Substandard restaurant in Mullingar - Zest

star01

I would just like to share my experience of a new restaurant opened in Mullingar called Zest.

There are 3 things going against this restaurant.

1. Over priced; the pizza's 12inch start at €20 which I told the owner that I thought was over priced, he asked me to find a better price anywhere else in Mullingar for a restaurant.

Well Oscars pizza's are cheaper and very tasty. The meals are around €20-24 and range from fish, pork, beef, burgers etc. The deserts are €5.50 and come straight out of the fridge. Burgers were approx €15 and crusted fish was €21. I was informed by the owner that he often makes such a low margin on his food it is nearly at a loss especcially with the high rental overheads in Mullingar and apparently steaks in Raneleagh cost €44!!!

2. Poor service; In the entire 2 hours we were at the restaurant, we were not asked once how our food was, whether we would like another drink, if we wanted pepper, if the meal was ok, and not once did the waiter smile or engage in any conversation.

I informed the owner that you can sometimes over-look over-priced food if the service makes up for it, but in this case, I have not seen such poor service before. I was told it was because the waiter was English that he wasn't "chatty" like the Irish. Not the greatest thing to say to someone who is half English I'd say, and race doesn't determine one's attitude when serving.

Also apparently they had had a long day. Well sorry but wrong industry to be in if you can't put on a smile for your customers. I worked in a restaurant and was told the customer is always right, even if they are not, appease the customer and try to rescue the situation and find a positive in it.

3. Quality of food; I was served "cool" vegetables which tasted like they were microwaved in cream and we had potatoes and chips which were also cold. For the price the food was definitely not up to par.

The owner did not apologise for the poor service or food and just said, thanks for the feedback. I had already paid for my meal, so I was not after any discount, but in my opinion, an experieince restaurant owner would take a complaint away from other customers and maybe say "I'll take on board what you've said, I apologise and would you like to come back in 3 months and see if things have improved". I would not just say, thanks for the feedback, I disagree and will defend my restaraunt tooth and nail. The thing is bad feedback defeats a lot of good feedback.

In my opinion I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Mr Magnolia

I think one thread is enough on the subject. You can use the one you posted in Westmeath.

Thanks.