Take a Rare Escape to Blue Haven in Kinsale for an Unforgettable New Year’s Eve Celebration

Take a Rare Escape to Blue Haven in Kinsale for an Unforgettable New Year’s Eve Celebration

 

Welcome 2025 in style with Rare at The Blue Haven in Kinsale. Enjoy a carefully curated NYE Tasting Menu and a luxurious glass of Moët Champagne.

Start the New Year in the most delicious way with an unforgettable fine dining experience from award-winning Executive Chef Meeran Manzoor’s Tasting Menu at Rare, Blue Haven in Kinsale.

Rare at Blue Haven is situated at the very start of the Wild Atlantic Way and is the perfect backdrop to bid farewell to 2024. Welcome the New Year with a glass of Moët Champagne before starting an exciting culinary journey. Indulge in an exclusive fine dining experience with a carefully curated Tasting Menu influenced by Chef Meeran’s own Tamil Nadu heritage. Each dish is made with the very best ingredients from local producers and artisan suppliers.

Guests may wish to complement their New Year's Eve Tasting Menu experience at Rare with an overnight stay in the award-winning  Blue Haven Hotel, starting from €503 for 2 people, including dinner on NYE, a glass of Moët champagne and breakfast the following morning. 

Alternatively, guests may choose to stay at the award-winning luxury boutique Old Bank Townhouse with rates starting from €533 for 2 people including dinner on NYE, a glass of Moët champagne and breakfast the following morning. 

A dining-only option which includes dinner on NYE and a glass of Moët Champagne starts at €130 per person.

Booking is essential for this special evening can be made online at www.rare1784.ie or by calling 021 4772 209.

Keep up to date with the latest news by following Rare Kinsale on social at @rarekinsale

Rare at The Blue Haven is located in The Blue Haven Collection, Pearse Street, Kinsale, Co Cork, P17 NA72. 

Kinsale’s Rare at The Blue Haven Earns Coveted Spot 

in the Michelin Guide - Great Britain & Ireland

Rare at The Blue Haven in Kinsale announced this week as one of three Irish additions to The Michelin Guide - Great Britain & Ireland. 

The Michelin Guide distinctions – Stars, Green Stars and Bib Gourmands – are revealed at the annual Michelin Guide Ceremony held each year in a culinary star-studded event held in February. However, the inspectors add restaurants “worthy of recommendation in the Great Britain & Ireland selection” to the guide year-round. This month saw the inclusion of Rare restaurant in Kinsale. 

Described by Michelin as “understated and engaging,” the guide highlights Rare’s rustic-chic dining room and open kitchen, offering a personal touch with chefs delivering dishes to the table. Inspired by the South Indian flavours of Tamil Nadu, Executive Head Chef Meeran Manzoor incorporates bold ingredients like chilli, coconut, tamarind, and date, all paired with West Cork’s finest local produce.

Executive Head Chef Meeran Manzoor (above) is thrilled by the recognition and said: “The team and I are overjoyed to be added to the Michelin Guide. Each tasting menu reflects our creativity and passion, and we’re honoured to be acknowledged in this way.”

In Rare at The Blue Haven, diners can enjoy an intimate, fine-dining tasting menu experience featuring seasonal, locally sourced ingredients with delicate flavours influenced by chef Meeran’s Tamil Nadu heritage. Diners may add a specially curated wine pairing to complement the experience.  

Rare joins other notable November additions from Ireland, including Landline Restaurant in Kerry and Matsukawa Restaurant in Dublin.

Keep up to date with the latest news by following Rare at Blue Haven on social at @rarekinsale.

Bookings can be made online at www.rare1784.ie, by calling 021 477 2209 or emailing bookings@bluehavenkinsale.com 

press release

An Evening Of Moët & Chandon Champagnes Paired With Culinary Delights From Rare At Blue Haven, Kinsale

An Evening Of Moët & Chandon Champagnes 

Paired With Culinary Delights From Rare At Blue Haven, Kinsale

Julie Dupouy Sommelier

Experience an extraordinary night at Rare at Blue Haven in Kinsale as Executive Head Chef Meeran Manzoor teams up with renowned sommelier Julie Dupouy for an exclusive celebration of exquisite flavours and the finest champagnes.

