The Old Schoolhouse — Restaurant in Fingal

Wow this is a very busy place. It is full of nooks and crannies so it was easy to think it wasn't as busy as it actually was which was great. The service was excellent, I couldn't fault it in anyway. Our waitress was attentive and chatty especially with the 4 year old girl in our company. She smiled constantly and really looked after us. The food was just ok. The menu is extensive with a nice selection of dishes to suit a wide variety of tastes. It is also reasonably priced for Dublin. I found the food lacked flavour so while being nice they could have used more seasoning and made it fantastic. I had the fish pie which didn't have a lot of fish in it so was mostly sauce, this was especially noticeable as it was served in such a large bowl. Personally I would have gone for a smaller bowl and more fish if I were the chef here. It also lacked flavour. The mash potato topping needed a lot more seasoning as did the sauce. It could have been amazing with the addition of some spring onion through the sauce and a little while wine, pepper and salt. I would have added a little gruyere cheese to the mash then finished it under a hot grill to bring it to a whole new level. The chicken stir fry was faultless, my friend really enjoyed it as did I when I tasted it. The chicken fajitas were terrible, probably the worst I have ever seen. They tasted of noting more than tomato paste or a tomato sauce that was heated too much too quickly and nothing else. My friend barely touched his and remarked that he actually meant to order the chicken stir fry and was very disappointed with his meal. The warm Thai salad looked great, but that was where it ended. Again it also lacked seasoning. From tasting it I would say the chef added nothing more than sweet chilli from a bottle. It could have been an amazing dish if the chef had made a paste from chilli, garlic, ginger, galangal and fish sauce then added a tablespoon or two to the pan when the chicken was almost ready followed by the sweet chilli sauce for the last few seconds. Overall it was an ok meal, I would go back though would order the chicken stir fry next time. The premises were nice and clean with attentive staff. The gents were clean for such a busy place though did smell a little, not so much that I was disgusted by it. I would recommend this to anyone who isn't a big foodie, you will enjoy it. If you are a foodie I would give it a miss as you will be excited by the menu but disappointed by the dishes you...

Great bar, bad experience today. This review is for the barman who came to my table- the waitress who served me was very polite and understanding, the food was delicious as always and the bar itself is lovely. Today I Returned a bad pint and the big Barman with the curly dark hair and beard came to my table to bring me a new one, he then proceeded to complain that we returned the pint 45 minutes after receiving it and that it was bad because we didn’t drink it. Very undermining behaviour from a consumers point of view, not a nice experience when spending money somewhere. The pint was practically untouched because it was no good, and nobody came to our table for half an hour despite us wanting food, which is why the dodgy pint sat there for 45 minutes. This barman left a worse taste in my mouth than the awful pint he served us. It Was obviously end of the barrel, I love a good pint and would never send back a pint unless it was genuinely awful so I really didn’t appreciate the barman coming and trying to make a point to me over a pint. The waitress was happy to change it, only the barman had to come to the table and try to blame us for his bad pint, claiming it was because we let it sit- we let it sit cause it was no good, listen to your customer. I recommend staff just fix a problem and don’t cry over spilt Guinness. It’s Still my favourite bar in Swords, just not my favourite barman. I Still recommend the bar to anyone in the area. The foods amazing. Barman needs his ego checked is all. It was a bad pint and he made us feel bad for asking for a fresh one, which is a perfectly common and decent request in an Irish bar. Ruined my experience as I live abroad and was really looking...

As usual RM and I dropped in Saturday, other times it has been midweek for a meal. As the price of the sizzlers seems to have increased (our usual choice), we went for battered fish and chips and wedges. What a mistake!!!!!

The batter was soggy and uncooked the fish gelatinous and slimy. Placed upon the chips and wedges, which meant they were soggy, greasy and horrible.

As to the paper placed on the plate - it did not add to the meal at all. This was the first time we have been served in this manner - usually the chips come in a bowl.

We discussed the experience with the family and a few friends - the consensus seems to be that you have changed your chef- or had a weekend stand-in.

I checked my recent Credit Card Bills and usually each bill had one or two visits to The School House.

We got a crappy burger meal there a year or so ago, and stayed away. Just returned in the last year or so. And up to now we were happy with the food and service.

This new exile now will be longer.

Tried to send this on the form fill on your website and to the email address supplied, trying to keep it in house, - it failed, I suppose this helps if you don't want...