The Harp — Restaurant in Wilmington

I'm going to begin this review by making mention that The Harp was a random choice made quickly on Valentine's Day evening. The reason? Our original reservations were made 2 weeks in advance and then we hit a snafu once we arrived at our reserved location bc the menu was a "set" menu and our favorite dishes were not available. Once we chose to leave, rather than select from the menu, we had no clue where to go, dressed in our best and completely disheartened (the entire day was already a disaster). We hit the road, ventured down 3rd St. and saw The Harp. The first time I visited The Harp, was during brunch and was a very casual experience. This time... a much different experience as it was around 8 pm, we were very overdressed and my wife had not eaten here before. This was our random "Irish" dinner for a late Valentine's Day.

FOOD: Potato Cakes appetizer; Shepherd's Pie; Chicken Pot Pie. As an Irishman, I can truly appreciate Irish food. The Potato Cake appetizer are two house-made, mashed potato balls, coated in a batter and deep fried, served with a side of sour cream. The Harp's mashed potatoes inside are creamy, hot and on point. The fried, crunchy breading that coats these potato pillows gave the mashed potatoes some additional texture and flavor with, what appears to be, parmesan cheese blended in. They were very good and executed flawlessly for something so simple with very few ingredients needed to make. The Shepherd's Pie was what I ordered and this dish is either a big hit or a big miss. This one was wonderful. When it was delivered to our table, the juices were still bubbling in the dish, letting me know without a doubt that this was just finished cooking. That's nice. The same mashed potatoes rest wonderfully on top of this dish and include Irish Cheddar Cheese baked on top. The minced ground beef, vegetables and flavors will make you feel as if you're in a Belfast pub, enjoying true Irish fare. I loved this Shepherd's Pie and I would definitely order again. My wife ordered the Chicken Pot Pie with a large philo dough disc, nestled on top of freshly grilled chicken breast, cut into cubes (not premade chicken!) and fresh veggies. Everything appeared to be flawless when looking at the entree but the sauce seemed to have a spice, herb, soap residue or an additive that gave it a "funky" flavor that did not please my palate, nor my wife's. She ate half, boxed the rest up for me to reheat and eat later. 2 days later, it's still in the fridge and probably won't be eaten. If I'm being completely honest, the Chicken Pot Pie looked sexy but I've tasted frozen Banquet Chicken Pot Pie's for a buck, that had better flavor. So...with all this being said, the potato cakes were very good, the Shepherd's Pie was solid and the Chicken Pot Pie was a miss for both of us. SCORE: 3.4 STARS!!

SERVICE: After walking inside, with only 1 other patron in the dining area, we noticed the sign in front "Please Seat Yourself" and we trekked 40 feet to an available booth in the corner. The front bar was hopping and it appeared that we had mistaken St. Patrick's Day for Valentine's Day. The party was definitely at the front of the house. Shortly after seating ourselves, we were greeted by our server, Regan. Although it was later in the evening and business was down to a crawl, Regan excelled. Throughout our meal, she was diligent with follow-ups, refills and accomodations. This service was a breath of fresh air since our entire day had been a total disaster and nothing had gone right. We did not feel rushed nor unappreciated as guests, even though we definitely didn't look like we belonged. Jeans and T-shirt would have been much more appropriate. LOL. The interior was clean, I observed Regan cleaning and sanitizing other tables around and there was no pressure to hurry and go. I'll take that all day, every day. The only reason for this lower score was due to how many patrons were packed into such a small section at the bar. ...

By default this establishment gets one star, otherwise I cannot leave a review!

My family choose to go out for Christmas dinner this year and we had always read and heard that The Harp has excellent food and a cozy atmosphere. So I called the restaurant on the 21st to check and see if they were going to be open, if so, the hours and I was told about the sit down Christmas Buffet Dinner that was by reservation only. To which I immediately ask what the availability was and I was told one booth available for 7:30 pm for up to four. Of course I make the reservation and thank goodness we were able to get one apparently!

