Ardtara Country House

We enjoyed a lovely evening last night. All staff, were welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. The food was delicious and presented beautifully. No better way to celebrate my 60th birthday and retirement.

The food and service you get here is first class and second to no one, I would say it was first class from you come in the door to you go back out the door.

This country house is amazing so much character. The staff are so professional & polite in their jobs Sean the general manager is a lovely person once we checked in he shown us round the house then to are room all there rooms are gorgeous the bathroom as an amazing roll top free standing bath would highly recommend & intend to go back.

My husband and I have stayed in Ardtara House a few times. The house is set in lovely gardens and grounds, which are well maintained. The rooms and bathrooms are spacious, tastefully furnished and decorated - transporting you back to a time of graduer. The food is always excellent - high end dining. The staff are friendly, helpful and make your stay a memorable experience - thank you Sean, Pedro, Nicola and all the staff behind the scenes. We will definitely be back in the not too distant future. Billy and Helen x

Myself and my girlfriend enjoyed a lovely weekend stay at Ardtara house. The room, service and food were all exceptional. General manager Sean and all staff were attentive and welcoming. I cannot recommend this place enough, a simply superb experience

We decided to treat ourselves on the Saturday before Christmas by having a dinner in Ardtara Country House. On first impressions, the setting is lovely and the staff very pleasant and helpful. It wasn't busy at this stage of the evening as we had booked our table for 6pm. The menu available was their Christmas Dinner Menu @ 44.95 pp. It all started off very well with some lovely breads and nibbles being brought out prior to our meal being served, however, it went downhill from there!

I must add that we are both familiar with the concept of fine dining. For the starter we both chose - The baked figs, truffled goat's cheese, pistachio nuts, Ardtara honey. Very poor offering of two small balls of goat's cheese buried in salad leaves. The other parts of the dish such as the baked figs, nuts and honey didn't really lift the overall taste and enjoyment of this starter.

I have to say, I've eaten much better goats cheese starters in so called lesser restaurants. For the main we both chose - The rolled turkey crown, sage & onion stuffing, ham hock terrine, sweet potato puree, roast chestnuts. First off, there was a fly stuck to one of my chips when the side orders came out. Of course when I pointed this out, there was an apology and they were immediately replaced.

I would not be inclined to mention this, if it had been the only issue we had with this meal (Although this has never happened to me before, even in the most 'greasiest of spoons') As I said, we are both familiar with the concept of fine dining and weren't surprised to see very little on the plate. It was the complete lack of taste and miniscule amounts of sage and ham, very small and lacking in taste.

It wasn't even obvious to us that they were on the plate. The turkey ham and sage all tasted the same and I cant even recall tasting any of the other parts of the dish. For the dessert we both chose - Passionfruit souffle, white chocolate sauce and passionfruit. It was nice but certainly not exceptional. If I am being honest, I have experienced much nicer desserts in a local cafe at a fraction of the price.

I would also add that the coffee we ordered with our dessert was not provided. Overall - very disappointing. For the price of 106.90 for these two meals, we expected something exceptional and an attention to detail. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Ardtara as a place to get a really good meal. I note the positive reviews and do not doubt other people have had a different experience. Maybe it was just bad luck for us that evening and maybe the normal menu is better.

The staff, rooms, food, gardens all fantastic. Being dairy free can sometimes be difficult when choosing from the menu but not here it was fantastic I even got a dairy free butter. Sean has a great team especially Lee Anne an absolute genuine and efficient member of the team. We really appreciate the hospitality and fantastic food many thanks to the chef and everyone for making our stay special.we will definitely return.10 out of 10 for sure.

We spent 3 nights in Ard Tara and it was the perfect place for a quiet getaway for my partner and I. The house and grounds are beautiful and unpretentious, and all the staff were so lovely and accommodating. Food was excellent in the restaurant, and the wine selection was good with some unusual options in there. We visited Derry one of the days but the surrounding countryside is also very picturesque for a drive around. We would definitely visit again as it's only 2.5 hours from Dublin and easily accessed mostly by motorway.

We've visited a couple of times now and will be back. Relaxed atmosphere with good service. Rooms and bathrooms are spacious and well appointed. Food is excellent, as expected from a part of the Browns group.

Have been visiting Ardtara for 7/8 years and they have managed throughout, to maintain such a high standard of food, service, staffing & ambiance. Always a pleasure to stay over and recharge the batteries. We continue to recommend Ardtara to family & friends and look forward to visiting again soon.