Dominik's — Restaurant in County Westmeath

Typically Dominiks is a relaxing tasty treat but yesterday's visit was made quite difficult by the lack of knowledge, unnecessary commentary and poor service provided by front of house staff.

Upon arriving to pre-booked table we we're waiting approximately 40 minutes before order was taken, at which come the waitress expressed we were sitting there like idiots, the waitress was young so we took it that perhaps she had misworded what she meant to say and let it pass. However, it was a further 25 minutes before we received our starters and at that stage we hadn't received the bottle of wine we ordered and when we requested this again, the waitress returned to the table twice to find out which wine we had ordered and still proceeded to delay.

We had to request steak steak knives three times to which another waitress commented. She didn't understand what we were looking for or what we had said. Steaks were requested blue but were delivered med-rare at best.

After starters we requested a fresh bottle of water, which was repeatedly requested throughout the main course, and not delivered until almost end of meal.

Food was quite tasty and we were not out to complain so we enjoyed our meal,

When our plates were cleared away we were offered a desserts menu to which we all answered. Yes please as one particular member of our table was looking forward to desert,

25 minutes later and after a second request for the menu which was never brought. We decided it was time to call it an evening.

I have worked in service myself many years ago so I understand the trials and tribulations and had this been a particularly busy evening or short-staffed or even just different kind of complaints I would perhaps try to understand, But the restaurant was not particularly busy and it seemed like none of the staff were particularly interested or capable.

Upon payment of Bill which was brought quite quickly, the waitress asked how was everything, although we wanted to give feedback but not to be stressful we started to respond that the service was slow to which the waitress replied with an apology about the chef. However, the food was tasty and brought in a decent amount of time. It was the rest of the service that was the issue. It was clear the Waitress did not listen to what we said, Gave an insincere apology and left the table.

I really enjoy visiting Dominic's and have done so throughout the years so hopefully service...

I don't normally leave reviews but I felt the need to do so. So my youngest turned 18. All he wanted to do was have a nice meal with his family. I booked Dominik's as his dad and I had been there so many times and always enjoyed it. It was also the last family meal that he had with his Auntie before she passed away. All was great with booking a table for his family including his siblings aunts uncles and his grandfather. We arrived on time and our server was professional and very nice. However as a family we all agreed to pay separately as with everyone struggling a bit with the increased cost of living we all did not want it to be a burden for one or two individuals. Ie my husband and I. We had a wonderful meal and the food was amazing. However... When my husband went to pay for our portion of the bill. He was advised by the lady behind the counter that payment needed to be made in one payment. He called me to come to the counter and so he could advise me of the situation. As I had made the booking I spoke to the lady and advised that everyone was going to pay by card so there would need to be separate payments. She advised me that she could not do that as she had been caught before and personally had to pay €40 of her own money to make up the balance. I advised that she didn't say that when I booked. Her response... You didn't ask... I said to her if she had said at booking I would have advised my family to bring cash and worked the bill ourselves. Not an issue as myself and my sister had both worked in the restaurant and hotel industry our whole working lives. Well I took a breath and said we can only pay separately and we were happy to wait as long as it took for her to sort the payments separately. She was not happy. So each couple went up to pay one person at a time so she wasn't overwhelmed. As I had booked I waited at the table until all the bill was paid and as I was leaving she advised me that there is a sign in the window advising that for large parties kne payment had to be paid. When I checked outside it was a tiny card and the bottom of the window where no one would look. There was only 9 of us in the party.

None of us...

We were a group of 9 diners on Saturday night and the best word I can use to describe our experience is DISASTER. We arrived for our 8pm reservation, and our starters did not start arriving until almost 9.30pm. We waited over an hour for 1 cocktail. We had 2 heavily pregnant diners, and everything was taking so long that we had to order bread as they were incredibly hungry. When the mains eventually arrived at almost 10pm, my meal was lukewarm. Throughout the dinner, the servers apologised multiple times for our bad experience. When we were finished I approached the server who stated she was in charge to try and come to a friendly and easy resolution. The server in charge offered for us to have the cocktail complimentary, which I refused. She then stated she would have to discuss our bill with the chef. She then returned to say the chef had offered us a 5% discount but only if we paid in cash, what an absolute joke! We declined this offer and asked to speak to the chef (we were told the chef was the owner). The chef had magically gone home in the 2 minutes that had just passed. The server then said that they would give us a discount however the discount would come out of their tips, which in hindsight I believe was a very unprofessional way to try make us feel bad. We declined this offer and paid full price for a completely disappointing and...