Golden Brown - Cafe in Dublin

25/10/2024: I would walk over 10,000 miles of broken glass for that duck ragu.

11/10/2024: We were celebrating as a family and were looking forward to sampling the Locks menu as we had heard great things about it. I booked online and put a credit card down to secure the booking. The lady on arrival was a little cool and said we were too early so directed us to the bar. The man behind the bar was busy but acknowledged us and welcomed us warmly. We were directed to our table in the middle of the room and when the waiter took our order he wasn’t very friendly at all. We ordered a €50 bottle of organic prosecco, a soft drink for our daughter, 8 oysters, 2 main courses and 4 small plates. He said in a surly manner that the restaurant policy stipulated that we must order 1 main per person, so we therefore needed to order another main course. We explained that our daughter wasn’t hungry enough to order another main but he kept insisting it was the restaurant policy and he said every restaurant in Dublin is the same. We calmly and reasonably explained that we didn’t need an extra full meal and felt we had ordered a lot. He finally said he would need to check with management and left us to discuss. He came back after a few minutes and said he was willing to take a third order of a starter (15) rather than a main course (35). We didn’t want to make a fuss as it was a special night but felt we had to mention it here as it seems a bizarre policy. Our bill was €210 in the end and the food was delicious but I feel fair in saying we shouldn’t have been forced to order an extra meal when we were ordering so many extras. It was a shame as it could’ve been a truly special night but left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth as the waiter made us feel we weren’t really welcome there. Perhaps a minimum spend would make more sense?