A Sustainable Summer Feast: The Met Bar & Restaurant Shines

 A Sustainable Summer Feast: The Met Bar & Restaurant Shines

Celebrate summer flavours and local bounty at Cork's iconic Met Bar & Restaurant. The Metropole Hotel's Summer Special Menu is a culinary delight, championing fresh, seasonal ingredients while minimising waste.

A Feast for the Senses and the Soul

This €32.50 menu, available seven days a week from 5 pm, offers a delightful choice: a main course from seven tempting options and a

THE MET LAUNCHES MENU CELEBRATING LOCAL PRODUCE. NEW CHEF LENDS A CONTINENTAL TOUCH.

THE MET LAUNCHES MENU CELEBRATING LOCAL PRODUCE.

NEW CHEF LENDS A CONTINENTAL TOUCH.

It's great to see Cork’s Metropole, one of Ireland’s most historic hotels, highlighting and supporting local businesses in its new menu.  Suppliers from around Cork City and county and neighbouring areas are named on a map at the back of the new MET menu and include the likes of the Chicken Inn of the English Market, 9 White Deer Brewery (Ballyvourney), Caherbeg Meats of West Cork and Jack McCarthy of Kanturk, to mention just a few.

New Head Chef Vasil Baci

The menu at the Met Bar and Restaurant has been designed by Head Chef Vasil Baci and his team who have been inspired by the wealth of fresh ingredients available locally.  They have created a varied menu combining global dishes with the best Cork flavours including fresh meat, fish and cheese.

Vasil: “Locally sourced food is really important to me when I’m considering any menu and I think the customers like to see where the ingredients of their meal come from which is why we decided to include the map on the menu.  Food and cooking are my passions and supporting small local suppliers and respecting the food is part of that.  Our dinner and lunch menus have been designed to offer diners at the Met Bar and Restaurant a variety of tastes and flavours to suit every palate and we are fortunate in Cork to have such a wide range of suppliers on our doorstep.”

Mushroom starter

Vasil’s family originate from Greece and he lived in a number of countries before moving to Cork in 2005 where he became an executive chef in various restaurants in Cork City after studying culinary arts at Munster Technological University.  He is passionate about using fresh local ingredients that are in season.

General Manager of The Metropole Hotel, Roger Russell said; “The summer menu at The Met Bar and Restaurant represents all that Cork food is renowned for - fresh and unique flavours which have been cooked with flair and passion by a team of dedicated chefs lead by Vasil Baci who brings over 20 years of experience to the kitchen.  The Metropole Hotel has been feeding customers for more than 125 years and we are confident that people will continue to enjoy the experience with this new menu.”

Fish Cake Starter

And that confidence is well placed, we decided after giving the new menu a try in the beautiful dining room, one of the most pleasant around, last week.

At first glance, you see Chicken Kiev, Baked Alaska, Fish and Chips, Burgers and so on. You could be thinking: what's so new here? But give Vasil a chance and see how his experience adds that little something extra and enjoyable to enhance your night out. And it is not just the kitchen. The team out front are both friendly and efficient, knows the menu and will answer any question you may have.

Chicken mains

We were happy to go along with the flow and had a close look at the starters - they also have a selection of nibbles if you want a "small” start. 

My pick, from a choice of eight, was the Local Crab Fish Cake Dressed baby leaves, mango & papaya salsa, lemon gel. The salsa and gel played key roles here and I enjoyed the quality and generous size of the fish cake itself. Thumbs up from the other side of the table also as CL loved her Wild Mushroom Croquettes with Irish cauliflower purée, vegetable crisps, pomegranate salsa. Again, the salsa and the crisps (parsnip) went superbly with the terrific flavour of the mushrooms.

Baked yogurt dessert

Next up, CL had picked the staff-recommended Wild Atlantic John Dory that came with Lemon, caper & dill butter, greens, and new season baby potatoes. A beautiful fish, cooked with precision and again the little things, including the caper and dill butter, lift it to a different level. Superb.

