Sweeneys Wine Bar Portballintrae

kidshorsesdogs

I have been recommended this place for a family meal this weekend, we don't know this area very well and have never eaten there.

Has anyone been? Is it pub grub or restaurant setting? What are the prices like?

If it's not great can anyone recommend somewhere to eat up round that area, including possibly Portrush, Bushmills.. Someone also mentioned The Royal Court Hotel..

Just a final question, is booking necessary at these places?

Thanks in advance..

Bigcammy

We were in Portballintrae a couple of weeks ago but didn't eat in Sweeneys, we were staying in the Bayview and had our meal there, it was very good. We also ate in Darcy's in Portrush was was very good too. We didn't book Darcy's but I think you'd need to book the Bayview as the restaurant was very busy.

SandLake

Ate in Sweeneys a few years ago and it was nothing special although I think it has been refurbished since then which I realise might not have any affect on the food. Near Portballintrae I would recommend the Smugglers Inn where you can eat in either their bar or in the dining room. In the town of Bushmills itself SixTeenOhEight is very good but possibly more of an evening venue. In Portrush competition is very high so it is hard to go wrong.

SuperMum2008

1608 do fantastic breakfasts, and you need to book well ahead for evenings - we were told we should have booked by Thursday at the latest for a Saturday night table and we were turned away (could have had a table at 9.30 but too late for our children) :-( THink that must show how popular it is, its the black and orange building just by the roundabout in the centre of Bushmills

kidshorsesdogs

thanks folks, hope to give either 1608 or smugglers..

darrenpollock

Try Distillers Arms on Main St.
I live just outside Bushmills and Distillers Arms has just been taken over and is superb now especially for the scallops starter and Hake main course.
1608 also very good or Causeway Hotel for a good old fashioned feed especially their mixed grill (monstrous!!)

D.

Snoozle

Sweeney's used to be great when I first went about 15 years ago. We went quite regularly, and it was always busy and buzzing.

Then it went really down hill, and it was always empty and the food was nothing special. The last time we were there about seven years ago, we vowed never to go back. The food was poor, and we had specifically chosen to sit in the non smoking area. The place was nearly empty, but this clatter of really loud Americans demanded to sit in the non smoking area too, even though they were smokers. And the staff just let them and brought them ashtrays too, so they blew their smoke all over us, and complained about everything and were generally obnoxious (the obnoxious customers obviously weren't Sweeney's fault! We were just frustrated that there was a big empty restaurant and they were given permission to blow their smoke all over us in the one wee non-smoking section).

Anyway, what with the smoking ban and all, this problem has been eliminated, and I am really excited to hear that Sweeney's is good again, and I can't wait to try it out. Such good news, Portballintrae is in such a beautiful setting, and anything that attracts people to it can only be good, as it seems to suffer terribly from the blight of being full of holiday homes that are empty a lot of the time and deaden the village.

suki1964

Ive been to Sweeneys three times over the past three years - and have yet to eat there,

Service has been so diabolical we have walked out all three times - different times of day - different days of week. One time there was just us in - and we were left stood there for 10 mins before the one staff member bothered to ask if we wanted anything......

Perhaps service has improved???

roamingdiner

We had a similar disastrous experience at this place in April 2010 - steer well clear of it. We were warned of a delay in service but it was 2 hours before food arrived. One other table left without eating because of the delay and the other diners also complained. When we complained we were met with complete disinterest. It was clear that there was noone in authority runnign the place as the junior staff on site had to keep telephoning the owner for instructions as to how to deal with us. The lady that appeared to be the lead waitress had her baby in a car inthe car park and had to keep leaving to attend. When the owner finally turned up after we demanded someone in authority we were met by nothing but disnterest and aggression. A diabolical place that I am surprised survives.

maxter

Im sure the OP has had something to eat by now! lol

mypie

maxter wrote: »

Im sure the OP has had something to eat by now! lol

blooming well hope so :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: