Wonderful Tasting Menu in Rare with chefs Meeran and Chad showcasing the Autumn bounty of Cork and Kerry

Wonderful Tasting Menu in Rare with chefs Meeran and Chad showcasing the Autumn bounty of Cork and Kerry

Teamwork. Concentration from chefs Meeran (right) and Chad (centre)

An rud is annamh is iontach!

Thought I might start with an old Irish proverb: what’s rare is wonderful.

And Kinsale’s Rare 1784 was certainly wonderful last Thursday night when Head Chef Meeran Manzoor and guest Chef Chad Byrne (Brehon Hotel) served up a six course festival of local food in one of the most comfortable dining rooms around.

Lots of nationalities involved in the kitchen and out front, including Rebel Cork and the Kingdom, plus a Rare crew that has people from India and Brazil and from places in between.

Chad, also well known for The Hungry Donkey food truck, brought a treasure trove of goodies from Kerry to the Blue Haven’s premier restaurant, including some of the finest cured and dried meats from Olivier in Dingle, Eileen’s black pudding from Annascaul, the famous Ardfert spuds, Wilma’s cheese, Venison from Beaufort, Wild Sloes and Cromane mussels.

Meeran, of course, has his finger on the pulse of all that’s best in Cork, particularly the growers and fishermen in and around Kinsale, and also adds a well judged touch of his native India. Both chefs and their crew were visible through a large window to the kitchen. They didn’t stay there, coming out regularly to detail the dishes and have a conversation or two with the tables.

And it wasn’t just in the kitchen that Rare excelled. The front of house team, led by restaurant manager Charlie, were busy but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have the odd chat with you. They came to the tables with big smiles, informal but on the ball, you never had to ask for water (or something stronger!).

Cheese, black pudding, potato

Quite a wine list! We started with two engaging whites. One was Carallan Albarino, a fine example of the wine of Rias Baixas,  quite pronounced on both the nose and fruity palate, excellent with the lighter dishes. The zesty Diez Siglos Verdejo, vibrant and intense, from Rueda (the home of the grape), paired well also with the earlier plates.

Love my BoJo

Later we moved on to two stunning reds. Gamay is always on my radar and I plumped for the organic Les Pépites Gneiss, fresh, fruity and nicely spicy. Big thumbs up for that and the same from the other side where CL renewed acquaintance with the multi-grape aromatic, fruity and intense (perfect with venison) Quinta do Judeu.

The dining started with the Organic Kerry Wild Meat Board (by Olivier), all kinds of tastes and textures (that soft goat chorizo!) and all superb. Then on to Jamie’s Oyster from nearby Oysterhaven, beautifully presented and accompanied by Alexander’s Jelly and a Ginger Beer Foam. Jamie’s oysters never disappoint and here the jelly and the foam enhanced it.

Scallop, Sole

And the plates just kept getting better. Eileen’s Annascaul Black Pudding made a huge tasty contribution as it combined with the renowned Ardsallagh Goats Cheese on an Ardfert potato skin!

Up next came the fish, a  two part perfectly cooked wonder with Union Hall Sole and Scallop in a Vol-au-Vent with a little Yuzu in the bisque. Chef Chad: “..really tasty dish of bang in season gear”.

Venison

Chocolate

For me the star course of the superb meal came with the Beaufort venison: Sika Deer, Cromane Mussels and Roasted Celeriac. The deer had been roasted for six to seven hours and was beautifully flavoured. The sloe jus was just amazing, a great fit with the meat. And that meat was as tender as can be, yielding easily to the blade of our  “chopper” knife!

A wee pause then before dessert came and that too was rather special: Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Kulfi. Meeran’s dark chocolate walnut cremeux was enhanced by Achill seasalt and Szechuan caramel and crunchy bits. Kulfi is a no-churn Indian ice cream. And there was also an Indian twist to the Petit Four that came in a mini-treasure chest!

