Macroom’s Church Lane Restaurant. Blessed to have great food on the table

Macroom’s Church Lane Restaurant

Blessed to have great food on the table

Church Lane is a multi-room restaurant in the grounds of a church in Macroom. The building itself was originally used as the sextant’s lodge and later as a family home. Since 2012, sisters Laura and Cheryl have been feeding locals and visitors alike. Many of the visitors are travellers on the main Cork-Killarney road that runs alongside but quite a few now make a special trip as the restaurant is well known for its high quality.

We had enjoyed that quality via their super Tapas menu some time back but, on this occasion, we went for the a la carte. Reading the menu you notice that quite a few local producers are suppliers here and now they've added local craft beer brewers, including 9 White Deer, to their drinks options.

And this a heads-up for you. If you make it as far as dessert, then do please try the Tiramisu. It is one of the very best around, maybe the best! Unfortunately it is a special and you could be unlucky if it's not on!

There is a very good choice of starters. CL went for the House Salad and was delighted with the mix of sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, beetroot, Toonsbridge Mozzarella, pesto, and balsamic vinegar, all for €6.90.

And if she was happy I was even more so as I got a very pleasant surprise, both in its quantity and quality, with the Prawn Bruschetta (8.90), three pieces of gorgeous bread piled high with the prawns which had been pan-fried and were served with a dazzling garlic and cream sauce. An absolutely brilliant dish that also features in the Tapas menu.

My mains, though excellent, was almost mundane by comparison! But again it was perfectly cooked and delivered at the proper temperature and with a stylish presentation. This was the Pan-seared Lamb Cutlets with rosemary and garlic mash, fresh vegetables and a luxurious red wine jus!

The other mains was also dispatched with some gusto, this the award winning Skeaghanore Duck Breast on a bed of creamed spinach with potato gratin and wild berry reduction. Superb, as you’d expect and, of course, we had excellent side dishes as well.

Each of our mains cost €23.95. The amazing Tiramisu, that we shared, cost €5.75 as do all the desserts on offer. Had we known the Tiramisu was going to be so good, we’d have ordered two. Next time!

Top: Duck (left) and Lamb
Bottom: House Salad (left) and Prawns.

Farm Restaurant, Clonakilty. Well Worth A Visit.

Farm Restaurant, Clonakilty.

Well Worth A Visit.

Clonakilty’s Farm Restaurant has made a big impression in less than six months. Produce from the local seas and farms features strongly on the menu in the Ashe Street venue, right in the middle of the town. Comfortable seating and friendly service, along with top class cooking, makes for an excellent dining experience.

We were in last week and, with a chocolate tasting coming up immediately afterwards, decided to go for two courses of their early bird menu. While reading the menus, we got a cone full of pop-corn and a basket full of gorgeous breads (including a particularly delicious one with onions and Dubliner in the mix - what a tasty crust this had).

Delighted to see so many local names listed, including Clonakilty, Staunton’s, Dan Moloney, Caherbeg, Skeaghanore, Toons Bridge, along with craft beer by Dungarvan and cider from Stonewell.

The Clonakilty Black Pudding featured on my starter, served with Crispy Pancetta salad with celeriac, Pear and Apple Coleslaw. Delighted with that opener, excellent flavours and textures, and CL was more than pleased with her Crisp vegetable and chicken confit spring roll with Szechuan Dipping sauce, another tasty combination.

 It just got better after that. My mains was the Pan-roasted free-range chicken wrapped in Clonakilty Bacon and stuffed with Caherbeg Sausage meat. There was an explosion of flavours here, including a great sauce, and the sausage meat added a bit of herby spice.

The other mains was Skeaghanore confit duck leg with marmalade sauté potatoes and that had CL purring. Another empty plate. Oh, by the way, the included sides of creamy mashed potato and vegetables were also cooked to perfection and very much appreciated as well.

Must call back some day when we have no other eating commitments and get stuck into the A La Carte! 

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

Skeaghanore Smoked Duck

Many of you will be familiar with the award winning Skeaghanore West Cork Duck, produced by Eugene and Helena Hickey near Ballydehob.  Recently, I spotted a pack of their Smoked Breast of Duck at the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market. I could see the duck through a "window" in the pack and couldn't resist. Traditionally smoked with oak, it is fully cooked and ready to eat. It is absolutely delicious, a really top notch product, tender and succulent and naturally plump but, in this case at least, with a lot less fat than you'll see on similar products. The 220 gram pack costs nine euro and is our Taste of the Week.

* A few weeks back, I highlighted a trio of quality ready to use dishes by Yumm! Since then, they have come up with another gem, called Lisheen Lasagne, also available at the Fresh from West Cork stall.

Dining On the Banks. Excellent River Lee Hotel Experience.

Dining On the Banks. Excellent River Lee Hotel Experience.

Friday evening and we are shown to our riverside table in the aptly named Weir Restaurant in the city centre River Lee Hotel. We are early but soon the large comfortable room fills up; the nearby bar is already full of groups, large and small, enjoying the food and the drinks. Our menu is promising, from regulars such as Roast Supreme of Skeaghanore Duck to specials like the Ballinwillin Wild Boar Chop.

We meet some of the team, including Head Chef Shane O’Sullivan (sometimes it pays to turn up early), and we are left to make our choices. A glass of ruby red fruity French Merlot (Croix des Vents) and CL’s vibrant New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Ribbonwood) are sipped as the choices are made.

Great to see so much local produce on the menu and I go for the Panfried Castletownbere Scallops in Lemon foam with a seafood cracker. It is superb. The scallops are as fresh as can be and the Lemon foam, not just for show, plays a complementary role. The other starter, perhaps more substantial, is the Chicken Liver Pate, with Foie Gras and Rosemary Butter, pickled apple chutney and walnut bread crostini, quite an engaging mix of textures and flavours and is also very well received.

The sun gets low to the west and the restaurant team pick the right moment to drop the window shades and so diners continue in comfort. Service here is friendly and knowledgeable, all eager to help.

I get something of a surprise when my main course arrives. The day’s special, the Wild Boar Chop, is rather large! But not to worry, it is dispatched with some pleasure, aside from some of the opulent fat that is left on the plate. The chop is served with steamed asparagus, beetroot puree, sweet potato chips and an amazing warm rhubarb relish. Ballinwillin House is a country house, (with a Hungarian counterpart), near Mitchelstown. Check it out here .

CL often goes for seafood and her mains choice was no exception. Her Grilled Castletownbere Langoustines, the chef’s June Seasonal Signature Dish, was accompanied by a Pea, Asparagus and Seafood Risotto and finished with Iasc Seafood Butter. Another top notch dish.

They serve a great Cork cheese board here but we went for the sweet stuff! And enjoyed it, every bit. My dessert was the Raspberry Tiramisu. Raspberries also featured on the other dessert, the Baked Alaska, one that you don't see too often nowadays. Both were excellent and it was two happy diners that headed off down the sunny street.