Excellent food (and history also) make a visit to new Probys Kitchen well worthwhile. This area is where Cork was founded

Excellent food (and history also) make a visit to new Probys Kitchen well worthwhile. 

This area is where Cork was founded: city's oldest bridge,  the bastion (17th cen.) and cathedral (18th cen.)

Best ever!

You can enjoy superb food and brush up on your knowledge of Corh history when you call into the new Probys Kitchen.

We enjoyed two excellent main courses when we visited  last week. Probys, on a former quay of the same name (though with an apostrophe), is also a few yards from French’s Quay.

Re-enactment at fort

No shortage of historic sites adjacent to the restaurant as both Elizabeth Fort (the city’s seventeenth-century star-shaped bastion) and the late 18th-century Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral (with its three spires and golden angel) are neighbours. The cathedral is the most recent of a series of religious structures on a site where Cork’s patron Saint Finbarr built his church in the 7th century, a church that led to a city that celebrated 800 years in 1985.

Delicious!

This venture is led by Marianne and Denis from Café Gusto & Liberty Grill, along with Pat Browne, formerly of Ballymaloe Cookery School. They say: “Probys Kitchen shares the same commitment to fresh, seasonal, and healthy food made from scratch, as in our other establishments, with a focus on a shared passion for a sustainable future. All menus are offered in-house or click & collect. We recommend booking in advance on our booking page.’

Probys start with breakfast, then lunch from 12 midday Monday to Friday, with brunch on weekends from 11 am. The three menus offer something for all kinds of eaters: meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans have more than the usual token dishes available. Fish eaters will look in vain though that could well change when the planned extension to evening dining comes about.

While most of the produce is sourced locally, the style of cuisine is broad-ranging. Influences and flavours from around the globe, mostly Mediterranean and Asian, and includes influences from Japan, Vietnam, and Italy, and spices like Saffron, Harissa and Chili. If you are in for breakfast or weekend brunch, you may want to try the Coconut French Toast - I certainly would!

On to our picks. The Quiche, one of the vegetarian options, featured Warm Leek, feta and Cavolo Nero with seasonal leaves; the side of roasties was well worth the few euro extra. Another superb plateful, inviting to the eye, appetising and very satisfying indeed. CL was delighted, proclaiming it as the best quiche ever, all for €14.40.

I rarely miss out on an opportunity to try anything from O’Mahony’s Butchers so my pick was the Featherblade On Sourdough with O'Mahony's beef, horseradish cream, watercress & roasties (16.50). 

This wasn’t your usual “wheel” of pulled beef and came with a steak knife. Not much need for the knife as the meat was tender and delicious. The watercress was just one element in an inviting salad and crunchy coleslaw, while the roasties were enlivened by herbs and garlic and the horseradish cream added another tasty delight.

We finished off with two of their three desserts (an Apple, blackberry & almond cake and a Salted caramel meringue roulade) and a couple of cups of coffee. Service was friendly all through. They have a full range of coffee pours from Espresso to Latte, also Barrys Tea and Fruit Teas and no shortage of soft drinks either.

Proby's and the cathedral.

Just four wines, one sparkling and three stills (rosé, white and red, all available by the bottle, carafe or glass). Had I been drinking, my pick would have been the ERA Montepulciano d’Abruzzo which is imported by Mary Pawle and recently highly recommended on the blog.

And speaking of wine, I’m reminded of another piece of local history here. French's Quay is named after James French, who was a wine merchant in Cork in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and was Mayor of Cork in 1696. His business interests dovetailed with his civic activities as he frequently supplied the wine which was drunk by the city fathers on festive occasions. I think if he were around these days he’d be trying to get on the Probys list!

South Gate Bridge