Restaurant Review - Finnstown Castle Hotel

Finnstown Castle Hotel (formally Finnstown House) is situated just west of Dublin city, in Lucan.  Set on 45 acres of grounds, the drive into the hotel alone is beautiful.  The house retains its Georgian charm, with original ceilings and appropriately matched décor. 

The hotel has various dining options, where they promise to cater to every taste bud.  From afternoon tea, to relaxed bar food, and a more formal dining room on offer, it would seem that this should be the case. 

We dined here for a celebratory family dinner and so booked into their formal dining room, the Peacock restaurant.  On booking, we informed the restaurant that one diner was vegan.  The restaurant offers a set menu of 4 courses for €39.50, so in order to be able to cater for us, we thought this would be the fairest approach. 

When we were given the menus, we asked what the vegan options for the evening would be.  The waiter returned to tell us for starters it was butternut squash soup, and mains would be a vegetable stir fry.  This all sounded simple, but adequate. 

The soup was tasty, filling and comforting, but lacking any imagination.  The other diners all opted for a smoked salmon parcel, which was stuffed with prawns and served with some marie rose sauce, and they were all suitably impressed with the flavours.  No complaints so far.

When it came to the main course, however, the kitchen showed themselves up.  All the other diners were served first, including pork, duck and hake.  Again, all dishes were well presented, with simple, clean plates and generous portion sizes.  The vegan option was the last to be served, and it was literally a bowl of stir fried vegetables.  No rice was included.  You would be forgiven for thinking that it would be hard to go wrong with a vegetable stir fry, but they did.  And royally so.  

The sauce was bitter, with a pungent taste of chilli and ginger, and completely overpowering.  Needless to say, the dish was sent straight back to the kitchen.  We were later informed that the chefs tried the dish themselves and agreed that it was not palatable.  Why this wasn’t done beforehand though, is questionable.

In order to reconcile their mistake, they offered to make another dish.  In fairness, they should probably have admitted defeat at that point, as second round was as basic as you would expect from trainee chefs.  Two plates of roast vegetables.  Period.

Considering it was a set menu, all of the other diners then chose their sweet of choice, but their vegan option was “fresh fruit”, which was respectfully declined.  They did, however, have a soya milk option so coffee was chosen instead.

Whilst it’s fair to say they were aware of their failings as the vegan meal was charged for, this entire experience shows how far we still have to come in changing our food and restaurant industry.  Why is it that when people think of catering for non-meat, dairy and fish eaters, they fail to consider the abundance of other options that could be offered other than plain vegetables and fruits? As standard, why don’t we have heart healthy options that include legumes, beans and nuts? Why isn’t there show stopping salads, in place of the fillet steaks? Not just for vegans, but to offer alternatives for people’s health? It’s nice to have a break from the kitchen and to soak up some atmosphere in good restaurant, but another few experiences like this one, and I’d certainly rather stay at home.