Top Lunch at O'Connor's Seafood

O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant

 Enjoyed a lovely friendly welcome on our first visit to O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant  in Bantry at the weekend.


We had been impressed with the outside of the well kept building and with the nautical display in the window. Walls are nicely decorated with photos and the Good Food Ireland Map, proudly displayed . The restaurant is both comfortable and cosy and the seating is really really good, as were our first impressions.

And that continued with the service. It was excellent, top class, friendly and informative, chatty, yet not in your face. And it wasn't just us. A Scottish couple nearby got a brilliant run down on what was available locally and in Cork City.


Of course, the most important ingredient is the food. We came for the fish, of course, but the Sunday lunch menu is quite extensive and meat eaters won’t be disappointed either, as you can see on the photo of the menu.


I picked the Pan Seared Hake with the tomato ragout and tempura Samphire (€13.00). Simple enough. The chef let the fresh fish do the talking here and it was excellent. Must say also that the ragout and Samphire were absolutely delicious accompaniments. Not to mention the spot-on side dishes of vegetables and potato wedges.

They had some tempting regular desserts but the day's special was my pick and it was Cherries (they are in season), Chantilly Cream, and all on a base of broken Toblerone biscuit. Very nice indeed.

It is a case of quality in, quality out. Most of the suppliers are local and include Central Fish Market Bantry, Jack McCarthy Kanturk, Bantry House Walled Gardens, Bantry Bay Crab, Cashel Blue Cheese, McCarthy’s Butchers Bantry, Michael Moore fruit and veg and Oysterhaven oysters and Mussels.

Pat Kiely was chef here when O’Connor’s won a national award a few years back. After a spell at the Rising Tide, he is back now as owner and has assembled much of the team from those days. The place is a credit to himself and his staff. And well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Other nearby attractions: The Ewe Experience and Bantry House

Bantry Meets the Challenge

Bantry Meets the Challenge

Click on image to enlarge.

The sun shone as the week long Atlantic Challenge came to an end in Bantry on Sunday. Even though we arrived relatively early on Sunday morning, we had the feeling that we had missed a great night on Saturday and that was pretty much confirmed everywhere on Sunday!

It certainly accounted for a leisurely start to the day. Not too many people around until after lunch when the wind died down and the sun came out and so too did the crowds. The Food Fair was the focus of much attention as were the bands playing on the square.

I walked out to the pier to see the long boats of the Atlantic Challenge at rest and a pretty sight they made with their national flags flying in the stiff breeze and the magnificent scenery in the background. By the time we got back to the centre, the Food Fair was picking up.

If you were hungry after the night before then you were in the right place with hot food being provided by various stalls, pizzas and Thai among them. Not too many producers around but great to meet up with Benoit Lorge and Mella’s Fudge again.

Clockwise from top left: Blacksmith demo, Mella's Fudge, Rachel Dare of Organico doing her cookery demo, Pizza stall, attendance at cookery demo, Salad from Organico, Herbal teas and Olive stall. Click on image to enlarge. 

The cookery demonstration area was every popular with quite a line-up that included Henry Heggarty of Wokabout, Caroline Moore of the Seaside Kitchen, Rachel Dare of Organico Café (they also had some gorgeous salads on their stall), Pat Kiely of O’Connor’s Seaford Restaurant (where we enjoyed a splendid lunch), and Benoit Lorge with a sweet chocolate finale.

After lunch, we joined the throngs, took in the music and paid another visit to the food area. Great to see the kids catered for in the square with the Bubbles in the Water and the Bucking Bronco proving popular.

Would have liked to have stayed on for the Atlantic Challenge presentations late in the evening but had so say goodbye to beautiful Bantry though not before a call to Manning’s Food Emporium in Ballylickey where we enjoyed a chat and a drink. After that there was time for a stroll around the nearby Carrigass Castle, where there are some lovely walks and picnic areas.

ROADSIDE DELI IN BALLYLICKEY

MANNINGS EMPORIUM

Have been promising myself, and one or two others, to visit Manning’s Food Emporium in Ballylickey for some time. Made it, finally, on a  sunny day this week and enjoyed the call which included a chat with Val, the man who started it all.

Val was in great form and gave us quite a laugh when he let loose as a delivery man as about to demolish one of his flower stands out the front. It didn't come to a collision and soon it was smiles as usual.

Manning’s Emporium  has been in the Manning family for over 70 years and has evolved in that time from post office and convenience store to what it is today: a gourmet shop renowned for its high quality local produce, fine wines and excellent service.

No doubt in Irish cities you’ll find some similar stores with bigger selections but remember that Mannings is in deepest West Cork in a country village on the coast road between Bantry and Glengarriff. That makes the selection here, mostly locally produced but also some stand-out items from aboard, quite remarkable indeed.

Just to give you a  flavour, here are some of the items that ended up in my basket: Molaga Honey €3.40, Tikka Masala Curry Sauce (UK) €4.05, Janet’s Country Fayre Beetroot Blush €4.00, Healthy Thirst Elderflower Sparkling Drink (UK) €3.25 for 75cl, Cooleeney Handmade Irish Cheese €3.75, The Apple Farm’s Sparkling Irish Apple Juice €4.45 for 50cl, Donegal Rapeseed Oil €5.95 for 50cl and El Comandante Chardonnay 2010 Argentina.

I’ve forgotten the price of the wine but you’ll see that the others are priced fairly, better value than in some of the city shops. Quite a lot of other local producers on display including Lorge Chocolates, Jack McCarthy (Kanturk), Gubbeen, Durrus and there is a rack of vegetables by the door and more.

Shopping done, it was time to take a table out-front and enjoy a cup of coffee and a cake. They have a selection of pastries to chose from, all served with a smile. Soon, we were ready to check out two other delights of the delightful area: the unusual Ewe Sculpture Garden  and Bantry House.  A cool bag in the boot came in handy and some of the drinks - the Elderflower  was gorgeous – were seen off during the afternoon of what turned out to be a great day in the west.