Golden City (Ballymena) in Ballymena

Impulse stop for lunch, based on a friend's recommendation. Very friendly, cheerful staff... small but varied choice of lunch dishes; both we had were v.good. Prices seemed to reflect the quality of service, food and settings. I'm sure we'll be back! (I've seen advert saying the business is up for sale (Jun 2022)... is that still the case?

Great fish and chips. Lots of food!

So excited to finally go here with my daughter but the experience wasn't what I expected. For the prices there is no table service you have to order at the till. I was not advised correctly when asking about the Spanish hot chocolate. It isn't a drink it comes in a bowl for dipping biscuits in. I specifically asked was it like a normal hot chocolate you could drink and was told yes. I ordered coffee and 2 savoury pancakes. Paying by card I was asked to select what tip I wanted to leave. Feeling like I had no option I left one. Then we waited on our food. I had to go and order tea after the "drinks" arrived as the Spanish hot chocolate is not a drink and leave another tip. We waited again and after 35 minutes of waiting I asked for a refund. To be told that the food order hadn't been sent to the kitchen. We didn't have time to wait any longer. When the refund was being done they didn't ask what of your tip you would like refunded. I don't mind paying for service but we didn't get any. Can't review the food as we didn't get any of that. Won't be back. Sometimes best to stick to the places you know.

We booked for the Sunday carvery today, totally honest it was a massive let down. Super super rushed, reception staff were unnecessarily rude, we queued for quite a while for both starters and mains which is all forgivable The major issue was the food, I have had carvery from most of the big spots in ni and to be honest this was the worst. The ribs (actually just pure fatty pork belly) chicken wings and cocktail sausages were worryingly cold, the salad counter was a mess I actually couldn't believe it, the stuff was bad, totally honest it was just not good, this was at 1pm not the end of the day, turkey was so so dry and again it was only early in the sitting , the saving grace was the bits and pieces along with the main, veg, stuffing etc. Really tasty, and Dessert was actually lovely. Little gripe that they had no decaf coffee, such a big operation and I've never had an issue in any other restaurant or carvery about decaf coffee. Just lots of little let downs unfortunately.

We've visited Rose Cafe many times and haev never been disappointed. They do a tasty fry, really lovely coffee and tea, and an amazing selection of homespun Sunday dinners! Highly recommended. Every time we go, we're stunned at the great value for money. The icing on the cake is the friendly owner, who shows she's glad of the business and always make us glad we dropped in.