CorkBilly’s Drinks Digest: Wines, Spirits and Beers. A Wolf in Town!

CorkBilly’s Drinks Digest

Wines, Spirits and Beers

At The Bierhaus Cork, this Thursday, 7.30pm

Wicklow Wolf X Anspach & Hobday (London) Tap-takeover. 

Meet the Wicklow Wolf Team & Anspach & Hobday owner/brewer (Jack Hobday) 

3 Beers from Wicklow Wolf 

3 Beers from Anspach & Hobday 

1 Collaboration beer 

Tastings promos on the night! Details on the Bierhaus Facebook page.

and if you want more Wicklow Wolf then you’ll find them teaming up with their friends Dungarvan Brewing Company at Dungarvan’s Merrys Gastro Pub for a 6 Course Beer Dinner, celebrating Irish Craft Beer on Friday the 23rd November.

Spanish Wine Evening at Rostellan Chocolate

Friday, November 30, 2018 at 7 PM – 9 PM

An evening of tasting 6 varieties of Spanish Wine with cheese and pates. Alejandro from Heart of Spain will present this event which promises to be a fantastic evening. Strictly limited tickets are on sale at an introductory price of €25 each. Contact Peter at 087 2908774 to purchase a ticket.

SuperValu Case Deal

Kate Barry of Barry & Fitzwilliam has been on to tell me about the terrific Villa Maria Case Deal exclusive to SuperValu.

6 different bottles of Villa Maria wine per case.  The RRP for the pack is €105 – it is on offer in selected SuperValu stores at €70.00

The Buy 6 Save €10 starts next Thursday 22^nd November and will run until December 24^th -  hence this will bring it down to €60.

Please note the Villa Maria Case Deal is a limited offer and once it’s gone it is gone!!

Mezze & wine pairings night in Ardkeen Quality Food Store. 

Join us at the Barista Bar in Ardkeen Quality Food Store on Saturday 24 November for a Mezze & wine pairings night. Husband and wife team Dvir and Nicola of Mezze (Waterford locals) will prepare an authentic Middle Eastern feast with shared plates using the amazing locally sourced produce from Ardkeen Quality Food Store. Experience casual authentic Middle Eastern dining, ideas of how to use local produce to prepare bright and vibrant foods, and learn which wines work best with Middle Eastern flavours - all chosen by resident expert Julie Ward.

Tickets include 4 course vegetarian meal with wine tastings and must be purchased in advance. 

Les Gourmandises have a Malbec wine & dinner on November 27th (7.00pm); details on their Facebook page.

Premium Irish whiskey tasting and 4 course tasting menu at Cronin’s Pub.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018 at 7:30 PM – 10 PM

"Join us in Cronin's Pub, Crosshaven for a premium Irish whiskey tasting and 4 course tasting menu. We will be joined by Irish Distiller's whiskey ambassador Michael Cowman. Each whiskey will be paired with a specially prepared tasting menu from the Mad Fish Kitchen at Cronin's Pub.

Be amongst the first to taste the newly launched Red Spot, 15 Year Old Single Pot Still, which was discontinued in the mid-1960s and now rejoins Green Spot and Yellow Spot in Irish Distillers’ Spot Whiskeys range. It has been created using an old recipe handed down by the Mitchell & Son family of wine merchants, who created the original Spot Whiskeys in the early 1900s. We will be tasting this alongside Yellow Spot 12 Year Old.

This will be a night to remember! Starts at 7.30pm. Tickets must be purchased in advance."

Cillian of Mescan Brewery has a special for you

Westport’s Mescan Brewery

“Delighted to announce the release of our Christmas beer, Beoir na Nollag!

We made a version of the beer 3 years ago and it was a huge success. This year's beer follows the theme but it's a new recipe. It's a strong dark beer 8.8% which was brewed in the spring and was cold conditioned in bulk for 6 months before transfer to Irish Whiskey casks for 2 months of barrel ageing. It was then dry hopped and bottle conditioned. 

The flavour profile is malty, with dry fruits, warming alcohol and sublte notes of whiskey, wood and hops. Over time it will demonstrate an evolving complexity as it matures farther in the bottle so it's a beer that can be enjoyed now or cellared for later drinking. 

We only bottled 1,000 litres but we hope not to run out before Christmas!”

