Greenwich. Passionate café culture in Cork city centre

Greenwich. Passionate café culture in Cork city centre

The lady at the counter is delighted, compliments are flowing to the staff as she pays her bill in the little Cork café. “This is delightful,” she enthuses, “A real café, great food and relaxing music, and in the heart of the city. How long have you been here?”

They explain that the current owner has just celebrated a year in residence but the café has been here for about 20 years. With an incredulous gasp, she questions: “How come I’ve never found it before?” Greenwich is the uber central café in Caroline Street, just behind Brown Thomas that itself faces onto to the main thoroughfare of Patrick Street.

Dermot O’Sullivan is the chef/owner celebrating his first anniversary here in Greenwich and he has the place smelling well, looking well and sounding well! 

Flowers and bright paintings all around, cool jazz and easy swing ooze from the speakers as tempting aromas waft from the kitchen. This gentle melange for the senses, served with smiles and chats, has enthralled many a customer, our happy lady the latest in a long line.

These months, with not much use being made of the outdoor seating (even if it is sheltered), the 20 plus seats inside are busy and buzzing, the punter’s eyes on the glass containers of cakes on the counter, the wall-mounted boards (detailing coffees, teas and wines) and on the menu with its day-long brunch offerings and its lunch list, along with a host of sweet treats.

We get in around 1.45 on a midweek afternoon. There is a short wait for a table and we have the menu to check in the meantime. By the time we’ve read it, the table is cleared and we have a good idea what we’ll be eating.

I had the Reuben sandwich on my most recent call and this time I’m inclined to go for something off that day-long brunch menu and pick the Challah Bread French Toast. It is a tasty and generous plate,  the bread (from the English Market) is dipped in egg and cream, fried in butter until golden and served with crispy bacon  and maple syrup. There is also a homemade fruit compote vanilla Mascarpone version. 

Dermot supports local suppliers. The ever reliable Chicken Inn is one such and CL picks the Chargrilled Chicken Salad with chargrilled red pepper, toasted cashew nuts, dressed Waterfall Farm leaves and pickles served with the café’s homemade honey & mustard dressing. A generous and inviting plateful, accompanied by a couple of slices of their brown bread, is a very satisfying combination of colours, flavours and textures. 

They have a short wine list here but today we pick the beautiful refreshing apple juice from Con Traas’s Apple Farm in Cahir. Coffee is by the Golden Bean and we decide to share a slice of the Lemon Curd Cake. Just as well we shared, as the portion is quite large!

So, heated by the meal and feeling good after the warm welcome and the friendly service and the day’s play-list, we are well equipped for the walk back to the car.

Outstanding Dinner in Celtic Ross Kingfisher Restaurant

Outstanding Dinner in Celtic Ross Kingfisher Restaurant

Dome of delight. Irish Coffee Mousse.

There are some very accomplished chefs working in hotels and quite a few of them, Kevin O'Sullivan at the Garryvoe, Gemma Murphy at The Maryborough, Ciaran Scully at The Bayview and Stuart Bowes at Barnabrow are local examples that spring to mind, seem to fall under the radar, especially by comparison with their counterparts in standalone restaurants. I am thinking of this the other night in the Kingfisher Restaurant an the Celtic Ross where Executive Head Chef Alex Petit and Head Chef Shane Deane are offering their amazing West Cork Spring Menu.

It is short and tight, packed with local produce, and executed with top notch skill. The result is a meal that you’d be lucky to find in well-known standalone restaurants around the country. And not just one meal. Because, while the menu is short, there are enough combinations to enticingly engage you and your palate over multiple visits!

Monkfish

There are two evening menus in the hotel, one for the restaurant, one for the bar. We were heading for the restaurant and so picked from the West Cork Spring Menu 2020, which offers two courses for €31.00, three for €36.00.

