Bad Review on Zest Restaurant - Mullingar

star01

I would just like to share my experience of a new restaurant opened in Mullingar called Zest.

There are 3 things going against this restaurant.

1. Over priced; the pizza's 12inch start at €20 which I told the owner that I thought was over priced, he asked me to find a better price anywhere else in Mullingar for a restaurant.

Well Oscars pizza's are cheaper and very tasty. The meals are around €20-24 and range from fish, pork, beef, burgers etc. The deserts are €5.50 and come straight out of the fridge. Burgers were approx €15 and crusted fish was €21. I was informed by the owner that he often makes such a low margin on his food it is nearly at a loss especcially with the high rental overheads in Mullingar and apparently steaks in Raneleagh cost €44!!!

2. Poor service; In the entire 2 hours we were at the restaurant, we were not asked once how our food was, whether we would like another drink, if we wanted pepper, if the meal was ok, and not once did the waiter smile or engage in any conversation.

I informed the owner that you can sometimes over-look over-priced food if the service makes up for it, but in this case, I have not seen such poor service before. I was told it was because the waiter was English that he wasn't "chatty" like the Irish. Not the greatest thing to say to someone who is half English I'd say, and race doesn't determine one's attitude when serving.

Also apparently they had had a long day. Well sorry but wrong industry to be in if you can't put on a smile for your customers. I worked in a restaurant and was told the customer is always right, even if they are not, appease the customer and try to rescue the situation and find a positive in it.

3. Quality of food; I was served "cool" vegetables which tasted like they were microwaved in cream and we had potatoes and chips which were also cold. For the price the food was definitely not up to par.

The owner did not apologise for the poor service or food and just said, thanks for the feedback. I had already paid for my meal, so I was not after any discount, but in my opinion, an experieince restaurant owner would take a complaint away from other customers and maybe say "I'll take on board what you've said, I apologise and would you like to come back in 3 months and see if things have improved". I would not just say, thanks for the feedback, I disagree and will defend my restaraunt tooth and nail. The thing is bad feedback defeats a lot of good feedback.

In my opinion I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Saruman

Saved me the bother if checking it out. I used to go to Amrita's when it was there, loved the place. Excellent food and usually good service (not always). The place was just never busy unfortunately.

oblivious

20 euro fo a pizza:eek:, it would want to bloody wood fired oven for that

star01

and for only 12 inches, its fairly exe, especially since that is the starting price:eek:

An Ri rua

Hi,

I haven't tried Zest, and won't now! but was at a wedding in Middleton Park House last year so decided to finally try the restaurant there, the silver room. Its great! Hard to explain becuase its so bloody rare to get an upmarket experience anymore. Its obvious they're trying very hard because there's been nothing but good news coming out of the place. Dinner was set at 52.50 and we had wine recommended to us also. Pictures don't do the place justice. I wanted to impress a group of 6 (me included) and I can teel you this did the trick. Two of us came from Tullamore and the others from Mgar. Took about 25 minutes for all of us and the manager tells us they'll have a minibus service soon to leave us home! Try it but don't tell too many :-) ;-) its a bit like Spagos in Portlaoise, its just first class and all the other ejits keep going to the usuals. Long may it last amigos

GMP

Good to know about Zest, was thinking of booking a table this weekend init, as was reading the menu, last weekend in the window and the owner came out and was really pushing the restaraunt on us, saying it is the cheapest in the town and the food being great quality.

He also said they just lauched a new menu last week and that he was the owner of Apache Pizzas at the back of it.

jjbrien

GMP wrote: »

Good to know about Zest, was thinking of booking a table this weekend init, as was reading the menu, last weekend in the window and the owner came out and was really pushing the restaraunt on us, saying it is the cheapest in the town and the food being great quality.

He also said they just lauched a new menu last week and that he was the owner of Apache Pizzas at the back of it.

proberly an apachae pizza you get then just with the extra price put on top of it. thanks for the heads up op i was going to take someone there i wont now.

superdog

hi!

I was in zest with mrs dog and the folks at the end of march and it was thumbs up all round. It was midweek, quiet, we had three fish dishes and a steak, a soup, wine, teas/coffees and it all came to 118 - can't give an itemised breakdown!

