The Fish Kitchen Delivers Once Again

 The Fish Kitchen Delivers Once Again

Delighted to get the chance to call to the Fish Kitchen during a recent visit to Bantry. We got the best of weather while in the seaside town and in the popular upstairs restaurant we got the best of fish.

Of course, we got the warmest of welcomes from Diarmaid and his team. It was quite busy and their outside seats were filling up quickly and we were quite happy to go upstairs and watch the sun splashed world go by from a good perch.

No time for people watching though until we’d taken in the details of the menu on the blackboard, a menu that changes quite often, depending on what the local boats have brought in. 

It may be hake, haddock, cod, tuna or John Dory or some other fish. Haddock or Hake may be your fish in the Fish and Chips while the likes of Tuna may appear as a starter, for instance Tuna Carpaccio with Mango and Chili Salsa. Later on, dinner choices may include a seafood pappardelle Pasta Mariniere with Garlic Bread, a half or full Bantry Bay Lobster,  or a sharing platter.

Our lunch selection was quite extensive, no shortage of choice. There was a Courgette and Red Pepper Soup, Battered Haddock and Chips (including Mushy peas), Pan-fried Hake with Lemon and Herb Butter, veg and potato, Breaded Lemon Sole, Red Prawn Thai Curry, and an Open Crabmeat Sandwich, all well priced. I really should have picked the Half Dozen Sherkin Island Oysters for €11.00! But, with a big dinner scheduled for the evening, I was being a little cautious!

My choice was a Bowl of Chowder and half an open Prawn sandwich (12.00). Quite a feed actually, so perhaps my caution about the oysters was justified! The Chowder was delicious, packed with proper fish and veg, great value too by the way.

CL’s pick was Fish Cakes & Calamari (13.50) with sweet chili mayo, all on a house salad. Another packed plateful and another delicious one. By the way, a bowl of fries also appeared and they too were excellent.

No desserts ordered - we were heading for a walk on the beautiful Sheep’s Head Peninsula which is just a few miles out of the town. Some tempting sweets on their blackboard though including a Zesty Lemon Posset, a Mixed Berry Meringue, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Creme Brûlée and a seasonal Rhubarb Crumble.

The wine list is short, appropriately slanted more to whites than reds, six in all available by the glass (three whites, two reds and a bubbles). It includes an Albariño, a Riesling, a Chablis and a French Sauvignon Blanc and Prosecco of course. There’s a rosé also but only by the bottle.

Like all our restaurants and cafés, the Fish Kitchen is again finding its way in these post (?) covid days so expect changes to menus and opening times. Probably the best way to keep up to date is via their Facebook Page.  I can heartily recommend this friendly place and, by the way, if you are self-catering in the area, the family fish-shop, the Central Fish Market, is downstairs!

Also on this trip:

Sheep's Head Peninsula

Donemark West Restaurant

Maritime Hotel

Eye-opening Boat Trip on Bantry Bay. Thanks to Diarmaid of the Fish Kitchen.

Eye-opening Boat Trip on Bantry Bay
Thanks to Diarmaid Murphy of the Fish Kitchen.

Last week we found ourselves in a boat in the middle of the Bantry Bay mussel farming area, very extensive, and could see the long lines where blue mussels are placed on ropes that remain suspended in the water. Once the industry was very labour intensive but Diarmuid told us that it is now very much mechanised. In any case, the results are great as we found later that evening in the Murphy’s Fish Kitchen.

If you want a guide to Bantry, land and sea, Diarmaid Murphy of the Fish Kitchen is your man. He has immense experience of the sea, including boats (he is cox for the local lifeboat) and fishing, and allied to that is a love and detailed knowledge of the history of the town and its magnificent bay and its surrounds. Next summer (2019), he plans to do guided trips on his six-passenger rib.

Windy, even inside the harbour wall.

We were delighted with our “preview”. It wasn't the best of days on the bay, far from the worst though, and we were in good hands as we headed out from the new marina that has made a huge difference to boating in the bay. 

From the hotel. The bay looked more benign an hour or so before the trip.
See the green fields of Whiddy and, beyond, the mountains of the Beara peninsula

Having left the Bantry pier and the marina behind - the ferry from Whiddy Island was coming in - we headed towards the left of the island taking a look to the mainland on our left. Diarmuid pointed out the aerodrome where private planes come and go, some from the continent. Nearby too is the Blue Cliff. Not blue during our trip but quite grey. The blue is noticeable when the sun shines.

Homeward bound - the Whiddy ferry

Plan was to do  full circle around Whiddy and get close to the liner over in Glengarriff. But, with the rib hopping off the incessant waves, discretion was the better part of valour so we turned and ran alongside the town side of the long island, meeting the ferry again on its return trip. We saw the local pub, the Bank House.

The Whiddy local

Of course, one of the major historical events in the bay came with the Wolfe Tone attempted invasion in 1796. Unsettled by this, the British ordered the construction of three forts on the island and these were pointed out to us in their hilltop locations.

