http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys <b>Dandillys</b><br />Dundee, 181-183 Perth Road, DD2 1AS, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads//trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/111a99
Review by french_girl

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
Beautiful food and great value!

I always eat here when I visit my brother in Dundee / Perth, as it is his favourite place. Food is mainly Italian but with other mediterranean influences. Portions are large with vegetables and side orders that you choose separately in traditional bistro style. Great if you are specific about what you want (no wheat etc...) Dishes are delicate rather than the more robust bistro cooking. And a huge choice; fish, seafood, chicken, steak, pasta, pizza etc... I am usually swayed by the specials board with the seasonal dishes, though I always order a starter portion of their massive garlic king prawns with my main course because I am such a pig for them.

The interior and exterior is quietly stylish boutique feel, with pretty lights and black and white photos on the wall. But is still bit kooky with miss matched cutlery etc... to remind you this is not a chain but an independent treasure.

Wine list is balanced and very good value, used to be bring your own and we always forgot so had the house red which is actually very good. And sometimes we still order this even with the other choices so we can get just a couple of glasses or a full litre if we're car free. (There's lots of parking in front but often all full). And you can get a really good coffee to finish off your meal perfectly.

Customers seem to be a real mix, young couples, mature regulars, family groups and often lots of women whether in groups or even on their own. I always take this as a good sign when people especially women can dine on their own in a restaurant without feeling uncomfortable.

The waiters are always very smart polite and attentive without being crowding. Not Italian waiters but young local students who have been working there for the several years that I've been going. So they remember me even though I only go to Dundee a couple of times a year. Brother and his girlfriend are regulars though.

The prices are really good value even when you order your side dishes separately. Probably about 16 pounds for starter main and side, thought that was good, about average for Dundee. But during a recent visit I went to another nearby Italian restaurant (Dandilly's closed on Sundays and Mondays) I was surprised at how more expesive this restaurant was. Definately more the London prices I'm used to. But the food and portions were very poor. (Will get name from my brother and wirte a review soon).

I was shocked to find previous review as I have found this to be the best dining experience Dundee has to offer.

PS. The BEST cheesecake in the world, seriously. Homemade and freshly topped to order, creamy and light. My mouth is watering all the way from London, lucky people of Dundee.]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:48:45 +0000 /review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/111a99902927267 french_girl 56.456195 -2.993638 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/113a79
Review by french_girl

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
Beautiful food and great value!

I always eat here when I visit my brother in Dundee / Perth, as it is his favourite place. Food is mainly Italian but with other mediterranean influences. Portions are large with vegetables and side orders that you choose separately in traditional bistro style. Great if you are specific about what you want (no wheat etc...) Dishes are delicate rather than the more robust bistro cooking. And a huge choice; fish, seafood, chicken, steak, pasta, pizza etc... I am usually swayed by the specials board with the seasonal dishes, though I always order a starter portion of their massive garlic king prawns with my main course because I am such a pig for them.

The interior and exterior is quietly stylish boutique feel, with pretty lights and black and white photos on the wall. But is still bit kooky with miss matched cutlery etc... to remind you this is not a chain but an independant treasure.

Wine list is balanced and very good value, used to be bring your own and we always forgot so had the house red which is actually very good. And sometimes we still order this even with the other choices so we can get just a couple of glasses or a full litre if we're car free. (There's lots of parking in front but often all full). And you can get a really good coffee to finish off your meal perfectly.

Customers seem to be a real mix, young couples, mature regulars, family groups and often lots of women whether in groups or even on their own. I always take this as a good sign when people especially women can dine on their own in a restaurant without feeling uncomfortable.

The waiters are always very smart polite and attentive without being crowding. Not Italian waiters but young local students who have been working there for the several years that I've been going. So they remember me even though I only go to Dundee a couple of times a year. Brother and his girlfriend are regulars though.

The prices are really good value even when you order your side dishes separately. Probably about 16 pounds for starter main and side, thought that was good, about average for Dundee. But during a recent visit I went to another nearby Italian restaurant (Dandilly's closed on Sundays and Mondays) I was surprised at how more expesive this restaurant was. Definately more the London prices I'm used to. But the food and portions were very poor. (Will get name from my brother and wirte a review soon).

