Superb Cuisine in Capacious and Comfortable Cornstore
Very much enjoyed the cuisine, not to mention the comfort of the renovated dining room, at dinner in the well-established and hugely popular Cornstore last week. Cold and wet outside but we were cosy and well fed inside.
The Oyster Festival may be over - and we did visit the Cornstore as one of the stops on the previous Saturday’s Gourmet Trail - but there is no shortage of oysters around. And they have quite a variation here with their Hot Grilled Buffalo Oysters, an unusual twist on the classic Buffalo wings that, with ginger beer pickled samphire, gives the molluscs a spicy lift!
There’s quite a choice of starters on the A La Carte here, about ten appetisers plus five small plates and also a special or two on the night. I had been looking at two of the specials - smoked mackerel and lamb kebab - before ordering the oysters. CL’s pick was the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Crumbled feta, red onion, toasted pistachio, shredded basil & organic rapeseed oil.
No shortage of choice either when it comes to the main section,. Here their famous aged steaks have a little section to themselves and, as we’ve found out on previous occasions, are top class. This time though I picked Rack and rolled lamb (Roast rack of lamb & braised shoulder of lamb, rosemary and sweet potato cake, leek fricassee & a mint pesto). The rack is served medium here and was perfect. Hard to beat the tender shoulder, hard to beat the whole combination, the different textures of the lamb, the soft crunch of the leek plus the bread-like feel of the cake. Quite a dish.
CL loves her fish. As this is another speciality of the house, it was with confidence that she ordered the Baked salmon with grilled prawns with Fondant potato, tender stem broccoli, samphire and blood orange hollandaise. And that confidence was well placed indeed and well rewarded too.
Quality all the way at the Cornstore but no shortage of quantity either, so there was some hesitation about dessert before we decided to share the Vanilla Crème Brulée with salted chocolate biscuit. Again a delicious choice, even that biscuit was a beauty!
Whiskeys galore here and the Cornstore cocktails (including dessert cocktails and mocktails) are legendary. An extensive wine list includes whites from light and crisp to rich and elegant, reds from easy drinking to full bodied and robust.You may get craft beers by the bottle - I noticed bottles from Blacks of Kinsale and Black Donkey of Roscommon on the list. And I found another one, a wheat beer, for my non-alcoholic “collection”, a Schneider Weisse by the famous German brewer. Enjoyed that!
Enjoyed the dinner very much indeed and it got even better when a family member texted us with an offer of a lift home. Delighted to accept!
- By the way, their Christmas Group Festive menus are now available, so you may want to check these out. As you know, the large restaurant is ideal for groups.
Cornmarket Street
Cork
4274777
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