And, speaking of Christmas specials, Eight Degrees have two beauties. Check them out here 

Cork's Dessert Festival launches today!

press release

Where and What's on Offer

Electric Bar and Restaurant

Mad Hatters Afternoon G+T July 1st 2-4pm

Cake Club Sunday 2nd July 3-5pm Also featuring dessert specials all week

The Franciscan Well

Ice Cream and Beer Weekend July 1st and 2nd from 1pm

Nandos Academy St

Free Nata with every coffee ordered

Blue Haven Kinsale

Promoting Ice Cream Sundae Menu all week

Casanova Gelato

Launch of "The Giant" Sundae

Featuring parfait cups all week

Arthur Maynes

Beefeater & Tonic with an orange foam

paired with an orange scented Creme Catalana

Hassetts Bakery

Featuring all their homemade desserts

Fundraising cupcake event Fri June 30th 11-3pm

Cafe Velo

Pie with Italian Meringue

Cronins

Homemade ice cream made with Cronin's brown soda bread

and Russian Imperial Stout from the White Gypsy

LISHH Dessert bar all week featuring fresh homemade desserts

with a coffee for just €5

Malay Kitchen

Featuring fresh Malaysian sweet treats all week

Griffins Garden Centre

Featuring all Grannys Griffins Fabulous Homemade Desserts

Competition for afternoon tea for 2

Amicus

Featured Desserts: Amicus After 8

The Allotment Sundae: Butterscotch Bonanza

143

Corks only entirely vegan cafe!

Dessert Demonstration Wed 28th 7-9pm €30

Sober Lane

Guest Dessert- Kinder Sundae

Guest Cocktails: 1. Nutty Russian- Absolut Vanilla, Frangelico, Kahlua and Milk

2.After Eight- Tia Maria, Creme de Menthe, Baileys and Milk

Holy Smoke

Featuring Desserts: Devil's Fruit and Holy Revenge

More desserts and events to be confirmed by: Midleton Park Hotel, The Oriel House Hotel, Myo Cafe, Box of FrogsThe Cornstore, Huckleberry Donuts, Oh My Donut, The Granary Foodstore.

The public will be voting all week on social media for :

Corks Best Dessert

Corks Best Treat and

Best Dessert Event

All other info will be posted on our social media daily!

For any more info email : dessert@festivalcork.com Or follow us on social media!

Best of Local Food at Cronin’s Pub

Best of Local Food at Cronin’s Pub

The warm weather draws us to the seaside and Wednesday was no exception. Enjoyed a short walk along the waters leading to Crosshaven and that soon led to a lovely lunch at Cronin’s Pub in the village.

Didn’t expect so much choice here. Soups and Pate were available. Could have had a lamb burger or the vegetarian dish of the day. Lots of fish choices including oysters, squid, fish and chips, salmon, mussels (regular or large serving) as well as Fish Plates and Meat Platters.

Great to see local craft beers taking their place on the counter of the popular bar and no shortage of bottles in the fridge. With the day being so hot, I sipped from a bottle of that delicious Stonewell Dry Cider, made locally in Nohoval as I studied the menu.

Rope reared Oysterhaven mussels, large portion please, was the order. No sign of the rope but the mussels were plentiful, and certainly very tasty indeed. CL was very impressed with her Fresh organic Irish salmon, poached in white wine, served with garden leaves, homemade salads and brown soda bread. The salmon was gorgeous, really well cooked and the leaves and salads were also high class, all for twelve euro.

Tempted by the desserts but had to pass a menu that included Banoffee Pie, Knickerbocker Glory, and Apple Pie (Dutch style).

As you can see, and as you’d expect given the location, fish is a big part of the lunch menu and that theme continues into the evening, including the cleverly named Seagull Menu (Early Bird to you landlubbers!).

The full dinner menu, available Thu-Sat evenings, starts with their Mad fish soup Not your typical fish chowder! Pan seared scallops (GF) make na appearance here. And there are a couple of specialities including Mad Fish Dish, a tomato based Mediterranean fish stew filled with delicious fresh fish and everything that the boats have brought in from mussels to monkfish. Topped with a Galway Bay whole prawn and crispy potatoes. Then you have the Shellfish platter to share, locally sourced shellfish, depending on availability. Served with salad, home baked soda bread and chips.

Meat eaters are well catered for with tempting dishes including Spiced beef carpaccio Spring lamb ribs, and Sirloin steak. In addition, if fish or meat isn’t your thing, Homemade Ravioli (Please ask your server for current filling) and the Vegetarian dish of the day are available.