Service was good.

anyways, we all enjoyed it - just another opinion folks!

Alexa19

I was in this restaurant about 3 weeks ago with 4 friends and it was awful, really awful. The service was ok - we got everything we asked for and were served together, however not one person smiled at us or asked us did we enjoy our meal!! I wasnt asked if I needed another drink when my drink was gone, I didnt expect him to watch our table for our drinks but when I asked for another I felt like I was an inconvenience. Also, the guy just walked away when I was ordering my drink and I had to shout after him that my friend wanted a drink too and he took our order from about 12 feet away!!! The food (most important I think) was not good at all. I had the burger and basically it was just a big slab of mince (no flavouring, herbs etc) slapped onto a pan and served in a bun with cold chips and mushy salad. The dessert was a chocolate cake type thing and it tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days!! It was disgusting. Not one of us came out of there happy. The price is above average which I would not mind spending if the meal was going to be good. The owner was in the restaurant at the time hanging out with his friends/family it seemed and was most annoying and brash. When my friend mentioned to him that our meals were not up to standard he brushed us off and didnt listen to anything she had to say. He seems to be tha type of person who thinks he is right about everything and will not listen to anyone else. He certainly does not believe in contructive criticism! I dont like to moan about restaurants and have never written a review like this before but I think people should be warned. As the lady above said - pay a little extra and have a wonderful meal at Middleton Park House instead - or go 3 doors up to Oscars - food is great here and prob cheaper than Zest. I can say the decor in zest is nice - very fresh.. unlike the food :-(

oblivious

Me thinks there might be a bit of shilling going on, (was)

Corrected, back to normal

Alexa19

I am glad to hear they may be improving - it is not good for the town for business to fail. I would love to say I was having a bad day but I was having a great day and was really looking forward to that meal. I think I have the right to be critical when I have paid money for a service that was not up to standard. I think if the owner had been a little more gracious in handling our "concerns" then maybe this review would not have ended up here but he was so rude and ignorant that I think people should know before they waste their money.

siralfalot

went to Zest for breakfast last Saturday morning and had a pretty similar experiance to Alexa19, I won't be going back :mad:

brazo

I am amazed that people will not visit a restaurant because of what is written on a website such as this. I have eaten in Zest and did not find anything to complain about. I do not rely on other peoples experiences to decide if I go to a restaurant. If I enjoy my experience I will go back if I dont I will not go again. It is sad that people believe everything they read on a website!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those people on here that have said they will not visit because of what has been written, let me ask you this. If a friend said a movie was rubbish would you not go see for yourself or just take that persons word for it?? There are some sad people out there who obviously cant think for themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

siralfalot

brazo wrote: »

I am amazed that people will not visit a restaurant because of what is written on a website such as this. I have eaten in Zest and did not find anything to complain about. I do not rely on other peoples experiences to decide if I go to a restaurant. If I enjoy my experience I will go back if I dont I will not go again. It is sad that people believe everything they read on a website!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those people on here that have said they will not visit because of what has been written, let me ask you this. If a friend said a movie was rubbish would you not go see for yourself or just take that persons word for it?? There are some sad people out there who obviously cant think for themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wheather people want to believe a review or not is their own decision, however those of us who have been there reserve the right to our opinions of the place.

oblivious

an this is brazo one and only post, make me suspicions


Shiiling is an ban offense

star01

I actually was compelled to write a review from personal experience because I was so appalled by the service and attitude. It was up there with the worst service I have experienced. If someone told me that a movie was shi*** I would save my money and thank them for giving me a lucky escape.

It's hard to credit that any manager, when told that his staff were unfriendly and not attentive to customers, would say "he's English, more uptight than us Irish". Being half English myself I found this offensive and this can not be construed as my personal view or opinion - this was offensive and unacceptable - it's a fact.

This boards website is open to people to write in with experiences and opinions and facts, that is the purpose. To state that people should not accept others opinions defeats the purpose of the posting. People should stand up more for what they think and not acccept sub-standard service. It's our hard earned money going into the till at the end of the day in return for what is advertised to be "goods and service"!

