Now, I'm not going to gripe about the homewares, grocery or clothing sections of Dunnes Stores in…read morethe Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. Dunnes' clothes have come along in leaps and bounds over the last few years, I have never experienced any issues with their fresh produce and as to homewares... well, I've never actually had to furnish anywhere before, but I imagine that Dunnes Stores range of soft furnishings are very good at best, and perfectly adequate at worst. This review concerns none of the above.
What this very negative review concerns itself with is the hot deli counter in the Dunnes in Stephen's Green. Dunnes normally do a very good deli counter; the one in George's St is extremely nice. However, my experience at the counter in question left a lot to be desired.
The hot counter in this particular Dunnes is often running out of stuff, and while this might be expected occasionally, particularly at 2 or 3 o'clock, it is a minor inconvenience at best. What I am about to recount, however, is a heresy in the art of sandwich making, and should shock you to your very core.
I approached the counter and asked for a chicken fillet roll. No problems there. Did they get the ratios wrong, you ask, too much mayonnaise or not enough lettuce? No, I could live with that. When asked what I wanted on my roll, I replied lettuce, tomato and grated cheese. To which I received the reply that they didn't do cheese with chicken fillet rolls. I assumed that there was some token additional charge for this extra filling, as cheese is not one of the staple chicken fillet roll fillings (tomato and lettuce for those of you who are interested); vexatious, but not the end of the world. I hazarded this assumption on my part, only to be told that no, it wasn't a financial thing, they just didn't put cheese on chicken fillet rolls. Full stop.
When I asked about this bizarre state of affairs, I was told it was a health and safety thing. Now, I appreciate that this poor girl was only doing her job, and I assure you that I didn't take it out on her, but it is a sad state of affairs when a man can't walk into a shop in this great nation of ours and get cheese on his chicken fillet roll. Is what we've come to? Is this what the men of '98 and '16 died for?
I ask this as I have been served cheese on chicken fillet rolls the length and breadth of Dublin, and if Dunnes wanted to institute some sort of cheese legal waiver, I would gladly sign.
Needless to say, I shall not be giving the deli counter of Dunnes Stores, Stephen's Green my custom in the future.