Water, breads and the menu are quickly on the table and are soon followed by a pork based Amuse Bouche. They have a well balanced wine list but we hold off until we’ve chosen the food and we do that reasonably quickly. CL picks a red wine, a velvety soft and flavoursome Ciu Ciu Bacchus, Montepulciano, from the Marche in Italy. I’m on fish with different sauces for the night so take a punt on the rich Little Rascal Chardonnay from Victoria in Australia, a little cold at the start but soon warms up and blossoms into a little beauty as they might say down under.

Egg

This menu is available from Thursday to Saturday evenings and has four choices for each course. My starter is a good as anything I’ve eaten anywhere on the island in recent years. Poached monkfish in saffron with Beluga lentil caviar, fermented lemon aioli, charred Waterfall Farms broccoli, and radish. An amazing combination, pleasing to the eye, the palate and further down!

And CL feels much the same about her Sally’s smoked haddock Scotch egg - I reckon you’ll know Sally the smoker! It comes in a leek soup, curry oil, pickled golden raisins, and crispy leeks. Another imaginative combination! Other starters on the menu were Skeaghanore Goose Liver Parfait and The Waterfall Farm Carrot Dip.

Lamb

We’re on a roll now. And the high standard continues. My mains pick is Pan Roasted Cod (bouillabaisse, local wild garlic gnocchi, cavolo nero, saffron rouille). All the elements are spot on, each playing a part. Put them all together and you have a symphony of flavour sensations in the dish and it also looks well. Probably dish of the year so far!

Our other main course was Confit Drimoleague Lamb shoulder with puffed barley, carrot purée, charred pointed cabbage, reduced braising jus. The kitchen is playing a blinder here, scoring every time with delicious well-presented dishes. Other mains courses are Salt Baked Celeriac and Duo of Rosscarbery Sirloin of Beef and Featherblade.

Cod

Warm Orange marmalade pudding 

Time now for the boys to step back and allow Pastry Chef Alicja Samulik take the spotlight. Her new Irish Coffee Mousse is amazing, the perfect amalgam of white chocolate and Irish coffee, dark chocolate and hazelnut biscuit, honey and oat tuille and so much more.

We share that gem and also the equally delicious, if in a  different way, Warm Orange Marmalade Pudding with five spice créme Anglaise and rhum raisin ice cream, all excellent ingredients but superb in ensemble. Thumbs up all around for these two. Also available are Baked Lemon Tart and a West Cork cheeseboard that features Vintage Carbery Cheddar, Gubbeen, and Milleens.

As you can see, they’ve got quite a team assembled in that kitchen, and the results on the plate are up there with the best of them.

Nash 19 Champions Local Producers. The Customer Wins

Nash 19 Champions Local Producers.

The Customer Wins

Superb pork, crowned with crackling

Quite a few new restaurants, all types, sizes, styles, in Cork these days, some of them grabbing the attention. But a experienced and still enthusiastic troop of the old reliables can teach these new kids on the block a thing or two. Take Nash 19 for instance, established in 1992 and now a treasure of good food and good cooking right in the heart of the city: seasonal, local, consistent and so welcoming.

Good to keep these places in mind and I reaped the benefit last Tuesday when I accepted an offer to a birthday lunch (mine) and we decided on Nash 19. Some new faces in the crew but all come with big smiles and they soon had us seated, the menus in our hands, water at hand. It was a good start and gradually got better.

Warm Chicken Salad

Lots to pick from here, various salads, four fish dishes, traditional offerings such as Lamb’s Liver and Irish Stew. And if you couldn’t make up your mind you could do worse than choose the Local Producer Plate, their signature tasting plate.

The one that caught my eye was the Pork Loin, baked in Bombay Aloo (potato) & Fennel, with crackling (15.90). Crowe’s Farm are their regular supplier so I had no worries about the pork and in addition to the described elements there was also a helping of cracking kale (from Waterfall Farm), gratin potato and root vegetables. Overall, a superb mains, well thought out and equally well executed.

CL meanwhile was enjoying her Chicken Warm Salad, Mexican style, guacamole, tortillas and salsa (13.90), a bowl packed with colour, flavour and texture. 

