Drogheda Restaurant Reviews

whelan2

IvoryTower wrote: »

Without kids 45 min wont work

We went to the valley inn instead. Straight to table. Had 2 course for 20 Euro. Chicken sizzler and chicken wings great feed. All left full and happy. Husband had wings and steak

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

If in a hurry use the Bar. Its my regular go to spot, great staff and the food is fantastic. I actually prefer eating in the bar than the restaurant, highly recommend scampi, chicken wings and their steaks are great.

Kaiser84

Donegans has really slipped in standards in the last year or so. I ate there regularly, but the last 3/4 times I was there have put me off going for a while.

Waiting almost an hour to get seated, despite booking a table. Similar wait time as the poster a few posts back on a Tuesday. Forgetting my order. Steak not cooked. Poor service.


Seems like there's a constant rotation of staff which can't help matters.

Kaiser84

Aarav Swift Schoolmaster wrote: »

If in a hurry use the Bar. Its my regular go to spot, great staff and the food is fantastic. I actually prefer eating in the bar than the restaurant, highly recommend scampi, chicken wings and their steaks are great.

They seem to change waitresses a lot?

The regular bar staff are sound lads and offer great service.

Just since it is on topic at the moment, I will mention my own recent experience in Donegan's.

After a long block of days working, on the road, less-than-ideal eating from filling-station delis etc, on my first day off with the OH I decided I wanted good wings and steak and Donegan's would be the destination. I hadn't been there in a few years, and knew it would be pricey, but the day that was in it the price didn't bother me as culinary satisfaction, and somewhere local, was my main priority.

Got there, and of course it was busy as expected. We salvaged some seats around the bar to order and wait, we were served well there. The server took our order soon enough and gave us a device that would flash when our table would be ready which we were told would be about 45 minutes. She was spot on with that. The beer was nice, the atmosphere busy, but not intense or uncomfortable.

We then went through for our food. Our starters of wings to share arrived promptly. These delivered 100%. Just exactly what I was looking for. Their wings have a great reputation and there is a solid reason why. I should have ordered a main of them because of their deliciousness and for what then followed with the steaks.

We ordered two hefty steaks for our mains. They landed quickly after our starter which we were happy for. Unfortunately that's where the experience took a turn for the worse. I hadn't touched mine yet before the OH told me that hers wasn't cooked as she asked for. I had a look and thought it wasn't too bad (she asked for medium-rare, it was medium). She somewhat agreed and said it tasted juicy so would go with it. I then cut into my own steak and that's when we realised an awkward decision would have to be made. I ordered my large sirloin medium, it came out scorched. I do not question anyone else's choice, but that for my own tastes is inedible.

So here we are with €65 worth of meat which the only reason we will eat and then pay for is not to enjoy the food, but to avoid an awkward situation. No, I just couldn't do it so I politely and sheepishly informed the server who agreed that my own in particular was way overdone. She left with the two steaks for the kitchen and I thought "Phew, that's done, sure we'll just get new steaks". Then the server returned to tell us that it will be 30 minutes before new steaks are out, but if we wanted to order something else which wasn't steak from the menu it would be quicker. I could see that she wasn't having the best craic delivering this news, so although we were surprised I thanked her and asked her to give us a minute to decide.

For a few reasons, most of all the length of time to wait, we decided to just pay for our starter and head off elsewhere. I told the server this and by then the manager was on her way to the table. The manager was very polite and apologetic and asked if there was anything else, but steak, she could do for us. I told her thanks, but that we were just going to pay for our starters and hit the road, no hard feelings. She comped us the portion of wings which was a nice gesture. We weren't outraged, just disappointed and wanted to make a move after two hours in the place.

I wouldn't be going on anywhere like Tripadvisor trying to give the place a bad rating over this, plus I don't actually post on those sites anyway. I mention it here because most of you who will read this know the place and can make up your own mind. It's a good establishment that feeds about about ten million people a week, there's bound to be the odd mistake and unfortunately for us it was our turn. No one died, just some expensive meat got overcooked and couldn't be replaced in a timely manner. I will go back for the wings again sometime in the future.

