I was not disappointed on my first visit here. Although there were some cons, the experience on a whole was incredible. It was very busy during my visit, which may have contributed to some cons. Pros: Staff are on the high-end. It's been a while since I've been to a restaurant where the staff is this friendly and welcoming. Atmosphere is top quality. It's stylish, colourful, and lively. Seems like a far cry from the rest of Southgate. The food is, simply put, phenomenal. It is well-presented, well-cooked, and so flavourful. The creme brulee stood out the most to me as the one of the very best desserts I've ever had eating out. They're open until late! This is quite rare to see of a restaurant in the area and a very welcome characteristic. Some nights even have live music, although I did not have the pleasure of experiencing that. Cons: All this quality does come at a steep price. Be prepared to really spend in this place. And the biggest con: it took exactly an hour from the time we sat down to the time we got our mains served. It even took roughly 30 minutes to serve the starter, which was simply bread, salad, and a bowl of hummus. Conclusion: This is a restaurant worthy of a stylish and incredible night out. I highly recommend it. The staff, food, and atmosphere more than made up for the slow service during that busy night. I will return for many more times.

Becoming an increasingly popular venue as a bar and restaurant at Southgate. Wide selection of options on menu, reasonably priced. Tapas also available.Family friendly. Food is tasty. Option of dining inside or out. Staff are very nice and efficient. Good buzz about the place.

We were staying with my son and his girlfriend at the weekend and were brought to Duende. We’ll probably the best spot we have been in for many a long year. Service was 110% , food was excellent and generally the whole experience was fantastic. Wish it was closer to where I live. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.

Excellent little Bar / Bistro in Southgate Shopping centre. Caters to modern Irish with a touch of old world / Italian influences. Very tasty and portions that leave you satisfied rather than stuffed. It is priced more on the restaurant side than a cafe with burgers around the €15 / €17 mark and steaks or lamb around the €28 / €32 price points - but again you won't be dissapointed in the added expense as the quality and flavours are top class. Some might say service is a little on the slow side but I would argue it is more relaxed than slow and gives you time to chat before serving.

This restaurant is a little gem. Atmosphere is perfect. Food is always above & beyond. Staff are professional. Just saying if Duende was in any major city of the world, It would be winning awards regularly.

I love this place, fantastic food and very friendly service. Especially their hamburgers and chickens wings are super delicious.

Amazing Local Spot with Great Food & Staff Food Duende by accident about 18 months ago while we were going grocery shopping, the smell of grilled steak coming from the vent dragged my wife in for a quick drink and small bite to eat. We weren't expecting much as we had heard mixed reviews. We were blown away with the décor, friendly staff that seemed to enjoy their job and wanted to help you and mostly the food, I ordered the Hot Wings, my wife ordered the fresh cod & chips. Duende has now become our local with at least one or more visits per week either by ourselves or meeting up with friends. Even when they are fully booked up, Amy and her staff will bend over backwards, move tables to get you a seat, which takes me to the staff, over the last 18 months with staff shortages we have seen many of the same staff retained, and the new staff are highly motivated, trained to a high degree to give amazing customer service and seem genuine when they seat you, take your order, say good buy. Its nice walking into a place when the recognize you, know what your first drinks are gonna be, where you like to sit (low table) or when you tell them you have 20 mins as your in a hurry they accommodate you the best they can, always way and above what you would expect.

What I would like to say is, stay at home don't go near the place, that is so anytime we go we will get a table. But truth be known, Duende has the biggest buzz, great food,, fantastic staff, and a lad on guitar with some great songs. All I ask is (stay at home folks) so we can always be guaranteed a good table. Top marks to Colm, Amy and team, especially my fave Andrea!!!, We love Duende.

I like the casual atmosphere here. Call in for a pint or something to eat or both. The burger is great with a pint of Heineken. Food always good service excellent and not overpriced.

Fine for vegetarians, not great for vegans (2/5 Green Stars) I looked up Duende and the name refers to either charm or a supernatural spirit – maybe both :-) Well, I’m not sure if there are any supernatural spirits in the house but it is a charming place. With a brick wall on one side, a large mural on the other, and candles on every table, it’s a welcoming place. Staff members were also very friendly and helpful – props to the chap from Nicaragua. It’s a pretty meat-focused place. If you are vegetarian, you’ll have several options, but if vegan you’ll find the menu fairly limited. We shared the Hummus & Crudités (€9.80), the Pizza Catalan Veg (€15) and a couple of beers and enjoyed everything. This was actually pretty filling dinner (the pizza was large) for a reasonable €37. The pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, spinach, pesto, Manchego shaving, and mozzarella cheese) was really good thanks to a nice crust and lots of fresh spinach and garlic. The hummus was also very good and nicely presented, with veggies and grilled bread. Would definitely come again but wish there were more plant-based options. I’m giving Duende 2 out of 5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, for these reasons: • There’s a lot of meat on the menu. One of the best things that Duende could to is to offer some more plant-based alternatives, especially to the beef. Offering a Beyond burger (or equivalent) as a substitute to the beef burger would be a great start. • More information on food sourcing should be provided. • Beer is available on draft, reducing packaging and transportation footprints.

