Mitchell’s Restaurant

We had such a great dining experience this evening that I just had to write this place up. We are on the last night of a ten day driving trip through Ireland and stopped at Mitchell’s by chance after seeing they specialize in seafood. After all, we’ve been driving up the Connemara coast all day… so beautiful. I’m rather surprised to see the other reviews. We found Mitchell’s to be bright, clean and sort of upscale/​quaint and the food was exceptional.
I ordered the seafood chowder to start. It was fresh and yummy with chunks of fish in a mildly, herbed creamy broth. My boyfriend had the fish cake and we both agreed it was the best we had ever tasted. Lightly breaded and no filler, with a small serving of greens. I wasn’t sure what to expect with baked hake for the main. It might just be my favorite fish now. White, flakey meat, no oily skin served over a bed of sautéed cabbage with a mild dill cream sauce. The taste and perfectly prepared entrée exceeds my description. My boyfriend enjoyed fresh salmon over a bed of julienne broccoli and green veggies.
I’m so glad we stopped here for our last night in Ireland. It was perfect and the waiters were prompt and courteous despite a full house.

We stumbled on Mitchell’s by chance while spending 2 weeks in Ireland Aug.-Sept. 2013. We had especially good meals here (returning twice after our first, excellent lunch). I remember we found the seafood bisque spectacular (I no longer remember exactly the name and sea creatures involved). The breads were great and our meals were all served promptly by very pleasant and helpful waiters. After our first visit we
learned that this is a local favorite also.

Nice fresh fish in central Clifden

Mitchell’s was a real disappointment when we ate there on Sunday, 25 September. We have eaten in Mitchell’s several times before over the last five or six years and have come to expect a certain competence in «the dining experience». All of our expectations were washed away on Sunday.
The first problem was the table. We were given a table for two upstairs in a row of three tables, all for two covers. This wouldn’t have been so bad had it not been for the fact that we were close enough to have a close encounter with the couples on either side of our table. The seating arrangement gave every indication that the table had been inserted into too small a space to extract maximum commercial advantage. Good for cashflow, bad for customer experience.
The service was fast and brisk. In fact, it was delivered in such a way that we felt that the servers wanted us to eat and depart in the smallest possible time. End to end, we ate a three-​course meal (no coffee) in about 65 minutes, which felt rushed. No sooner had we cleared a plate than the overly efficient waiting staff whisked it from the table. This might be deemed to be an advantage in the McDonalds school of restaurant management where clearing tables of debris and making them ready for future guests is measured in milliseconds, but it didn’t convey an impression that the restaurant wanted us to linger and savour their atmosphere. Then again, seeing that our table was as tight as a hooker between two hulking rugby props, maybe it was good that they helped us make the decision that this dining experience couldn’t end soon enough.
In passing, I also noted that the hygiene of table preparation after guests leave wasn’t up to much. A simple wave of a cloth over a table with the aspiration that it might dislodge the crumbs is not sufficient. It would have been better to see some cleaning spray or other material being applied to the table before new guests were shown to it.
All in all, Mitchell’s was a real disappointment this time round. Perhaps we were unlucky and it’s the end of a long season. On the upside, it was good to see that the room was filled with tourists from France, Germany, and the U.K., so tourism seems to be having a good season.

This restaurant looks lovely and inviting from the street and its certainly a very busy place. I didn’t actually eat here — after being shown to my table I decided that I didn’t like the pompous attitude of the manager along with the fact that the tables were so close together that I felt like I was joining someone else’s table. So I up and left … and had a lovely evening around the corner in Guys Restaurant and Wine Bar