After leaving, we thought at this point that we didn't want to go in and do the sit, order and wait thing again so somewhere like the Valley Inn, and steaks, were looking less likely on this day. We decided to sate another curiousity and head to The Cross to see what their burgers were like. This post is already very long, so I'll just say The Cross will be getting a return visit very soon; We ordered two 'The Cross' burgers, and a chilli fries to share. The food came out quick and tasty. I also had a nice pint of Sam Adam's from the tap, and the tunes and atmosphere were a bonus.

dixiefly

Interesting Stan, do you think the chef was taking the pi$$ a bit? It surely doesnt take that long to cook a couple of steaks if he / she really wanted to!

dixiefly

dixiefly wrote: »

Interesting Stan, do you think the chef was taking the pi$$ a bit? It surely doesnt take that long to cook a couple of steaks if he / she really wanted to!

I couldn't say without going outside of the facts and speculating of course, but the 30 minute wait for new steaks only made me imagine what the chef's reply was when he/she saw the two plates come back into the kitchen.

Yes, without question, two new steaks (especially ones that don't need to be cooked well done or near it) should be back out in ten minutes tops. However, for some reason we were put way down the pecking order even though we had completed a starter and the sides for our steaks were still sitting on the table.

All I know is that the server and front-of-house manager were very nice to us and genuinely appeared to want to help, but had gone to their limits and 30 minutes was what it was going to be.

positron

stankratz wrote: »

For a few reasons, most of all the length of time to wait, we decided to just pay for our starter and head off elsewhere. I told the server this and by then the manager was on her way to the table. The manager was very polite and apologetic and asked if there was anything else, but steak, she could do for us. I told her thanks, but that we were just going to pay for our starters and hit the road, no hard feelings. She comped us the portion of wings which was a nice gesture. We weren't outraged, just disappointed and wanted to make a move after two hours in the place.

Sounds like they were very professional, and actually cares about customers! Thanks for the review!

Sorry "positron" ....... there's not much point in staff "actually caring" .....if the customers leave without their dinner.....after 2 hrs!! Professional or not I would find an experience like this deplorable , especially if I had spent that long in the place. Not everyone would take this incident in such good manner. Your meal should have been prioritised if your steaks were not cooked first time according to your order. To be put back to the middle or end of the list is not on. I would have walked !!

The chef should be on the same page as the waiting staff otherwise there is no cohesion. No point in waiting staff bending over backwards apologising if you are left with no dinner after 2 hrs. There should be a management policy in these situations.

If customers do not let management know why they are unhappy and what should have been done to make things better then this kind of incident happens over and over. Make the complaint clearly. Bad form Donegans!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

That experience in Donegans is deplorable. The manager should have given you the starters free too. I think you are being much too mind to them.

wardides

It's an absolute shambles out in Donnegans. Went for dinner on a Sunday evening. Hadn't booked anything so went couple of places and they were full (or 45min - 1 hour wait). We decided to try Donnegans but said I'd ring first before driving the 20 minutes out the road. Rang and asked would there be a table for 2 available or if I could book a table. Was told sorry we don't do bookings, but come out within the next half hour as we would be able to get a table for 2 in no problem. Rock up 10 minutes later to be told no sorry, no tables for another hour. Explained I had rang as didn't want to waste a trip out and was essentially told that wasn't possible as it had been like this all evening. Not one bit apologetic or anything. Nightmare.

Shoe Lover

It's hit and miss with Donegans. General consensus is - be prepared to wait if you go. Although, I'd be going mental if I'd no dinner after two hours! Clearly have more patience than I have.
I do keep meaning to try it for breakfast tho - maybe this weekend.

positron

Deleted User wrote: »

Sorry "positron" ....... there's not much point in staff "actually caring" .....if the customers leave without their dinner.....after 2 hrs!! Professional or not I would find an experience like this deplorable , especially if I had spent that long in the place. Not everyone would take this incident in such good manner. Your meal should have been prioritised if your steaks were not cooked first time according to your order. To be put back to the middle or end of the list is not on. I would have walked !!

Please don't take my comment too seriously, I am in no way shape or form an expert in eating out. Juts thought that was nice that they apologized and compensated stankratz. I thought 45 mins of the two hours were waiting for a table, and that they were getting everything quick enough once seated - and I really don't know preparing steak at restaurants work, not sure if 30 mins is reasonable time or not to do fresh steak order. What is involved if anyone know - is it just to the pan and to plate, or do they have to bring it to room temp first, or perhaps pan - then oven and then plate it?

