The Rusty Oven - Donegal

Good service, lovely location and nice atmosphere but vegan options could use some work. Linguine quite watery and oddly flavoured (straight up tomato, basil and olive oil sauce would be much better) and curry a bit bland.

Nice location if you go to Slieve league the nearest Pub to have a dinner.

I had a disappointing experience here at the Rusty Mackerel. Situated at the bottom of the Slieve League cliffs, it is at a fantastic location for people exploring the area. The restaurant itself is very traditional with lots of old ornaments across the walls. The general atmosphere was that you would expect from an old Irish pub, although we were seated in a quieter area next to the kitchen. To start I had the seafood chowder which was warm and creamy. Unfortunately other people at my table got the soup and it was not hot. The brown bread also could 've been fresher. For my main dish I had the titular 'Rusty Mackerel '. I was disappointed to find the mackerel to be over-grilled and black with char. I don 't think this was an intended feature to make the fish look 'rusty '. The dessert was better, I had the sticky toffee pudding which was warm and rich. It was also presented nicely and with a side of cream. The other desserts around the table also looked tasty. Something else I was also disappointed with was the quality of the waiting staff, who I found were half-listening to the communication around the table while we were ordering and thus made needless mistakes in bringing 1 incorrect and 1 unwanted extra side dish. The spoons for dessert were also dumped at the corner of the table for me to share across the table. Really they should be doing this. Overall this restaurant was really hit-and-miss, hopefully they improve the quality of both the food and the service. The restaurant has the potential to be legendary given its location!

All the staff were very friendly and helpful. Great service from our waitress who was called Leeza, Fantastic menu, and the food was amazing. Great atmosphere

We were able to reserve a table for 8 the same day. The atmosphere was great, and the weather was perfect for a sunny day, considering that it usually rains. Our server was kind, and got everybody's order perfect. We had just finished our meal when the live band had just started in the bar and they sounded great as well.