late. Had heard a bit about this place (incl. from above review). I’ll begin with an In General comment – this place is OK. Not great, not bad but ok. We arrived (first in) and we were sat at one of the couches near the front door. We were given the menus to peruse there and left to our own devices for at least 15mins while tables were readied and water jugs filled. It was draughty where we sat. Our order was taken at this couch area and I also ordered wine (red Martino @ €19.95 bt). We were sat approx 10 mins later and no sooner had we made ourselves comfortable when the starters arrived… no chance to catch the breath. I had Pate Pots (there was one) with melba toast and parmesan (very hard) and salad with a blob of dressing. Herself had the crab meat on salad – she said this was fine. (At this point I should point out that I worked in the restaurant business for 2yrs after finishing UCC in the ’90s so as a result I get cranky in restaurants when things don’t go right!) Main courses were both steaks, well-done and they were great. However we both love our veg and we had to share 1 small bowl of potato gratin and 1 small bowl of julienne of carrot and courgette. This quantity was disappointing. The wine was a perfect accompaniment for this meat. Desserts were Tiramisu for moi and creme brulee for herself (but we always swop halfway). They were also great. So it was OK in general. The music was of a Christmas nature “Snow is falling.. All around me.. Children playing..Having fun..” etc and this was very loud. Total Bill incl. Tip of €10 (waiter was on his own and did the best he could) was €115.00. I will possibly give this place a miss for a while and return there in the New year. For the time being I think we will continue to chow down in the Brogan Inn when we feel like a bit to eat. I think the food in there is stunning.
December 14, 2006 at 9:51 am
Yeah, whilst our experience was fine, I really felt they could turn it up a notch without much effort. We haven’t been back to be honest. Better value elsewhere.
So The Brogan Inn is good? We ate there about two years ago (and possibly 12 management changes ago) and it wasn’t too great. Must check it out.
December 14, 2006 at 4:05 pm
The Brogan is good. And child-friendly too. New owners (or leasees, not sure which) but I have had a pint with one of them recently and we discussed the pub trade in general. He seems keen to dispell any connection with previous incarnations of the Brogan. One particular dish comes to mind. The missus ordered a chicken dish, with all the necessary veg etc and this came with a Baileys sauce… she found it a bit strong but I have to say it was very very interesting and tasty. Nice to see a place break the mould in terms of new tastes and fusions. As I said, we have found it good.
December 15, 2006 at 8:17 am
Sounds lovely and the kid friendly bit is a big help. It’s also the second good report I’ve heard about it.
February 12, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Me and my wife ate in the Brogan Inn Back in the start of Jan very tasty she had the Chicken Dish with Baileys aswell loved it, I had the Sea Bass from the seafood specails very, very good.
The chef there is very in to his food hats off
February 12, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Still haven’t made it up there and I’m only hearing good reports. Thought about it for the christening but just did food at home. Will get there soon!
February 13, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Oh dear, not my week. We had arranged to meet friends in the Brogan last nite for food but food was off due to chef breaking his leg. Not good. I wish him a speedy recovery!!
Secondly, (& I hope you are sitting, Conor) I popped into the Food Court in Portlaoise for a gourmet burger only to find a small notice to say they had closed and would be concentrating on their operations in the greater Dublin area instead. Bah! Had an O’Briens inedible sambo instead.
Now in Dublin sulking.
February 13, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, Burger, Burger, Burger, Burger, Burger, Burger, Bugger.
Did they even advertise once? How many people passing-by knew they were there? Ach I despair.
What are the chances of anywhere else opening up now? Or if they do it’ll be BK, KFC and Abrakebabra.
They knew I’d blogged about them but never made contact or posted a comment. I think they need to get some basic training on marketing in the 21st Century.
Packed lunches from now on I think.
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February 14, 2007 at 12:50 am
our motto is at the brogan
hospitality comes natural
October 12, 2007 at 11:09 am
We have just eaten in Marmatiece last night to celebrate a friends engagement and did not enjoy the experience at all. The waitor was snobbish and arrogant and I believe this was especially because we were of a younger clientele (25-27). Our meal was supposed to be at 7.30 and even though one of our party did not arrive until 7.45, we were not seated or served our food until 8.45 which was totally unacceptable. They even served a larger party who arrived after us, about 20 minutes before us. When we asked ‘him’ if our order would be ready soon, he was very rude in his response. Whereas I enjoyed the food, the rest of my party did not. I do admit that the interior of the restaurant was lovely and the presentation of the food was good but….
Everyone at our table agreed that they were not happy with the service or experience, and they will definately not return to this restaurant any time in the near future.
October 12, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Ah that’s a pity. We were considering a re-visit to see if the wine selection had improved.
