Goldie Sure Has That Swing. O🐟ial!

Goldie Sure Has That Swing. 

O🐟ial! 

Pannacotta

You can have the best produce. The best equipment in the kitchen. The most comfortable seating. A stellar wine list. All those won't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. 

And Goldie’s Aishling Moore sure has that swing. She gives it everything she’s got and her food sings. Cool or hot, the rhythm is on the spot, taking customers to a different level every single visit and each and every dish.

Just a few years on the scene in the heart of Cork City and Goldie has built a unique reputation for the quality of its fish dishes. But it is not all fish here. There are some very tempting vegetarian dishes and those desserts strike, well let us caress, those sweet spots. Even Michelin agrees. Goldie has a Bib Gourmand and is also on its latest list of the best places to go for seafood in Ireland.

Aishling is quite a conductor, often composing as she goes. The menu changes daily. “Whatever the small boats bring us, we take. We forage on the local coast for sea vegetables and seaweed.”

And there’s some singing in the background too. West Cork’s Singing Frog Gardens are prominent on the menu. Lots of herbs, even wasabi on the cured plaice. That wasabi is of course local and other local suppliers include Rossmore Oysters, Churchfield Community Gardens, Cuinneog (Mayo), East Ferry poultry, Bushby Strawberries, St Tola cheese, Achill island salt and more..

Our server has a warm welcome for us and gives us an enthusiastic run through the menu, highlighting the Red Mullet Anchovies in the Snacks, the Cured Plaice in the 5 Small Plates and the three fish in the 5 Mains.

Schnitzel 

We take our time as we make our choices. The Rossmore Oysters for me and the Cod Tail Schnitzel for CL along with a glass of the Angel Stout and Elbow Lager (both made across the road by the Elbow Lane microbrewery, part of the Market Lane group as is Goldie). 

Aishling tells us the beers chosen are just perfect for the small plates. Small? In quantity, I suppose the word fits. But the quality is stratospheric! Those oysters, with the Singing Frog lemongrass and ginger granita, are the best I have ever tasted. Quite a beginning, zing and swing.

Monkfish

Stout

And CL’s Cod Tail Schnitzel is also out of the usual orbit, that soy-cured egg yolk, along with a celeriac and gherkin remoulade, enhancing the flattened cod. I got a taste,  delicious flavours, stole another and had to stop at that for fear of retaliation!

Now for the mains, not too easy to relegate the Pan Roast Turbot with Churchfield herb panisse but we choose the Pan Fried Plaice and the Panfired Monkfish.

CL’s Plaice came with Singing Frog Courgette and a chicken and miso butter sauce. Again, everything was just perfect, the courgette a surprising enhancement along with the sauce. Not forgetting some of the shared side of Sea Salt Shoestring Chips (say that quickly!).

Plaice

Panaeng is a lovely mild curry named after tropical Penang and that was what my Monkfish came in, along with a tasty sunflower seed relish. The Panaeng can be spiced up with chillis but this was perfect as it was and the whole dish was another hit from the Goldie repertoire. Just to mention that those fries were also top-class.

Desserts are often an afterthought if they are thought of at all, in many restaurants, and you often have the usual suspects to choose from and nothing innovative in sight. Not here. Even though the list is short, just three, they are rather special.

A duo of sweet beauties highlighted the finalé, with Rosscarbery fruit growers, Bushbys, featuring deliciously in both. Mine was the Singing Frog basil pannacotta with Bushby’s strawberry sorbet and meringue. What an ensemble! And CL’s was another hit from the Goldie playlist, a beautiful combination of the St Tola cheese ice cream, with Bushby raspberries and beetroot molasses. 

We relaxed, serene in foodie Nirvana. Very Highly Recommended. Very well priced also, by the way. Put it on your list and put this song on your playlist!

St Tola

“Yes, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing

Well, it don't mean a thing, all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm everything you got”

(It Don't Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills)

Schnitzel seems to be having a moment on menus. Excellent example at Jacques.

