Tankardstown House

What’s not to like , from the manager Fran who greeted us with a huge smile to Roisin the receptionist who helped me locate a lost phone to the bartender Jordan who greased the wheels, Tankardstown was exceptional. In addition, service staff were gracious and the food was excellent. Thanks for a great visit.

Went to a wedding here yesterday, was not impressed at all. Glasses were dirty both in the reception bar and the function bar. Service from the waiting staff was good, well supervised by the manager on duty, he was a nice man, but service from bar staff was poor and really from one staff member only. She was extremely rude to both customers and her colleagues and this really didn’t reflect well. The standard of pint was not good either. Between wasting beer and the method of pouring, pints had huge heads on them and for the steep price that if charged, this really isn’t acceptable Overall, for a supposedly distinguished venue I wouldn’t be impressed at all, mainly due to issues behind the bar.

Went there to celebrate a birthday , wow…it was a gastronomic experience above par. The restaurant was warm, spacious and welcoming with lovely decor, the staff were superb, friendly and knowledgeable, the food was so beautifully presented, very tasty and you were made to feel that the chef was cooking for you!

Consistently beautiful food. excellent service and staff could not be more helpful. The Brabazon restaurant is one of the top dining experiences inround. It never fails to impress. Looking forward to their tasting menu soon.

We were here for a wedding in April. The room was beautiful and spacious, the bed was the most comfiest Iv ever slept in and so big, the bathroom was huge and spotless we loved it well worth the price - we stayed in the barn house I think it was called it had a patio also

If you’ve an alternative to here take it; if you’re committed take note. The good and worst aspects of this place are below. An advisory review like this gives no satisfaction to anyone. We stayed overnight here as wedding guests unlikely to ever go back. What they do very well is take your money. As guests you’ll have paid for your room before you even get there. Oh don’t expect an email to tell you once your hard earned is taken. It’s hit and miss with rooms. All were really hot. This isn’t criticism it was the only warmth from cold dour management. Our €190 a night bedroom had a coffee machine but our son’s upstairs hadn’t. His mattress was too big for the bed base so it sagged either end in his €190 a night bedroom. Another son had a fridge in his room but neither of us did. Our bathroom toilet flushed only occasionally, the shower door wasn’t flush so didn’t properly close. There’s nowhere to hang clothes in the bathroom. Think a fairly good Travelodge at five times the price. A pint of beer is €7. Two miserable 200ml bottles of Diet Coke and a 330ml Heineken beer is €14.10 (£12.31). I heard a challenge to reception staff by a guest who claimed she was charged €26 for two bottles of sparkling water - no doubt management will confirm the truth of it with banality. If it is true that’s shocking. The tea and coffee each tasted yellow label grim and fresh milk was rationed. Similarly morsels of savoury food sporadically given to guests on arrival; one was fish - based (maybe tuna paste) was rancid. I didn’t eat two. I regretted eating one. The other was a mini falafel likewise not delightful and not worth swallowing. Wedding meal: the tomato & red pepper demitasse was 5 star delicious as was the mini loaf and whipped butter side. The pre - frozen duck confit wasn’t confit. Confit means slow-cooked in duck fat until the meat is meltingly tender, then skin must be crisped to golden perfection. This wasn’t: the duck meat was tasty 2 star, but dry. The skin and fat were flaccid, tacky and awful. The air-dried apple (one miserable slice) was like the red wine jus - unpleasant and no stars. The pre-frozen sea bass main was tasty. A good 3 star but again the crushed baby potato mix was over-salted and clashed with the delicate fish: no stars. The serve yourself vegetables - carrots, cauliflower and broccoli were 5 star superb. The other equally awful main choice was pre-frozen pork belly. It was also grim because fat wasn’t rendered. The cook happily served flaccid fat that accounted for half the weight of the unpleasant - to - eat meat portion: 1 star. The sticky sesame sauce was invisible. The brûlée was 5 star perfect. It didn’t need the dried out pistachio sweet bread crisp. After dinner tea and coffee tasted foul again with rationed fresh milk. The dinner service was very good end to end. It is shocking to say that staff will steal guests drinks and lie to them. We heard guests being told there was no more wedding cake

We were there last Sunday for a family birthday lunch and unfortunately, it was a most disappointing experience. We have been there many times before and we've always enjoyed the food and ambience, but this time it was really only average. When you're paying these prices, €330 for 5 people with just 4 glasses of wine, it should be special and it certainly wasn't. The food we had was really only ok, I had the fish cakes and beef, my wife the salad and lamb shank. The fish cakes were nondescript and the beef fine, whilst the salad had no dressing and was flavourless, the lamb again just average. Her dessert, Paris brest was grand but really nothing to rave about. The staff I'd have to say were very attentive as ever, even adding a birthday message on one of the desserts as requested, so no complaints there, but what came out to us from the kitchen wasn't up to scratch. So as we drove back to Dublin, we all agreed that it was a shame it wasn't nearly as good as we had expected and hoped. Its a long way to drive when the outcome isnt good enough.

Myself, my husband, son and parents booked Sunday lunch to celebrate a couple of family birthdays. We were excited to book Brabazon restaurant and eagerly looked forward to lunch. Unfortunately it was a compete and utter disappointment. The menu was not very varied. The beef and pork for the main courses were tough and lacked flavour. The chicken was basic and nothing to write home about..... I could have done better myself. We were given 3 side dishes to share amongst 5. According to the Brabazon, these are complimentary...... I have never heard anything so ridiculous especially given that the 3 course lunch was 44 euro each. Staff were unfriendly and never asked if we enjoyed our food. This restaurant is pretentious and unwelcoming. I would absolutely not recommend this restaurant for Sunday lunch.

We stayed for 2 nights as we were attending a friends wedding. We had a room in the barn building which was spacious with a comfortable bed and had a little balcony. Unfortunately, we had some noisy neighbours in the room above us who due to being extremely heavy footed disturbed us several times late at night and early in the morning! I’d therefore recommend asking for a room on the 1st floor if you are roomed here! All staff we encountered were extremely friendly. However, not much information was given at check-in. Just the direction of our room and off we went across the car park. We found out about other amenities and timings from other members of the wedding party. Breakfast was included in the price and this was good. Overall, we had a pleasant stay. The wedding day was beautiful and went without a hitch. We did find the accommodation pricey but the fact we were together with all our friends made it worthwhile rather than be separated down the road in an airbnb. More lighting would be helpful in the car park and along the walkways to rooms in the barns and stables. We had to use the torches on our phone.