Gallagher’s Restaurant

Sunday, June 26th, 2016

Reviewed by Adrian Bailey

Where to start off... What was supposed to be a lovely romantic evening of fine food and wine, turned out to be rather disappointing and short lived. We were greeted by a friendly waitress which escorted us to our table. We opted for the winter 2 course menu which comprised of either a started and main course or Main course and dessert. After the 2 starters were explained to us as "baby gem salad with tomatoes" and "butternut soup with parmesan froth" as the broccoli soup served with hens egg and parmesan froth which we were so looking forward to was not available. After the mains were explained to us and were told that the 3 signature dishes on the menu was a choice between the lamb shank, baby chicken, and the chili prawn pasta, both of us opted for the Lamb shank. Bread service arrived and we were served 4 great tasting breads. This already had my mouth wanting for more... and then a small glass bowl of something arrives.."Could this be an amuse bouche from the kitchen?" NO!!!! It was our butternut soup with shredded beef and parmesan froth. I looked at my fiance and laughed. If i had to measure the amount of soup that was served 100 ml would be a lot! So 5 table spoons later the starter was done. The soup was as good as a soup can be, I mean you cant really mess up a butternut soup...This left us cringing for what was to come next... Our main course finally arrives in a large beautiful pasta dish. Could it be that mains was bigger than what we expected, The dish was put down in front of us and my heart sank as I looked into the bowl. "macaroni alfredo, butternut puree, fava beans, and lamb shank sounded good didn't it" 120g Max of food was served in the bowl. We tuck into our " starter portion" main course only for us to realize that there was no butternut puree nor the fava beans or 'alfredo' that was described to us and clearly states on the menu! I brought this to our waitresses attention and all response i got was "I will check with the kitchen" Needless to say that I'm still waiting 12 hours later. I mean how can one just omit 2 entire elements off of a dish and thinks that it is ok to do so??? Plates were cleared and I just asked for the bill. Apon paying we were asked how the experience was....I said to be honest we are still hungry after two courses! Her response was...silence. As a fellow chef, honestly I would be embarrassed to serve my diners starters and mains which turned out to be Amuse bouche and starter. I wouldn't recommend this place....especially if you are hungry, or want to be disappointed!