Waterford Festival of Food. A tasty West Waterford slice

 Waterford Festival of Food. A tasty West Waterford slice

The Hatmaker Hotel and The Farmgate Lismore

A 24 hour visit to West Waterford turned into something of a food trip - most of them do. The annual weekend Waterford Festival of Food began at more or less the same time we landed in Dungarvan on Thursday evening.

Our base for the night was the Hatmaker Hotel, now creeping up to its first birthday. It is based in a beautiful reconstructed heritage building. And is named after the previous occupant's business. The rooms, 16 in all, are incontestably glorious, the spectacular Peacock tail headboards immediately catch the eye as does the statement bathtub in the spacious bathroom.

Dungarvan

There is no restaurant here but the ground floor café bar, with a sun trap of a courtyard, does quite a good job all day long. After a stroll around town, We dropped in just as they turned from café to wine bar. After quite a lunch in Youghal, the menu of sharing boards was enough for us.

Indeed, the one that we ordered, a mix of cheese and charcuterie, was one of the best around and certainly proved sufficient for us. The wine list, short, is entirely French and I renewed acquaintance with one of favourite whites, the Château Turcaud Entre-Deux-Mers Blanc, a delicious blend of Sauvignon blanc and Semillon. 

Sunny terrace at the Hatmaker

The Hatmaker aim to support local and glad to see that they had a few different bottles of the Dungarvan Brewing company’s beer in the chill and I enjoyed my choice: the Helvick Head Blonde Ale. 

We were back there for our breakfast. No cooked breakfast but the continental offering is more than acceptable. Both of us were highly impressed by the Granola Parfait.

Refreshing ale at the Hatmaker

No restaurant in the Hatmaker but the Michelin starred Cliff House is an easy drive away.

A few hours later, we were up on the Vee. On social media the previous evening I had read of a fire at Mount Mellaray but the buildings looked in good nick as we passed on the road from Cappoquin. I read later the fire was confined to furze bushes on a nearby hill.

After enjoying the views from the Vee (quite an amount of fields in the distance were yellow with rapeseed) and after a few strolls (the wind from the previous day had died down), we took the Lismore road, heading for  a Waterford Festival of Food event at the Farmgate.

Bruschetta starter at Farmgate

It was a lunchtime event and was more or less a sell-out. We had booked just a couple of days earlier but all we could get was a counter seat (they are quite an attraction here) at 2.00pm.

The Farmgate is doing well after the move from Midleton. Everybody gets a warm welcome here. It is quite a neighbourhood restaurant, many customers known by the first name. We enjoyed the relaxed ambience, buoyant and bright.

Lismore Castle

A few chats included one about the frequent Local Link Bus that connects Lismore with Dungarvan in about 30 minutes. One server joked that by night the service is known as the Drink Link.

No cavalcade of choices here, just three starters and three mains.  No dessert included though coffee and tea were on the special luncheon menu at fifty euro a head.

Cod

The Farmgate, as they have for decades, support local and that is obvious from the menu. We enjoyed starters of Croquettes of McGrath’s lamb, mint and yogurt dressing on a bed of Roger Ahern’s Salad leaves, and a Bruschetta with Knockanore mozzarella, roasted Irish vine tomatoes, wild garlic and basil pesto. I didn't know they produce Mozzarella in Knockanore (near Villierstown).

McGrath’s Chicken Supreme was one of the main courses, with a white wine, lemon and  Thyme cream sauce, and served with spring onion champ and a carrot and parsnip puree. The same veg came with our other main dish the Baked Cod with a leek and mussel sauce and we also shared a side dish of seasonal root veg along with some green beans. Each plate went back clean!

Soon it was time for the coffee and then a sunny 45 minute drive back  to Cork via Tallow, Conna and Watergrasshill.

Also in this trip: Welcome Lunch at Clancy's Bar & Restaurant Youghal

Trees on the Vee. Spot the yellow of the rapeseed fields in the distance?