Las Tapas Cafe Bar - Cabinteely, Dublin

Hey! Thought I'd give this place a try at the weekend. Recently opened, it replaced a very nice cafe which closed earlier this year.

For those that know Cabinteely, the options for eating out are limited, so an alternative eatery away from the "run of the mill" is very welcome.

Having checked availability and made a reservation for 9pm, myself and 3 colleagues turned up and were seated quite promptly.

That unfortunately is where the prompt service ended.....

Twenty minutes later (yes, 20!), although each of us had been given a menu, nobody came near us to take our order, or even bring a jug of water to the table. Our attempts at attracting staff were eventually acknowledged, and we duly placed our orders.

At 10pm, our food began to arrive. Let me remind you that this was a full ONE hour after being seated.The food arrived dish by dish - we wondered if they were out of trays! The haphazard manner was disappointing.

The food was shall we say, hit and miss, with some dishes tasting ok. However, the salmon dish was barely cooked, and were it not for the fact that we had waited so long, it would have been sent back. (Eating raw fish is not the worst we figured....) Two of the orders were wrong, similar items, but not what was ordered. Again, we didn't return the food as hunger was winning at this point.

Our second round of orders was.... not much better. Instead of two incorrect orders, they simply forgot them. Two other dishes weren't available. According to a server, one of dishes was unavailable as they were "waiting for them to be imported"! Perhaps a wierd sense of humour prevailed, but it was not the ideal response.

By the time the last order was served to our table, the rest of the party had finished theirs. Maybe the rush to deliver that last order contributed to it being undercooked.

I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that the day before opening, the Cafe Bar was actively recruiting for a Head Chef (apparently for a busy restaurant..... one might wonder how it can claim to be busy prior to opening.....).

The manager was obviously informed (by waiting staff) of our unhappiness and arrived to our table. Instead of an apology as one might expect, or even a plausible explanation, his response was to tell us we were wrong! YES, hard to believe I know, but that was his attitude.

Ok, this is a recently opened eatery; yes they are likely experiencing teething difficulties; yes the budget may not be available for experienced waiting staff; yes they are likely finding their feet, but that does not excuse the appalling attitude of the manager.

It would have been appreciated if an acknowledgement of the difficulties and problems had been expressed, but the indignant, rude, arrogant attitude of the manager left us quite flabbergasted. The manager exhibited a definite lack of customer care and people skills.

With such a poor modus operandi, I do not see it ever becoming "busy".

Our group is local to the Cafe Bar, and we would like to support local business, however we are unlikely to visit again. We would have been tempted to do so at later date when opening difficulties should hopefully have been resolved.

Given the unacceptable atrocious attitude of the manager (whom I have a hunch is the owner), I will not be returning to be treated with such offensive, awful, appalling, and astounding lack of etiquette.

In summary: inferior staff service, mediocre food and abhorrent customer service.

For me, it definately is LASTapas.