Petit Fours

Quite a wonderful meal and occasion in Rare and there’s a promise of more. So do keep an eye on their socials!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RareKinsale 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RareKinsale

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rarekinsale/

Nash 19 Takes Night Shift In Its Stride

 Nash 19 Takes Night Shift In Its Stride

Highlights on every corner from the 
Apple Mint (bottom right) to the Pickled Mushroom (top left)

Princes Street, and its many and varied restaurants and cafes, was quick to adopt outdoor dining and rapidly became the country’s poster child for the Covid enforced change to the undependable Irish exterior. 

We had our first visit there on Culture Night and it turned into an evening of delectation under the shelters of Nash 19 and owner Claire Nash.  Just the day before, Nash was awarded by the Georgina Campbell Awards as the person to represent being “the very best of community”, acknowledging Claire’s part in leading the Princes Street charge and in changing her dynamic daytime enterprise to an equally energetic day and night star.

Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Basil

It was a double change for Nash, from daytime to night time and from indoors to outdoors. And immediately, they saw and began to work on the possibility of innovation that the double move allows. And it isn’t that Nash 19 just tagged along with the existing evening menus. No, if you know Claire, you know they jumped straight to the front and the menu is right on trend with a slew of small plates and no sectional guidance that you should follow the old three course pattern. Hop in to the menu, forget tradition, go free style and enjoy yourself.

But if you do like the comfort of a big feed, and we all do from time to time, some of us more than others, then Nash 19 have you covered well on that front also.

Crispy Chicken Confit of Leg

Claire is rightly proud of the menu and delighted too with the mini-menu she had drawn up for the Culture Night event going on simultaneously in her Stern Gallery (in the backroom of the restaurant). That included the new vermouth by two sisters from Valentia Island and that was our first drop of the evening.

Nash 19 have quite a wine selection now, some fifty bottles, mostly organic, some natural, all low intervention and quite a few by the glass. There’s sparkling wine, rosé, red and white of course, and sweet to finish. We thought we’d have white and enjoyed a glass of Izadi Larrosa Blanc (a Garnacha blanca from Rioja) and one of Von Winning Weissburgunder (Pinot blanc from the Pfalz in Germany).  Glass prices vary from €6.50 to 11.50 in white, roughly similar in red.

Smokers Plate via Hederman

We were soon down to the food. CL’s first dish was the Seared Scallops with Annascaul Black Pudding and apple mint. Superlatives all around here, even that apple mint was outstanding and, in any case, CL is a big fan of the Kerry blackpudding. 

Plum dessert

Mine was the Frank Hederman Smokers Plate (another 14 euro dish). Hard to describe the mix on that plate, ineffable. Let us say it was a delicious mix of mussels, crab, and salmon, all given the unique Hederman touch in his harbourside smokehouse (decades old and now itself an integral part of the smoking process) and even that pickled cucumber by Nash kitchen was quite possibly the best of its type.

Round one may have been a knockout but we were ready for round two, along with what remained of our colourful and flavourful side of the gorgeous Heirloom Tomato and Purple Basil Salad. 

Nash have employed new tasters for this menu.
Illustration from the menu

And we did our delicious duty again. Mine was the Garryhinch Wild Mushroom Ragu on Sourdough Toast with a generous coating of Parmesan. And it came with a steak knife. Superb texture, moist temptation, hardly time to share a morsel or two as I fought back the urge to rush but instead took an unwavering steady stroll to satisfy my senses with its warmth and savour. All for 12 euro!

CL bit into her Crispy Chicken Confit of Leg with Korean Dressing and Charred Corn (also 12 euro) and her casual tongue was immediately stung into alertness by the Korean spice. But, once she got the various elements together, the spice became a key though not dominant facilitator of amazing flavour, and she was as happy as any diner on the busy street.

It wasn’t the only busy street on Friday as quite a few folks were out and about taking in the many events of Culture Night. We began heading back to our hill. We crossed the river and headed for Harley’s Street and its little market and found the place rammed, the crowd there enjoying the bites and exotic music. 

