That was the year that was! Rewind 2019

That was the year that was!

Rewind 2019

When you go over the hill, you go faster. And certainly this year, 2019, went faster!

Cask "toasting". Wine, Whiskey and Beer evening  at the Franciscan Well

It was a good one though, some terrific visits to producers of all kinds, delicious meals, excellent stays at everything from B&Bs to five star hotels and friendly festivals as well.

And great to be able to confirm that friendliness is still a huge and engaging factor in the Irish hospitality sector. There were warm welcomes, above and beyond, in many places and our front of house laurels go to:

Luca in Ali’s Kitchen, Cork; 

Julie in Finns’ Table, Kinsale;

and to the entire team at Wicklow Heather in Laragh. 

With Mary T (right) at Castle Grove

On the Gastro Pub scene, you’ll find it hard to beat the Victor led front of house at O’Mahony’s of Watergrasshill. And in accommodation, the nod goes to Mary T and the Sweeney family at Castle Grove House in Donegal. Always a terrific welcome too at both the Trident in Kinsale and the Celtic Ross in Rosscarbery. Top guesthouses: Perryville (Kinsale) and Sheedy’s (Doolin).

Breakfast is a key part of accommodation of course and we came across some gems this year. Aldridge Lodge  in Wexford is absolutely outstanding while Sheedy’s of Doolin is another excellent place. I don't do breakfasts in restaurants often but ORSO in Cork gets an honourable mention! The most impressive breakfast room we came across is the beautiful conservatory in the Quay House  in Clifden and the breakfast is good too as it is in Kinsale’s Perryville.

Fish breakfast at Aldridge Lodge

O’Mahony’s of Watergrasshill is an outstanding venue for pub grub while Gallagher’s in MacCurtain Street Cork impressed on a pre-theatre visit.

Goldie

The fish offering is also improving all the time and we came across two quite innovative places this year: Fisk in Downings in Donegal and Goldie in Cork City. Kudos too to the Wild Strands Café (Malin, Donegal) for their use of seaweed and fish. Superb fish dinner as always in the Bayview Ballycotton, the village is also well served in that regard by Pier 26, and there was an excellent fish lunch at the Mountain House in Ardfield, West Cork. In Cork City and in a few Kerry towns, you'll find, as we did, the ever-reliable Quinlan's.

Great variety in the restaurant scene nowadays, including the famed vegetarian (and wine!) offering at Cafe Paradiso, also on Leeside. Crab claws were superb at Pier 26 (Ballycotton) and Naughton's (Kilkee) while the best steak was served at Liberty Grill (Cork). Hard to beat Nash 19 Cork for pork and the Market Lane group for lamb (especially when the Blasket Lamb is available). When it comes to variety on the menu, Cork’s Dockland is the place to be.

Liberty Grill steak

Enjoyed the Palestinian fare at Izz in Cork though the ethnic highlight was the Pickle Pop-up with Sunil Ghai  in Sage Midleton. Another good one was Richy's Curry Series with his excellent Indian chef Meeran Gani.

Pearse Lyons Distillery

Lunch is an important time if you're on the road. The Woollen Mills Café in Foxford , St Francis Provisions (Kinsale), TIA in Louisburgh are all worth noting - great salads and more. In Cork city, put the Farmgate (celebrating 25 years) and Crawford Gallery Cafe on your list, not forgetting Vikki's in Sunday's Well, O'Callaghan's (Mitchelstown) and Seasalt in Cobh. Something more substantial? Then put Tramore’s Copper Hen in your diary. And go for the lunch tasting menu at Greene’s Cork if you are looking for something really special. Off for an afternoon? Why not the extra special Afternoon Tea in the River Lee Hotel?

Ichigo Ichie. "Every moment we change"

We enjoyed a few special dinners. The Sake dinner at Ichigo Ichie was outstanding. Great company, wine and food at the Rizzardi Wine dinner in Courtmacsherry’s Lifeboat Inn. And fantastic wine and fish at a FEAST event in the Bayview. And another excellent night was the Barnabrow Gourmet Evening with ENO Wines.

