Aroi open beautiful new Asian restaurant in Carrigaline

Aroi open beautiful new Asian restaurant in Carrigaline

Aroi returned to Cork in some style with last Wednesday’s “soft” opening of their beautiful new restaurant in Carrigaline. 

Don’t be fooled by the narrow frontage (just south of the bridge on the main street). When you walk in, you gasp at the high ceiling, the comfortable booths and the row of high tables. And more of the sparkling pleasing decor is revealed as you walk further into the long, narrow and high space and you realise they also have a large room upstairs (and more space outside when the weather turns warmer in the spring).

Salmon

Aroi had a popular restaurant in Cork’s Huguenot Quarter up to a few years ago when a fire knocked them out.  The Carrigaline outlet is linked to their Kilkenny
venue.

We were guests at the soft opening and it took us quite a while to read the extensive menu. They’ve got dishes from Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Menu heading include nibbles, starters, soups, and salads. Mains include Signature, Rice, Curry, Stir Fried, Grilled, Wok Noodles. And yes they do desserts as well!

Sitting comfortably in our booth and sipping a couple of beers ( one Asian and one non alcoholic Italian), we finally made our choices.

My starter was the Kajang Satay, their “authentic recipe from the town of Kajang in Malaysia, Chicken thigh meat skewer marinated with local spice served with peanut sauce”. Three pieces of top quality chicken, along with the well-known sauce and some raw veg (including cucumber sticks) was quite a treat.

Our other starter was their Porpia Bpet Tod (Crispy homemade Duck spring roll served with sweet chilli). Another Asian gem, lifted by the sweet chilli dip. 

All starters are reasonably priced, between six and seven euro. Most of the mains are under fifteen euro except for the signature dishes which range from 16.50 to 18.50.

Duck

The Teriyaki Salmon (€17) is Baked sesame-crusted Salmon Teriyaki on a bed of wok-fry Asian green vegetables, ginger, garlic garnished with pickled ginger. That was one of our choices. A lovely well-cooked piece of fish. The sauce came in its own little bowl so you choose how much you wanted yourself which is handy. Amazing how they (Asian restaurants in general) always seem to get these green vegetables spot-on.

The salmon came with brown rice while my bowl was full of jasmine rice. My main was Isaan style Crispy Roast Duck (14.00). This was Sliced half Duck cooked to perfection, bedded on top of those marvellous Asian green vegetables with tamarind sauce. Full of flavour and aromatic and very satisfying indeed!

Quite a satisfying occasion overall with the management and the new recruits getting to know the dishes and all doing very well indeed. Well worth checking out! They have room, lots of it and, at present, can seat somewhere between 120 and 140. And, genuinely, the food is excellent, well priced with lots of variety. And I almost forgot to mention, there’s a large selection of Asian Cocktails, no shortage of wine, plenty of beer and also the local Stonewell Cider.

From Carrigaline Towards Crosshaven. Walking on an old railway line.

 From Carrigaline Towards Crosshaven.

Walking on an old railway line.

(While waiting for car to be serviced!)

Looking back towards Carrigaline from the start of the estuary.
There are a few seats here.

All aboard!

The River Owenabue (also Owenaboy) flows in to the estuary here in Carrigaline and
the mixed waters make their way to Crosshaven.

Near the start of the walk

The last train ran along the  line on 10th September 1932. 

Cowslips on the margins of the walk.

Bread's not good for ducks! More advice here on feeding wild birds in a recent article on RTE.ie.

Pics taken 11.05.2021

SOUTH AUSTRALIA GEMS FROM MORAMBRO CREEK

Click to enlarge

SOUTH AUSTRALIA GEMS FROM MORAMBRO CREEK

Brad Rey, Brand Manager at Morambro Creek, the home of Jip Jip Rocks and Mt Monster, was at Karwig Wines in Carrigaline last Wednesday and oversaw one of the most fascinating tastings I’ve ever been at.

And it wasn't just because of the wines, which included a few surprises for this punter and were all of outstanding quality, that I’ll remember Brad. It was mostly for his convictions about wine and his common sense.

