The Grain Store at Killruddery — Restaurant in The Municipal District of Bray

Two adults, two children, Sunday lunch. To start with the positive, most of the food here was fresh and tasty but our experience was completely soured by an undercooked dish and a Fawlty Towers level of service.

My husband, who would normally order a medium-rare steak, began poking at his chicken dish. I could see that it was pink, even from where I was sitting. We called the server and her reply was exactly this, 'to be fair, I think that's fat'. Huh?? 'Well could you please bring it back to the kitchen, it should not have left the kitchen'. A minute or so later she returned triumphant, 'the chef says it's perfectly cooked'. It was not. It was chicken on the bone. And it was pink. 'We can do you another one or put it back in the oven' Huh? But it's perfectly cooked right?....'okay, well can you please put it back in the oven?' It's undercooked, it's pink and it's inedible. You know, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck....but let's not get hung up on the bird puns. So, the rest of us continued eating and ten minutes later the 'perfectly cooked' chicken returned along with great fanfare...and extra potatoes...oh, and extra salad - not sure what they were for as there was already plenty of those on the table. So much for cutting back on waste. Anyway my husband finally got to eat and we got to watch him eating. Great. After that we didn't feel like hanging around for coffee and dessert so I can't comment there. This was a birthday occasion, supposed to be a little treat but we all left feeling a bit deflated. It feels here that they've forgotten that you are actually paying money for the 'privilege' of eating there and I tend to agree with a previous reviewer that it is over priced for what you get. So, to sum it all up, we will not be back nor will we be recommending this...

My partner and I walked in for lunch shortly after 2pm and stood by the "wait to be seated" sign. A staff member said she'd be with us shortly. A group of 5 or 6 individuals arrived in behind us and got agitated about having to wait to be seated. There appeared to be plenty of tables but they needed clearing after the lunch rush. Some of the staff may have been training to be moon walkers as they appeared to be walking around and cleaning tables in slow motion. More patrons arrived behind the agitated group a few minutes later... some discussion about take away coffee vs dining in was had and the tail end of the queue stepped ahead and around the counter to place their coffee orders... the group behind us became further agitated. No staff on hand to separate the two queues or explain any kind of system for ordering. After about 5 minutes of waiting I inquired with a different staff member, explaining that the queue was getting very agitated. At this point the group behind us decided to just push in and took a large table that had yet to be cleared. My partner and I continued to wait. After about 10 minutes waiting, one of the staff came out from behind the coffee area and I though we'd finally get seated. No. She asked if we had a booking... I had not booked. I've eaten in the grain store on many occasions and never had to make a booking. The website doesn't mention a need to book. The band of men that had barged in and sequestered their table had not booked either. She could not seat us without a booking. I was left feeling like a moron for not having a booking. I left in disgust. Had I been asked about this booking by the original staff member when we arrived, I'd not be writing this poor review. Shoddy service. Won't be dining...

STAY AWAY!!!! Look, just home now and debated whether to write this review but I couldn’t let it go. The restaurant manager has shocking customer service. Ordered what was called a “Christmas Sandwich”, the description was not what came out on a plate, it tasted just like a chicken salad sandwich and was very poor. The other food items we ordered were “okay”, small portions which is to be expected in such a place but they were fine, 5/10. The “Christmas sandwich” was awful and when I mentioned to the manager that the sandwich was described completely differently to us, hence why we ordered it, he got very cheeky and spoke in a high tone and defended everything about the sandwich. His customer service skills are clearly Non-existant and if I owned the place, I’d absolutely not want my staff speaking to the customer in such a manner, especially a so called manager.The place inside is beautiful but I will not be coming back because of the horrendous treatment from staff. And I will be telling all my friends to stay away, which is unfortunate as we live less than 5 minutes away and love Kilruddery. Anyhow, my...