To celebrate the launch of The Great Wood Bar and Restaurant, Blanchardstown I was invited to a training day over the weekend to check out the place before it opened and have something to eat on Wetherspoons! This was to aid staff training but worked out also as an introduction to local businesses and to the local community!
Surprisingly JD Wetherspoons is not well known to a lot of people in Ireland so I will give some background information about the company before I jump in to the review! The Great Wood opens Tuesday 30th June, 2015.
A short history
JD Wetherspoons was founded in 1979 by owner Tim Martin. His first pub was opened in London and it has grown to over 900 pubs since then. The first Wetherspoons hotel opened in 1998. They also run Loyd's No 1 Bars in UK.JD Wetherspoons offers a restaurant / Pub experience at cheaper prices. Pints start at £2 in UK. They are famous for having no music in any of their venues bar the Loyd's No 1 Bars. Also, the pub names hold significance to the area in which they are located.
JD Wetherspoons announced that they would open 30 pubs over 5 years in Ireland with their first pub 'The Three Tunne Tavern' opening in Blackrock, Co Dublin in July 2014. 'The Forty Foot' in Dun Laoighre, Co Dublin opened in December 2014. 'The Old Borough' in Swords, Co Dublin will open in July 2015 and 'The Linen Weaver' in Cork City has been confirmed to open this September 2015. The old Camden Hall Hostel was acquired by JD Wetherspoons late 2014 but no confirmed opening date has been announced.
The Great Wood
The Great Wood name was chosen by local people in Blanchardstown as the site of the pub was once known as The Great Scald wood in the 1600's and was home to Wolves and Wild Boars!
JD Wetherspoon spent over €4M to purchase the building that was previously Light Nightclub. They have completely refurbished the site and have created a beautiful and relaxing experience for all tastes. (I lived in the nightclub since it first opened under the name West so it was slightly nostalgic walking around the renovated building!)
The idea is that you order your food and drink at the bar, quote your table number and then relax at your table with your drink until your food is brought out to you. Condiments are kept out on the floor for ease of access.
The Blanchardstown site is laid out over two floors with over 200 tables. A varied menu for all palette tastes is offered with 'meal of the day' clubs on every weekday that offers a specific meal and drink included. See here for the menu.
My Experience
First Impressions
We were met at the front entrance by a staff member who was on hand to meet and greet. She gave us a quick tour of the downstairs area and explained how to order. The main bar has about 10 tills that serves beer, ales, wine on tap, cocktails, soft drinks.
The floor is seperated with various styles so you can sit in an area that has traditional lounge seats, or you can sit at tables with basic leather chairs and a sixties feel or you can sit at high tables.
Upstairs there is a second smaller bar with less till points. This floor has more of a restaurant feel and is decorated like a library in one area. I love it! Even the smoking area is beautifully decorated!
By the way girls - the main bathroom downstairs has a long line of mirrors with a table and stool in front so you can do your make up! Well that's how I plan to make use!
On the walls you will find the history behind the name 'The Great Wood' framed, pictures of old Blanchardstown and a great big fireplace on the ground floor.
There are real trees planted around the building which to me is a great ornamental piece. Along with the mix of trad pub is a more modern warehouse feel as they have left ceilings and main walls exposed to show air conditioning units. It kind of makes the place look incomplete but I can see what they are trying to achieve with the look.
Ordering, Eating, Drinking
So, unlike other restaurants you have to know your table number before you order. We chose a table and walked to the bar to order, turned around and another couple had taken our table. It wasn't a hassle as we watched out for the food to arrive and called out but we learned our lesson early! If you are going to have food make sure to leave a jacket down or nominate someone to mind the table!!
The food came out within minutes of ordering! I ordered a Chicken Jalfrezzi and Gemma ordered Tennessee Burger and Fries. The portion sizes are decent so if I was paying I wouldn't be disappointed. My meal in particular tasted really nice. The rice was well done and the Jalfrezzi was the nicest I have tasted in a long time. You also get Poppadoms and Naan bread with order. The naan was a little doughy. They use only the best ingredients and even the likes of condiments are of high quality. I like that when a restaurant doesn't skimp on the ketchup brands!
I have noticed the prices in Blanchardstown are slightly higher than Dun Laoighre but only by a Euro.
We also got some cocktails with the meal. They have a basic selection of cocktails that are right up my street like Woo Woo's and Daiquiris. They will be selling at like €7 which is more expensive than TGI Friday's so I will be sticking to Vodka (Absolute is the brand they use) or beers. You will get a pint for €3.50.
Service
As I was invited to be served by training staff I was not expecting anything spectacular but I was happy with the service I received. From the greeter to the bar staff, everyone looked happy to be working and were bending over backwards to make the stay a pleasant one. The bar man who took our order was clearly struggling to manage till and he had support from one of his colleagues who was also training. I love seeing people helping each other out!I heard a number of other people pass remarks about some of the staff being weak behind the bar. I feel like a lot of the staff are inexperienced but this training weekend has helped them ten fold.
Conclusion
I had a great time during my visit to The Great Wood. The service was better than I expected, these people will improve quickly so please be kind if you are dropping by! The food was absolutely gorgeous and the place looked great. I actually felt at home in the place which to me says a lot about an establishment. I would definitely go again. In fact I am going to drop by for dinner tonight!
Let me know what you think if you are dropping by over the next few weeks!
Check The Great Wood out on Facebook here!
Love Louise xx
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