Myself and my friend had a night away in Mount Wolsely on Saturday. The hotel is beautiful but we were very disappointed with our meal in Frederick's. We had the blue cheese starter and scallops, both were ok, not bad but nothing exciting. I had the smoked beef for main course, I really didn't enjoy it and it came with a horrible sauce. I don't know what it was. My friend had the monkfish which was over-cooked, it also came with a king prawn springroll. The inside of it was like a minced up wanton, it wasn't very appetising at all. The vegetable sides were lovely though, we filled up on those. For dessert my friend said she'd play it safe with ice-cream and it was nice. I went for what I thought would be creme brulee but it turned out to be creme brulee cubes which I really didn't enjoy. To top it off the service was appauling and we were left for periods with dirty plates and no drink. It was hard to get hold of a waiter as they were busy. The restaurant charges a set fee of €50 per person for starter, main, dessert & tea. I do not think the price reflects the food and service. Perhaps €25 per head would be more appropriate. In saying all the above the restaurant manager was very apologetic and gave us the meal on the house along with 2 cocktails. We were both happy with this. Perhaps it was just our experience and we were unlucky in what we ordered but unfortuntely we won't be going back.

It was my first time to eat here and I had high expectations given the overall impression of the hotel was positive. However, I was bitterly disappointed with the entire dining experience and unfortunately cannot see myself returning here for food in the future and would discourage others from making the effort to visit the restuarant for food particularly when in a large group. I arrived with a large group and we were all seated and orders taken. An hour passed and our food had still not arrived so we reminded the staff and they assured us it was on the way! There were no well-done steak orders so not sure why the delay was so long, it wasn't overly busy. Eventually it arrived and all looked like good decent pub grup. One member of the party ordered extra mash, this never arrived and the standard portion of mash with the meal was tiny as was the portions of vegetables to be shared around the table. A couple of members of our party had beef burgers with chips and side salad. The chips were basic frozen chips, I had expected some chunky home-made style chips. Both burgers were sent back to the kitchen because they were red and bloody in the middle, not good for minced meat! After waiting maybe 20 minutes, we were given new burgers. However, one had originally order cheese as a topping on the burger, this was forgotten on the replacement, a small but important detail in my view. In the meantime everyone else had finished their meal. We decided not to bother with dessert and promptly left. Overall, staff were reasonably polite but we received no apology for the long delay and subsequent under-par food.

We were very impressed by Fredericks. The service was exceptional throughout the meal. On arrival we had some very good olive bread and homemade brown bread served with tomato reduction, pesto and butter. An amuse bouche of tomato gazpacho set the tone for what was to come. The cured salmon was served with apple & horseradish and the most amazing beetroot sorbet. The oxtail ravioli was proclaimed exceptional but I didn't get to taste it! I had duck for main course – it was cooked medium to order and was succulent with crispy skin. The cod was also very good but quite a small portion. Sides of roasted root veg and baby potatoes were tasty too. The deserts were spectacular and the cheese board contained five cheeses with breadsticks, crackers, grapes and walnut oil but too large for one person - not a bad complaint. Coffee and petit four finished off an excellent dinner. Well done Fredericks.