Vaffanc*lo Restaurant — Restaurant in Galway

• IGNORE BAD REVIEWS AT YOUR PERIL *

You may want to know before dining -

Showed up on time for an early evening reservation for a party of four. Water came out promptly and server James took our order. Auspicious start.

Subsequently, our sin was ordering “starters” for which we were punished severely. After an hour and five minutes, three tables seated after us had their “mains,” including one that arrived after our salad plates were cleared. All this while James had disappeared. No one came over to explain the delay. Just avoidance of eye contact.

So I got up and talked to Caoimhe, the only other server I could find. Her response was that when you order a starter, your mains are prioritized behind the tables without starters who are seated after you. This doesn’t explain the third table whose food came out long after our salad plates were cleared. Having been ignored in our side room, I was expressing my displeasure in the middle of the restaurant. James magically reappeared and his only offer for resolution was for him to take our food back to the kitchen and for us to leave.

Unbelievable! I haven’t experienced this level of disrespect, poor service, and mismanagement at any other establishment during our 12 otherwise perfect days in Ireland. Caoimhe did offer a € 4 discount on our check which hardly made up for a ruined evening. At no time was anyone resembling a manager...

Simply put, I haven't had a pasta dish this fresh and delicious since I was in a small Italian village on the north edge of Lake Garda.

The restaurant is bright and clean with a reasonably spacious feel. The staff were very pleasant but somewhat over attentive, frequently asking if I was okay, however I put this down to my visit falling at a very quiet time.

The ordering system is quite novel; you are given a swipe card when you are seated, which you present when ordering from the waiting staff or at either of the counters or the bar. This card is used to keep your order all together and you simply present it at the till to pay on the way out. I imagine it would make eating in a large group very convenient if you wanted to spilt the bill a million ways, as you could each keep a separate card and thus a separate order.

Lastly I'll mention the food. I had bruschetta followed with fusilly carbonara and I have to say it was fantastic. For less than €14 excluding drinks I got a meal that hands down trounced the standards of some of the supposedly high end restaurants in this city. And now I leave, full and satisfied, eager to recommend this place to anyone looking for delicious, inexpensive food.

I'll be sure to...

Unfortunately today is the first time that zappis has been a let down and I'm a regular so i know how great zappis is we always go here before nights out or for brunch, the waiter and waitress were noticeably getting frustrated and could only do so much for us, we were a group of 10 i got my pizza in 15 minutes but the rest of the group didn't get their food until nearly an hour later, when the dishes arrived 5 of them were cold, so it was sent back! When they reheated it the food came back cold or inedible and the restaurant wasn't busy it was only our group! Their was no explanation given, the reservation was booked 24 hours in advance, we were then handed a 200€ bill after having some dishes removed and discounted but that was a large bill for such a mess, then we were able to get it brought down by more, I'm disappointed to see one of the best restaurants in Galway take such a downhill turn i hope some changes will be made so zappis can be the best again! But until then we...