Sir, – No doubt there are myriad challenges besetting the hospitality sector in Ireland. However, there may also be some problems of their own making.
My wife and I are currently on our annual holiday in Donegal. Yesterday morning, we had breakfast in a fairly modern cafe. Sadly, the coffees were woeful. We paid almost €4 for what was basically hot milk.
At lunch time we went to a pub restaurant. There were foreigners and Irish people inside. The television at the bar was on. Thankfully no sound, but if you were sitting at a certain angle, you could not miss the UK game show being broadcast.
In a county renowned for its traditional music, the music we had to listen to was second-rate English pop.
However, the barman seemed to like it.
Despite the fact that there were some plaques at the door declaring this place to have been designated as a good place to eat, the food was second rate. My soup was from a catering pack. My wife’s salad had brownish leaves of lettuce in it. I wondered what the nearby Germans and Americans made of their food.
Thankfully, the previous day we had fine food and coffee in a very unpretentious café at another location in Donegal. No music. No TVs.
I think your paper would be doing the hospitality sector a favour if it reviewed these kinds of places as well as the fancier restaurants. Occasionally, you could also send out one of your music critics to review what is being pumped out over their speakers. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BURNS,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.