Maguires Cafe & Gift Shop — Restaurant in The Municipal District of Ashbourne

2023 review - since my previous review, below, the management appears to have changed and sadly it has gone down hill and no longer worth visiting for food. While some serving staff are nice but rushing, the food can only be described as poor and not worth having. We visited late 2022 and ordered the Huevos rancheros and the toast was hard and the sauce bland, like tinned tomatoes - it was not good and not eaten. We tried again early 2023 and thought we'd play safe with a panini and a wrap. The panini had a sharp unpleasant taste and the 'chicken and stuffing' wrap had very little chicken and stuffing, mainly being processed ham and lettuce with some chicken and stuffing. It had a distinctly mouldy taste to it. No one came and asked how our food was so I tried to raise this with the lady on the till, after paying, as a quiet bit of feedback but she took my money and rapidly moved to the next person not engaging with me so I left and hence I'll put my feedback here instead. Both my wife and i had upset stomachs as we shared the food. My guess is the food we we were served was from before new years and they may not be checking the dates. Again, just a guess but they don't have a cook monitoring the quality of the food being prepared or the dates of the stock. Minor other notes are the table we were given had not been or was not wiped and was dirty and the hot chocolate was weak. I give very few negative reviews but sadly I cannot recommend eating here as the rushed impersonal service (they were not busy) and poor food and things for sale rammed in every corner just make it feel like a rip off place made to extract every euro and not the feel good place it should be or used to be. This needs a top down review and changes need to be made.

2020 review - This tourist hotspot cafe ensures that it doesn't fall into the trap of being a tourist cafe. It has excellent food and service and they look after everyone as if they were regulars. A great place to visit after a walk...

I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try out this chic cafe while touring the Hill of Tara with my husband and 10 month old a few days ago, and I must say it was one of, if not, the BEST decisions I have ever made! I could feel the loving and warm atmosphere with every fibre of my being, the meals were well prepared and tasty, the view of the nature outside was breathtaking, and the staff were just incredible - most notably the waiter, Lee. This diligent young man catered to our every need and ensured that our experience was nothing less than spectacular. When our baby Ma’kayleigh became fussy just as we began to dine, he took it upon himself to soothe her and kept her entertained for the duration of our meal. When we complained about the slight chill, he ra- SPRINTED to the back to adjust the thermostat just for us. But I think what really cemented my deep love for Maguire's cafe was when Lee overheard my husband and I discussing his recent diagnosis of renal failure and our distress regarding the search for a donor. Without a word, Lee rus- LEAPED into the kitchen and performed nephrectomy right there and then, and handed BOTH kidneys to my husband. Not only did he do this, he also offered to perform the organ transplant as well but we couldn't allow this, so as to not rob other customers of his amazing service. He only humbly accepted our many thanks and hefty tip as we prepared to rush to the nearest hospital - the match was a success! Thanks to Mr. Lee, my husband will live to see our baby girl grow up, and the birth of our unborn son, who we will most definitely be naming Lee. Thanks a million Maguire's, you made this family vacation one to...

A pleasant location with a welcome space, not too cramped, and with a small but varied menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We arrived around 3PM and asked for a table for four. We ordered a pizza, a bowl of soup with a veggie roll, and a Caesar Salad wrap with soup. Plus an Americano.

We enjoyed conversation and good company, but after 35 minutes, the coffee hadn't even arrived. We went up to ask, and a few minutes later, the pizza arrived, followed by the rest of the food and coffee. But it was 45 minutes all told.

The food was good. But when settling, we weren't offered any discount or even a free coffee. And when we asked, we were told that "the boss said, 'No.'"

Really?

So, while the location was fine and the food was good, the service was shocking considering it was a small space and not full. The fact that the management wouldn't even consider a small discount for our time and hassle, with no sense of apology, was hugely disappointing.

Something had clearly gone wrong — one of our table noted that there was a cold Americano undelivered on the front counter and one of the staff admitted that our table number has been written down back-to-front — yet, no sense of apology was offered.

I cannot recommend it. While the hiccup might have been accidental, management's indifference to the issue was...