Kirwan's — Restaurant in Galway

Recently visited with a group for a special birthday event. We were seated upstairs. Shortly after sitting down a large party arrived for a birthday celebration also. They were extremely loud and did not take their seats for 15 - 20 mins. The manager did try to get them to take their seats but were slow to do so. The group had no regard for other patrons having their meal. Added to this was a person playing a piano and base guitar which exacerbated the noise level. As a result it was impossible to hold a conversation as you could not hear each other. We asked to be seated downstairs but were told that there was only a table outside. As we were celebrating a special event we wanted a dining experience and not a Covid reminder of having to eat outside. After making our complaint it felt as though our meal was served in a rush to get us out of there as quickly as possible which also impacted on our night. We could see other patrons were struggling also with the noise and another group did leave and took a table outside. If management knew they had a large party booked in (approximately 30) they should not have taken bookings for other groups or simply accommodated them downstairs instead or indeed they should have informed us at the time of booking of another large celebration taking place. It felt as though our custom was not valued as we were not spending as much as the large group even though our meal was over 300 euros. All in all it was down to poor management, and organisation of a venue. The complaint was not handled well either and it felt very dismissive of our night and celebration at the expense of a much larger party. Very disappointed as our night was ruined and members of our party had travelled to be with us but we could not even talk to each other at dinner. This was not an isolated event either as we had eaten here before and a similar...

It was among the worst experiences ever had in a restaurant, so I feel the duty to share it. Once we were seated we were told that 1/3 of the menu was not available, "fine", however after we ordered the food it was shared with us that another main was not available...eventually this left us with a really limited selection. Nevertheless we decided to stay and we ordered the wine. Once arrived we did notice by ourselves that it was not the same year as the one we ordered. At this point we asked at least some justification and the situation to be adjusted but the manager pretended for the wine to be the same despite a sensitive difference in terms of quality and years and challenged us to explain why we were claiming an unfair treatment. We provided some key principles in terms of wine but finally it was enough and we left. The staff was really rude and justified such behaviour because it's a "busy restaurant" - regardless the early bird hour. The manager was "politically correct" trying to defend the restaurant but the arguments used were offensive...

Food poisoning ruined our stay. My husband turned 50, and we celebrated by traveling to Ireland and staying in Galway for two nights. We had booked a table at this restaurant well in advance. My husband ordered crab claws as an appetizer and scallops as the main course. For dessert, we shared a crème brûlée. We enjoyed good white wine with the meal and Irish coffee for dessert. Everything was really tasty, and the service was excellent. Especially a girl who talked a lot with us, and we had a connection with.

In the evening, my husband started feeling unwell, and the night was spent in the hotel bathroom, as was the whole next day. Our stay in Galway was completely ruined because of this. We didn't see anything of Galway (except for the hotel room). Three days later, he is still not well in the stomach. And now we are on our planned road trip that turned to be slightly different. We suspect it was the scallops. I emailed the restaurant but still haven't received any response. Very unfortunate on an otherwise...