Restaurant: The Grove

My mother and I were keen to eat out this evening, as I'll be flying back to London tomorrow, but my, did we have trouble finding a place! We had errands to run in the Tesco shopping centre in Ennis, so first thought we'd eat there, but the queue at the Sherwood Inn was out the door. So we then thought we'd try the Poet's Corner at the Old Ground hotel, but that was so crowded that we couldn't find a table. We notified the guy assigning tables - who was very harassed - but when we were left waiting without any indication of how long it might be, we gave up and left. We decided to try The Grove for the first time in years, it being on the road home.

We used to go there a lot, years ago, but stopped because the service was so poor. But it's been long enough that it was worth a shot. At least it's easy to park - there are a few businesses around there and they have a large car park, at the edge of town. And in we went. I have to compliment them on the decor, which was still Christmassy. Lots of garlands, red and gold baubles, fairy lights. There are now two doors - one each for the restaurant and bar - and we entered the restaurant. Most of the seating at this part is in booths, but the tables were a bit high and I suggested we carry on towards the back, where there was a cosy section with lower tables. And there we sat.

The major change implemented since I was here last is the addition of several partition walls to what used to be a large, open room with a bar in the middle. The bar is in the same place, but now the space is partitioned - to the left of the entrance is the bar section, where we ate is part of the restaurant but can be closed off for functions, and to the right is the main restaurant section. It was immediately obvious that service had improved, as it was attentive throughout. They had salmon for my mother, and I made a snap decision to have curry, which I haven't had in a while. We normally have garlic bread for starter in Quin, and it's offered here too (as a side), but they said they'd give it to us as a starter. And we drank pinot grigio.

Their brand of pinot grigio was a bit nondescript, and the garlic bread wasn't really a hit - tasty enough, but made from crusty rolls that I don't think really suited toasting. But it was ok. The curry, on the other hand, was delicious - the standard sort they do in takeaways, and it's a long time since I had one of those. My mother also declared the salmon excellent. For dessert, I had the brownie, she had the (Bailey's) cheesecake. And it was an excellent brownie, I can testify! with some very tasty ice cream. Yes, I'd be happy to eat there again, although it was slightly more expensive than Quin.

And on Monday, as I say, I'm going to Fortune's Fool at the Old Vic. Must get on to see what I'm doing for the rest of the week..