Dower's Steakhouse & Wine Bar is the most recent addition to a variety of restaurants in Swords, offering steakhouse fare similar to its predecessors, Peacocks and the ever popular Mastersons. Situated in an excellent location on Swords Main Street, surrounded by a plethora of pubs and a cab office, Dowler's has the promise to become another successful dining outlet in the town of Swords.
I ate at this restaurant on New Year's Eve. We were shown to our seats, directly in front of the bar, where waitresses coming and going throughout the restaurant pass quite frequently. Only the set menu was available, which was overpriced but expected due to the night that was in it. It had plenty of choice for a starter, main course and dessert. A couple who entered the restaurant after us and ordered after us received their starters first, with ours taking 30 minutes to arrive. The starter, potato 'skins' was half a potato covered in cheese with a garlic sauce and garnish on the side. Although the portion was small, it was delicious.
As soon as I was finished, the waitress took our plates away, bringing our main courses immediately after. Surprised that after waiting for our starters for so long and then our main course coming practically as we were swallowing the last bite of our potato skins, I asked the waitress to take it back and give us a few minutes between courses. She looked unimpressed, replying abruptly with 'I suppose so' before taking our steaks back to the kitchen. We then had to ask for a jug of water for the table which was never provided.
When we did receive our main courses, the steak looked wonderful but was simply garnished with four prawns and five or six chips. There was no sauce and we were paying a €5 supplement each on top of a very expensive menu for this Surf n' Turf. Although the steak was cooked to perfection, it was dry with no sauce, as were the chips. When finished, our empty plates were left in front of us for 20 minutes. There were staff passing us frequently but none seemed to notice our table or plates. When they were eventually cleared, the waitress told us the dessert options, giving us time to choose. Another 20 minutes and no one took our order, I had to get the attention of a different staff member to order our desserts, which still didn't come after waiting some time and at this stage we were fed up. I noticed we weren't the only ones; two ladies in the booth to our left had to ask for their order to be taken, as did a party seated alongside the kitchen. I asked for the bill and cancelled dessert, asking for the manager who I thought might have an explanation for the poor service, as the restaurant wasn't as busy as I expected it to be, and only a set menu was provided, giving the kitchen staff a select number of dishes to prepare.
To my surprise, the manager was unbelievably rude. When I told him of the staff, he cut me off to contradict me, saying he knew them well and they would never be rude to a customer. He then asked his waitress to check all of our order dockets to see how long we were waiting, in attempt to prove us wrong, as if we were lying about the length of time we were sitting there. I thought he might compromise the supplement cost of the underwhelming main course as we didn't have our dessert but he genuinely thought we had the problems, not the establishment. He offered no apology, pointing directly in my face saying 'You seem to think you know how to run a restaurant!' The manager was incredibly unprofessional and condescending, and it was evident he was not handling constructive criticism well, being incredibly rude and accusatory in the process. After we settled the bill, I asked if there was someone else I could talk to, shocked by the experience. He simply said no, bid us goodnight while he and an o- looking waitress grinned at us.
If you are looking for value for money, excellent food with impeccable service and friendly staff, stick to Masterson's in Swords. The unpleasant experience of eating in Dowler's is one I'll never forget; I have never experienced anything like it. It is a rare occasion for me to have to discuss the service in any restaurant and if I do, the management are always very pleasant and accommodating. A good restaurant requires good leadership, and from what I have experienced, I won't expect Dowler's to be around for much longer. read more