Goldie Sure Has That Swing. O🐟ial!

Goldie Sure Has That Swing. 

O🐟ial! 

Pannacotta

You can have the best produce. The best equipment in the kitchen. The most comfortable seating. A stellar wine list. All those won't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. 

And Goldie’s Aishling Moore sure has that swing. She gives it everything she’s got and her food sings. Cool or hot, the rhythm is on the spot, taking customers to a different level every single visit and each and every dish.

Just a few years on the scene in the heart of Cork City and Goldie has built a unique reputation for the quality of its fish dishes. But it is not all fish here. There are some very tempting vegetarian dishes and those desserts strike, well let us caress, those sweet spots. Even Michelin agrees. Goldie has a Bib Gourmand and is also on its latest list of the best places to go for seafood in Ireland.

Aishling is quite a conductor, often composing as she goes. The menu changes daily. “Whatever the small boats bring us, we take. We forage on the local coast for sea vegetables and seaweed.”

And there’s some singing in the background too. West Cork’s Singing Frog Gardens are prominent on the menu. Lots of herbs, even wasabi on the cured plaice. That wasabi is of course local and other local suppliers include Rossmore Oysters, Churchfield Community Gardens, Cuinneog (Mayo), East Ferry poultry, Bushby Strawberries, St Tola cheese, Achill island salt and more..

Our server has a warm welcome for us and gives us an enthusiastic run through the menu, highlighting the Red Mullet Anchovies in the Snacks, the Cured Plaice in the 5 Small Plates and the three fish in the 5 Mains.

Schnitzel 

We take our time as we make our choices. The Rossmore Oysters for me and the Cod Tail Schnitzel for CL along with a glass of the Angel Stout and Elbow Lager (both made across the road by the Elbow Lane microbrewery, part of the Market Lane group as is Goldie). 

Aishling tells us the beers chosen are just perfect for the small plates. Small? In quantity, I suppose the word fits. But the quality is stratospheric! Those oysters, with the Singing Frog lemongrass and ginger granita, are the best I have ever tasted. Quite a beginning, zing and swing.

Monkfish

Stout

And CL’s Cod Tail Schnitzel is also out of the usual orbit, that soy-cured egg yolk, along with a celeriac and gherkin remoulade, enhancing the flattened cod. I got a taste,  delicious flavours, stole another and had to stop at that for fear of retaliation!

Now for the mains, not too easy to relegate the Pan Roast Turbot with Churchfield herb panisse but we choose the Pan Fried Plaice and the Panfired Monkfish.

CL’s Plaice came with Singing Frog Courgette and a chicken and miso butter sauce. Again, everything was just perfect, the courgette a surprising enhancement along with the sauce. Not forgetting some of the shared side of Sea Salt Shoestring Chips (say that quickly!).

Plaice

Panaeng is a lovely mild curry named after tropical Penang and that was what my Monkfish came in, along with a tasty sunflower seed relish. The Panaeng can be spiced up with chillis but this was perfect as it was and the whole dish was another hit from the Goldie repertoire. Just to mention that those fries were also top-class.

Desserts are often an afterthought if they are thought of at all, in many restaurants, and you often have the usual suspects to choose from and nothing innovative in sight. Not here. Even though the list is short, just three, they are rather special.

A duo of sweet beauties highlighted the finalé, with Rosscarbery fruit growers, Bushbys, featuring deliciously in both. Mine was the Singing Frog basil pannacotta with Bushby’s strawberry sorbet and meringue. What an ensemble! And CL’s was another hit from the Goldie playlist, a beautiful combination of the St Tola cheese ice cream, with Bushby raspberries and beetroot molasses. 

We relaxed, serene in foodie Nirvana. Very Highly Recommended. Very well priced also, by the way. Put it on your list and put this song on your playlist!

St Tola

“Yes, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing

Well, it don't mean a thing, all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm everything you got”

(It Don't Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills)

Ichigo Ichie. Star experience on a rainy night in Cork.