Christmas evening we drive in from Burgaw, about 32 miles northwest. We arrived and are parked and inside by 7:35, standing in the "wait to be seated" area for about 8 minutes waiting to be seated. We finally get the hostess/waitresses attention and get seated. Our waitress came over within a few minutes, we gave her our drink orders and we are told that we can help ourselves to the buffet. We proceed to walk over to the buffet and when we get over there, there are no plates. We inform two separate waitresses and then stood around waiting for plates for about 5 minutes, because a line was starting to build behind us. When the plates come out, our 13 yr old proceeds to go first and serves himself ham, mashed potatoes and greens, plus he grabbed a piece of chocolate fudge with nuts in it. I served myself mashed potatoes, which was truly the highlight of my only plate, with turkey (or possibly chicken) gravey, lima beans with corn and okra, glazed baby carrots, and greens. There were no green beans, no stuffing and no bread. Oh, plus I had a piece of peanut butter fudge, which was a little soft because it was homemade but delicious because it was homemade! My husband had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and greens. It's 8:07, our teen wants to go get some more ham and potatoes, he goes up the buffet, no plates. I ask our waitress about more plates, she assures me that more plates are coming out and that the buffet is not being closed down, because as we were talking an elderly woman had already turned the lights off and removed a few items like the cranberry sauce and the gravey. I was then told that what was out on the buffet was all of the food that was being served for the evening with an apology from an innocent waitress. Plus the elderly woman is still cleaning and removing the food from the buffet. So we stand by waiting for plates per our waitresses advice and we hear the hostess/waitress and our waitress arguing with this elderly woman about not closing the buffet down when customers are still eating. The elderly woman insisted that the buffet was closed and continued to remove more food. My husband had went outside for a minute and when he came back in his plate had been removed, which still had his food on it. At this point I simply tell our waitress that it is fine and that we will just finish our drinks and that we were ready for our check/bill. Our waitress felt so bad about the entire situation, but we understand that it was not her fault. She did what she could to correct the situation, we really appreciated her for that!

So overall, as far as the food, the mashed potatoes were real and those were done right! Everything else, of what was available to try, was ok at best. Nothing else stood out as notably good. None of us cared for the greens, they were overdone with smoke seasoning. My husband said that the turkey was good, that it was moist and flavorful and that the ham was good as well, he said it was tender and tasty! Our teen approved of both the ham and mashed potatoes as well! As for the service, that is what will never allow for me to waste my time or money at this establishment again! I understand that it's Christmas, if you did not want to serve, do not CHOOSE to open...it is as...

This place is under new ownership. The new outside paint job, wow, it's pretty bold! It reminds me of a Chinese restaurant with the bright red and yellow colors. The building certainly needed a paint job.

Four of us had reservations and our table was ready when we arrived. We've eaten here several times in the past and were looking forward to a good dinner. The place was pretty full. We ordered drinks to start. Mine was missing for 7-8 minutes after the rest got theirs. Our waitress was apologetic.

I ordered the Shepherd's pie, which was always my favorite there, and a side salad with blue cheese on the side. My husband ordered the fish and chips. One friend ordered the Irish fried chicken sandwich and a side salad, also with blue cheese dressing. Our other friend wanted a Caesar salad (but it's no longer on the menu) and soup of the day. The waitress said the chef was not making soup because it was hot outside. We scratched our heads at that comment. My friend ended up ordering the steak salad.

While waiting, the waitress came out with a very small bowl of blue cheese dressing. Hmmm, was that for two of us to share?

Three entrees came out, followed by one salad a few minutes later. The fried chicken sandwich and other salad didn't show up....for long time. The waitress could have brought the salad out. Something happened that the kitchen dropped the ball on his order.

His finally came out after the three of us were just about done with our meal. His chicken breast was small. He had to ask for his blue cheese dressing and the waitress looked at the bowl that was in front of me with an expression that made us think we did have to share it. It was enough for one salad, not two. She did bring out some for him.

My friends steak salad was served in a huge, deep bowl. The amount of salad could have fed all four of us. It was topped with the steak, which wasn't a big portion and on the dry side.

I was disappointed with the Shepherd's pie. The mashed potatoes, thick dollops instead of the potatoes spread out in an even layer, were on the dry side, not creamy at all. The ground beef and vegetables were okay, just not a lot of flavor.

My husband's fish and chips were very good. A big piece of battered fish! The fries were good too. It was probably the best meal of the night.

The waitress gave a 10% discount to our friend who had to wait a long time for his meal. My husband and I also got a 10% discount, which was unnecessary. Honestly, our friend's meal should have been taken off the bill in its entirety.

Then when we get the bill, there is some sort of surcharge, which the waitress couldn't explain was it was for. The staff should know, and it should be annotated on the menu. Be up front with your extra charges, don't make customers find out at the end of the meal. I even heard one person at the table next to us also question this surcharge.

Overall, a disappointing dinner. There were too many negatives over positives. We did note that there were only two waitresses and if I remember correctly, ours was fairly new to the place. But what happened with the missing meal that took so long to get to the table?

Will we come back?...