Schnitzel seems to be having a moment on menus. Excellent example at Jacques

Schnitzel 

Schnitzel seems to be having a moment on restaurant menus. I came across the dish, which may be of Austrian or German origin, in Harrow^ in Killarney in March, in Westport’s Pantry & Corkscrew^^ in April and last week at Jacques in Cork. The first two were pork while the Cork version had chicken. 

Veal and other meats (even turkey) may be used. Early last year, in The Tannery, they served a Quail schnitzel (with green peppercorn and wild garlic butter, seasonal vegetables) as a starter.

Scallops

Not the only little surprise in Jacques as they have been doing wines on tap for close to a year now, saying this is one of freshest and environmentally friendly ways to serve and drink it. "The wines come in kegs which maintain the wines' integrity and waste due to spoilage is significantly reduced. Also, the environmental impact of importing bulk wine is far better in terms of emissions."

They have five on offer, two white (well, one of those is an ”orange” Grüner Veltliner), two reds (a Tempranillo from Castille and a Sangiovese from Montepulciano. And there’s also an organic, Low Intervention Blanc De Blanc Frissant by Maison Idiart of Provence.

From the tap, we enjoyed a Spanish white, Verdejo by Los Aljibes, crisp and balanced, tropical nose and lingering finish. Easy drinking and good with Snitzel! Before all that we had a warm welcome from Jacque herself and her staff (including one of our own third generation), so we felt very much at home, as we always do here.

Back to the Schnitzel. I've rarely seen it on an Irish menu previously but Schnitzel is tenderised meat covered in breadcrumbs and fried until golden and crispy. That’s the basic description but the word could well start quite a debate if you have a German and an Austrian talking about it!

Strawberries!

The Jacques dish is Chicken Schnitzel, White Cabbage, Pickled Vegetable, Rustic Potatoes, with "My Goodness" Red Cabbage and it is delicious, made more so by the inspired accompaniment of crunchy cabbage, the tang of the pickled veg and that gorgeous Red Cabbage by My Goodness. Lots of flavours, a great piece of chicken and some very pleasant, crunchy veg. A long way from some of the examples I got while staying at 3-star country hotels in Austria about 20 years ago, pork everywhere and most of it tough.

CL also had a mid-European touch in her mains: Seared Castletownbere Scallops, Cauliflower, Sweet & Sour Onion, Nuts, Caherbeg Blackpudding, Raisins, Crispy Rosti. Not exactly the same Rosti as you'd typically get in Switzerland but a good one and the by now classic combination of scallops and black pudding (both from West Cork) came up trumps again.

Arancini

And I would finish with another West Cork classic: Bushby Strawberries, Vanilla Ice Cream, Elderflower, and Praline Crumb. Hard to beat Bushbys when it comes to top-quality flavoursome strawberries and, by the way, the Jacques serving is generous. And, at the other side of the table, CL was humming away as her Boozy Tiramisu vanished off the plate!

We had started well also, CL with Arancini Balls stuffed with Toonsbridge Scamorza & Beef Cheek, Tomato & Pepper Salsa. We met Toby from Toonsbridge at his stall in Midleton the following Saturday and picked up some more of his fabulous produce (including fresh pasta and a Garlic Scape & Parsley Pesto). 

Artichoke & Beetroot starter

My starter at Jacques was the marvellous Artichoke, Lemon, Tahini, Roast Beetroot, Mushroom stuffed Aubergines, Crispy Spiced Chickpeas, a stunning assemblage of top-notch produce, more or less the theme for what would follow for the rest of the meal.

Top-class food and an efficient and friendly crew taking care of us!

^Schnitzel at Harrow, Killarney. The full description is Pork Schnitzel, Celeriac Purée, Herb and Parmesan Dressing, and Celeriac Slaw with Jus. A hearty flavoursome dish to watch out for if you visit.

^^Schnitzel at Pantry & Corkscrew Westport: Herb Crusted Andarl Farm Free Range Pork Schnitzel, Pancetta & Parmesan Cream, Potato, Fennel and Butternut Hash. Crispy and tasty, full of flavour and texture and the potato and sauce enhanced the whole dish. A big thumbs up for this one.

Jacques and the outdoor city. Dining out on the banks of the Lee.