On Friday 11th October, the venue will unveil a

An Evening of Moët & Chandon Champagnes Perfectly Paired with Dishes from Rare at Blue Haven in Kinsale

 An Evening of Moët & Chandon Champagnes Perfectly Paired with Dishes from Rare at Blue Haven in Kinsale 

Meeran Manzoor of Rare at Blue Haven restaurant in Kinsale and sommelier Julie Dupouy will host a very special evening of exquisitely paired food to the champagnes of Moët & Chandon. 

On Friday, 13th of October guests of Rare Restaurant in Kinsale will experience an exclusive night of a seasonal five-course tasting menu prepared by Meeran Manzoor and his kitchen team, plus learn about the intricacies of champagne and how each of the five Moët & Chandon champagnes were chosen to pair with each dish. 

Julie Dupouy is one of the world's best sommeliers having previously worked with two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud and Chapter One. Julie has been awarded the Best Sommelier in Ireland no less than four times and was a bronze medalist at the ASI World Sommelier Championship, where she represented Ireland and the Irish Guild of Sommeliers.

Julie said, “I am thrilled to co-host a champagne dinner at Rare Restaurant in Kinsale this Autumn. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy five different champagnes from the House of Moët & Chandon paired with a menu specially curated for this occasion to complement each champagne. I am looking forward to sharing some stories and sharing my passion for champagne with all attendees”. 

Executive Head Chef, Meeran Manzoor,  has selected local, seasonal ingredients to complement Moët & Chandon’s unique champagne style which is distinguished by its bright fruitiness, seductive palate, and elegant maturity. 

Meeran says “ The flavour profiles of each dish are unique and inspired by rural cuisines of Tamil Nadu which are very original to its roots but cooked in modern gastronomic techniques using hyper-local ingredients. It’s going to be an exciting event.”

The price per person for the 5-course tasting menu and champagne pairings is €165.  The evening has a very limited capacity and guests are advised to book early. For bookings email bookings@bluehavenkinsale.com 

Keep up to date with the latest news by following Rare Kinsale on social at @rarekinsale

press release

John Torode’s Ireland visits Kinsale. See it on RTE2 this Friday

John Torode’s Ireland visits Kinsale 

See it on RTE2 this Friday

Meeran, Head Chef at Kinsale's Rare, and John (right)

John Torode's Ireland, a TV show which documents the Masterchef star, restaurateur, and cookbook author’s culinary journey around Ireland, lands in Kinsale this Friday on RTÉ 2. 

Featuring a number of Kinsale food and hospitality businesses John gets an insight into some of Kinsale’s favourite food heroes including a trip to Fishy Fishy, Kokos, Rare Restaurant, Kinsale Mead and Sams Bar. 

During his visit to Rare Restaurant, he chatted with Head Chef Meeran Manzoor and General Manager Ciaran Fitzgerald about what makes Rare unique. 

John also sampled one of the signature dishes at Rare and learned about the local produce in Ireland’s ‘Silicon Valley’ of food produce, West Cork. 

Meeran said “It was such an honour and pleasure cooking for John. He has a genuine interest and curiosity about the locality. We were very proud to show him what we do in Rare.”

 The show will be aired on Friday 14th at 8:30 pm on RTÉ 2.

Keep up to date with the latest news by following Rare Kinsale on social at @rarekinsale

A new South Indian influence and an interior uplift allow for an ever-evolving dining experience at Rare Restaurant in Kinsale

 

Wonderful Tasting Menu in Rare with chefs Meeran and Chad showcasing the Autumn bounty of Cork and Kerry

Wonderful Tasting Menu in Rare with chefs Meeran and Chad showcasing the Autumn bounty of Cork and Kerry

Teamwork. Concentration from chefs Meeran (right) and Chad (centre)

An rud is annamh is iontach!

