Best local produce finds a fine home at Harrow in Killarney’s High Street.

Best local produce finds a fine home at Harrow

 in Killarney’s High Street

Chicken

Killarney's Harrow has just reached the 12-month milestone on the town’s High Street and is making quite an impression. It is an impressive building, both inside and out, very comfortable and spacious, with a very friendly staff and, very importantly, local produce is supported and well handled here.

Harrow (where Gabys was)

The culinary team of John, Christian & Zvonimir are bringing all their experience to bear and local producers supported and listed on the menu include Poppadom’s Farm Killarney - Star Seafood Killarney - Spillane’s Seafood Killarney - Tim Jones Killarney - Fenit Veg Tralee - Wild Kerry Game - Terra Foods Tralee - Irish Hereford Prime - Our Chef’s Garden. Local brewers and distillers also feature in Harrow.

Mussels

Interior

The main restaurant, well decorated and lit, is a split-level ground floor room and off to the right and upstairs is a separate party room for around 30 guests. Service is friendly and efficient from welcome to goodbye.

We were soon seated and checking the menus. Some very tantalising dishes here. The produce may be local and Irish but there are some different touches from the continent and beyond. They offer A La Carte and a 3-course set menu (for forty euro where you choose from starred items on the A La Carte).

There is a long wine list here, quite a few by the glass. They have a full bar of course so no scarcity of spirits, cocktails, and beer. Some non alcoholic options too. I often look out for the local beer and we enjoyed bottles from Killarney Brewing (Devil’s Helles) and 9 White Deer (Stag Bán Pale Ale).

Celeriac

After tasting and enjoying their smoked butter on their crispy bread, I started with Hay Baked Celeriac (Salt and Hay Baked Celeriac with Truffle Dressing, Pickled Cranberries & Toasted Pistachios). You don’t see this too often. I enjoyed it very much, light, flavourful and colourful. Happy sounds too from the other side of the table where the Mussels served with Garlic Bread Curried Lemongrass and Ginger went down well. They also had a Garlic and Parsley Cream sauce available for the more cautious.

CL went for a more traditional main course: Chicken Supreme. It was stuffed with Black Wild Garlic, Mushroom & Spinach Arancini, Grilled Butternut Squash, Pickled Chanterelles, Roasting Jus. A splendid dish indeed, packed with flavour and accompanied by Crispy Potato dressed with Confit Garlic.

I haven’t had Pork Schnitzel in a long long time and the Harrow version was excellent in both quality and quantity and served with a very tasty German Potato Salad. The full description is Pork Schnitzel, Celeriac Purée, Herb and Parmesan Dressing, Celeriac Slaw with Jus. A hearty flavoursome dish to watch out for if you visit.

Schnitzel

The dessert list is short, shorter than the list of sweet wines (including ports). Our pick, for sharing, was the Vanilla Crème Brûlée lightly flavoured with Pedro Jiménez, served with Boozy Armagnac Prunes & Cinnamon Biscuit. Yum.

You may be wondering where the restaurant name comes from. Not from the London borough of that name nor from any grand palace or family. It is from the humble farm implement used to break up the soil after ploughing. Apparently, the people behind Harrow have an agricultural background and that shows also in the names on their sophisticated cocktail list. Here, among the classics, you’ll find The Plough, The Hoe, The Oxen, and The Iron Harrow. A haggart full of cocktails then but no sign of the Scuffler! Cheers.