Superb Lunch at The Farmgate in Cork’s English Market. Local and seasonal produce.

Superb Lunch at The Farmgate in Cork’s English Market.

Local and seasonal produce.

 

Always worth checking out the specials here. This Pan-fried Cod (25 euro) was one and it was my pick. It came with seasonal greens with a butternut squash purée enlivened with a hint of cumin. Top notch. Other specials included a Goatsbridge Trout Smoked Plate and a traditional corned beef and cabbage.

Sixteen year old Kay Harte is in a room overlooking the Front Strand in Youghal in the mid 1960s. It is the house of her mother’s friend and the table is set for dinner. The meat was boiled leg of mutton and the teenager was given a bit of the nap of mutton as a treat. “I never forgot that meal,” she told me a few years back.  “That was my first realisation that plain simple Irish food can be so sophisticated.”

That experience put Kay in the road and local and seasonal became the norm at her English Market restaurant The Farmgate. And, as it happened, a busy Farmgate chef Martina Cronin told me on the way out that the dish I enjoyed in this busy place was simply done. Simple maybe but simply superb for sure.

And while Kay’s daughter Rebecca now helms the upstairs café (and the downstairs shop), the philosophy of local and seasonal has not changed. Today’s meals here may often look somewhat different from those of the 90s  (the country nor its food have not stood still over the 32 years since the Farmgate was started). Take a look at our top picture, a Cod special from last week’s menu. It is a gem and as seasonal as can be. The velvet sauce is butternut squash, it’s sweetness cut by a touch of cumin. And the greens too are in season.

Their chicken dishes are invariably excellent and chicken supreme is a regular on the menu. It is quite a plateful in terms of both quality and quantity. You had a choice of two styles, one with new season potatoes, gravy and roast root vegetable, as well as a generous quantity of stuffing, the other accompanied by salad with fregola, Kilbrack courgettes, rocket, basil and Parmesan shavings. CL picked the first option (19.5) and, not for the first time, gave it the thumbs up. Other regular items in the mains section are Irish Lamb Stew with Ladysbridge potatoes and the very traditional Tripe and Drisheen again with those balls of flour!

And to further underline the commitment to local, take a look at the drinks list. Spirits is heavily local: Rebel city and Kinsale Gin, whiskey by Powers, Jameson and Redbreast and vodka from Dingle while mixers are by Poachers of Wexford. Even the dessert wine list includes bottles from Cockagee and Stonewell Cider. Local brewers such as Eight Degrees and 9 White Deer feature and on the ever increasing non-alcoholic section, you'll find Stonewall (cider) and Fierce Mild (beer). And, always here, there are potatoes, usually balls of flour (to use Kay’s own words) and they too are local (from the fields of East Cork). 

It is Tuesday and the café, while not completely full, is busy. But the staff are well up to it, efficient and courteous and knowledgeable and make every meal here a very pleasant experience indeed.

A good start is half the battle they say and We began by sharing (no battle) the Chicken liver pâté, onion marmalade, house pickle and  toasted sourdough (11.80). By the way, if you have a shortish lunch hour or in a hurry for whatever reason, you could well consider their range of sandwiches. I'd be inclined to go for the Moroccan spiced chicken sandwich, ras el hanou mayonnaise, rocket & cucumber! Also, see the sandwich and soup or chowder deals.