The Grill - Derry

Not a great menu and not a great number of choices for a four star hotel with an exec chef. Could do better

My mother had booked a table for tomorrow for my Daughters birthday, been booked for weeks she was looking forward to it. They then yesterday phoned to say it was Santa Sunday and the price up from 28 to £40. No mention of this when booking but seemingly manager says everyone knows the end of November is Santa Sunday. He was too ring back but never even had the manners too, so we had to book a decent restaurant instead.

I had tickets for the evening's entertainment in the ballroom and thought it would be an idea to have supper first to make a night of it. We were straight away led to The Grill and seated by a lovely welcoming member of staff who made sure we had drinks and menus. The variety itself was more than sufficient with something for everyone. We know what we like and like what we want so went for two of the salmon and two of the turkey/ham combo. Our starters were served very quickly and plates cleared as soon as we were finished. My company remarked on the still warm bread rolls complimented on how hot full of flavour the soup was. We opted to have our tea in the ballroom as the seats were filling up and didn't want to be too far back and this was brought through for us by another very pleasant member of staff and we were settled for the show. I loved the food, reasonably priced very tasty and good portions so more than happy with the meal. However what really made this the most pleasant of experiences was the staff. The manager, the floor supervisor and the waiting staff. Full of chat, helpful and very personable. All were quite young maybe holiday relief staff but this didn't come through if that was the case. I wish I'd taken their names although had I done I might have left someone out...This establishment seem to know the value in good staff and I hope they look after them. We will definitely be back and thank you for a lovely evening made all the more special because of how you looked after us, an absolute joy.

Our small travel group had dinner here from a limited menu the first night of our stay. All the servers were young, pleasant, and friendly. We began with choice of wine, beer, cider, or soft drink. Starters included honeydew melon slices, roasted pepper and tomato tartlet, and a delicious (vegetable) soup of the day. Main courses included braised Morthern Ireland beef, chicken, baked fillet of cod, and a roast vegetable curry. Portions were generous and everyone seemed to enjoy his/her choice. I thought my wife's vegetable curry was quite tasty. My cod entree had two pieces of cod, one delicious, the other a bit chewy. Accompanying vegetables were delicious. The chocolate fudge cake seemed to be the clear winner of the three desserts which also included a raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake, and traditional profiteroles with chocolate drizzle. Coffee and tea capped off a good meal and a good time with the group.

My wife and I were on a tour and did not opt for the optional excursion and decided to eat at the hotel. Very nice clubby setting. We had a young server who was sincere. I had chicken and steak **** and Bull and it was quite tasty the side salads are wonderful and served on a slab see photo . My wife had the salmon and really liked it along with a buttered greens side. We shared a dessert Glastry Slider consisting of three scoops of ice cream including honeycomb something I 've never had but enjoyed very much on a cake base with fruit compote excellent!