Ichigo Ichie. Star experience 

on a rainy night in Cork. 

Sashimi

No colourful signs (or stars) as you approach Ichigo Ichie on Cork’s Fenn’s Quay. On this rainy night, the only colour on the outside of the premises, on a blacked-out window, was a reflection of graffiti from across the wet street, the entrance just about visible. In the hallway,  you do see a little sign Ichigo Ichie sign, just before the big smiles. The big smile is on your face as you exit a happy hour or two later.

It was certainly on ours as we left, even though the rain was still there, even stronger now, as we had enjoyed a multi-course meal in Takashi Miyazaki’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Like most Michelin places, prices are high here but we had spotted a midweek offer and were so glad that we took advantage.

Chateaubriand

They get a sitting in a little early so that drinks orders may be taken and served and, since the €75.00 menu itself was set, the drinks were about all we had to decide on with the help of friendly and efficient staff. There was a lovely buzz of conversation around the calm space as we went through the lists. 

For me it was always going to be Sake. They have quite a list here and my pick - I’ve had a can (Honjozo) here previously - was the Kikusui-Funaguchi (Honjozo, Niigata). Niigata is regarded as the most prestigious and well-known region and the Honjozo style is when the makers add a little “brewer's alcohol” to lighten the sake and clean things up. My 200ml can was a delight, light-dry taste with hints of sweetness and a fruity finish, followed by a clean and pleasant aftertaste. 

è

CL also enjoyed her choice, the Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Aligoté 2021, a dry, pure, elegant, natural wine, produced only in those years when the fruit is in great condition. It is crisper than Chardonnay but with depth and superb texture, outstanding match for most the meal ahead.

Hassun

With the drinks sorted, we were soon on our way. Beginning with a trio under the title of Hassun, a hat trick of bite-sized  delights. First up was the Tori Yawara maki (chicken though burdock, carrots, haricot vert). Then we turned to the Asparagus Tofu (Lisheen Greens, asparagus and sumiso ). The star though was the Kaki Domyoji age (Rossmore Oyster, puffed rice, Aonori and nitsume sauce).

By the way, I have never quite got the hang of chopsticks but don't worry, knives and forks are available!

Quite a spectacular dish followed, the Mukouzuke. This selection of sashimi was called Kisetsu no osashimi and Yellow Fin, Turbot, Sea Bass (torched), monkfish and oyster were included along with a range of accompaniments that included salmon and trout roe, ginger and a Japanese plant that had similarities to basil. Our servers gave us all the details but not easy to remember them later on!

Tai Meshi

Perhaps the star dish of the evening came next, the Yakimono (refers to a dish cooked over direct heat). Ours was titled Chateaubriand with Caherbeg beef fillet, Hakusai miso, egg yolk, truffle, Singing Frog kinome. The beef was amazing, enhanced by everything around it. That beef comes from the Allshire family farm in Rosscarbery and the kinome (leaves of a Japanese fruit tree in the citrus family) comes from the Singing Frog garden also West Cork based. A big thumbs up for that course.

And the good mood continued, again Singing Frog involved with our Gohanmono course. The Tai meshi came in one bowl and inside were Sea Bream, Singing Frog wasabi, ginger, nori and rice while the other bowl (called Nameko akadashi jiru) had Red miso, Garryhinch nameko, tofu, chive and dashi. 

Course number five was Kanmi (dessert) and was titled Rhubarb, shiso gelato. The rhubarb came from Lisheen Greens and went down very well with the gelato.

Then it was time to settle up and head off into the rain after another memorable meal, thanks to the maestro and gentleman Takashi Miyazaki in Ichigo Ichie. “The kid’s done well “ as they say in football. Indeed he has, come a long way from Molly Malone’s Irish pub in Hiroshima.

* By the way, if a Michelin starred restaurant can serve alcohol in a can, I wonder why are so many local restaurants are “shy” about offering craft beer in a can.

Reflected selfie