McSwiggans — Restaurant in Galway

We stumbled upon McSwiggan's and the menu looked like a good choice for dinner, so we returned in the evening. We hadn't made a reservation, but we're kindly invited to enjoy a drink at the bar while we waited just for a little while before being shown to our table. We were quite surprised, because from Street level, McSwiggans just looked like an ordinary casual pub, but once we got in and went up to the restaurant on the first floor, we found a very elegant restaurant steeped in charm and character! The service was very professional and friendly, and the menu was varied, but without too many choices, which I would have found a bit bewildering!.. We already had on our minds to go for the seafood chowder, -And without having read any reviews previously! -so that turned out to be a lucky choice! We didn't feel like a huge meal, so we cheekily opted for two starters each, with a view to getting a dessert later... But the 'Starter' portions were very generous, so we were glad we hadn't ordered mains! -And equally disappointed that we hadn't when we saw those gorgeous steaks being delivered to the neighboring tables!

My GF and I usually order different choices and share, but we both opted for the chowder, Chicken Caesar salad and we shared a side of mushrooms! But I really need to say more about the chowder! OmG!! It was rich and delicious, with beautiful chunky pieces of fish, and as I said, a very generous serving! It came with a wonderful slice dark 'granary' bread, and butter! -Definitely order the chowder! You won't regret it! Next the Chicken Caesar salad: Again, a very decent, generous portion, with plenty of succulent chunks of chicken, plenty of dressing, and beautifully fresh and crunchy lettuce! It was very satisfying! Sadly, we had no room for desserts. Perhaps next time! The food was mouth-watering, but the price was certainly not eye-watering. -Although we had only had one shandy and a couple of soft drinks, so I think we probably spent less than we might have! Will definitely return to McSwiggans when...

The food here was absolutely delicious but unfortunately was overshadowed by the lack of, and rude hospitality of 2 staff.

We had made a reservation for 8:15pm and the old timer who “greeted” us had a pretentious attitude and looked us up and down before saying “I’m sure we can find you somewhere nice to sit”. He then ushered us to a hidden table in the corner, tightly against the bar before proceeding to toss the menus in front of us rather than placing them calmly on the table or even into our hands.

His attitude made me feel like we were the naughty children of the class being punished in the corner, even though there were plenty of other places to sit. And you know, I wouldn’t have thought too much about it… but the comment and the gaze up and down left a bad taste in my mouth and gave me the impression we were being mistreated.

Nevertheless, I was pleased when another older server was left in charge of our table. But unfortunately he was just as cold and rude in his behaviour. Again, no warm greeting and carelessness when “placing”things on the table. An example of this was, when bringing our steak knives, he couldn’t quite reach across to place the knife directly next to me so he just tossed it onto the table instead. Also, the jug of water was just banged down onto the middle of the table.

We were visiting from New Zealand, celebrating my 30th birthday and were expecting the bare minimum of warm and inviting hospitality, especially from an establishment like this. Sadly I felt like we were judged by our attire or maybe because there was a poc in our party of 4. Regardless of why we were treated that way, it was inappropriate and sadly we were let down.

The only staff who were actually kind and professional were the younger workers who delivered our food to our table. Maybe the 2 old timers could learn a thing or two from them!

To summarise… dining experience goes beyond just serving great food. I hope you do better...

We were there in November - we stood upstairs waiting at the area for 5 minutes, so I eventually walked up to the nearest staff member and before I got to him he nearly barked to go back and wait, I think he said be patient or something which was nice too, then another person came back and seated us. I was on a chair with one leg basically on a small staircase which was fun and my partner was crammed between a bannister and a wall, very fun?

I got the Smokie with gubeen cheese as the starter and it was basically mashed veg and mashed fish allegedly smoked with a hard top of definitely not gubeen cheese - very poor taste, exceptionally limp veg, overall terrible.

It was chateau briand for main to share with my partner and my god, how can a plate affiliated with a steakhouse chain be so bad.

Took about an hour for our rare steak to appear, while waiting staff literally sprinted around nearly banging off chairs and down and up a huge flight of stairs so it’s very easy to relax (joking).

The steak looked alright at first glance but when we started, we realised it was like leather at all parts bar the exact middle which was medium-like. We basically just rejected it straight up and the server couldn’t have been nicer, also agreed about the steak and the general quality, and got us the manager. He shows up, listens to our complaints, tells me the smokie is an acquired taste (so acquired it’s been axed from the menu now?) but he’ll wipe the whole meal if we pay for the wine (?) to which we did. I wasn’t gonna argue the point of why we’d want wine on an empty stomach and what we’ll enjoy the wine with, so we paid for it and happily left, vowing to never return and sipped wine on the street while en route back to the hotel to try find an actual good place to go to.

Avoid like the plague!

(Does that look...