Cozy Vibes at Finnegans Inn — Restaurant in Barry

Visited Saturday 11th May in a party of 7, we were seated at a table with 3 down each side and 1 person on the end, we immediately noted the volume of the music. It was so loud that even in our small group we were unable to hear each other which sadly meant we really were like 2 separate groups. We all ordered starters and mains and my partner requested mussels from the tapas menu for her main. When the starters were brought out my partners mussels were also brought even though she had scallops to start. They were returned to the kitchen. The scallops were very good and we all were happy with the food. The mains were a bit of a different story sadly, two of us ordered t bone steak and my fellow diner requested not to have the onions and mushroom and just the tomato. When served neither steak had any garnish at all and it was just on bare plate, they were returned to the kitchen and what came back can only be described as burnt offerings thrown on top of the steaks. I did not get the vine ripened tomato, I had maybe three slices of mushroom and the carrot and onion were charred and indistinguishable from each other. We did not risk challenging the chef again but what we had was clearly not freshly cooked. With my steak I ordered dauphinois potato as did another guest, they arrived at the same time but whereas one looked fresh, moist and creamy, mine looked like it had been sat on the pass under heat lamps. It was totally dry with shards of burnt potato rendering it inedible. No staff came and asked us how the food was as I would have definitely sent mine back. When the table was cleared I asked the server to show the chef as it was inedible, when he returned I asked what the chef had said and was told “we don’t tell the chef as he’s not very good at dealing with feedback…” not impressed at all with the response.my partners mussels also appeared to have been sat at the pass as the sauce had formed a skin and mussels were over cooked and rubbery. Overall not very impressed by the kitchen and other diners in my party agreed it unlikely we would return. On the flip side one of our party was drinking craft beer and as he got the bottom of his glass there was dried debris stuck to the glass, the server took it over to the bar and with a couple of minutes the bar manager came over and apologised for the dirty glass, he replaced it with a beer on the house and also removed the other from the bill. It shows the disparity between the bar and the kitchen and proves that good service is appreciated and when done well, really makes...

Very disappointed with the service we have received this evening.

We booked a table of 11 for a joint birthday meal, and to start with everything was fine.

However, things went downhill from there. Our starters arrived at 19:58 and our mains arrived at 20:51. Having booked a table at 7pm.

My rare fillet steak was meant to be served with a garlic & mushroom sauce, 3 of us tried it and thought it tasted like peppercorn. We asked the waitress and she said it was definitely garlic and mushroom. I cut into my steak and it had over cooked and dried out from where it had been under the pass and lights for too long. We sent the steak back and it arrived after everyone else had finished. My partner had ordered the duck breast which she really enjoyed, however she had to ask twice for her greens to come with it, to be told by the same waitress that it doesnt come with any. My partner then asked for the menu to double check, when the waitress came back (after reading the menu), she said she doesnt believe it did come with any. My partner then opened the menu and showed her where it states that it comes with deep fried brussels sprouts. She then had to ask for a THIRD time where they were. By this time, she had finished all of her food.

The toilet floor was really wet, and my mother in law (who is an amputee) did slip.

Our plates were cleared and we were offered dessert menus. 15 minutes went by and not one member of staff came to take our order, when more than half of us wanted desserts and coffee.

My partner quietly mentioned to the manager about how disappointed we all were. There was no apology all he did was offer us 10% discount. My partner mentioned that she is a manager in a restaurant as well to he replied "well I'm actually the owner". How condesending.

When talking to him a bit more the "owner" then said to her "the thing with pubs is, all of their food is cooked frozen, whereas ours is fresh". This is an extremely offensive thing to say to another restaurant manager when they have quietly tried to speak to you. We then got our bill, to realise we had an extra bottle of wine on the bill, which took a while to be taken off. Bearing in mind, our bill with the 10% discount was £373.60. Now is this really a way to treat customers? We weren't the only customers to complain tonight.

Please take some advice Mr owner when I say when a customer has a complaint don't reply with sarcastic and degrading comments when your own restaurant isn't perfect, on a whole the restaurant vibe and food was excellent, however,...

The waitresses were nice and polite. The atmosphere was okay. The wine and food was not great. I ordered a bottle of merlot that was £28 and I've had nicer bottles from Tesco for a fiver. I ordered the deep fried goats cheese to start ,which was really nice. For my main I ordered the duck which was honestly the worst duck I've ever had. It was almost dry and quite chewy where I was really looking forward to some tender nice meat. Also there was absolutely no seasoning on the meat so it tasted extremely bland. Several of my group tried the duck and agreed that it was extremely chewy and not nice and so I decided when I had finished that I would let staff know so they can inform the chef. However when I told the staff I got the overwhelming impression that none of them actually cared at all that I had had a poor meal. In fact all she said was "but you have eaten it though?" To which I obviously said that yes I have as I was hungry and my friends had also tried it as well. I don't expect anything major, but in a place like that where I have spent £70 on just my food and drink , you would like to think that there would be an apology and maybe some money off the meal or a free drink or just any small token. Highly disappointed in the end and would suggest you look elsewhere for somewhere...