Wineport Lodge — Hotel in County Westmeath

Came here with my sister and mother as it was sister’s birthday and wanted to treat her

Food was ...... fine. Seafood chowder was lovely but all other ordered items just fine nothing special. But guys; be warned that this place is incredibly OVERPRICED for what you actually get. Steer clear of any pasta dishes because it would literally be the biggest waste of money. You spend almost the same on a Mac and Cheese pasta dish as you would on a meat dish

We got cocktails to start and they were nothing special either. Again overpriced

The only good thing about the experience was the view (we sat outside) and our server who was pleasant and friendly

However we asked initially about gluten free options and she didn’t really know..... she said she’d go and ask the kitchen

When she eventually came back she just asked us if we were ready to order but we reminded her we were actually still waiting for her to come back and talk to us about the gluten free options.. !?

Anyway later on we got to dessert and put in our order

40 minutes passed and no sign of our server

Since there was practically no staff presence outside I went inside and alerted the hostess

I guess she arranged for someone to bring out our order but not only did the new server not notice that she forgot to bring us any cutlery, the cheeseboard we ordered was beyond a joke €20 for four tiny pieces of cheese and not nearly enough crackers to go with. 3 scabby strawberries perched on the side also

We had also asked yet a different server for a light / match for a cigarette and he said he’d be right back with one but he also never did either

Then the bill arrived. And included with the bill was a feedback card .... ALREADY FILLED OUT !!!

And of course all the answers were positive ones

I had absolutely no intention of leaving any kind of tip but I decided to leave something just because our main server was very nice. And she did come back much later to check on us and apologise about the wait for the desserts; she said after she took our order she was sent to another part of the restaurant and assumed someone else would’ve brought them out to us. She also gave us her lighter to keep

Just a massive shame about the level of service in general, and the extortionate prices. I would never make a big deal out of paying such an amount for food if I truly felt it was worth it, but I do expect a certain level of service to go with it (especially if the food isn’t up to scratch) at the very least someone coming by from time to time to make sure our water glasses were always full etc. that kind of thing. For the money you spend there you’d expect at least that

Disappointing

Will not be back and will not be...

We're asked to staycation this summer, for safety and support buisness at home. We had rang to secure our booking for much needed break, and hubby's birthday back on 27 May. Spoke to lady for goog few minutes on phone organising or sanitised afternoon tea and dinner time, we set off on our 1hr and 45 min drive so excited for our break away. We arrived and was quiet supprised to see it so busy no staff wearing any masks, no covid signs up or sanitiser stations??. Anyway went to check in and lady looked at us blankly asked who's name it was under, told to take a seat we sat for good 10 to 15 mins, we thought service was bad, eventually lady came over to us and said there's no bookings for you. We were shocked, she never apologised for the mistake on there side, just kept looking at us expressionless nodding her head up and down, we felt sick to our stomach this was our weekend ruined. She said if you want to book another hotel I'll ring and see if room available, our 2 daughters had paid direct to the wineport lodge for our stay B&B, afternoon tea and dinner. The lady walked away and said have a think what we do or we'd drive back home, if her customer care and profuse apology I could have made us feel a little bit better, but got none, I went back over phone records and retrieved time and date I rang to prove it was mistake on there behalf, got no response or reaction just a nodding head, we're booked out, I asked if we did indeed book near by could we have our dinner in restaurant later?, told no nodding head again booked out. My husband was so annoyed as I was to, could not understand how customer care was so bad and no thought of our feelings, or our daughters dissiponted for there money spent and such bad service. We decided to ask for full refund and said I would never set foot in place again, my money was counted over to me still no apologies or asking would we like to re book at another stage shocking behaviour,, we walked out deflated and angry, had to drive home no where had a room as it was August Bank Holiday weekend. So this was our experience of the well spoken about wineport Lodge!!!! No customer care whatsoever or anything of the kind so...

This restaurant is situated in a perfect spot next to the lake with beautiful views to it as it has a terrace beautifully decorated, from the chairs to the flowers on the table. I came here on a lovely sunny day with very high expectations as it’s a fancy restaurant, or that’s what it seemed like.

We were given a menu and I couldn’t find a main without meat or fish (I’m a vegetarian) until I saw in the bottom “for vegan and vegetarian options ask staff” so I did and I was given a whole menu with very appetizing veggie options.

I had tomato popcorn as a starter. Unfortunately they seemed like bad quality packed popcorn with a bit or tomato sauce on top, definitely not what I was expecting.

I thought I had just made a bad decision for my starter when my main arrived (after a 45min wait). I had risotto as my main dish. At first it seemed like plain rice with some veggies, and I wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t a risotto, no creaminess, it was bland rice with peas, tiny pieces of courgette and parmesan, also it didn’t have any cherry tomatoes when in the menu it said it did and I saw cherry tomatoes in multiple other dishes around me.

I was willing to have a great dessert to compensate the two earlier dishes. I had the dessert of the day: raspberry and white chocolate roulade. It was a base of meringue, a bit of whipped cream on top, a fine little tube of white chocolate, two raspberries, one blueberry and half of a strawberry. Pretty much sugar more than anything.

I have to say that the drinks were very good, the waiters kept bringing cold water to the table once a bottle was finished and I also had a Casanova, which was tasty and refreshing.

Lastly, a very important point to add due to the circumstances (Covid-19) is that none of the workers were wearing a face mask at any time. Not when receiving clients, not when talking to them, not when serving plates to the table, not outside or inside the restaurant. Not even the manager. Also the tables didn’t have enough separation...