October 16, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I agree with Ann, I had a meal in Marmatiece lately and was very disappointed by the whole experience. The waiter was very rude, we had to wait over an hour to get our food, and when it came (when we were just about to leave) itwas horrible.
October 19, 2007 at 10:45 am
Disappointing to hear this about Marmatiece again. We did go back during the late summer but not much had changed. Pity. It is a nice location.
Just back from working in Switzerland for a few days. I hadn’t been there in 20+ years since a school-tour thingy. I am still in shock at the cleanliness, orderliness and all-round healthy place it is. It is very expensive though. What a place.
October 19, 2007 at 11:10 am
The only bit of Switzerland I’ve ever seen is the train station in Basel whilst going from germany to France. Some day I’ll get there!
October 19, 2007 at 11:26 am
Conor,
Take your family there! They’ll love it. It’s so clean! Litter is practically non-existent. The company we are doing business with (microbiological airsampling… long story. If you ever get to organise a Bandon pints get-together of http://www.conoroneill.com fans I’ll bore you all about it. Seriously. I can go on for hours!) are a pleasure to deal with. Nothing is too much trouble. Even the Customer Service department are serious about their roles. I fear for Irish companies after this trip. We had a meeting in my office here this morning and will probably change our day-to-day office model as a result of some ideas garnered in Switzerland. Of course technology is kingpin there. They were shocked at our broadband setup (both in work and home).
Even my Blackberry worked in Switzerland – it has failed to do so in England and Wales on a recent trip!
December 8, 2007 at 5:54 pm
i live in bandon, and will boycott Marmatiece always. i’ve eaten there twice now since it opened.. second time was to ‘give it a chance’ to see if things had changed. they hadn’t.
for years now they seem to have this very odd system where you MUST sit down on the sofa (even if there are loads of tables available) and order everything BEFORE you get to sit at the table. it has a real feel of assembly line efficiency. also the guy overseeing the meeting and greeting and seating has sub zero customer skills. he was perturbed that i even suggested that he seat us at our table right away, get the wine we wanted (or a cocktail), and then review the menu.
everyone i know who has been to the restaurant gets the same treatment – and has the same reaction.
in my opinion, and i have been to many many restaurants in my life, going out to a nice restaurant is an event. i should be able to sit down at my table and leisurely review the menu with the other people at my table… it’s part of the experience.
the food was okay … but the employees/owners put me right off the venue.
December 8, 2007 at 6:38 pm
It’s a very consistent story from everyone sadly. Simple simple things that could be fixed with a bit of effort and humility.
January 10, 2009 at 12:35 am
have you eaten at the Malt House in Clonakilty lately. The previous chef that had the place that was Ian and Elaine returned all were delighted the Malt House was going to be revived to the brillant standers it had when Elaine had it. So myself and my husband couldnt wait to go back to the Malt House when we heard Elaine OH MY GOD what a disaster, starter was just ok mussels no bread with them i thought brown at least. Mains I had duck asked for medium and skin crispy got tough as leather with soggy skin all veg cold and would need magnifying glass. My husband had venison and the grease coated our mouthes it was disgusting complained and was told there was no other complaints. 1 starter 2 mains 1 bt of white very ordinary white wine. Cost 95 euro never go back ther again disgrace……..this was 1st jan 2009
January 10, 2009 at 10:46 am
That’s an awful pity Mary. I ate once in the Malt House several years ago and it wasn’t really my thing. I found the food very heavy and stodgy whilst still of good quality.
January 20, 2010 at 2:00 pm
have you eaten lately in marmatice would like to know please
January 20, 2010 at 4:21 pm
@Jesse – We haven’t been back since so no idea what it is like now. Hope the flooding didn’t hit them too hard.
@mary We were in Malthouse twice in 2009 and both times it was superb.
February 4, 2010 at 11:37 am
I have eaten in Marmatiece a number of times recently, mainly for lunch. I had a goat’s cheese, mushroom and rocket tart with salad which was superb. I had a wonderful pasta dish another day. The seafood chowder is the best in town. In my opinion, one of the best places to eat in Bandon at the moment!
May 16, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Was treated to birthday lunch by my good friends in Marmatiece’s during the week as always it was fab, two of us had the seafood pasta dish it was so so good, my other friend had the smoked chichen yummie too, my pear tart was to die for !!! Brendan was so pleasent as always even wished me happy birthday, Food was delicious it really is d place to eat out n Bandon for lunch & dinner, WELL DONE MARMATIECE, Marks scored 20 out of 10, yes I mean 20 out of 10
August 4, 2010 at 11:50 am
I’ve eaten in Marmatiece about six times in the last year and half. I am usually considered fussy but have always found the food here divine. I used to be worried about the small variety on the menu but I’ve never failed to find something fab. Didn’t like the medley of deserts at christmas and there was no alternative but I’m normally too full by then.