Chef Greg Expands Brook Inn Repertoire After Kerridge Stage

Chef Greg Expands Brook Inn Repertoire After Kerridge Stage

The Brook Inn in Sallybrook (Glanmire) has recently been included in a couple of national guides but Head Chef Greg Murphy is not resting on his laurels. Every year he seeks to improve the offering and this year is no exception as he completed a stage* with Tom Kerridge of the famous Michelin two star “Hand and Flowers” pub in London.

Greg supports local suppliers including Tom Durcan, Gubbeen Smokehouse, Carrigaline Cheese, Rathcooney Fruit Farm Strawberries, and the Green Field Farm. And he is a big fan of the English Market.

Glazed Omelette

I met Greg when I was back in the Brook last week to check out the new menus and straight away noticed the Glazed Omelette “Tom Kerridge”, smoked haddock, with aged Parmesan cheese. Well, that was my starter and an excellent one it was.

But regulars needn’t worry. It is not all Kerridge. You’ll still have your steak, lamb, chicken and fish and other dishes for which the Brook is well known. There are a whole range of menus here including A La Carte, Set Dinner, Early Bird, Tapas, Breakfast/brunch, Finger Food and, this time of year, BBQ!

Hake

Tom Durcan’s spiced beef featured on CL’s starter, a superb plate that came with pickled Enoki mushrooms, baby potatoes, olive oil, pea cress and red cabbage purée. Looked well and tasted even better.

Quite a wine list here too, many of your favourite countries and varieties listed. I enjoyed a fresh and interesting Pecorino, an organic wine from Italy that matched well with the fish.

A grilled fillet of hake was my main course, accompanied by a spinach and basil velouté, charred lemon gel, mussels, brown butter gnocchi, and hazelnut. Well cooked, well presented and every ingredient played a role in a superb dish.

Dessert

CL’s pick was the Grilled breast of chicken, southern fried leg, leek, onion dressing, salt baked celeriac, purée Tarragon cream. The fried leg added an extra dimension to another excellent combination. By the way, there are a number of sides available and, yes, those Triple Cooked Chips are outstanding! 

After all that, we decided to share a dessert: West Cork Cream, with honeycomb and a champagne sorbet. Easy to dispatch and delicious! And a lovely end to a lovely meal. Excellent produce, top notch cooking and a friendly and efficient service from start to finish in a very comfortable room.

Chicken

The Brook Inn is easily found, on the road from Glanmire to Watergrasshill. It will be on your left, a well maintained building with lots of flowers at this time of year. There are a few parking spaces in the front while the main car park is at the rear. See the map here. 

* A stage (French word) is an unpaid internship when a chef works briefly (usually for a few weeks), for free, in another chef's kitchen to learn new techniques and cuisines.