But how could Vasil manage with Chicken Kiev? No problem at all, it turned out to be flavoursome and delicious with Café de Paris butter, smoked squash, wild garlic oil, broccoli and asparagus, toasted almonds. The chicken, the Chicken Inn are the suppliers, was gorgeous and the smoked squash also stood out. Quite a dish and well priced at 18 euro.

When it came to dessert, the decision was to share one and so Baked Alaska lost out in favour of the Baked West Cork Yoghurt with Poached rhubarb, honeycomb, West Cork whiskey syrup, and cinnamon sablé. A perfect finalé as it turned out, easy to dispatch and unexpectedly enjoyable. But by then, we had come to expect that from Vasil and his team.

Ceiling and light fitting.

From a short but excellent choice of wines, we very much enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand’s Nelson and the Farnio blend of Montepulciano (70%) and Sangiovese from Italy’s Marche.

The Met menu can be found here. 

Suppliers map

Dining NOW Guide. Final Update! This Week's Choices In Cork. Includes Mother's Day Offers.

Dining NOW Guide. This Week's Choices In Cork

(Contact me before 1.00pm Wed with a sentence or two, a pic and a link to menu, plan to update regularly)

Click and Collect. At Home. Takeout. Takeaway. 

Greenes Have Mother's Day and Patrick's Day Sorted

Pic v Pixabay

Mothers Day - 14th March:

The perfect Mothers Day gift available to order now! Our Mothers Day weekend menus are now available to view and order for collection & delivery. Beautifully selected menus, produced from the finest local ingredients. Burger boxes also available, perfect for the kids! Choose your menu, desserts, wines, cocktails and make it perfect for Mothers Day! Order soon to avoid disappointment! Vouchers are also available to purchase through our website to treat her in Greenes once we reopen.

Place Your Order

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Mother's Day at Da Mirco

This weekend we are taking a break from travelling to a new destination in Italy and we will be running a special menu for Mothers day.

Three courses for two people for 50€ (add organic Giol Prosecco 20€)

Menu Includes the following:

ANTIPASTO - SELECTION OF CANÁPES

• Involtini di Salmone con zucchine, limone e aneto (O'connell's Smoked Salmon Rolls with grilled courgette, lemon zest and dill)
• Cannollo di bresaola e ricotta e mandorle (Cured beef bresaola IGP stuffed with ricotta and crushed almonds)
• Crostini di olive taggiasche (crostini with Olives Taggiasche DOP tapenade)
• Insalata caprese invernale (sun-dried tomatoes, capers and buffalo cherry mozzarella caprese salad)
• Frittata ai funghi e tartufo ( frittata with truffle and porcini mushrooms)

PRIMO PIATTO - LASAGNETTE DI MARE Handmade Lasagna filled with fresh seafood (mussels, prawns, crabmeat and cod), and a light béchamel

DOLCE - CREMA MASCARPONE E LIMONCELLO Limoncello and mascarpone cream with sponge cake.

This menu is limited, so preorder fast at this link Da Mirco Click & Collect

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Celtic Ross have lots of Mother's Day Options.  

Gift Vouchers here. Foodie Treats here

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L'Atitude Heads to Alsace

We have chosen Pinot Blanc by Domaine Achillée as the star of this week's box. An incredible white wine made by one of the wineries where the younger generation is causing a stir. Jean and Pierre Dietrich took over the winery from their father Yves in 2016, and have been working biodynamically since. They make exceptional wines that are true to their terroir and this Pinot Blanc has been causing quite a stir since we introduced it in the shop. This week's tastes will include some of our Alsatian favourites. Email info@latitude51.ie by midday Thursday if you'd like to join our adventure. €50 box for 2 people. Collection Friday 12 Mar from 5 -6.30pm.

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The White Rabbit

Something different this weekend

Mother's Day Special Slow-smoked Lamb, Kansas City style Wings and Pork Belly Cubes served with spicy Carolina green beans, potato salad, corn on the cob and red slaw. Inc Key Lime Pie for 2 and a bottle of wine. Strictly limited. Pre-order now.

