The Woodford
Perhaps it is not overly surprising
that we have many good black (and white) pudding makers in the region. The surprise
is more in the robust resurgence of this old food of the poor and its emergence on
the tables of the local restaurants, including the Woodford Pub in Paul Street
where I enjoyed a recent lunch.
Clonakilty
black pudding salad - €11
Caramelised apples crispy potato skins, bacon, honey & mustard dressing
Caramelised apples crispy potato skins, bacon, honey & mustard dressing
Clonakilty Black Pudding was
the first to make a widespread breakthrough and I got a pleasing reminder of
why in this salad. Here it combined very well with the segments of sweet apple
atop each mini cylinder of the rich black pudding with a loose and crumbly texture,
its full flavour tinged with salt.
The flavour of the bacon cubes
was a lingering sweet ambush, so pleasantly potent on the palate and certainly a
worthy addition to the salad. Not so long ago, patrons would have passed on this.
Now, the pudding is back in foodie fashion.
Bluebell
Falls goats cheese crostini - €10
With beetroot relish, walnuts, tomato chilli jam & honey dressing
With beetroot relish, walnuts, tomato chilli jam & honey dressing
The warmed Bluebell Falls
Goat Cheese was served on crostini. Beetroot has become a standard companion of
the chèvre and, shredded here, one could easily taste why. Tomatoes and sweet
crunchy caramelised walnuts also played their part in making it a very
satisfactory salad indeed.
These two salads were well put together, not just casual collections on the plates.
We were initially somewhat disappointed
to see the Specials Boards make an appearance about six or seven minutes after
we had ordered (and some 35 minutes after lunch serving time had commenced). But
that was wiped out by the two splendid salads that we enjoyed before finishing off
with some decent Illy coffee. The friendly staff were on the ball here and the service
was excellent.