Beautiful place with really nice food. Staff were kind and let us in without a reservation on a Saturday night. Dress nicely and book in before you come down.

Really cool restaurant with a separate bar area. Food was really good and the live music was brilliant. Staff were really friendly and the whole vibe of the place is cool.

Excellent food and very friendly staff. Prawns were delicious. Main downside was the wait for food. Restaurant was quite busy. The old fashioned I ordered was mixed with some sort of juice, staff don't seem to know how to make them! Will be back again.

Staff are really friendly and the food was great! I'll be back to try the burger!

Definitely in my top 5 places to eat! The food is always amazing and the staff are the nicest staff I have ever come across in any bar or restaurant! We have eaten in loads of times and have gotten a lot of take aways especially during covid when it was our go to place every Saturday for a take away. Take away pints and cocktails are always great too. Great atmosphere. Duende is especially nice during the summer when you can sit outside and you feel like you’re on holidays. I can’t recommend this place enough. My only complaint is the calamari isn’t on the menu anymore and it was delicious

The food and the desserts it was delicious... definitely, we will be back... staff is so friendly...

I don't normally review, however I felt I have to after what I witnessed. The food was really good, atmosphere was really good, however the way one of the staff treated a customer when they questioned their bill was terrible, she spoke to the customer in a terrible manner, I could understand why the customer got upset. I don't think I will be returning after the way I saw staff member abuse the customer over a question about their bill, I wouldn't want to be treated that way if I had a question about my bill.

Greeted at the door, plenty of choice in the menu, good food and drinks, affordable. Served quickly by very polite and smiling staff. Thank you for a great service

Apart from the food being excellent, the staff are incredible, always a pleasure to go to Duende!!! The only restaurant I can say I've gone back multiple times and the staff have been constantly amazing!!! Thank you for the incredible service and making us feel so welcome!! highly recommend this restaurant!! You will go home happy.

Great service, very friendly! Best meal in Ireland. Local place vs the tourist traps in Dublin. We went here twice while we stayed near Droghda before flying back home. Can’t recommend this place enough and the General Manager was so helpful and even made great recommendations of places to visit nearby

Delicious menu Great kids selection Friendly staff Dessert was fab Huge portions

Love this little gem! Our latest visit was last minute and the restaurant was full but staff were so accommodating and found us a table in a heated outdoor area. From the friendly staff to the delicious grub we were very happy leaving!! Highly recommend this place for food or a place to just meet friends for a couple of pints, the atmosphere is spot on.

Lovely meal on Saturday with friends. Place was hopping and quite packed so we asked for a table outside even though it was raining there was plenty of cover. Food top notch. Pizza a little salty but that was the only complaint. Such lovely staff..nothing too much trouble. Michelle was one of the staff members names but to be honest they were all as good as each other. To the owner, treasure them they are amazing. Will be back.

Very few places in Drogheda know who they are but not Duende! It knows who it is and it does it very well. Great food, great atmosphere and great staff and they know how to treat customers. I fully recommend this place for a fun night out with a group for that food, drink and atmosphere. For a town of c. 41,000 people that's populated with over priced chippers with fancy furniture, Drogheda is starved of recommendable places to eat. So a place this good is badly needed. Top spot! :-) You're very welcome Amy! 😊

Very nice place. Athmasphere was very good. The food was excellent and the staff must be the friendliest and most helpful I've ever experienced. They must pride themselves on this.

So glad Duende was recommended to us. A lovely, relaxed spot. I was told the Catalonian Chicken was good, that was an understatement 🤌 unfortunately they had run out of the potato bravas that accompany the dish but substituted for fries.. but just another reason to return. My husband had the buttermilk chicken burger which was also unreal. Staff were really friendly with just the right amount of attentativness ✅

I picked Duende Gastro Bar to have my bday, and it was the best choice. Very friendly staffs, tasty food, and caipirinha to drink. All of us agreed to go back there. Thank you folks to made my day more than special 😉

Fantastic food & Service. David (I hope I didn't butcher his name) was our waiter, an absolute gentleman, Sarah served us drinks also. Staff are fantastic. will be back soon.

Food and drink was delicious, the waiters on hand were so nice and helpful, music was lively and brought a nice atmosphere to the place. The only thing that cost the restaurant a star was the delay in food between ordering, starters and mains (at least 30 mins each -- keeping in mind its a Bank Holiday Monday). It wouldn't deter me from returning however.