Thought I might start with an old Irish proverb: what’s rare is wonderful.

And Kinsale’s Rare 1784 was certainly wonderful last Thursday night when Head Chef Meeran Manzoor and guest Chef Chad Byrne (Brehon Hotel) served up a six course festival of local food in one of the most comfortable dining rooms around.

Lots of nationalities involved in the kitchen and out front, including Rebel Cork and the Kingdom, plus a Rare crew that has people from India and Brazil and from places in between.

Chad, also well known for The Hungry Donkey food truck, brought a treasure trove of goodies from Kerry to the Blue Haven’s premier restaurant, including some of the finest cured and dried meats from Olivier in Dingle, Eileen’s black pudding from Annascaul, the famous Ardfert spuds, Wilma’s cheese, Venison from Beaufort, Wild Sloes and Cromane mussels.

Meeran, of course, has his finger on the pulse of all that’s best in Cork, particularly the growers and fishermen in and around Kinsale, and also adds a well judged touch of his native India. Both chefs and their crew were visible through a large window to the kitchen. They didn’t stay there, coming out regularly to detail the dishes and have a conversation or two with the tables.

And it wasn’t just in the kitchen that Rare excelled. The front of house team, led by restaurant manager Charlie, were busy but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have the odd chat with you. They came to the tables with big smiles, informal but on the ball, you never had to ask for water (or something stronger!).

Cheese, black pudding, potato

Quite a wine list! We started with two engaging whites. One was Carallan Albarino, a fine example of the wine of Rias Baixas,  quite pronounced on both the nose and fruity palate, excellent with the lighter dishes. The zesty Diez Siglos Verdejo, vibrant and intense, from Rueda (the home of the grape), paired well also with the earlier plates.

Love my BoJo

Later we moved on to two stunning reds. Gamay is always on my radar and I plumped for the organic Les Pépites Gneiss, fresh, fruity and nicely spicy. Big thumbs up for that and the same from the other side where CL renewed acquaintance with the multi-grape aromatic, fruity and intense (perfect with venison) Quinta do Judeu.

The dining started with the Organic Kerry Wild Meat Board (by Olivier), all kinds of tastes and textures (that soft goat chorizo!) and all superb. Then on to Jamie’s Oyster from nearby Oysterhaven, beautifully presented and accompanied by Alexander’s Jelly and a Ginger Beer Foam. Jamie’s oysters never disappoint and here the jelly and the foam enhanced it.

Scallop, Sole

And the plates just kept getting better. Eileen’s Annascaul Black Pudding made a huge tasty contribution as it combined with the renowned Ardsallagh Goats Cheese on an Ardfert potato skin!

Up next came the fish, a  two part perfectly cooked wonder with Union Hall Sole and Scallop in a Vol-au-Vent with a little Yuzu in the bisque. Chef Chad: “..really tasty dish of bang in season gear”.

Venison

Chocolate

For me the star course of the superb meal came with the Beaufort venison: Sika Deer, Cromane Mussels and Roasted Celeriac. The deer had been roasted for six to seven hours and was beautifully flavoured. The sloe jus was just amazing, a great fit with the meat. And that meat was as tender as can be, yielding easily to the blade of our  “chopper” knife!

A wee pause then before dessert came and that too was rather special: Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Kulfi. Meeran’s dark chocolate walnut cremeux was enhanced by Achill seasalt and Szechuan caramel and crunchy bits. Kulfi is a no-churn Indian ice cream. And there was also an Indian twist to the Petit Four that came in a mini-treasure chest!

Petit Fours

Quite a wonderful meal and occasion in Rare and there’s a promise of more. So do keep an eye on their socials!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RareKinsale 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RareKinsale

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rarekinsale/