Like I said, not an expert, never been to Donegans, and I was just commenting on how they reacted when stankratz decides to hit the road. Cheers!

macadam

The thing I dont understand about some people eating out, family included, why are they in so much of a hurry. We like to sit chat and take our time whether were waiting or eating. My favourite place of all is La Pizzeria in Clogherhead, the food is cooked and prepped from fresh and you are never hurried to re use the table, Donegans is similar when you take in the wait. If your in a hurry there's always fast food restaurants.
My overall experience of Donegans is, its a popular place steaks are over priced but damn tasty, yes a chef can sometimes get the steak wrong it does happen even at home. The other thing I do not understand re Donegans is from 12-3pm the lunch menu is on and you may also be given the A la Carte menu the prices for the exact same dish is crazy, the plaice which can be a favourite of mine is €15 on the A la Carte and only €11 on the lunch menu for the exact same thing!!
Still cant knock it and I would only visit occasionally maybe once every 6-8 weeks.

positron

positron wrote: »

Sounds like they were very professional, and actually cares about customers! Thanks for the review!

The front-of-house staff were professional and polite, but even so this still resulted in us getting no meal. So my thoughts do go along the lines of sweetmaggie's above. I'll be honest, the politeness, professionalism and comped starter were nice, but are the least that should be expected given the situation and the polite but direct manner in which we carried ourselves also.

Tatiana Miniature Snowmobile wrote: »

That experience in Donegans is deplorable. The manager should have given you the starters free too. I think you are being much too mind to them.

The manager gave us the starter free of charge, I probably wasn't clear enough on that in the OP. We parted with no money while leaving the place, though we did spend money eariler on a drink each as we waited in the bar before the meal. I probably could have asked for those drinks to be reimbursed, since the whole point of getting them was because we were sitting at the bar waiting for the meal we never had. But at that stage around 8.30-9pm, we just wanted to get out and get somewhere else, and not having to pay for the starter seemed fair enough. The drinks didn't even come into my head then tbh.

Yes, I am being kind given how the experience reads. It was a casual, spur of the moment outing for us. Had we have gotten a taxi out to the place and it was a more formal/special/planned occasion, our mood during and feeling afterwards would have been different I'm sure. The day that was in it we were pulling silver linings from everywhere despite some disappointment - "Sure we got to have a drink together, that hasn't happened in weeks" - "We got some serious chicken wings on the house" - "We finally got to try The Cross" etc. If it had have been "Well, that was a sh*t birthday/anniversary", there might have been a more sour taste no doubt.

As it is though, there will be no birthday/anniversary there. I won't be in a rush back, only sometime for wings in the bar and not for steak in the bar or the restaurant. As it is, we weren't even in 'the restaurant'. We were put in an extension out the back I hadn't been in before which more resembles a roadside cafe dining area than a restaurant. It is obviously used to cater for families with small children as the place was buzzing with fanta-filled little ones :pac: Great that there is that option there for parents and families, but if you were to arrive as a couple looking for a traditional restaurant atmosphere that somewhat represents the price you'd be paying, you'd be in for a little surprise if you were landed out there. Although there was a nice speaker hanging near our table, there was no background music playing in this area. All this didn't matter to us on the day though, we just wanted wings and steak but it wasn't to be.

Antibac

I went to Lemonade yesterday for the first time. I just had a quick coffe and cake. I have to say it was very average.

We called on at about 4 OClock. There was 3 people behind the counter & it still took 10 minutes to get served. They were very slow even though the place was nearly empty. There was a lot of dirty cups/plates on the tables.

The cake was okish but the coffee was lovely. Will try again as it could have been just a once off

DDad2009

Ate in the Punjabi House on Saturday. Food was lovely, couldn't fault it but service Not good!! Waiter was abrasive then miffed after my husband 'allowed' me to order first - then short changed us at the end! Mistakes happen, but this felt very deliberate and there wasn't even a feeble apology.

On another note, we tried The Cross last week after reading reviews here. Very good! Food was slow coming out but what came out was delicious and piping hot. If anybody is a chilli junkie like myself I would highly recommend the el diablo wings. Hot hot hot!!! We'll defo go back here again to try the burgers, we only ordered a couple of starters to share that time but were very envious of some of the burgers around us.

IvoryTower

The cross burger is lovely, the blue cheese one a but strong for me but the missus likes it

macadam

Was in Annies for my first visit and i have to say I was well impressed, steak was cooked to perfection with all the trimmings herself had bolognese which she said was the nicest she ever tasted, we didnt have a starter as it was rather late, there were two waitresses working and they we very pleasant and good at their job. We had a long neck beer each and total was €38.00 I will be returning..

positron

Tried Aisha's Bistro couple of days ago - very friendly and accommodating staff, excellent food. Recommended!

whelan2

Went to west 29 on Saturday. Was really good. We had the early bird menu. We will go back

DDad2009

I really like Aisha's - have eaten in it a handful of times and couldn't fault a thing!

positron

positron wrote: »

Tried Aisha's Bistro couple of days ago - very friendly and accommodating staff, excellent food. Recommended!

