SYNERGY AT THE CLARION
Jazz was in the air this evening as the annual Cork Jazz Festival kicked off.
I spent a pleasant hour or more listening to Des Hopkins and his accomplished Dixieland band in the Kudo’s bar in the Clarion before heading into the Synergy, the hotel’s main restaurant.
By comparison with the evening before in Les Gourmandises, this was ordinary fare indeed but, at the same time, there was little wrong with it and it would stand comparison with many of the local restaurants. It just emphasised the point that LG is in a different class, perhaps a league of its own.
Starter in Synergy was a Chicken Salad. Good quality chicken pieces, well soaked in good quality olive oil, along with some leaves mainly bay spinach, made for a tasty starter.
Main course was Pork loin and apple, along with a cider sauce. Presentation was nothing to write home about, just a pork chop with an apple slice and then repeated. But the pork and the apple were of excellent quality and the sauce was a treat. The roast potato was only fair but the veg in the side dish, while routine, were up to standard. All in all, a tasty treat for €21.50.
Had started with a Siete Sauvignon Blanc, a pretty decent wine, in the bar and continued with another in Synergy; cost was €5.75 per glass. Not a bad meal at all but a long way short of the league that LG plays in. Service, both in the bar and Synergy, was excellent in the Clarion. And by the way, they were doing a roaring trade in food in the bar.
Check out my review of Synergy Restaurant - I am cork - on Qype
