Murph's Gastro Pub, Derragarra Inn, Cavan — Restaurant in Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District

I was disappointed - probably because reviews are so good but the service was poor. Place looks nice and staff were friendly but seemed inexperienced or even inept. We sat down at about 8:15 (table not set) and had decent enough starters (cutlery taken away but not replaced) and steak and chips delivered by various staff and at 9:20 asked for the dessert menu. The waiter said "sorry but the kitchen is actually closed now". Just weird. Since when do kitchens close at 9:20pm when guests are half way through dinner? So I said as much and the waiter went off to enquire - came back and said "okay you can order dessert". I asked for the baked alaska and he said "well that could take 15 minutes to prepare". (Strongly indicating that he did not want to remain at work that long...) I ordered it anyway and it arrived within 5 minutes. Staff were clearing up other tables and there was a general feeling of shutting down even though it was still early - especially considering it was a bank holiday weekend night. So we felt rushed and paid the bill at the bar on the way out and the friendly-on-arrival hosts had disappeared and only the waiter remained - sitting outside the restaurant on a wall glad to see the back of us I suspect. It was 9:55pm.

Dinner was okay - but €28 for steak and chips (and €6.70 for a run-of-the-mill glass of wine) are city restaurant prices. So I'm not really sure how to categorise this place. Possibly a pub with pub service but with restaurant prices and restaurant opening...

Just don’t go here. Unsafe. Didn’t ask for or check COVID certs. Cheap ingredients, poorly made, with a premium price. *Follow-up on reply from venue: * You are mistaken about one person having their Covid cert checked. We asked about checking our certs but None were checked. Other people at venue witnessed other tables not being asked for COVID Certs or contact details from walk-ins. Quality of food was really poor despite your claims of “local produce of the highest standard”. Have the chefs tasted their own food? If they think what they are serving is quality then that is a major problem. Do any of the chefs know how to dress a salad? Based on what we were served, they don’t. Another major issue was one of the waiting staff admitted the food didn’t look right when they were collecting it from the kitchen but they still served it. That tells me there is a breakdown of communication between front of house and kitchen. Are the waiting staff afraid to say anything to the chefs? Sounds like it. It appears to be acceptable to serve food “that doesn’t look right”. I could go into lots more details about the quality issues with most of our dishes. 4 of us had issues with what was served. The waiter wasn’t interested in hearing about these. To be clear, I/we didn’t look for or ask for any discount. Just wanted to share our experience with others who might consider dining at your establishment. Based on our experience, keep driving and...

New outdoor area is beautiful. Food was delicious (best duck my husband ever had, plum sauce was perfect, steaks were mouth watering, love the peppercorn sauce).

Only criticism my brother had was limited seafood options, only fish & chips in the mains options.

Portion sizes were spot on & we cleared as much as we could but left room for the lovely desserts (apple pie, lemon tarts & Sherry trifle)

Four of had tea & only enough milk for 2 people in the jug. If it had have been fully filled we wouldn’t have had to ask for a 2nd (it also only came 1/2 filled). Small issue but easily rectified.

Good, friendly service (did have to get the attention of waiters a couple of times for more water, an extra side, butter)

We will definitely be returning & if the few minor issues above are ironed out it will be 5 stars...