Paradiso Cork

Indeed, FEAST was our top festival this year. It has made huge strides in recent years. The Pickle Pop-up here was a good one and another very enjoyable meal was the Picado Mexican Pop-up during the West Waterford Festival. 

Quay House, Clifden

Oh, I nearly forgot dessert. Indeed, I’ve been known to skip it sometimes. But two that I remember with pleasure are the Mocha Choca Yumma at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Garden Café Truck and the Apple and Berry Crumble at the Copper Hen (Tramore).

Dessert at Ballymaloe CS truck

Both Eight Degrees and Kinnegar breweries, two of the best around, took time out to show us their breweries. Another very enjoyable event was the Wine, Whiskey and Beer evening  at the Franciscan Well. Other producers visited included Clonakilty Black Pudding, Seymour Biscuits (Bandon), St Tola Cheese (Clare), Hegarty's Cheese (Whitechurch).

On the wine side, there was a very impressive Spit 2019 day in the River Lee. Best wine bar we visited was the Gallery in Westport. More and more non-alcoholic drinks, good ones, are coming on the market and our favourite this year is the Highbank Orchards Organic Drivers Cider.

A couple of excellent distillery visits too including to Clonakilty and Powerscourt (both new). Perhaps the most memorable was the lovely Pearse Lyons distillery  in Dublin’s Liberties, big thanks there to our guides Bernard and James.

Speaking of guides, we had the lovely Karen Coakley include us on her excellent Kenmare Food Tour, lots of good food and variety in this small Kerry town. Kenmare is excellent but our top town of 2019 for good drink, excellent food and off-the-scale craic is Clonakilty. My highlight in Clon is the annual Street Carnival. In the city, we enjoyed the Long Table Walk in June and the Gourmet Trail (part of the Oyster Fest) in September. And in mid-summer, we thoroughly enjoyed a West Cork Farm Tour where another three top class guides - the O'Donovan family - showed us around..

Downings

Can’t go without mentioning pizza. I know there are many good ones around nowadays but my nod goes to newcomer Curley Stu  (check his Facebook here for venues) and the well established Pompeii (regulars at the Franciscan Well and in Waterville for the summer).

Lunch at Greene's

Great to see so many places now putting the emphasis on local and Blarney’s Square Table, champions of local, have been doing exactly that since they started. The Europe has, we think, the best five star hotel lounge/bar while Powerscourt has the best pub. 

For comfort and ticking all the other restaurant boxes as well, it has to be the Cornstore in Cork. Always a good atmosphere here. This year though the best buzz we came across was at Tapas de Lola (Dublin) and The Bullman (Kinsale).

Always get around to the farmers markets and it usually pays off! And it paid off on the double when we called to Killavullen before Christmas as it was here that we found the best ever Mince Pies (Noirin) and the best ever Sausage Rolls (Ciaran).

Bray Head walk

Some Random Bits

Top walks for auld fellas: Knockadoon, Ballycotton Cliff Walk, Nire Valley Gap, Bray Head (Valentia)  and Carrigfadda (West Cork).

Film: Satan and Adam (Netflix)

Books: Beautiful Affair (Mike Hanrahan), Suzy Suzy (William Wall), Rewind (Catherine Ryan Howard), all different but each with a strong East Cork connection.

Museum: Little Museum of Dublin.

So that was 2019, or at least a summary. If you have any suggestions for 2020, you know where to find me! 

Something Fishy on Donegal's Food Coast. Learning to Love the ‘Weed in Malin Caifé

Something Fishy on Donegal's Food Coast

Learning to Love the ‘Weed in Malin Caifé

At long last, Ireland seems to have realised the good things in our seas (and coasts) and chefs up and down the country are leading the way. Take these three very different places that I came across in a short visit to Donegal last month: Wild Strands Caifé in Malin, Fisk in Downings, and Johnny’s Ranch Truck in Ramelton. The first two may be described loosely as cutting edge while Johnny, committed to serving fresh, tasty local food, is no doubt more traditional.