Cruise liner Astoria in the bay

Over a hundred years later, the USA Navy set up a short-lived flying-boat base here during the great war and the planes were used to hunt German submarines. And in 22 October 1918, Walford A. Anderson (an US flier from Springfield, MO) was killed in a crash, the first ever air-crash fatality in Ireland according to our guide.

There was a much larger tragedy on Whiddy in January 1979, when the oil tanker Betelgeuse blew up at the offshore jetty for the oil terminal on the island. The explosion and resultant fire cost 50 lives.

Mussel farmer at work. Eagle Point in the distance

Soon we were at the other (eastern) corner of Whiddy, we could see across towards Glengarriff and the visiting cruise liner, the Astoria. Diarmuid thought we might get closer from this side but it was not to be as the waves were a little too big so we retreated in the general direction of Ballylickey.

There were plenty of mussel rows here also and we got a splendid view of the Eagle Point Caravan Park; it has a very impressive location indeed and well spaced pitches. No wonder it is a very popular place and locals mark the start of summer when the “Eagle-Pointers” arrive.

Bantry, with the Maritime Hotel on right.

In this area also, you’ll find Donemark (the fort of the ships). Often saw this name on signposts but didn’t realise the legends and history attached to it. Indeed, they say it is the first place that humans (the Milesians) landed in Ireland although there is also a story that a niece of Noah’s landed here much earlier!

Bantry House

Bantry Bay longboats are replicas of the captain’s landing vessel used by the French navy in the 1700s. A longboat from the Wolfe Tone attempt was found in the bay and eventually ended up in Bantry House. There have been international races featuring the longboats and their 13-person crews and again Diarmaid has been involved.

The Blue Cliff

Other points of interest included the very scenic Bantry Golf Club, the hill of Seskin, the various smaller islands, the ruin of the jetty wrecked in the 1979 explosion and more. I may well have missed out on some others as sometimes, with the wind, it was hard to hear each other and it was not a day to be taking notes and not the best of days for photos either. But the whole experience was brilliant, exhilarating for these two ancient land-lubbers.

Thanks a million to Diarmaid and we wish him well on his sight-seeing venture next summer and will let you have details when available.

Read all about our dinner at the Fish Kitchen here.

Reckon this guy would fancy a mussel

The Blue Harvest. The mussels farmed here are Blue Mussels.

The Fish Kitchen’s Special. A Taste of West Cork Waters

The Fish Kitchen’s Special

A Taste of West Cork Waters

As we walk up the stairs to our Bantry restaurant, the multi-event A Taste of West Cork festival is in full swing, heading for its closing weekend. Many attractive food options around the towns and villages but knowing punters make their way to the Fish Kitchen and a packed house enjoys the best produce from the local shores and seas. The Kitchen crew are busy but not a bother as the delicious meal is served.

“Freshness, simplicity, quality” is what they promise here and that is exactly what we get. Excellent service too, a good choice of wines and craft beer and good company too at the long tables. We enjoy the chat with Esther and Joe from Cappoquin and Jim and Barbara from the town.

Diarmaid, who owns and runs the Fish Kitchen with his wife Ann-Maria, served us a simple Amuse Bouche, a sharing plate of Sheep’s Head periwinkles with garlic. Hard to get them out of the little shells but well worth the effort!

Next up was a trio of Smoked Salmon, Prawns and Oyster. Tasty stuff. Excellent salmon, amazing prawns from the bay outside and a superb Carlingford oyster. Quite a hat trick of flavours.

We were very happy with that and got even happier with the next round: Steamed Bantry Bay mussels with Stonewell Cider. We had been out on the bay earlier and had seen the lines and lines heavy in the water with rope-grown mussels. And here they were now on our plate, meatier and tastier than any I’ve tried in recent times.

Croquettes

Another course was on the way as the Salterio Albarino level in our bottle was falling and this was another handsome combination: Union Hall Smoked Pollack and crabmeat croquettes, served with a simple salad.

Now for the big one: herb crusted Castletownbere Hake with sun-dried tomato and Gubbeen chorizo pesto. Sometimes in Ireland we smother delicate fish with heavy sauces. Not here. The Hake was the star, the others there just to show it off to perfection. And, yes, it was perfect, as were all the courses.

Hake

And of course there was dessert. Here we had a choice and the Plum Crumble won hands down at our table; maybe the lavender infused pannacotta found takers at the other tables!

While this was a special dinner (we paid 45 euro a head) for the festival, you will get the freshest of fish, skilfully handled and simply presented at a fair price every day, lunch and dinner, at this town centre venue. And, if you are eating at home, then grab some fresh fish from the family market on the ground floor!

Crumble

The Fish Kitchen  

New Street

Bantry 

Co.Cork

(027) 56651

* Diarmaid was our host on our earlier trip around the bay - check it out here. He has been doing it a bit over the past summer and intends to make it a permanent feature next year. A proud native of the area, he is a superb guide to the huge bay, its geography and amazing history. His sturdy rib will take six paying passengers so keep an eye out for that in 2019.