Tuesday, August 26, 2008

THE ELM TREE



You can safely add the Elm Tree to your list of lunch venues on the eastern side of the city. It is just beyond Glounthaune on the old Cork Midleton Road and can be easily found if you exit the current new motorway via the Cobh sign but instead of going to Cobh on the first roundabout after the exit, turn back left (1st exit) in the Glounthaune direction.

I was there today. Service is by way of carvery. There is a choice of about six main courses. I took the roast leg of lamb, with gravy and stuffing, along with roast and mash potato and, as she says herself behind the counter, “all the vegetables”.

It was quite a generous plateful. More importantly, it was excellent, well cooked, and very tasty. The roast potato I got was slightly on the hard side but the mashed was perfect . Not bad at all for €12.00.

Reconstruction is taking place there at present, so space is much more limited than usual. Get there early.
The Elm Tree
Glounthaune,
Co. Cork.
Tel: (021) 4351024
Fax: (021) 4524946

Saturday, August 16, 2008

THE ISLAND GATE


EARLY BIRD AT THE GATE



The Island Gate is one of a few restaurants that have recently advertised Early Bird offers. The Four Liars is another and I have heard good reports from a couple who went there within the past fortnight.

The Island Gate has a two course offer at €20.00. You can have a mains with either a starter or dessert.

There is choice of about four starters, including soup. I enjoyed my spicy potato wedges with salad.

Main courses (a choice of six on the early bird) at the table were Pork Medallions with a creamy cider sauce) and a Basil Chicken Dish. Both were good quality, tasty, no complaint at all. As an accompaniment, you may pick two from salad, fries, mash and vegetables.

One of the party finished with a gorgeous Bailey’s Cheesecake, delicious and so light.

The wine list is being changed at the moment. The current house wines come in at a very reasonable €17.50 – let’s hope they don’t change that. The presentation of the wine was a little on the sloppy side. No tasting was offered and there was no keep it cool facility for the white.

Service was friendly, no delays. Overall, the meal was good and so too was the price.

Monday, August 11, 2008

LUNCH IN THE LANE

A TALE OF TWO SOUPS


The Lunch menu in the Market Lane is not that much different from the Evening Menu.

And the Seafood soup (€6.95) is not that much different from the ordinary soup (€4.95). At lunch today, the advisor got the regular soup, a nice tomato one. I got the Seafood variety which was the same tomato soup with cheese shreds, croutons and a few fishy bits added. Both were quite good – no complaints on that score. But I felt they took the lazy way to an extra two euro with the seafood soup.

The Quiche, well made and studded with pieces of tomato, pepper and even nut, was very very tasty and was served with an herby potato salad and leaves (which were beautifully dressed). It was excellent, a lovely main course for lunch.

We opted for the our usual desserts here and, with a half litre of house white, the bill came to €56.90.
Market Lane is highly recommended. The phone number is 021 4274710 (note that they don't take bookings for less than six people).

Sunday, August 3, 2008

FORGOT THE STARTER?

HERE'S A TIP>>>

Staying in tonight? You have your main course and your dessert? But forgot the starter!

No bother.

Just pop in to your local Aldi – they have stores all over now. Get one of the bowls of Les Olives du Marché. They have a variety under the Crespo brand and the one I enjoyed lately consisted of pitted green olives with chilli and parsley. Top class and you get 110g, with cocktail sticks included, for just €1.79.

VIENNA WOODS -- RISING TIDE

Lunch Venues
Just a reminder that if you find yourself on the eastern side of the city at lunchtime, you have a choice. Two recent venues for me were the Vienna Woods (near Glanmire) and the Rising Tide (in Glounthaune). Both are in scenic locations, though the tide needs to be in at Glounthaune if you are to see it at its best. Both continue to do good lunches. I enjoyed my chicken at the Woods and the Lasagne (Irish style) at the Tide.

SCOOZI'S

QUEUESIES....

No problem finding parking downtown last Saturday night. The streets looked deserted. Where was everyone?

Quite a few in Market Lane – no table available for an hour, we were told. Up the street to Scoozi’s. Twenty minutes wait here. They usually overstate it. We waited and were at a table in less than five minutes.

Enjoyed my La Reine Pizza, the smaller one served with salad and chips. Two in the company took the lasagne. This was the usual Irish style dish, loads of meat. Very tasty. The fourth mains was chicken, called Pollo Alla Scoozi, breadcrumbed and stuffed with garlic cream cheese and chives.

No complaints about the food and none either about the house wine: a bottle of Merlot (18.75) and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (4.75). Total cost, including tips, for a very satisfactory meal was about €90.00.

Then onto the nearby Long Valley for an after dinner drink. This long narrow bar is of the traditional variety and none the worse for that. Quite a popular venue but with many calling for the just the one drink there is quite a turnover and you can usually get a seat, very important if you are of a certain age.

Friday, August 1, 2008

ASK ABOUT FOOD




John Maguire tells us that the site was created in order to provide a forum for the discussion of all things related to food (and drink) in Ireland.
"If there's something you'd like to know about food, have information to offer, or simply want to let Ireland (and the world) know about a food-related service that you provide or that you've tried, then AskAboutFood is the place to be.
The AskAboutFood community is growing fast and we're aiming to be the largest, most comprehensive Irish food information exchange site."


http://www.askaboutfood.ie/