Visiting West Cork's renowned highlights?
Schull's Harbour Hotel is a superb, comfortable, and central base.
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| Outstanding chocolate dessert at Schull Harbour Hotel |
Schull Harbour Hotel, superbly located right in the
middle of the village, proved to be an ideal base for a recent trip to West Cork to visit some of the region’s "classic" highlights. Over two glorious days, we chalked up a very satisfactory hat trick that included Glengarrif’s Garinish Island (43 minutes), Mizen Head (34 minutes) and the Sheep's Head Peninsula (40 minutes). |
| Hake at Harbour Hotel |
We had booked dinner for the first evening, and that was served in the cosy atmosphere of The Gracie Blue Bar. There was quite a choice on the menu, and I had made up my mind in advance, opting for the 12-hour Lamb & Tomato Ragu Tagliatelle Pasta with salsa verde and parmesan. No shortage of tender lamb here, and a very satisfactory ragu indeed.
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| Harbour Hotel's Crème Brulée |
Meanwhile, CL was delighted with her pan-roasted market Fish (Hake) with herb-crushed potatoes, tender stem broccoli, and mussel butter sauce. In fact, the meal was going very well indeed. The unusual Prawn Sliders (toasted brioche bun, herb & lemon mayo and pickled cucumber) were an unexpected highlight, and the more traditional Chicken Wings, with hot sauce butter, blue cheese ranch dressing, and celery sticks, were another winner.
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| Clonakilty Port Finish Whiskey |
Their short dessert list also produced the goods with the Crème Brulée (thanks in large measure to a generous amount of marinated Irish Strawberries), getting the thumbs up. We were back for a quick bite (we had eaten on our trip) on the second evening and that Crème Brulée got another outing from CL, but it was the delightful Chocolate & Hazelnut Mousse (salted caramel & berries) that seduced my taste buds.
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| Ragu |
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| Pale Ale in hotel |
The wine list features Blue Haven's own Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, and it didn't disappoint at all, nor did the Casa Santos Lima Vinho Verde by Escapada. This multi-blend included local grapes: Arinto, Loureiro, Trajadura, and Avesso. Along with the local beers, I also enjoyed a wee drop of Port Finish whiskey by the nearby Clonakilty Distillery.
The hotel was fine, overall, the rooms, dining areas and so on. The first breakfast was in the main restaurant, and the list of hot dishes was fairly impressive, and the service was good. Service was not so good on the second morning, delays in ordering and then another long wait for the food (so much so that our tea went cold). Hot breakfast tip: go for the French Toast with local honey butter, seasonal fruit compote, fresh fruit, and cinnamon sugar.
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| Hot Tip. French Toast. Sweet Start. |
They have no parking other than the public one across the road. We just about managed to get a spot each evening, but I wouldn't like to be trying for one at the weekends.
Since last weekend, there has been a new fine dining restaurant (Ariana) in the hotel - unluckily, I had left before it opened. Best of luck to Chef Ciaran Tedford and to all involved and hopefully, I'll get down soon again.
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| Front of hotel |
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