The Garden - Larne

Fantastic place to visit for a meal and a bit of scenery. The gardens are a great place for some pictures and if you are lucky enough for a sunny day a beer in the gardens. The staff were great but confused us over some of the starters that had been taken off the menu. Overall a lovely place to visit, eat and drink.

Room and view was lovely, comfortable massive bed, two red velvet buns, and bottled water, also tea and coffee. Let down for me was the food, I had the pate which was lovely but did not really like it on soda bread. We have stayed there a few times and I decided to order the Steak for the second time and for the second time it was over cooked, I asked for medium but it was well done no sign of pink at all. Not really surprised because you never seem to get a steak cooked properly anywhere. The Breakfast staff were brilliant, but I wish they would cook the bacon a bit more, no fried eggs in the buffet but the waitress got me two, the potato bread was a disappointment, there was lots of choice, orange juice hit the mark, as did the fresh grapefruit.

Staff rather young but friendly, atmosphere quite nice but the food is thoroughly overpriced and below what you can expect from a place like this. Was served a £9 couscous salad that was basically dry couscous, seeds, broccoli and rocket salad thrown into a bowl without any dressing at all. Got olive oil and balsamic dressing after I asked for it, but it 's really not worth it. Disappointing, as this restaurant has the potential to be a really pleasant spot.

Having grown up in Co Antrim in the 1980s 90s, it’s sad to see that most of the independent, family run hotels and restaurants have mostly been taken over by hospitality companies. Each time I return home from England, I find that more and more traditional establishments have gone and as such the menus and drinks selection have become standardised and more akin to English pub grub than traditional Irish food. My parents often spoke warmly about the cellar bar in Ballygalley Castle, however that has long gone likely a victim of health and safety or fire regulations. So the main restaurant is now the garden restaurant. While the restaurant is pleasant, I was disappointed at the limited choice available. Half of the starters were also available as main courses, and there were 2 salad options. There also seems to be a lot of pork options available, pork belly for both mains and starters, and sausage and mash for mains. There’s nothing wrong with pork, however, on a very limited menu, it seems a lot. For starters we had soup and the pate dish. The soup was fine, however the pate was served with soda bread, which wasn’t really toasted enough to be crispy. The big disappointment was the selection of main courses. Being on the coast, I was hoping for a decent fish selection. However this was limited to battered fish and chips (pub grub), or sea trout a fiddly dish if ever there was one. Where was the mackerel, sea bass or salmon that are caught locally? There was also no lamb option. In the end we had a chicken and slow cooked pulled beef dish, a beef dish and sausages and mash which was called something fancy. While the food was tasty and nicely prepared, it’s obvious to see the menu is based on cost cutting rather than variety. Particularly noticeable as the chicken beef combination used exactly the same slow cooked beef as the single beef dish. As someone who eats out regularly, there is nothing wrong with this. However at approximately £20 per main course, I would expect individuality and not a mix n match approach. I did fancy the 10oz sirloin steak, however this was priced at £32, and I had eaten exactly the same steak in another restaurant the previous evening for a mere £20. The dessert menu was even more limited, and in all honesty, reminiscent of a supermarket frozen aisle, so I opted for coffee instead. When it finally came the coffee was lukewarm and extremely bitter. At £4.20 for a small cup, this was disappointing. The staff were pleasant, and for this reason I decided on 3 stars. However, until the menu is significantly overhauled, I don’t think I shall return.

The menu is the star , great food ,great table ,great service good atmosphere