Vl - Lahinch

A warm welcome from friendly staff. the service was excellent. we ordered our starter and main course from the day specialties. starter was a lamb course that was bland and underseasonal. for the net we chose turbot. we were not convinced that the fish was on our slabs turbot. it was overcooked and came with a selection of unsinterested vegetables, boiled carrots, hard carrots, also cooked and flower cabbage, which had either been boiled or roasted. we hardly touched that. we have also decided not to interfere with desserts. the wine list was long, but quite expensive. all in all a disappointing eating in an old fashion, unattractive room with sticky chairs the only saving gnade was the personal. our bill was (before a tip) including a bottle of Portuguese wine. never again. Michael

I would like to start this review by paying my highest compliments to the Chef. The food was beautifully prepared, cooked, seasoned and presented. However the service was appalling. We were met by the owner, who hurried us to our table. He made no eye...contact, no attempt at any conversation, not even a basic greeting. And then he pretty much threw the menus at us, before rushing off to entertain a large table of American tourists. He stayed away from our table for the rest of the evening. The staff were friendly, but it was clear that they had been directed to prioritise American tourists. Is this because they assume Americans will tip bigger? The meal was expensive. But after the mains were served we spent five minutes trying to get the waistresses attention for butter. We eventually had to go up and request it. No one even made an effort to pour our wine. Not good enough, when you are paying top prices. It's clear that the owner can turn on the charm. I've seen his TV interviews. But last night he couldnt have made us less welcome. Myself and my friends all own property in the area. And we thoroghly enjoyed the food. But we will never, ever return to this restaurant!

This is an outstanding restaurant in Vaughan Lodge hotel, which is only getting better every year. If you are staying in the hotel don’t dream of eating elsewhere and if you want to have a more informal bite to eat I’m sure you will be...accommodated in the bar. This is a restaurant worth making an effort to travel to . So to start, a relaxed and elegant lounge/bar if you feel like a pre dinner drink. Then the restaurant itself, very refined yet not in any way stuffy. Beautiful breads , canapés and sorbets to die for (and I’m not even a fan of sorbets).Starters and main course are simply divine, desserts not always to my liking, eg lemon roulade a bit bitter. A fantastic wine list to suit everyone . Wonderful hospitality and staff. Enjoy!!

Chose VL after reading about it on TripAdvisor. It didn't disappoint. Starter, mains and dessert were all beautiful. Scallops, halibut, John dory, could not fault any dish. We were given veg on the side which was a nice touch. Mr.Vaughan was a great host and...made us feel very welcome. We were waiting a while to get the bill at the end but that is our only nitpick from an otherwise brilliant meal.

Without doubt the highlight of our trip. The food was of course excellent. The John Dory was beautiful. However what made this so good was the wonderful staff. I was truly blown away by the genuinely warm and friendly service. I have eaten on every...continent in some of the best restaurants and none can compare to the welcome we received. They should be proud of themselves. We most certainly were. Thank you so much Michael and Linda.