Comments on: Review of O’Conaill’s Chocolate shop and cafe

By: Manic Mammy

Manic Mammy — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:20:43 +0000

A bakery sounds brilliant, thanks for that news Will.
Chocolate chip scones will definitely make a return visit compulsory

By: Will Knott

Will Knott — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:19:19 +0000

Good news and bad news. The shop on French Church street is being renovated and expanded.

Good news is that they have opened a bakery on Princes Street and while the renovations are taking place, the bakery is doing take away hot chocolate (and coffee and cake).

And Evin, they make chocolate chip scones now.

By: Manic Mammy

Manic Mammy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:35:52 +0000

Definitely need to head back there one of these mornings. Yuuum hot chocolate is so perfect in this wintery cold weather. Agree with you Evin on the scone!

By: Evin

Evin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:22:29 +0000

After tasting their chocolate, I am thrilled they are hovering over a stove instead of computer. I will update my post to include their location though with a map link.

I went mid-morning last week, before Christmas madness set into downtown, and it was peaceful and relaxing. An ideal time to go. The staff were soooo nice, my dad was visiting and he wanted to take a photo of the young woman who made his amazing hot chocolate to show my mom back home. They didn’t even roll their eyes at the request, just were all smiles at the idea that he enjoyed it that much. Quite sweet. Wonder if they’d let me bring my own scone next time?

By: Manic Mammy

Manic Mammy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:53:05 +0000

Hi Evin,
Yep, I remember struggling to find any web-info on O’Conaill’s prior to writing this.
I think I was hoping they had a fabulously chocolately website but was disappointed!

By: Hot Chocolate at O’Conaill Chocolates « Slainte, Cork

Hot Chocolate at O’Conaill Chocolates « Slainte, Cork — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:24:01 +0000

[...] spot! There is seating upstairs and the seats and tables are lower than restaurant-height. This is a helpful review (two actually). O’Conaill’s is open Monday though Saturday, 10am to 6pm. Great place [...]

By: Evin

Evin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:59:58 +0000

This is such a thorough post about O’Conaill’s – more so than any website I’ve seen.

By: Manic Mammy

Manic Mammy — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:21:13 +0000

Hi Maria,
We must have just been there on a bad day as you say. The shop was very quiet and I didn’t notice any other customers there before us, so it was a bit irritating and surprising to have to wait a good while for our drinks. We were seated adjacent to the service area. As you can imagine, kids tend not to be very patient whilst waiting for anything and we had the baby and 4 year old with us.

As I said, it was worth the wait and I shall definitely be returning next time I’m in Cork and have no doubt I’ll enjoy the next visit.

Hope you’ve had a bit of a break since the hectic xmas period!

By: Maria Power

Maria Power — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:19:31 +0000

Slightly insulted by your review.
As one of the waitresses who was working that day I feel obliged to defend myself and my colleagues.
Christmas is our busiest time (and an important one for the business as it’s the time the shop makes the majority of its profit). The shop employs five waitresses in total, three of us were working at the time you visited and had been working solidly in a packed shop for the previous week (I remember the time so clearly because I’d only had a single day off in the two weeks running up to Christmas and no time to tend to my own shopping).
There are two reasons that the business (which is small and family-owned) makes a profit at all. The first is that the quality of our chocolates speaks for itself and people tell their friends. The second is that people enjoy coming to the shop and find us friendly, attentive and polite. In the time that I’ve been working for O’Connaill’s, I’ve never once heard a complaint about a member of staff. Perhaps you were queuing for longer than you would have liked; but we can only take so many orders at once and only make two hot chocolates at a time. I see no reason why we shouldn’t be entitled to have a conversation while doing so. After all, we were run off our feel for eight hours straight. However, if it was quiet at the time you visited, you’ll understand that it was a much-needed break.

I apologise if I sound a bit surly; but as I said, I do find it insulting to be accused of ignoring customers when my workmates and I pride ourselves on the fact that (unlike many others working in retail) we value the importance of being good to our customers and also that as the business is a small one and word of mouth is a powerful thing we wouldn’t like people to have a bad impression of us.

I’m pleased that you thought so highly of our coffee and chocolates. Please drop by again and see if we can change your mind about our manners!

By: Manic Mammy

Manic Mammy — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:36:30 +0000

Cheers Lette,
Nearly all sorted here, though I’ve that niggling feeling I’m missing sommat, probably one of the kids…..

Anyhow, hope you’ve a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2008.