The Harbour Bistro, Portrush

Be warned the recession has certainly had an effect on the Harbour bistro!!! After many years of enjoying the excellent fare of this establishment my most recent eating experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth I have felt moved to write words of caution to future victims. With previous knowledge that the wait on the Ramore restaurant strip can be lenghty to say the least, we arrived at 6.30 and were seated at 8.30, food (i use this term loosely) was served at 9.00 and we were told that we would need to vacate our table at 9.40 by a headwaitress. Ordinarily I would have found this ridiculus but giving the quality or lack off, what we were actually served this was a blessing in disguise!!!!!

A busy and popular restaurant, the Harbour Bistro, Portrush has been one of my favourite places to eat in the North Coast area for some years now.

On Saturday, I took friends from London and unfortunately had one of the worst meals ever. After an 1hour 20 min wait, we were shown to a table (in a draught) and told rather briskly that we had to leave within an hour and a half. We ordered our food and wine (from a somewhat reduced menu). The wine was corked - after finally getting the attention of a member of staff, she tasted the wine at the table and said it was fine although she did bring us a different bottle.

The food arrived promptly. The lamb dish was over cooked and gristly. The bang bang chicken was very unpleasant, dried up pieces of chicken covered in uncooked curry powder. My seafood dish was bland and luke-warm, the saut ed potatoes hard in the middle. The side order, garlic fries, contained no garlic instead, what tasted like a generous splash of cheap sunflower oil.

We returned most of the dishes uneaten. The waitress commented that as no-one else in the restaurant had complained about the food it can't have been that bad.

Bad food, appalling services, a long wait and draughty, uncomfortable tables. Not an experience I would care to repeat.