The Castle Cafe. An excellent and friendly neighbourhood restaurant in the bailey of Cork's iconic Blackrock Castle.
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| Cauliflower |
You won't be dining in the castle's grand hall at Blackrock’s Castle Cafe – but that's not a bad thing. The cafe itself is a bright, airy separate building just metres from the castle steps, with glass walls letting the light pour in. You may not have your regal robes on but you will get food fit for royals, the only difference is that you pay for it!
The Castle is a family friendly neighbourhood restaurant. Old and very young were enjoying lunch when we called there last week. The food, which features the best of local produce, was excellent as was the welcome and the service was friendly and efficient throughout.
You can combine your visit to the café with a stroll through the nearby village, maybe drop into the castle itself and see the Observatory and there are kilometres of walks in the immediate area. The Castle restaurant is a popular venue, just outside the city centre. It is open Tuesday to Sunday.
We had quite a choice of starters including Rosscarbery pork belly, miso maple glaze, spring onion, sesame seeds, Ballycotton smoked fish gratin with toasted sourdough , and Glenbeigh mussels in a white wine cream sauce, with toasted sourdough. Our pick- we shared - was the Cauliflower bravas with tahini ketchup, tumeric aioli and coriander. Absolutely enjoyed this slightly spiced dish, an ideal starter. Very Highly Recommended.
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| Chicken and cabbage...... |
Sandwiches and Platters also feature here at this time of day and the one that caught my eye was the Turkish platter of grilled Toonsbridge halloumi, white bean hummus, beetroot egg, sweet onion pickle, cous-cous, house flatbread and harissa aioli.
But we went straight to the Mains. Again, there were quite a few, including a Seared fillet steak on flatbread, Seared Hake fillet, a Slow-cooked Crowe’s bacon collar with a honey and mustard glaze, Fish and Chips, and more.
There a couple of chicken options including CL’s choice of Roast marinated chicken, maple and thyme root vegetable, white cabbage with caraway butter, mashed potato and gravy, pretty much a Castle classic and served here for quite a few years. We could taste why, even the cabbage was a star. You can bet on this one!
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| One of a selection of local soft drinks. Wines, beers, cocktails too. |
Mine wasn't as traditional, at least not in these parts. I took a punt on the Balinese Nasi Goreng of shredded Skeaghanore confit duck, chilli, soy and ginger rice, pickled fennel, cucumber and scallions topped with a fried egg. With the high quality Skeaghanore duck at its centre, this Indonesian Fried Rice dish was an intriguing melange of textures, flavours and well-judged spice. It was polished off, down to the last grain of rice! And not a scrap of that pickled veg was left.
No room for dessert, though. Hard to leave their famous Marmalade and Vanilla Bread & Butter Pudding behind. Next time!
The Castle is one of the five restaurants in the Market Lane group, the others being Market Lane itself, ORSO, Elbow Lane (with its micro-brewery) and Goldie. The group is a huge supporter of local produce and suppliers and you may see the full list here.
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| Balinese Nasi Goreng |
Sustainability is very much on the agenda. All five restaurants are Food Waste Charter Members. Market Lane, in conjunction with others, are creating a native tree forest. Their honey comes from urban bee hives. Coffee grounds go their vegetable growers to be turned into compost. Their fleet consists of electric or pedal powered vehicles. Their takeaway containers are biodegradable. They have solar panels on the roof of the city centre restaurant, with more to follow. The list goes on. They practice what they preach.
More on the Castle Café here. Check out the menus and opening times and order gift vouchers.
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| Blackrock Castle |
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