The Hillside

Review summary

1. R

   Ren

   N. Ireland

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Fantastic food and excellent service. Best place to go for a catch up with friends or a celebratory meal. Food is always incredible and service is always fast with lovely people working there. Always a go to choice for going out for a nice meal.
   

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2. E

   Elaine

   N. Ireland

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great friendly service from the moment we walked in. Was promptly greeted and shown to our table. Was a special birthday meal, so they had a wee card recognition of the fact on the table and birthday man was offered a drink on the house, which was lovely. Great menu choice and took our order in good time. Food arrived piping hot and beautifully presented. Really tasty and would definitely recommend a visit. Nice warm relaxed atmosphere as we sat by the stove. A really enjoyable birthday celebration for my family.
   

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3. C

   Cecil

   N. Ireland

   11 reviews

   2.0

   11 reviews

   Dined on January 18, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   Extremely noisy. Food was excellent but too expensive for a bistro style meal.
   

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4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   N. Ireland

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 18, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   The food was really flavoursome, not overcooked and very well presented on hot plates. I'd definitely return here for the quality of the food. The restaurant lacks ambience (it's like an add on to the very popular and busy pub) . Some attention to detail missing - my husband had ordered a second pint during our meal that never materialised. Waiting staff were very pleasant and knew the menu.
   

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5. L

   Lindsey

   N. Ireland

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 18, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Lovely food and great service. Was able to have my 4 legged friend with me after a walk in Hillsborough Forest. A lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. Highly recommend!
   

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6. P

   Peter

   N. Ireland

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 17, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Lovely setting. Great customer service. Food was good but I've had better. 36 quid for a steak but i suppose that's the world we now live in.
   

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7. T

   Tom

   Liverpool

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on January 5, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Had Sunday lunch. The waiting staff were attentive but not intrusive. The service was prompt with plenty of choice on the menu. The experience was enhanced with a quiet ambience.... especially with the real fires roaring. What better place could you spend a cold Sunday afternoon?
   

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8. C

   Caroline

   N. Ireland

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 5, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Table booked for 1, didn’t leave until after 4pm. Service was so so slow. Waited an hour for starters, 2 starters were even later as the kitchen missed 2 orders, another hour for mains. Only 1 or 2 on at the bar. Some of the food was cold although very tasty. Shame as the atmosphere was lovely and the food was good. More staff needed and organisation in the kitchen it seems!
   

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9. C

   Cordner

   N. Ireland

   10 reviews

   3.0

   10 reviews

   Dined on January 4, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   As a regular eating out in Royal Hillsborough, the Hillside would be a fairly regular venue for the family. This last visit was a mixed one. There were two of us and the restaurant was not that busy, but we were put onto a small 2 person table – against a wall. The menu doesn't change much, well, rarely, but there is also a daily menu to pick from. I had breads to start, which actually were very good, but I had to ask for butter, though the tapenade was very good. My son had the pork belly and really enjoyed it. We had burgers for our mains, one beef, one chicken, but it took 1 hour to get them. Service was very slow. Our simple starters took 40 minutes to arrive. Also, our soft drinks were the miserable 200ml bottles and not the standard 330ml – this is a really cheap practice to make the customer pay a lot more for soft drinks. Its also a standard practice of the Hillside, even though not mentioned on the menu, to shove a slice of raw beef tomato and/or gherkins into their burgers – both of which I hate. They need to stop this. The chips were overdone – which they really shouldn't have been. A table beside us were waiting for a 2nd main to be re-done – they gave up and left without one of them getting her main course. I said to the lady upon paying that it took over 95mins to get our food and all she said was, "we're aware"… Great.
   

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10. B

    Brendan

    N. Ireland

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 3, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    It’s been a while since I was last here but the food and the vibe is still amazing.
    

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