Wild Strands Caifé

You’ll find the Wild Strands Caifé in the Community Centre at Malin. The distinguishing factor here is seaweed. I didn't see it when my dish arrived and asked the server. She explained they use it in the cooking, in the sauces and in the dressings. It was an element in my Fish (haddock on the day) with Abernethy Black Garlic Butter on a flatbread with a small side salad. 

Fish (haddock on the day) with Abernethy Black Garlic Butter on a flatbread with a small side salad

William McElhinney is the man leading the quiet revolution here and not just with the seaweed. Convinced that our ancestors used some kind of hot stone to make their bread, he is trying to replicate the method with a special oven. 

His Ineuran wood-fired oven is used to make beautiful and versatile flatbreads that are the base on which many of the dishes are served. Their Vegan Ineuran Flatbread are all cooked in the wood fired oven using local, seasonal or organic produce with the wonders of seaweed. Here, on the stone, he also cooks his local meats (from Boggs Butchers) “with our own seaweed spice mix along with Carraigín moss”.

We had a lovely chat with his enthusiastic daughter, Réaltín, and she  filled us in. Not alone that, we finished up with two of the loveliest cakes that we’ve ever tasted. Couldn't get over the amazing Coffee Cake and Carrot Cake as we devoured the slices before taking on the steps at Fanad Lighthouse a couple of hours later. 

Fisk

Mackerel Fillet with spicy tomato sauce

In Downings, you’ll see a blue sign with the word Fisk on it, but your eyes may well be drawn to the splendid view of Sheephaven Bay in the opposite direction. Take that in and then look towards Fisk and more than likely you’ll see lots of people around. “Will we ever get in here?” you ask. It takes a bit of persistence, we had to come back the following night.

Fisk is all about fish, is tiny and is hugely popular because of the innovative way in which the fish is cooked and presented. Cutting edge in a hole in the wall. Fisk (guessing it may be Swedish for fish) has room for about 15 people and takes no bookings. But they do start a waiting list each evening and you can pass the time in the adjoining Harbour Bar, another popular spot here.

Sardines with pickled veg

Fisk specials

The menu keeps changing and there’s always a specials board on the white wall. Also inside it is a bit higgledy piggledy with a few tables of various sizes, even a shelf on the wall where four guests on high stools may be accommodated. 

The place may not be the most comfortable but the fish is different class. Different fish too - you don’t often see sardines and mackerel offered in Irish restaurants. Certainly not sardines with pickled veg. Virtually all small plates here and some delicious wines to pair with them. No point in giving you their phone number so get in early and be prepared to wait a pleasant hour or so in the bar.

Johnny’s Ranch Truck

Johnny's Fish 'n Chips

You’ll have to wait a wee while too at Johnny’s Ranch Food Truck by the quayside in Ramelton. Johnny Patterson apologises for our very short delay: “Your order is cooked from scratch, no precook here.” He opens most evenings here and you could check his Facebook page to make sure or maybe ring in your order to 083 8399305.

What surprises first timers to this food truck is the long menu, not just fish but meat too from the butcher about fifty yards down the street. That butcher provides the meat for “Ulster’s Best Burger 2019”. There’s even a Lennonside Beef Stroganoff with rice or chips. The local meat finds it way into tasty baguettes and tacos and more.

And the Fish ’n Chips from Ulster’s Best Takeaway 2019 is the stuff of legends. For just €8.50, I got three large pieces of battered haddock and a big box of chips. Took the package over to a rickety quay-side seat and took my delicious time with that fresh fish and superb chips. Well worth seeking out of an evening, early or late!

Also on this trip: Kinnegar Brewery
 Mary T. From Mallow to Donegal's Castle Grove
Superb Day Out at Oakfield Park & Buffers Bistro
Malin Head, Fanad and Rosguill Peninsulas
Downings. A Great Base for Donegal Visit