Wines are supplied mainly by Liberty and Le Caveau and the birthday boy was invited to help himself by his driver for the day. Our server was confident about the wines and suggested I try the light unoaked and organic Mesta Tempranillo, a 2018 joven, from Ucles in Spain. She was spot on and I enjoyed the pairing!

We had each started with a “small” bowl of Rich Tomato and bean soup; they also had a chowder on offer. The soup took the cold out of the system and we settled back to enjoy our mains.

Nash believe in quality. Not alone do they source the best but they handle it well all the way from delivery to the plate. And it is not just quality. Quantity is never lacking here. So we were pretty full when the dessert question came up!

I studied the list, again no shortage of choice. The legendary Raspberry Mille Feuille caught my attention immediately but then I spotted something that might better suit the cool October day and so we decided to share the Pillow Meringue with spiced plums and hot chocolate sauce (6.60). Glad to report my hunch was right on the money. Indeed, those mildly spiced plums were worth the money on their own.

So there you are. What’s another year? Let’s see.

BLAIRS INN OLD BUTTER ROADS FOOD TRAIL FESTIVAL

BLAIRS INN OLD BUTTER ROADS FOOD TRAIL LAUNCH

Duncan Blair has been on to tell us all about their plans for the launch:

> We'll have special Old Butter Road Trail dishes on our menus throughout the launch weekend (28th April to May 1st). We'll be serving artisanal Butter Road cocktails and craft beers throughout all weekend. On Bank Holiday Monday at 4pm we'll be putting on a cooking, craft cocktail and beer Demo in our garden. We be cooking up dishes and breads featuring the produce of the Butter Road.
>
> Hake on Waterfall Farm Kale with a caper Beurre blanc
> Confit of McCarthy's pork belly with a Gubbeen chorizo cassoulet
> Nine White Deer Stout glazed Macroom short rib of beef
> Stag Bán beer & lime sorbet with a Longueville Cider foam
> 60 second beer bread
> Cotton Ball Stout brownies
>
> Richie will be showing off his cocktail skills using our range of artisanal gins, vodkas & whiskeys.
>
> We'll be giving out samples of food and drink. We'll also be serving a special three course dinner featuring the dishes from the demo.

Nash 19. Always a Winner.

Nash 19. Always a Winner.

Something small caught my attention at lunch in Nash 19 yesterday. A green salad, served as a side dish. The mixed greens, that came from Waterfall Farm, were fresh and bright and absolutely inviting, and turned out to be sweet, crunchy and delicious. Just a side dish. But if Nash 19 give so much attention to this seemingly little detail, you'd reckon that the rest of the menu is well taken care of. And you'd be right.

It is this attention to detail that has seen the ever popular city centre restaurant survive and thrive for over two decades. The sourcing, the cooking, the assembly, the service, is all top notch. Always an enjoyable meal and always an enjoyable visit.

The menu changes daily and takes a wee bit of study as you nibble on their breads with that fabulous olive oil. We got, and accepted, recommendations for the main courses and started with a couple of soups.

The soups come in two sizes and we took the smaller bowl (€3.80) yesterday. I had the Tomato and Bean Soup with Chilli Salsa, a hearty mix of textures and flavours. CL’s Pea and Ham Hock Soup was more subtle but also a beautiful blend. The larger size will cost you €5.75.

They also do some tempting looking sandwiches, all around the tenner mark. Indeed, you may take the Toasty - Chargrilled Chicken, Caramelised Onion and Tipperary Brie Wrap and a cup of soup, all for €10.50.

The mains dishes, including their famous Local Producers Tasting Plate (€14.50), vary from €11.50 to €16.50. CL picked the Simply Grilled Fillets of Plaice, Lemon and Parsley Gremolata, vegetables and potatoes. This was expertly executed and rather expertly polished off as well.

