Taste of Two Cuisines. Sullys bring delicious Cork-Mex to the Quay! Some superb Irish as well! All very affordable.

Taste of two Cuisines. 

Sullys bring delicious Cork-Mex to the Quay!

Some superb Irish as well! All very affordable.

El Nino Tacos

Sullys is the new restaurant on Sullivan’s Quay, co-located with the well-known, well-loved Sober Lane.

First look at the menu and when you see Nachos, Guacamole, Salsa, Tacos, and more listed, you think Mexican.  But traditional roast chicken is also a star here, as we found on a visit last week.

Wings

One of the features of this new restaurant is the offer of dinner for two for €40.00. Here, the couple shares a starter, enjoys a main course each and then shares a dessert (if you have room, portions are large, filling, and delicious).

We were delighted to get the call to try out the menu. We ordered a starter each and shared both. The sharing bit was easy enough with the Crispy Chicken Wings with Buffalo Hot Sauce or Korean BBQ sauce glaze. We chose the Korean. There was loads of chicken and lots of flavour, so much so that we barely touched the dip provided.

No shortage of paper napkins here, and we needed them all as, after the wings, we tucked into the El Nino Nachos (Guacamole, salsa, Truckstop Cheese Sauce, pickled slaw, buffalo hot sauce, Lime Sour Cream). The Nachos were roughly divided into two parts, one headlined by the Guacamole, the other by the Salsa, both equally engaging and flavoursome.

Soon, we were on to the mains. My pick was the Beef Brisket Tacos (Flour tortilla with slow-roasted brisket, pickled slaw, chilli peanut sauce, cool lime sour cream, and crispy onions). Every little bit, including those onions and that pickled slaw, was spot-on and very satisfying. There was quite a large quantity of brisket here, and I’m thinking I may start with the Brisket Nachos next time and chose something else for mains. Might get to dessert that way!

Negroni (left) and Clover Club

Aperol Spritz

CL meanwhile was thrilled with her Cider Roast Chicken (cider brined and roasted chicken breast, chive mash, buttered carrots and parsnips, caramelised (onion gravy), delicious proof that the chef here can turn their hand to Irish and execute it every bit as well as the “Cork-Mex”. She put her eye on the very tempting burgers that were being served at a nearby table as a strong possibility for the next visit.

And then there’s a whole list of cocktails, virtually all with an Italian element. I haven’t thought about it before, but it seems you cannot have a cocktail without serious Italian input. Of course, Kinsale Gin also had a leading role.

Godfather Sour

Take the long and light Spritz, for instance, where you have a choice of Aperol, Campari, Disaronno, Sarti (a pink liqueur based on Sicilian blood oranges), or Limoncello to add to the Prosecco. My Negroni was a “blend” of Kinsale Gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. Others tested (each passing with honours) were Clover Club (Kinsale Gin, Martini dry, lemon, egg, raspberry) and a Godfather Sour (Bulleit Bourbon, Disaronno, Lemon, egg, bitters).

A very enjoyable outing to Sullivan’s Quay indeed. Superb meal, with a difference, and excellent friendly and informative service as well at Sullys. Get all the info, including opening times and menus, here.

Parliament Bridge. From the door of Sullys, on Sullivan's Quay.

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!

Powers to all our Friends. Cork Whiskey Fest at Sober Lane

Powers to all our Friends

Cork Whiskey Fest at Sober Lane

The Powers be with you! Pic via Sober Lane

Great to meet up with the Powers Family at Sober Lane as part of the Cork Whiskey Festival. Powers Ambassador Michael Carr introduced us to Powers Gold Label, Three Swallow Release, Signature Release and John’s Lane Release, quite a stellar team from the venerable whiskey family.

Cheers

Powers first made their mark on the Dublin whiskey as the 18th century closed and soon their concentration on quality saw them become the biggest in the capital. 

Quality was always to the fore and it was because of concerns that the “brand” was being damaged that led to the founder’s grandson deciding to bottle their own, rather than have it bottled exclusively by middlemen or publicans. And this was where the gold label started; it indicated that the whiskey inside was bottled by the distillery.

That, by the way, was in 1866, about 100 years before Jameson bottled. Powers were always innovative and their release of the miniature bottle, the “Baby Powers”, was a world first.

The current Gold Label was our first sip of the night. Michael advised “when smelling, keep mouth slightly open”. Spice, sweetness and oak and the barley of course all combine to make this whiskey a real pleasure.

Partners in Powers

By the 1880s, Power were very popular. They were great record keepers too and most of the old recipes survive and that made it easy for Irish Distillers in Midleton (where Powers is now produced) to recreate the old styles. The Three Swallows is triple distilled (like all Irish whiskeys) and is a relaxed and gentler whiskey, according to Michael. It is a true pot still style, smooth and complex, the intrinsic Irish style. The Swallows, by the way, are the whiskey equivalent of the stars on a brandy bottle.

Now we were moving on up to the Signature Release. “Very delicate on the nose… very active..zesty..on the palate..you know you're drinking whiskey”. It has a higher abv of 46%, “one of the reasons for that lovely zip on the tongue…we used only 2nd and 3rd fill bourbon barrels for this.”  He emphasised that this was regarded as a grown-ups whiskey, maybe even old-fashioned “but now becoming modern again!”.

Then it was the turn of a favourite of mine, the John's Lane Release, “full bodied, spice upfront, followed by vanilla, honey and dried apricot”. John’s Lane is where the Powers Distillery was in Dublin and it was first made here by Barry Crockett in the 1970s. “This is a big whiskey, big on flavour. By the way, the 12 years refers to the youngest whiskey in the bottle.”

While the gold label is a blend, the other three are Single Pot Still Whiskey, Irish of course! Having done the talk, Michael showed he could walk the walk as he demonstrated his cocktail making skills by making an Old Fashioned. He had a one big tip. “In cocktails, don’t use your expensive whiskeys! Use the Gold Label. It has a lovely sweetness to balance the sours.”

Taking a closer look!

Then there was an exodus to the smoking area to try out the Punch Cigars along with a 12 year old Powers Gold Label. I split with the smokes back in 1994. I did of course sample the whiskey, another family gem. Like the opening Gold Label, this is a blend with a good amount of pot still content and some very old whiskeys as well. Heard that it is going off the market in the near future so best to get your hands on a bottle or two before then.

Big thanks to Powers, to Michael, and to Dee and crew at Sober Lane. Not alone did we enjoy the whiskey but they came up with trays of delicious sliders as the enjoyable evening came to a close. Here’s to the next Cork Whiskey festival!