James Whelan Butchers Courts Cork Consumers In Dunnes Stores Douglas

James Whelan Butchers Courts Cork Consumers In Dunnes Stores Douglas

James Whelan Butchers is one of the star attractions at the recently revamped Food Hall in Douglas Court Shopping. Pizzalist, Sheridan’s Cheese, Offbeat Donuts, and Sushi Gourmet, to name a few, are also vying to stop you from going hungry!

Whelans are well known for their quality, and shoppers at Bishopscourt will attest to that. Amazingly, this Douglas venture is the 14th shop for the Tipperary family-run business. The shop will create over 20 new jobs and is part of a state-of-the-art facility at Dunnes Stores; their operation here is quite similar to Whelans in Bishopstown Court.

We got to Douglas last week and made a beeline for Whelans. Pat Whelan told me, when they made their debut at Bishopstown Court, that retail is all about choice. Well, you've got choice and competition in Douglas. Whelan's has shelves packed with temping meat offers, and you can see the butchers hard at work on the tables and blocks behind glass at the back.

Meatballs in Penne Pasta

Quite hard to make up your mind, but we were looking for something handy for a midweek dinner and settled on an 8-pack of Mamma’s Meatballs (€8.99), dry-aged Irish beef balls smothered in a delicious herb and tomato sauce. And topped with cheese. They also do a 4-pack. The meat, accompanied by Pernne Pasta, gave us a very tasty dinner indeed.

We also bought a butterflied leg of lamb, but that will be in the freezer until the weekend. I obviously can't tell you too much about it, but I am highly confident that it will meet the high Whelan standard. Whelan's try and make sure you make the best of your purchases. Their website has recipes for virtually every cut, many on video! A terrific resource. Have a look here.

The next call was to Sheridan’s Cheese, which has a very impressive set-up indeed, again quite similar to that at Bishopstown Court. Delighted to see that they sell smaller portions of many of the cheeses, and we bought and enjoyed some Wicklow Baun Brie (€2.32) and also a wee wedge (4.37) of Tomme de Savoie (a mountain cheese that we often bought when on holidays in France and one that kept the kids happy).

The next question was, what’s for lunch? Well, the answer was very close at hand, and it was all displayed on the tempting counters of Pizzalist. The company is already in Dunnes Stores in Galway. The offerings include "a vast variety of pizzas from the most traditional to the most original. Choose from our nine types of Pizza Rossa (with pizza sauce), seven types of Pizza Bianca (without pizza sauce), seven types of Pizza Fantasia (our special pizzas) or create your own special pizza with four toppings of your choice."

Parmigiana

From the intriguing Fantasia list, we picked the Parmigiana (Pizza sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, Aubergines, Parmesan, Basil Leaves and Garlic Oil). Other choices included Rustica, Cinque Terre, and Nutella. A slice cost us €4.75. 

Caprese sandwich in Focaccia

They also had a section of focaccia "Sandwiches", and the Caprese (5.45) appealed. At home an hour later, we gave them a run in the microwave and enjoyed both, though the Parmigiana was voted the tastier of the two! By the way, if you like your lunch on the move, they will heat them for you. 

This was my first visit to the superb food hall. It won't be the last!