Restaurant Review – Dinner & a Movie at the g Hotel Galway
Restaurant review of the g Hotel Galway
The g hotel, Wellpark, Galway offers a choice of a 2 or 3 course dinner in one of it’s luxurious lounges, followed by your choice of movie in the adjoining EYE cinema. I booked a 2 course movie deal on line.
Meal time:
Evening
Choice:
There was a choice of 5 starters, 5 main courses and 4 desserts for the movie offer. The menu gave a good description of the ingredients in each dish; making it reasonably easy for a person with diabetes to choose from the menu.
What I had (as described on the menu):
Starter: Soup of the Day (Leek) with freshly baked brown bread
Ease of determining carbohydrate content: 2
(1 – 10, 1 being easy and 10 being difficult to determine how many carbs are in the dish)
- The soup was creamy and was a nice size portion for a starter. I estimated it contained 10g of carbohydrate. The bread contained approximately 40g of carbohydrate. Portion sizes and ingredients in bread vary a lot and it’s a good idea to become familiar with the carbohydrate value of whatever type of bread you are likely to be eating.
- Total = 50g of carbohydrate if both slices of bread are eaten. This is quite high in carbs for a starter.
- I had one slice of bread which brought the total to 30g of carbohydrate. Both the soup and bread were delicious and they were very filling.
Main:
Grilled Fillet of Plaice, Cray Fish, Green Vegetables, Toasted Almonds, Lemon Brown Butter
Ease of determining carbohydrate content: 1
(1 – 10, 1 being easy and 10 being difficult to determine how many carbs are in the dish)
- The fish was nice and moist and didn’t have excess dressing, making it carbohydrate free.
- I estimated the green vegetables to have 7g of carbohydrate and the potato to have 20g of carbohydrate.
- Total = 27g of carbohydrate.
My companion had:
Glazed Short Ribs of Beef, Shitake Mushrooms, Autumn Vegetables, Rice Noodles, Beef & Soy Broth, Nori Seasoning
Ease of determining carbohydrate content: 3
(1 – 10, 1 being easy and 10 being difficult to determine how many carbs are in the dish)
- Rice noodles are high in carbohydrate but the portion was small so I estimated it at 10g of carbohydrate. Rice noodles absorb flavour from other foods and this worked very well in this well-seasoned dish.
- Shitake mushrooms contain compounds which can lower bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase good (HDL) cholesterol and they are good for cardiovascular and liver health. We rarely see them in Ireland so it was good to see them on the menu.
- Generally, the glaze on beef or pork ribs contains a sweetener. This glaze wasn’t very sweet but I would still allow 5g of carbohydrate for it.
- Total carbohydrate: Vegetables 10g + rice noodles 10g + glaze 5g = 25g. of carbohydrate.
Food rating (taste and presentation): 10/10
When you pay for your meal you are handed your cinema tickets and walk straight to the cinema and to your chosen film.
The meal, the surroundings in the g hotel and the film made for a relaxing evening. It’s always a good idea to eat (not necessarily in a hotel) before you go to the cinema. If children have a favourite meal (e.g. shepherd’s pie or home-made burger) at home before they get to the cinema they won’t eat as much rubbish while they are looking at the movie. Don’t allow enough time for hanging around the fizzy drink and sweets area before the movie starts!