All in all, quite a choice. And you’ll be well taken care of. Service at this week’s lunch wasn't the least bit fussy, with time for a crack and a chat, and still very efficient.
Details
Lunch
Monday – Friday : 12.00 – 14.45Saturday : 12.00 – 15.30. Sunday : 13.00 – 16.00
View Lunch Menu

Evening
Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings : Open from 18.00, last orders 21.00. Bookings advised. Call now on 021 4831829
View Mad Fish Dinner Menu

Seagulls
A light and tasty menu. Tuesday & Wednesdays : 16.00 – 20.00. Thursday, Friday & Saturdays : 16.00 – 18.00

View Seagulls Menu



Local suppliers include:
Atlantis Seafood Ltd, Co. Wexford
Eamon O’Neill, Crab and lobster, Kinsale.
Dermot Cunningham, The Fisherman, Crosshaven.
Good Fish Shop, Carrigaline, Co. Cork.
Haven Shellfish, Oysterhaven, Co. Cork.
Shellfish de la Mer, Castletownbere, Co. Cork.
Sally Barnes Woodcock Smokery, Castletownshend.
Tom Durcan’s Butchers, English Market, Cork.
O’Sullivan Poultry Supplies, English Market, Cork
Mags Curtin, Milis, Crosshaven. Co. Cork.
Hassets Bakery, Carrigaline. Co. Cork
Southern Fruit, Lehenaghmore, Cork.
Clona Dairies, Clonakilty, Co. Cork

Munster Foodie Tweet-up June 24th

Hot off the press. Cronin's Bar invite you to the next Munster Food Tweet-up!

Come and join us for the fourth gathering of Munster's food lovin' peeps who like to tweet 'n to eat!

This event is open to all food lovers, restauranteurs, chefs, producers, bloggers or anyone who is interested in great food, conversation and of course who tweet and are based in the Munster area.

The agenda for the afternoon is as follows...

Sunday, 24th June 2012

5pm :
Step aboard the Cork Harbour tours ferry boat at Lapps Quay in Cork city, where we will be departing for Crosshaven. On route, take in the spectacular sights that Cork harbour has to offer, including Blackrock Castle, Cobh, Spike Island, Fort Camden and Roches Point lighthouse. We'll have some musicians on board and some craft Irish beer to quench your thirst!
Note : Bring a warm jacket for the boat trip to Crosshaven, it can get chilly out there, but it's worth it :)

6.30pm :
Arrive at the Hugh Coveney Pier, Crosshaven, where it is a short walk to Cronin's Pub. Here the BBQ will be fired up and Denis and his team will have fresh locally caught fish and a few other Cronin's foodie goodies on the go. If the Irish weather is not on our side, we'll pop indoors for some heartwarming grub and a knees up!.

10.30pm :
A return bus will pick you up outside Cronin's Pub and drop you back to Cork city centre, safe and sound. Couldn't be simpler or sweeter.... but that's the life of a tweeter!

We are looking forward to you joining us in what is guaranteed a lively afternoon of banter, music and a lovely bite to eat in one of Munster's most scenic villages by the seaside. Don't delay. Order your tickets here 

Cronins Bar in Crosshaven

CRONIN’S PUB

Enjoyed a decent lunch in Cronin’s Pub in Crosshaven in mid-week. By chance, we ended up in a rather gloomy corner though there we later saw there was a much brighter room at the other side of the bar. Loads of boxing pictures (mainly old) and some interesting old posters, also lots of illustrations of ships around the place.

The welcome was bright and breezy and the starter, their famous fish soup (they don't call it chowder anymore) was top class, more like the fish soups you get in the south of France. Great value at €6.00.
Then on to the main course: garlic prawns on brown bread with chips and salad (€10.00). The excellent tasty chips were homemade. The salad was well varied, including a potato and dill portion, and well dressed. The prawns and the dip were also excellent.

On a personal note, I’m not really sure that brown bread and prawns, though they do pop up together every now and then, is the best of combinations. We had the brown bread with the soup and it was fantastic. But, wet from the prawns, it didn't taste its best. Perhaps, the brown bread could be served with the dish but separately.

Still, that didn't take much from an enjoyable meal which we rounded off with two decent coffees (€2.10 each). Service was quite efficient and friendly but next time we’ll probably sit on the brighter side!

Crosshaven
021 4831829
www.croninspub.com

Check out my review of Cronins Bar - I am cork - on Qype