The Aherla Veal Meat Balls, the veal from O'Mahony Butchers in the nearby English Market, were something else. These were served, Tuscan style, on Martelli Pasta, Lemon Parsley and Chanterelle Mushroom Cream, the pasta smooth and richly sauced, the meat pink and tender, and all enhanced by that special salad.

And a sip or two of wine of course. With Rhone Wine Week coming up, I opted for a glass (€6.95) of the Ogier Plan de Dieu, smooth, fruity and with a long finish. The fish went down well with a glass of Tuscany’s “refreshing and refined” Castello di Pomino BIanco (6.95). A couple of excellent coffees rounded off a very pleasant interlude.

On the lookout for a Gluten free Christmas Pudding? Nash 19 have the answer and they tell me they are delighted with the way it turned out. "Outstanding!"

Nash 19 details

• 19 Princes Street
• Cork IRL

Phone	(021) 427 0880
Email	info@nash19.com
Website	http://www.nash19.com

Mon - Fri: 7:30 am - 6:00 pm

Sat: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Fresh and Local at Bull McCabe’s

Fresh and Local at Bull McCabe’s

Fresh and local is the policy at Bull McCabe’s  on the Airport Road. Meat comes from Ballyburden Meats in Ballincollig, relishes from Christie’s Celtic Kitchen in Carrigaline and fruit and vegetables from Waterfall Farms.

And there is also a good choice of local drinks available. At lunch yesterday, I downed a cool pint of Friar Weisse from the Franciscan Well. Other choices available include Howling Gale Ale from Eight Degrees and Cider from Stonewell in Nohoval. And they have a different guest beer every month.

Let me just stick to the drink for a minute. Their whiskey comes from Midleton Distillery and Bull McCabe’s is a venue where you may enjoy a Jameson Reserve Tasting. It costs just €12.50 to do the tasting which includes a Whiskey Appreciation Guide and 25 mls each of Jameson Select Reserve and Jameson Special Reserve 12 year Old and, wait for it, 25mls of Jameson Gold Reserve.

The tasting is a feature of the regular Tuesday Ruaile Buaile Nights at the Bull where you have a three course meal, the tasting and entertainment for a grand total of €32.50. Sounds like fun.

The carvery lunch there is very good, lots of meat dishes and salads available, also sandwiches and wraps. A bit too hot for the soup so I went direct to the Roast Beef with all the trimmings (€12.90) while CL picked the Baked Salmon (11.70).  Two faultless plates, very enjoyable, especially the cooked to perfection vegetables (carrots and cabbage).

No shortage of homemade desserts available including Strawberry Roulade, Coffee and Walnut, and Apple Pie. My choice (two spoons, though) was the gorgeous Pear and Almond.

They also do a Tuesday lunchtime tenner special and yesterday’s offers, again with all the trimmings, were Roast Stuffed Turkey and Homemade Lasagne.

Owner Derek told me that their Evening Special (two courses for €17.50) is proving very popular. Here, you may have a main course with a starter or a main course with dessert. Other big draws on the evening menu are the Burger, the Chicken Fajita and the Chicken Curry. The Blackboard Specials are available Monday to Friday 5.00 to 9.00pm. Dinner is also served on Saturday, same times.

It is a busy spot. And a lively one. Lots of fun and events there. Not so long ago they had their Iron Man contest, one with a difference as the object was to find a guy who could best handle a clothes iron! Watch out for their Food and Beer Matching event, coming up, most likely in September.

Being close to the airport and to a few hotels in the area, Bull McCabe’s gets quite a lot of foreign visitors. Derek tells me that Irish beef is very highly regarded by them. He wasn't surprised at that but was slightly surprised to hear a group of Austrians declare that the Franciscan Well’s Friar Weisse was the best beer they had come across!

Great to see a bar/restaurant that supports local producers doing well. Long may it continue?

·         Bull MCCABES, AIRPORT RD, CORK

·         CARVERY LUNCH
MON-FRI 12:15-2:30PM, SAT-SUN 12:30-3:00PM

·         EVENING MEALS
MON-SAT 5-9PM

·         021 432 2142