Sophie's Rooftop Galway — Restaurant in Galway

Went for dinner with my girlfriend on Saturday night. We have been meaning to try Sophies for a while and after I had read previous reviews we decided to go.

The venue is fantastic, it's a stunning location and it really feels how you expect the experience to feel once you arrive up the elevator.

Service however was hit and miss, we arrived at the desk and two staff members half greeted us and told us the manager would be with us, this was fine as we assumed someone manages the main desk for the night. The manager when she did arrive barely even said hello, more so a glance at us just assuming we would give our booking details. She then stares at the booking system, grabbed the menus and signs for us to follow with a tilt of her head, I would expect a bit of a warmer greeting from the front of house considering the venues reputation, maybe she's new who knows.

Then the service, we were sitting no more than 10 seconds when a waiter dropped two glasses of red wine to the table, clearly not meant for us but that wasn't a problem at all, we understood, until it happened another 3 or 4 times with multiple different waiters. The table to our right even had a charcuterie board dropped to their table upon their arrival, which they then started to eat and then it was taken away as it was a mistake. It just seemed that the wait staff were not fully checking their dockets and just grabbing the food and hoping for the best.

The spacing of the tables isn't great either, we spent a good portion of the night with a waitresses bum in our faces while she took orders from the table to our left. We didn't mind the first 1 or 2 times but after that it just seemed a bit inconsiderate.

Now the food was sublime, steak may be slightly on the pricey side but all in all I can't complain about the food, that was the highlight.

Finally, THE WATER. now I know it's a fancy place and what not, but for a waiter to put a bottle of water on your table without you asking, and then add 2 euro to your bill is crazy. I don't care how fancy the place is, you shouldn't charge a table for water if the customer doesn't ask for water, end of.

We did tip 20 euro as we enjoyed our night but there's a few small things they could do better. Not to be those people, but both myself and my girlfriend have worked in restaurants and we just know there's some things that could be better.

Also my chair had a piece of sharp metal hanging off the edge of it that I did graze myself on, maybe a different customer would have made a complaint there and then but I let that slide, someone should definitely fix that as there are customers that will use that against the place.

All in all, solid night, a good 7/10 I'd say. Front of house just has to...

Went here with a group of friends while holidaying in Galway city. My husband and i ordered a drink from the menu and the waiter wasnt even convinced they served it, i had to go searching through the drinks menu for it again and even then he said he wasn't sure (they did have it). Food was nice enough, but portion sizes were miniscule! 2 croquettes constitutes an entire starter?? Menu said steak was 8oz, two friends ordered this, recieved 10oz without being told, then charged extra for the larger steak they didn't ask for! And one was burnt! When our mains came five of us ordered the beef, four of us had the beef served along with the rest of our friends, and one was left waiting 15 minutes for his dish. Twice, once a waiter once a waitress, came over to tell him his order was on the way but we were waiting so long. By the time he was served my food had gone cold I was waiting for us all to eat together for so long. The waiter also made a weird "joke" when we handed our finished plates to him asking us to let him do his job, and I don't know about my other friends but my husband and I agree it made us feel judged and like we were treated like we weren't posh/fancy enough to be there just because we were trying to be polite. The price of it as well was disgusting, €60 for a set meal (which once again was tiny, delayed, and partially burnt) and then an automatic 12.5% gratuity on top that can't be opted out of that goes towards staff that, once again, forget to bring the food and make uncomfortable jokes? This is what Galway calls a good restaurant? Felt like we were just paying for the views, which are only from the third floor?? I've literally lived higher up. Save yourselves the trouble of this place, Supermacs is only 5 mins up the...

We have breakfast in the area every morning, before we go to work. So this morning, we thought we'd give the Dean a go. The vibe in this beautiful rooftop restaurant is formal rather than warm. My wife ordered pancakes with Nutella and I asked for scramble on sourdough. She was so unhappy with hers, she could only eat a couple of mouthfuls before putting down her knife and fork. “Either that’s not Nutella or it’s diluted,” she said “but more likely, a cheap substitute.” Whereas my egg was very good but was perched atop an enormous hunk of sourdough, the size of the Cliffs of Moher. Something that made it terribly tricky to eat.

When asked how we’d enjoyed our meal, the waitress simply said, “No, it is Nutella” and walked away with our plates. A moment later I caught her eye and managed to offer her my feedback which she hadn’t bothered to wait for. I said my egg was very good but wondered if the bread was always such a huge portion. She replied, “That’s sourdough bread?” As if repeating the name of the type of bread I’d explicitly ordered, somehow explained the sheer size of the ‘slice’ I was served. However the big shock came when we were presented with the bill. They charged us (the full €12.95) for the pancakes!! We paid and left, agreeing that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Dean that proper staff training from its very clearly disengaged management,...