There is nothing better than a lovely meal, right? Except perhaps when it is free!  This evening we had a free dinner at the Pigeon House Restaurant in Delgany – thanks to Jenni winning a competition on FaceBook!
The Excitement Builds
I’ll be honest, there was a shriek or two to be heard from our house this morning when it was announced that we had won – winning FaceBook competitions always seems like something that happens to someone else – even knowing a winner seems a winner seems a rarity 😉
The Pigeon House Restaurant in Delgany had put up a new FaceBook competition as part of an advertisement for “Kids under 12 eat free every Sunday night 5.30pm onwards until the end of November. One child per adult main course“. Â As is customary for such FaceBook competitions, my wife Jenni liked, shared, and commented. Â I did the same – hoping that my offer to wear my halloween dinosaur costume would win them over. Â Did it influence the result?… apparently not, I didn’t win – but Jenni did!
The Food
The food was amazing! Â Perfectly suited for kids and adults alike! Â The kids menu included a colouring page , so that was Alana sorted, as she coloured in the zen-tangle-esque pigeon, and the black back was the perfect canvas for Zach to draw a myriad of tractors and other vehicles.
The kids had their favourite meal of sausages and chips (one of 5 different kids meals) and each chose a fresh juice (Apple and Orange).  Jenni and I were offered literally anything off the menu!  We had a light starter of fresh dip on breads and smoked almonds.  For main course, Jenni had fresh hake cooked to perfection, while I had one of their delicious pizzas (chorizo and smoked cheese … yum!).  Desert was the most delicious chocolate and salted caramel tart with bread-and-butter ice cream for Jenni and I, and ice-cream for the kids (ok, so the kids ate their fair share of the desert too!).  Having shared a carafe of white wine with main course, we finished with a coffee!
I like to think that the best compliment you can give a chef is to eat every morsel, and this is exactly what we did.  The kids even ate every bite of their meal and were chasing after ours (especially at desert time!).  And did I mention the sweet-potato fries with home-made spicy mayonnaise that I had with my pizza?  I should have, it was completely unnecessary – but oh-so-yummy!
The Staff
The staff were just lovely – jovial, polite, helpful, and at all times professional.  They had great fun with us and helped made a delightful and relaxing family dining experience!
You might be forgiven for thinking that this was perhaps because they knew we were the competition winners – but I can vouch for the fact that they are always like this – having dined there before!
Thank You!
So – to the staff at the Pigeon House Restaurant - Thank You – for a lovely evening with delicious food, and for affording us a lovely and special family meal out.  We will most certainly be back – you can be sure of this!
The evening started with a welcoming smile and an enthusiastic “Hello Jenni”, and it ended with a genuine “We hope you enjoyed your meal”. Â We did 🙂
In Case You Were Wondering …
… no, this post is most certainly NOT sponsored!  The competition was won by Jenni with no more enticement than any other competition entrant had - that being the lure of a free meal in a lovely local restaurant.  There was no solicitation from the staff at the Pigeon House for any social media feedback, not during the competition, or while dining.
This blog post is simply my way of saying “Thank You” – something that I feel is sometime (sadly) less commonly done in a world that seems so easy to criticise rather than recognise.