The Dubliner — Restaurant in Canterbury

My experience at The Dubliner was very disappointing. It was Sunday evening and the restaurant was busy. My husband and I ordered 2 pints of beer and 2 main dishes. After drinking our pints there was no sign of food in our table. We don’t mind waiting as we understand that serving so much people is hard work. However, after about one and a half hours waiting, and seeing groups of people (not one or two) that arrived after us eating their food (we were sitting in the middle of the place, so we could see everyone arriving at the pub and every dish coming out of the kitchen) and leaving the place, we stopped one of the waitresses (we literally had to stop her, as they were busy and not paying attention to the tables that supposedly had already been served) and asked about our order, she checked it, and it was never sent to the kitchen. The guy that looked to be the duty manager said he was sorry about that and said our food would arrive in 10 minutes and gave us 2 other beers. So far, we were frustrated but that was OK, I worked in some busy restaurants in Auckland and I know it can happen. But 20 minutes after, and after seeing the same dishes we ordered coming out of the kitchen (twice) and being delivered to tables that arrived after us (not to mention all the other dishes in between) we had enough. It looked like they simply placed our order after all the others, as if we had just arrived. We decided to leave and try one of the restaurants that were still open to order some food before it was too late. We paid the 2 beers we ordered and while we were paying, the waitress said that our food was ready. I couldn’t see any plate on the counter ready to be served, and even if there was, we were so frustrated that we only wanted to get out of there. It is OK to make mistakes but this was quite an unacceptable sequence of errors that ruined...

The service was fine however there was long and slow moving lines at the bar. Lots of seats reserved for "locals" which is unfortunate and makes you feel a bit uninvited. Was not alot of places to sit and enjoy a drink due to the tables being reserved. They also have a rip off of the Guinness logo plastered everywhere only to find out that they don't sell it.

I am unable to reply to the owners response so I will do that here. We attempted to sit in the bar area not in the dinning room and where told the seats where reserved for the locals by the bar staff. If happy hour is busy (Which it was) why would you not have more then one person behind the bar if you anticipate this being the case. Moreover the service by the one bar tender was friendly but slow. As for the logo I will upload the one that I am referring to, from a distance I saw the sign and thought it was the Guinness logo due to the similarities. I understand that you have every right to use it however you can not fault someone for seeing your sign from a far and assuming. However the blue pub just down the road has Guinness, plenty of tables (That aren't reserved for locals), fantastic food and the entire time I was there I never had to wait for a drink. I Would not recommend...

I initially wanted to give 3 stars - I was seated and waited 20 minutes to be served. I watched the table across me waiting and they eventually gave up and went up to order at the counter, so I followed suit and got up and ordered. I was disappointed to find out they didn't do Kilkenny on tap, so I ordered a different beer and my food before sitting back down.

Why did I give the review 4 stars? Well the food was absolutely amazing and came out reasonably quickly. The pork belly bites were hot and full of flavour, followed by an amazing venison and stout pie. As I was eating, the people across the table from me that were still waiting for food (even after I had recieved and was now tucking into mine) had one of their meals on the house due to the wait which was great to see.

I think they may have had a particularly busy night on this occasion, and I dont think the negatives I have described above is a reflection of what the Dubliner truly is- the atmosphere is cosy and inviting, and the food portions are rather hearty and delicious. I would recommend to anyone to swing by, stop for a beer and try some of their food, its well...