Great craic evident too at St Luke’s Cross with Henchy's and the wine bar the main venues. Lovely to see Culture Night back on the streets and hopefully the English Markets will be back at the heart of it next year.

Lemon Meringue

As is the case with Nash by Day, the Nash by Night Menu provides lots of variety, not just throughout the menu itself but also via its daily changes.

Valentia vermouth
& strollers

Our culture night menu started with a bunch of “small plates” of which no less than five were fish; we picked two and the others, just to give you a hint of what may be coming your way if you call in (and you should), are Irish Prawns with Sea Samphire, Wild Irish Tuna Sashimi, and a “Taste” of Monkfish Tempura. We had two of the non-fish small plates and the others was Ham Hock Terrine and Free Range Chicken Liver Paté.

After that, you are moving into more serious platefuls including Rib Eye of Beef, Pan Seared Hake, their familiar and always superb Producers Plate Tapas Style; also a local Charcuterie Board plus there’s a Heirloom Tomato Pasta Penne with Toonsbridge Feta and an Irish Cheese Board with Fig Confit. Descriptions have been abbreviated in these two paragraphs.

And there are sides of course. Our Heirloom Tomato and Purple Basil Salad was a super treat and others on offer were Fries (smoked butter, sea salt), Waterfall Green Leaf and Herb Salad, Mediterranean Olives or Salted Valentia Nuts, along with Bread, Seaweed Butter and Olive Oil (all at 4.50 aside from the tomatoes at 6.00).

Homeward bound

Grey’s Lane Bistro. Sign of a Good Meal!

Grey’s Lane Bistro. 
Sign of a Good Meal!

Looking for good food in Dingle? Here are the directions. Walk up Green Street, until you spot the Little Cheese Shop on your right. Turn right into the lane and right next door you’ll see Grey’s Lane Bistro*. Your search is over. And your enjoyment is about to begin. And that enjoyment will sometimes be enhanced by a little night music.

The town was buzzing during the food festival last weekend so I took the precaution of making an early booking. Grey’s Lane is popular and soon we saw why, on our plates! They have a great value Early Bird here but, since it was festival time, we picked from the A La Carte.

We had a lovely meal and were not inclined to go for dessert. But when the board came and we saw the Tuscan Plum Tart, resistance was low. Okay, we’ll share one. But, a bite or two later, and a second tart was ordered!

Smoked mackerel is appearing regularly on menus but hard to beat the way it came in my starter: Grilled smoked mackerel fillets with orange tabbouleh and salad. The grilled fish was so well matched with the lively tabbouleh and the salad itself was just gorgeously dressed. Much the same salad appeared also in the other starter:  Beetroot goats cheese and candied walnut salad, another delightful plate.

CL picked the Char-grilled breast of corn fed chicken, with Annascaul Black Pudding, chorizo and leek velouté, potatoes and vegetables, as her main plate and she did well. The flavour of the chicken was impeccable, the pudding added to the whole and the velouté, in its own little dish, was a gem.

Baked Cod with black olive tapenade and ratatouille was my mains and I was very happy by the time I'd finished it, every little bit. The fish was so white, moist and delicate, the tapenade, not bullying the flavours of the fish, was its perfect companion, and the ratatouille too was spot on.

Starters (left) and Mains

All the while we were sipping from a Moko Black Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, full of the freshness and flavours that are typical of the Marlborough region. The wine list is not the longest but it covers most grapes and countries and they also have a selection of craft beers along with a range of non alcoholic drinks.

Grey's Lane Bistro

+ 353 (0)66 915 2770

Grey's Lane Bistro,

Grey's Lane,

Dingle,

Co Kerry

laurence@greyslanebistro.com

http://www.greyslanebistro.com

Twitter: @greyslanebistro

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greyslanebistro

The bistro is open all day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for coffee/tea and sweet things too. Check their Facebook for current opening times as they'll change during the course of the year.

*** By the way, you will still see some references to Goat’s Lane Bistro. Don’t worry. The team were in Goat’s Lane but recently they moved to the bigger and brighter premises on Grey’s Lane.