@whiterabbitcork

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Mother's Day Menu from the fabulous Farmgate Café

Click here for details 

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New at The Met

Dinner is served...

Enjoy a dining experience at home with our new call & collect menus! Available to order from 5pm-9pm daily, featuring some of our menu favourites Call & Collect: 021 464 3700 #corkcity #corkrestaurant See menus online: https://themetropolehotel.ie/dining/menus/

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The Glass Curtain

We will be running a special menu for Mothers day over Friday, Saturday & Sunday night. There will be a choice of mains, along with starter, dessert and petit fours. As always, we urge you to set your alarms for 12pm on Monday to avoid disappointment when ordering. Check out the tempting menus here

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Just off the Marina roundabout, Sonny's sells coffee, salt beef reuben, salads & sweet things. Tuesday - Friday 10:00 -2:30. Order by 3pm for next day collection.

Check the menus here

This is a trial run!! (For future inclusions, please contact me before with a sentence or two, a pic and a link to menu)

Rest. Relax. Restore. At The MET

Rest. Relax. Restore. At The MET

Pic from The MET

Have you seen the refurbished dining facilities at the Metropole? Very impressive, well designed and ultra comfortable, plush, relaxing whether you’re in for a pint or a cocktail, a steak or a sandwich, a cuppa or the full afternoon tea. Dress up and come on down and restore, relax, rest. And the food is good too!

We got the grand tour of the McCurtain Street’s Grand Old Lady in midweek, eye-popping, jaw dropping. The inviting bar is a superb introduction and a superb Old Fashioned set the tone for the evening.

Fillet

Old Fashioned

I enjoyed mine in the afternoon tea area, just out of sight (and sound) of the bar, a green tinged oasis of peace and calm - well we were among the first in. Might not be so calm if you have a group of ladies in sampling the savoury and sweet offerings of the classic Afternoon Tea. The MET will have some variations on the theme.

The jewel in the crown though is the restaurant, just behind the bar, a 45 seater. Oh but what seats. Again the decor is superb, along much the same lines as the Afternoon Tea room, beautifully lit and comfortably furnished and linen on the solid tables.

The wines (they have quite a selection here, many by the glass) were being poured as Head Chef Stuart Dardis introduces the new menu that has been designed for the late Autumn and mid-winter. Stuart explained that there had been many in-house tastings as they selected the dishes and is very proud of their local beef offering (we would soon find out why!).

Lots of sharing going on as the kitchen team did their best to help us get a good idea of what they had to offer. I got to taste two of the starters. One was the Roasted Asparagus, smoked bacon crisp, crispy egg finished with a silky Hollandaise sauce. Tasty stuff as was the Parmesan Cheese Shortbread Biscuit, spring vine tomato compote and goats cheese mousse. Other starters on the menu include a Saffron Risotto, Smoked Salmon, Burrata, and Pan Seared Scallops, also a Soup Du Jour.

Asparagus

And then it was time for McCarthy’s Grass fed 8 ounce fillet of Hereford Beef, served with a few tomatoes, tender, perfectly delicious, top class. On the side there were Gratin Dauphinois and Garlic Roasted Violet Potatoes.

The mains are more or less fifty fifty between meat and fish and our fish was an excellent Pan Fried Fillet of Hake with crispy kale, black pudding grits and a white wine cream sauce. Other mains include Catch of the Day, Sea Bass, Braised Beef Short rib, and also Rib Eye Steak.

Four desserts on the new menu. The ones we enjoyed were a Classic Pecan Pie with a dollop of vanilla cream (this could become a favourite of mine!) and a Strawberry Mille Feuille with mascarpone cream. Other temptations were Petit Choux Buns with hazelnut ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and also an Almond and Raspberry Bakewell Tart. 

Dessert

To get more detail on The Met menus (they also do lunch here), their provenance, and wines, check here.