 Jacques and the outdoor city. Dining out on the banks of the Lee. 

A delicious meal in Jacques last Thursday, was book-ended by a two-part walk around part of the city as Corkonians packed the many outdoor dining spaces that have sprung up in recent weeks.

Started by Thompsons in MacCurtain Street, then Isaacs. Greenes and Cask have their own “outdoor space” and that too was busy. The Metropole had a shaded, almost hidden, line of tables. The Shelbourne Bar has always had a lively outdoor area and that is now slightly enlarged. And so it continues on both sides of the street, most notably Son of a Bun. No such joy though for Bridge Street, with Da Mirco and others frustrated and hoping for an early resumption of indoor dining.

Sliced gets the evening sun on Parnell Place

The Patrick Street space outside Le Chateau was packed. And then came the tight squeeze of Carey’s Lane where you had to watch your step while willingly giving the servers the right of way as they sought the clear path between the many tables from many restaurants and cafes. Harmony reigned in the tight spaces, no dissonant exchanges, just the soft jovial buzz of young and old enjoying the outdoors city. 

Rory Gallagher Square was similarly abuzz with diners and drinkers and busy too was very narrow French Church Street though the likes of Cafe Mexicana is temporarily shuttered.

Leaving aside, for this time, the busy Cornmarket Street, Washington Street, Popes Quay, so many other side streets and squares, we headed across Patrick Street to Princes Street which the whole world knows by now is the epicentre of outdoor dining in the city, certainly the best-covered of the streets. Now we were heading for Jacques on Oliver Plunkett Street and noticed quite a few pubs had seats out and those seats full.

Crab. And Bushbys

Had a quick look at Pembroke Street and that was busy too. Our destination was Phoenix Street and the original front entrance of Jacques and here we got a big and warm welcome from co-owners and co-founders Eithne and sister Jacque. Soon we were seated and studying the menu. You may also enter from the Oliver Plunkett Street door where Jacques have more outside tables.

And then a little coincidence. Hours earlier, Facebook showed me a memory from the same date (15th July) in 2017, of a crab and strawberry starter at Jacques. And yes, Crab and Strawberry featured again. The details: Fresh Castletownbere Crab Salad, Mixed Leaves, Bushby Strawberries and Mint (14.90).  Couldn’t resist going for this rather substantial starter again and was well satisfied with a super combination of tastes, textures and flavours. Lots of nibbles and small plates here, including Rossmore Oysters.

More Bushbys!

Lobster featured on the mains. Tempted by that for sure but since we had enjoyed it (as take-out) recently and also because I had been on a run of fish dishes, I decided to go with the lamb. I liked the description: Rump of Lamb Greek style (pink) in a crust of small seeds, green beans, tomato, olives, Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, and Crispy potatoes (28.00). I’ve been very happy indeed with some of my recent fish dishes and glad to report that the Jacques lamb was in that top class bracket as well, indeed one of the best lamb dishes I’ve come across in a long time. Very Highly Recommended.

I’ve also been delighted with recent desserts and that trend continued too at Jacques. Well, there’s never any hesitation if you read Bushbys on the menu: Bushby Strawberries, Vanilla ice-cream and honeycomb (7.50). Superb. Those Bushbys are the best and brought a lovely meal in the urban outdoors to a sweet conclusion!

The outdoor "dining room" of Princes Street

As it happened, our Jacques table was directly opposite the space between Crane Lane and Arthur Mayne and I got a close up of that well-weathered timber door and the old brick steps that lead into that space (an long-standing sheltered, outdoor alley that has long been used for dining and drinking). That doorway by the way is now used as exit only and, in fairness, every customer that I saw approach read the notice and went back to enter via the Pembroke Street door of Arthur Maynes. Both places are under the Cork Heritage pubs umbrella and also had tables on Phoenix Street.

The sturdy door and brickwork at Crane Lane/Arthur Maynes

The sun was still strong as we two happy customers left our Jacques table and headed for a stroll and a look at Oliver Plunkett Street diners, lots of them, especially at the junction of the street with Caroline Street, many people enjoying the offerings of Jacques, the Oliver Plunkett itself, Cafe 115 and the Old Oak. And then another smaller concentration of diners outside the doors of Goldie, Elbow Lane and their mothership Market Lane. And a glance up Maylor Street revealed even more outdoor tables and diners!

