Myself and my fiance dined in the Lord Edward on Friday 17th last and to say we were disappointed would be an understatement.

I have read your review on this restaurant and I also spoke to colleagues who would indeed concur with your view. To get to the point of the mail, we sat at 6:30 pm and were attended to by an attentive waiter. I ordered the Chowder while Aileen ordered the Dressed Crab. They arrived promptly and my chowder was a disappointment, it had very little fish content and was rather heavy on the cream - it resembled fish stock with cream. Aileen's crab, or to be more specific Dressed Crab, was uneventful and the dressing consisted of Watercress and Mayonnaise (and not of the homemade variety either). The waiter enquired about the dish and we said it was fine.

Main courses arrived within about 2 minutes of the dishes being collected, I was having Scallop St Jacques and my partner the Prawn Thermidor, we decided to have a side order of veg to compliment the dish. It was obvious the main course had been waiting under some kind of heater, the piped potato on either side of the prawns was stuck to the plate and the prawns had lost there texture. My scallops were well cooked and succulent but the accompaning sauce was over salted. Both dishes had grit, this may be considered rustic in a pub in Dingle or Clarinbridge but not what I expect at the Lord Edwards prices. The courgettes had been flavoured with some kind of sharp vinegar which seeped onto the other vegtables.

When finshed the main course the dishes were left on our table for a time 25 minutes, I suggested to my partner that the amounts left on the plates could have suggested to the waiters that we were not yet finished. The wine we choose to accompany the meal was Chilean Casa Concho Chardonnay, this was a success.

I am unfortunately of the typical Irish variety who would prefer to slip quietly out of the place never to return and then recount my tale to my friends. On this occasion I decided to clear the lump in my throat and inform our waiter of our experience prior to dessert. We declined dessert, even the fact that there were fritters on the menu could not convince Aileen to try again.

When I complained and I found it difficult, our waiter apologised and that was it, I left feeling that they had not taken me seriously. I took their card with the intention of writing to them and
posting a review in your readers section. Second point is that given that the Lord Edward has had nothing but good reviews, is it possible that they had a off night.