Oriel House Hotel in Ballincollig, Cork

ORIEL HOUSE HOTEL

Enjoyed a re-union meal at this Ballincollig hotel last evening. There were about one hundred at the function, much more at a farmers’ meeting in the next function room, but the staff dealt comfortably and efficiently with the demand.
The food was excellent. There were three choices of starter and three of main course (beef, chicken, cod). The chef didn't take the easy way out. For instance, the fish came in an inviting herby crust. The vegetables – mange tout, green beans and carrots – were well cooked, not too hard, and not too soft. Dessert consisted of a “medley” of small portions. We had ten people at the table and all were very happy indeed.
Service couldn't be faulted and the banter with the staff was a part of a very enjoyable evening indeed.

Check out my review (and map) of Oriel House Hotel Leisure Club - I am cork - on Qype

ORIEL COURT

SECOND BITE...............
...........................COSTS MORE


How can the Oriel Court Hotel justify the massive price increase it has imposed on its lunchtime diners? Especially when it is accompanied by a drop in standards?

Just last August, I was loud in praise of the food there and the prices. Everything on the lunchtime menu was under a tenner.

Not anymore. The Cajun salmon salad that I enjoyed for less than €10.00 last August (August 2007, I must stress), now costs €11.50 and everything else has gone up has well, including prices at the carvery (where the beef plate now costs a whopping €14.00).

The food wasn't quite as good either. The hot salmon was slightly overdone and the garlic bread (one piece now as against two in August) that accompanied the salad wasn't up to the standard of the previous visit (see August review below).

At least, the multi-national service was efficient and friendly. But the totally unjustified price increase left a sour taste, leading perhaps to a detour next time I'm in the area.

SPOT OF LUNCH?

A PRIME SPOT

No shortage of places for lunch in the Ballincollig area but we stumbled on a real contender the other day: the relatively new Oriel Court Hotel ( http://www.orielhousehotel.ie/ ).

We had given the place a wide berth since a disastrous Christmas lunch there (the service was dire, though the food was good) but the recent lunch was a revelation in terms of service, quality and value for money.

I started off with a huge bowl of chunky chowder, served with a gorgeous dark brown bread. No complaints here.

Then onto the main course. One of us had an open toasted chicken sandwich which, with salad and chips, turned out to be a quite a substantial dish. Two of us went for the Cajun salmon salad and we were each delighted.

The salad was varied and well mixed in a Marie Rose dressing. Pieces of cold fish, salmon and mussel mainly, were scattered throughout and all topped with a warm salmon piece, mildly spiced with a Cajun crust.

And that wasn't all. We each got two pieces of garlic bread and each of us agreed that this was the tastiest garlic bread we had ever eaten.

Well fed at this stage, we skipped the desserts and finished off with coffee. All this is served in the spacious and luxurious Powder Keg Bar and believe, it or not, most (if not all) the main courses cost a tenner or less and that too applies to the carvery dishes, which also looked of very generous proportions.

We picked from a very large choice on the lunch menu, which the Oriel serves from 12 noon until 5.00pm, so that gives you ample opportunity to go to the hotel and sample.

If you are coming from the west and can’t quite make Ballincollig, then why not call to Mike and Tess Sheehan at the Killumney Inn in Ovens. They have been serving traditional pub lunches for years and have satisfied many hundreds of customers. Satisfied diners return again and again and it is hard to get a place for the very popular Sunday lunch.

Glad to hear too at the weekend, from one of my spies, that La Boqueria, the tapas bar in Bridge Street, continues to serve top class food and wine. Must call again soon!

End of story