Keep on keeping on. Hands mural at Harley's Street

We crossed the Mary Elmes bridge (lots of plastic bottles on the deck by the seating - didn’t spot any bin) to Patrick’s Quay. I had heard about the Harley’s Street market but didn’t expect it to be open in the evening. But open it was and busy too as customers lined up for smaller bites plus coffees from the likes of Taco Rebel, Bevs and Brews, and BBQ pop-up Bird Song and others.

Our stroll around was now coming to an end as we crossed MacCurtain Street and headed for the hills!

Leeside

You'll Find Jacques Always On The Sunny Side Of The Street

You'll Find Jacques Always On The Sunny Side Of The Street

There may be less covers in Jacques these days but the menu is still expansive as the popular Oliver Plunkett Street restaurant hasn’t followed the trend that sees less options available to the diner. No shortage of choice at all when we called for lunch last Wednesday, everything from soup to ribeye, from toasties to fish and chips. And much more in between with most tastes and budgets catered for.

Hands sanitised, we were soon seated in a comfortable corner by the window and, after the usual warm welcome, were studying the long menu. The salads looked very tempting indeed: Baked Ham Salad with Ballinrostig Cheese, the Roast Beetroot Salad with Knockalara Sheeps Cheese (this was just one dish underlining a great loyalty between Jacques and their suppliers), and the Fresh Crab and Bushby Strawberries.

We would have those luscious strawberries in the dessert. And what a dessert! The Almond Meringue, Custard and those Bushby Strawberries (perhaps the last of them for this season) sent us off into the sunny afternoon in great form. And that form was also boosted by a terrific cup of coffee, Maher’s of course. After all, Maher’s are next door neighbours!

Regulars were rolling in as we engage with our mains. CL choose the Pan Fried Plaice, Hollandaise, Seasonal veg, and Ballycotton Queens. Those buttered up Queens were a highlight, the broccoli cooked to perfection (not too hard, not too soft) as was the fish itself while the sauce was served on the side (always a good idea as it leaves the diner in control).

I had been seriously looking at the cheeseboard, all for myself: Cashel Blue, Durrus Classic and Ballinrostig Gold, with sourdough crispbread and drunken figs! It’s also an end of meal option. In the event though, I picked another favourite: Italian Meatballs, Tomato, Spaghetti, Basil and Parmesan. Usually a superb combination of flavour and texture. It was all that here and more!

Jacques have also have a huge choice of drinks. Earlier in the week, I spotted on their Instagram that they now have some of the beers from the German Brewery called And Union. The one featured in the photo was a Wheat Beer called Wednesday, quite appropriate since we were in on a Wednesday! They have a beer for every day of the week (and more) and you’ll note that the And Union bottles and cans come in one solid colour - Wednesday is yellow, Tuesday is blue....

Anyway, this Wednesday Weiss is easy drinking with perhaps not so much clove in the aromas as you might expect, more vanilla and banana. This traditional German beer is a hazy gold and smooth and rich in the mouth. 

Sisters Jacque and Eithne Barry started Jacques over 40 years ago. “..we still love it, still driven by food, by people. It's a good way to earn a crust. Over the years we have built up a great network of growers, farmers, cheesemakers & small wine suppliers.” 

And the customers keep coming back for the honest and unpretentious food, well sourced, well cared for and cooked to the highest standard and, mask or no mask, served with the friendliest of smiles.

Maybe I should have had this Crab and Strawberry salad!
Probably would have had it had I seen this on their Instagram earlier.

They have a website here but if you want the most up to date info (and these Covid days, it can change) you’d be best advised to keep an eye on their Instagram page where you’ll see menus and so on. Do note that, though you’ll see otherwise, even on Insta, that they are now open on Wednesdays (from noon til late).

Jacques Restaurant

23 Oliver Plunkett Street*

Cork

Tel: 021 4277387

*They have a second entrance in Phoenix Street at the other side of the block.

And Union - Noreast