Saruman

Restaurants here need to learn that word of mouth is a powerful force both positive and negative.

superdog

Hi folks,

I hope it's not suggested that I was shilling here!

It's three months since I was in there so I can't comment any further on anything else.

thanks

oblivious

There have been a couple of post deleted by the mods for defamatory content and other reasons

superdog

OK! Thanks for clarifying

pocket_rocket

I've just ordered from Zest's takeout menu and it was disgusting. We ordered garlic mushrooms, chilli prawns and pasta with chicken. When the mushrooms arrived they were basically just out of the freezer, horrible and they were supposed to come with a salad and chips which didn't arrive we had to call to get the rest of our order. The chicken was just a big lump of breaded chicken which also came from the freezer and it was tough really tough. My partner called and asked for the manager, she was told that he wasn't there even though she heard the person on the other end of the phone call him, she was told that he would call, we'll see.
If this is how they send out food I wouldn't expect that it will last very long, we certainly wont be using them again EVER even the restaurant!

Eirgizmo

Zest closed without warning in November. I used to have lunch regularly in the restaurant so I read the comments so far with some interest. Even though the place is closed, I think I'll still have my say anyway just in case the former owner of this or any other venue is reading through looking for feedback on what people want etc...

Firstly, I never had a problem with the food in Zest. It was always fresh, tasty and served in good time. Having said that, I never ate there in the evening and to be honest, the style of the venue was too basic for me to consider it being anything more than a cafe.

I always found the service friendly but I did not like the attitude of the owner. I'll say no more than that, but he needed to polish up his interpersonal skills and lose the ego. Furthermore, closing a place down without warning and without even putting a notice in the window thanking those who did support the venue while it was open, was (IMHO) bad form.

LorM

Just to say I'm really puzzled by these reviews as my experience was really positive in Zest for the following reasons:
1. I have been there a number of times, and found the staff really friendly and helpful.
2. The food is really nice - one night there were 8 of us - and we all enjoyed it, so it's not just me.
3. The bill was very reasoable - we're not loaded so that's important - about €40 per head including some 3 courses and some wine.
3. The first time I went for lunch and had the kids with me. They were made so welcome and given crayons and pictures to keep them occupied. The waiter also brought their food with our starters which is so important but rarely done. Their drinks were given in plastic cups. All in all I felt very welcome and as a result the kids behaved themselves. Lollipops on the way out were the icing on the cake.
I have no affililiation to the restaurant but feel I have to put my side forward.

Saruman

That spot must be cursed. Is it just one or two doors too far away from the middle of town? Im trying to think of a restaurant a further down the street in the train station direction and can not. Fast food is all i come up with.

Amrita's was a top restaurant (in my oppinion) but it changed hands a bunch of times and then closed and now Zest (never tried it) has closed.

muckety

Via Dominico was further up towards the train station (on that side) on Dominick St and it was very good. Shame it closed there, but it was because they were moving to the hotel rather than closing. Think it closed subsequently!

TunnelWeb

I totally agree.Zest is terrible!! Its owned by the same guy who owns the apache pizza place,he is not very pleasant at all.He needs to loose his over inflated ego an get some manners,but i'll say no more so as not to get banned :rolleyes: Ha! Ah well,Zest is closed down now anyway.Karma eh?

IngaK

LorM post suspicious again, only 1 post in total?:) I agree with all bad reviews, and think it was owner's fault, I had a chance to meet him once and he is the most ignorant person!!! Karma....

loglogbarkbark

I gathered that zest was closed down after the tenth time trying to visit.I liked the idea of a breakfast that wasn't a pile of sausages, a place my where my mam and i could natter (as the place was always empty). anywhere you can recomend now? BTW amiritas was the **** my mother worked there and would bring home the korma and chipatis.

time lord

if we're going to keep talking about closed restraunts lets mention the Central Grill near were grahme records was or the CúCullann inn was across from Hutchinstons or the old restraunt that was over the Arcade Jewellers premises.
Please move on as there are loads of places that need a good mention or a good knocking. Pit Stop for a mug of tea and Weirs for a steak!