Restaurant Review Tullyglass Hotel Ballymena

I Met Former Work Colleagues

We are all retired now and one of us is disabled, so meeting in Ballymena, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland makes it easier for him. This time,our venue was the Tullyglass Hotel. Being outside Ballymena town, there was plenty of parking and the grounds are very well kept, including a fountain. The ground is level, which makes it a lot easier for a disabled person to access the hotel foyer, however the restaurant area was down some steps and I didn't see any lift or ramp for a wheelchair. There may have been alternative access but I didn't see any.

Carvery

The hotel provides a carvery lunch, which is paid for before entering the dining area. At £13.50, (about $20) it was very reasonable. That was a special price for the elderly (we are all retired) and is available Wednesdays and Fridays. The normal price for lunch is £14.95 which is still very reasonable.

Food

There were 5 courses available! And I did see some people taking advantage of all five. The first course was soup and the second course was "starters". Being a carvery, the food is set out on platters for you to help yourself. Two of our party had soup, the rest had starters, none of us chose both soup AND starters, though some people did. I had the starters. There was a large variety of items, including both hot and cold foods. The hot foods included chicken wings and cocktail sausages. I chose the cold items, with scotch egg, terrines, sliced salami, cucumber and cherry tomato. I did see one person heaping two plates of starters for themselves and there was no limit to the amount you could take, though of course, one would hope that they did not take more than they could eat!

The main course was a choice of meats (turkey, beef and one other) with potatoes, (mashed, plain boiled and roast), cauliflower in white sauce, cabbage, green beans, carrots and gravy. There were also various sauces available. I had turkey, and green veg. As I had had a starter and intended to have a dessert, that was sufficient.

There was a large choice of desserts. I had Tiramisu with fresh cream, others had cheesecake and fruit salad. There was also banoffee pie and numerous other desserts. Each was served in a large portion with either fresh cream or ice cream and I was glad I had limited my first course.

Busy

The restaurant was busy but not too crowded to be uncomfortable. Our table had been booked ahead of time, which was a good idea because others who had been previously said they had had to wait when they turned up just on the off chance.

Overall Verdict

Good Value, I would go again, I would recommend it.

FOPP NorthernIreland restaurant review

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