Bit more detail - while Falafal was best I have ever tried, the 'dijaj mansaf' was more curry and a small portion of rice, which I thought was strange, I was expecting a 'chicken on lovely rice' type affair.. which is why I asked for it, but it was nice all the same. May be that wasn't what was on the menu - or perhaps Lebanese version is different to what I am thinking of. Highlight of our visit was the friendly accomodating staff - whcih is top priority when you have little kids, and their ever changing moods (Girl at Aisha managed to persuade my daughter to do a 'demi plie' WITH her I mean you can't ask for more than that.)

I've been to the Cross a few times over the last couple of months. I have yet to have a bad feed or experience in the place. The Cross burger is very tasty, by the account of my OH their chicken burger is good too. Their wings are special. I normally like my wings covered in Frank's hot sauce, so avoided the Cross' soya wings the first time I went in. Curiousity got the better of me and once I finally ordered them, they have been a must ever since. Delicious. Now they are doing 'El Diablo' wings as well and they have quite a kick to them, but still maintain a good taste among the heat.

I can't fault the Cross, but in terms of actual restaurants the town seems to be going through a good patch at the moment. This year so far I have had good experiences in Aisha's, D'Vine, West 29, The Black Bull, Scholar's and Casanova. All spots I am looking forward to returning to soon plus there are a few other places I've yet to try out.

For something quick during the day, Bare Food cafe has been keeping me happy with their custom sandwiches. The odd time I've chosen to sit in, the service has been quick and friendly. Would recommend for something a little different.

Slightly further afield, I recently visited Carlito's in Dunleer for the first time in years, and shortly after returned for a second visit. I'd thoroughly recommend it for anyone looking for something outside the town, but not too far.

Mylow

positron wrote: »

positron wrote: »

Tried Aisha's Bistro couple of days ago - very friendly and accommodating staff, excellent food. Recommended!

Bit more detail - while Falafal was best I have ever tried, the 'dijaj mansaf' was more curry and a small portion of rice, which I thought was strange, I was expecting a 'chicken on lovely rice' type affair.. which is why I asked for it, but it was nice all the same. May be that wasn't what was on the menu - or perhaps Lebanese version is different to what I am thinking of. Highlight of our visit was the friendly accomodating staff - whcih is top priority when you have little kids, and their ever changing moods (Girl at Aisha managed to persuade my daughter to do a 'demi plie' WITH her I mean you can't ask for more than that.)

After reading about Aisha on here I decided to eat there, couldn't get a reservation last time I was home, so was prepared for next time I was home, booked well in advance. I have to say the food and service were excellent, will certainly go back again.

IvoryTower

Cross are not doing food until further notice, parted ways with chef

DDad2009

Any idea where the chef is going? Only ate there once but food was great!

enricoh

Went to the gatehouse grill (think that's the name anyway!) Out at an grianan in termonfeckin.
Small menu but Great food and cheap as chips!they have benches outdoors n u can eat there if u get the weather!

positron

We tried West 29 last Friday.

Lovely place. The food was very good - carrot, coriander and coconut soup was top class (going to try that at home someday). Not sure why they gave us complimentary apple sorbet between starter and main (said something about us waiting - but we were not really waiting that long... ) but it was nice gesture all the same. Mains were great - rib eye steak was full of flavour, and whatever the chicken dish herself ordered was great too. The West 29 dessert taster/tapa/platter whatever it is called was easily enough for four - but the two of us ate it all, it was too nice to leave behind.

The place is now without faults though. We were seated at the middle of the floor next to the bar - it's mostly okay, but I would preferred not to sit eye-to-bum with people sitting at the bar and staff walking by so often. It's perfectly fine for most, but if some might say that they should remove those two tables (four places) and open up a bit of space in front of the bar. Second and more serious issue is the smoke coming from the smokers lounge - we have gotten so used to not having to suffer with cigarette smell, whatever was coming thru the door was really overpowering. That they should definitely look into. We mentioned this on their feedback form as well - and if I go there again and smell smoke, I will just walk out.

Lastly, our table was rocking - which we fixed with a folded up coaster from the bar - I am not sure this is a bad point - at least it gave me a sense of achievement while we wait for starter.

Overall, we would recommend West29, for the great food and staff.

dermot10

Hi All..would anyone know who the manager or owner is of bia restaurant drogheda please?? Thanks