I was shocked to find previous review as I have found this to be the best dining experience Dundee has to offer.

PS. The BEST cheesecake in the world, seriously. Homemade and freshly topped to order, creamy and light. My mouth is watering all the way from London, lucky people of Dundee.]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:44:09 +0000 /review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/113a79439713541 french_girl 56.456195 -2.993638 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/1p1218
Review by lloydalex

Rating: 1.00
Tags:

Average Cost for 3 courses without wine (each) = £22

The outside looks boutique and attractive, the interior has stacked wine and looks very French or Italian and you think this tiny restaurant could almost get away with being a small boutique bistro. Then the reality of the interior hits you. The seats are at different heights. One is on the wall and is high and the opposite seat is a cheap wooden creaky seat which is low. The table covers are black leather. They have what looks like white paint spilled on them and are sticky. The double lights on the wall have only one bulb working. The cutlery gets zero out of 10 and I have not seen it since my school canteen. Old, blunt, forks with bent prongs and with some grandparenty flower effect; in fact I have not seen this cutlery on sale for years. We did have it in my school canteen though. It was also laid out incorrectly (Small knife on the inside, big on the outside). Cheap thin napkins.

The menu arrives printed on draft setting on a home printer on thin paper, which was half in and half falling out of a polly-pocket. The wine menu was worse. Actual spelling and grammar mistakes. The wine I ordered was a blend of pinot grigio and pinot bianco at just under £13. Probable wholesale cost £3. It was bland and had no bouquet whatsoever. It did have a plastic label which was falling off, and shockingly this place doesn't do wine coolers, so the wine -which was on a small table beside a candle- became warm after only a short time. Unbelievably, when I said I'll have the pinot grigio please, from a list of 5 of which there was only one pinot grigio, I was told immediately just to say the number. I had to lift the wine menu again, look and say number three please, at which point the waiter simply walked off saying nothing. Bizarrely the wine list had blatant grammar and spelling mistakes.

I ordered the most expensive starter. £4.90 garlic butter with mushrooms, pate and salad. It arrived as three heavily battered mushrooms as hard as rocks. Impossible to cut and just cracked eventually when this watery grey liquid fell out. Actually it was disgusting, with a big bland dollop of mayonnaise on the side which was springy, congealed and tasteless. The salad consisted of a pile of cheap iceberg lettuce crudely sliced into strips like a kebab shop. My partner had garlic bread which was quite hard on the outside but otherwise seemed OK.

The main was Chicken a La Crema. Again, when I ordered I was asked just to point at the dish on the menu like a Neanderthal. This is terrible for a restaurant which is amongst the most expensive in the city. I then was told after about 10 minutes that the chicken would be just chicken and I would need to order a side order like a baked potato. Chicken a La Crema, then plonk a great, huge Baked Potato onto the plate? I couldn't picture it so I said salad: which I later regretted. For an added £4 I was given a starter soup bowl with a couple of slices of iceberg again, two whole, dry olives, and one quartered tomato of the cheapest quality you'll find in the supermarket. Oh and a couple of dry slices of cucumber which were withered at the sides. The creamy mushroom sauce was sparse and extremely thin; it ran off the chicken like water. The chicken was not filleted and had little meat to be had that was not filled with veins. My partner had pizza for main, which was tasteless. Massively salty supermarket pepperoni on not-fully-cooked dough.

I couldn't bare to stay for desert as the menu was so hit or miss. No actual dishes, just genres of pudding; cheesecake, pie, ice cream etc.

So Dandilly's external appearance is quite nice; smart, Italian. The inside is not so good; tight, squeezed, tacky, unkempt furniture and furnishings. Bad food, bad service, bad wine. Avoid if you can.
]]> Sat, 19 May 2007 19:18:22 +0000 /review/uk/dundee/restaurant/1o52o8x/dandillys/1p12182108621281 lloydalex 56.456195 -2.993638