The Canadian born and raised Brad brought a breath of fresh Rockies air to the proceedings.

 “Most of New World Chardonnay..is concocted crap.”

“Oak shouldn't be the dominant characteristic. Wine is made from grapes and should taste of the fruit.”

“The earth is like a tea bag. All that grows in the vicinity...elephant fennel, wild rosemary..eucalyptus..finds its way in.....and ends up in the glass.”

“Don't wash your wine glass with water (fluoride in Ireland!). Wash it with wine, maybe bottled water.”

There were three sparklers on the table. A Mt Monster brut, an easy drinker, something like an “Aussie Cremant” was the first. Then came the Jip Jip Cuvee from 2009. Very pleasant indeed and again easy drinking.

Brad maintains that Aussie sparklers are on the up and up. They were up too, many moons ago. They’ve been making them since 1890s and they were extremely popular in Oz in the early 1900s, then seemed to lose their way but are now on the firmly on the way back.

And the third sparkler seemed to confirm this. It was Jip Jip Rocks Shiraz, a medium bodied mouth friendly wine. A very pleasant surprise indeed and Brad recommended using it with pork or duck or “anything you’d use Pinot Noir with”. Must try that.

After knocking much of the New World Chardonnay, Brad opened his own bottle. “I try to let the fruit speak, let Mother Nature do the job.” And this unoaked bottle spoke the fruit. Gorgeous and refreshing with a little richness added through limited contact with the lees, perhaps another lesson from the Loire which Brad knows and likes.

And France was in his mind too when making the Jip Jip 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. Citrusy and soft, fresh and clean and well balanced, made that way because Brad doesn't like high acidity.

He was delighted with his Mt Monster Shiraz of 2008. “Good, the way I want to see it. Very minimal oak. May be served slightly chilled. It is light fruit, blueberries and raspberries and the tannins are fruit tannins. This is about balance and reminds me of the joven I used to make in Spain.”

Then we moved on to a more traditional Shiraz, the 2009 Jip Jip, a multi medal winner that has spent quite a while in 2, 3 and 4 year old French oak. But the oak doesn't dominate. “Drink it on its own; it is easy drinking.”

He was quite proud of the next one also as it has been his “first go” at Morambro Creek Shiraz. This 2008 had been in 20% US oak but from now on it will be 100% French barriques. The annual spend on oak is now massive, well over a million Australian dollars. Good wine, though!

The finish was a beautiful Mt Monster Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. No oak, lovely and bright, not heavy, tannins enough and easy drinking, according to Brad who admitted to being “chuffed by that”. Remember, Brad hasn’t seen most of these wines for a while as they are long gone from Morambro.

The fennel is in here, fresh mint, cassis, blue and red fruits, all in a rich texture with velvety tannins. It has been getting a great reaction.

Morambro is certainly a name (three names really) to watch out for and to make it easier, you can get all three at Karwig Wines.

KARWIG VISIT

KARWIG VISIT

Enjoyed yesterday’s visit to Karwig Wines. To the real shop in Carrigaline, that is.

If you visit the website, you’ll see that there is 20% off on an inviting selection of Rosés, a selection that includes tempters from the South of France, such as Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé . 


I was tempted by that (over a fiver off) but, having tasted a string of Provencal beauties this summer, I picked the Domaine Houchart Cotes de Provence. Marcus Gates was helping me make the choices at this point and he says that the rosés have been flying this summer and the offer will continue for quite a while yet.

He is delighted with them and also with my next choice: Chateau Haut Mirambet Entre-Deux-Mers 2010. The first one on my list was Kerpen Riesling Blauschiefer 2010. I had really enjoyed the 2009 version of this and Marcus reckons the current one is every bit as good, maybe better.

Had a chat then with Emilie Moore who was very proud of their Sardinian selection and now I’m looking forward to trying the Cannonau di Sardegna 2008 and also the Riserva 2007. The wines are produced by Sella and Mosca and the grape is 100% Cannonau.

Sorry not to see Joe and Betty around the place today and we all hope to see them both back in full action soon.