Flesk Restaurant

Flesk kind of crept up on us as a total surprise during one of our nights in Killarney. The four of us were looking for a place in town to grab a nice bite to eat before wandering the streets in the rain to take in local music and other like-​minded tourists who were hopefully not giving the «tourist» moniker a bad name. Immediately, this was the first place to come to mind for our guide and being that he had not steered us wrong, literally and figuratively, at this point in our two-​week stint, we gave Flesk a shot. And it turns out this was a great decision.
The first thing you’ll notice about Flesk is that they have maximized their dining room space. Tables are plentiful, but they are also practically atop one another — it may look like you are going to be packed in like sardines between their dining rooms, but the reality is not so bad. The four of us were between three other tables and no one seemed to mind. I just point this out in case you get claustrophobic and want to wait two hours to get that token table by itself near the lobster tank.
And oh yes, this place goes on a wait, and fast. There isn’t really much of a waiting room, so reservations are pretty essential here. There does look to be a bit of a bar near the back of the brightly lit dining room to kill some time at, but do yourself a favor and book a seat before journeying over here. Your stomach will thank you.
And speaking of giving thanks, now is a good time to give a shout out to the waitstaff here. I’m not sure if they just rotate around and help each other out, but it seemed like we had three or four different waitresses taking care of our table. And each one was excellent at her job, and quite nimble at navigating the close quarters of the tables and chairs.
Of course, now that we’re five paragraphs into the review of a restaurant, it might be a good time to mention the food. And the food was delectable from start to finish. With cocktails ordered, we went with the lamb chops, two orders of trout and a seafood sampler. The lamb chops ranked as some of the best in the country (which is really saying something), both trouts were cooked to perfection and my seafood sampler was beyond my expectations. I’m saying it now, this was the best smoked salmon I have ever had. But could dessert continue this high praise?
Turns out, yes. The apple and raspberry crumble, while getting points for being a bizarro combo of flavors, was almost the best thing on the menu… «Almost» being the key word in that last sentence. But, no. That award goes to the bonaffee, of which we got two orders and demolished both of them. Just typing about that glorious creation some two weeks later makes me want to hop on a plane and jet back across the ocean just to taste it again.
To sum it up, if you like seafood, love dessert, appreciate terrific service and do not mind a potentially crowded dining room, Flesk is the restaurant for you. And for a few hundred locals alike.

I think if I could give a zero star I would. First issue, you don’t have one server/​waitress. So you basically have to flag someone down in order to get something. We were not offered any kind of drinks– not even water. As I looked around, I seen there was bottle tap water behind the bar. I ended up getting up and attempted to get my own. The only waitress that was really working that night, was the one bringing out the food. We even asked the manager for a wine list to order a bottle. That never came. Then when the food got to the table, he then wanted to bring it out– a little late. Now of course, maybe someone could say it was busy. But there was a ton of workers there. It seemed that because they do a group waiting service, if one fails at their job, it gives a bad vibe for the rest of the evening. The food was only so-​so.

Very efficient service considering how busy they were when we went. Fish cakes were fantastic. And according to my hot date, the fish was great as well. Unfortunately, the steak was awful. I ordered it medium, as the waitress description of a medium steak was accurate. What arrived at the table however was beef jerky with not even a hint of pink in the middle. Luckily they also provided some pepper sauce that I could drown it in, soften it up, and add a little flavor to the meat.

This place is just ok. The signs outside and inside really hype the place up, and that’s what it is — mostly hype. The menu seems huge until you realize the items are repeated several times in different ways throughout. It took a while to start our service, but once they got our drink order things were fairly quick. Food portions were generous, but again just ok.

Note: all my recent vacation in Ireland Unilocal reviews will have the same 1^st paragraph preamble, for just the review itself skip to the 2^nd paragraph.
On a whirlwind 2 week vacation to Ireland, the girlfriend & I tried to see & experience absolutely as much of this incredible land as we could. We did not accomplish every last activity we wished we could have on our rather ambitious itinerary. Nonetheless, we did discover a land of numerous stunning & magical wonders. We did see a land of unending natural beauty. We did learn of a land with a monumentally long history of trials, tragedies & triumphs. We did get to meet many kind, humorous, warm & generous people. Our vacation to Ireland was just 2 weeks, but that was time enough to know this is a land easy to love & a land to be sorely missed.
Sharing its name with a nearby river, the Flesk is situated right in city center Killarney. For our last night in town, after having eaten mostly in pubs our previous meals, the girlfriend was in the mood for more of a nice restaurant dining experience. From the outside, the Flesk looked like it might be right so we went on in.
I noticed 2 things immediately as soon as we stepped in: it was very warm & very brightly lit inside. More than ½ of the patronage was the post-​retirement age crowd, maybe that was the reason for all the heat & light. We were greeted & seated promptly & menus soon followed from our friendly server.
The girlfriend & I both opted for specials &, of course, pints of Guinness. She went for the Hake & I got the Rack of Lamb. We both picked Mash Potato as a side, both had veggies & mine additionally had some stuffing & onion rings. There was a fairly long wait for our food. We finished off our 1^st round of Guinness & ordered a 2^nd.
When we finally got our food, it was all really very good. My Rack of Lamb was perfectly cooked to a medium rare with a delicious sauce on top of being lightly caramelized on the outside & tender inside. The girlfriend was served an extra fillet of Hake & I was the beneficiary of this unexpected boon. The Hake was exceptional. Under a thin, delicate, crispy, baked breaded crust, the fish was light, flaky & moist. The Mash Potato was yum. The veggies were fresh & snappy. My stuffing & onion rings garnish was a tasty complement to the lamb.
With dinner all down (the extra Hake fillet turned already good portions into a big big meal), the girlfriend was still interested in getting some dessert. We had the Lemon Meringue, though it took some effort to order it.
Over the course of our meal, our server had become less & less available. The Lemon Meringue was pretty good. But by the time we were done, it felt like we had been forgotten. We managed to get our check, but nobody seemed interested in collecting it. After we didn’t see anyone for a while, we left payment on the table. Bizarre, everyone seemed friendly, but they just stopped coming around.
Our dinner at the Flesk was a strange mixed experience. Though it took a while to get it, all the food we had at the Flesk was excellent. Service was friendly but evaporated over time. Afterward, we were both happy in a satiated way & puzzled.