Top-class food from start to finish at 51 Cornmarket. Short menu, long on quality

 Top-class food from start to finish 

at 51 Cornmarket

short menu, long on quality

The short menu at 51 Cornmarket is full to the brim with quality. The service is calm and efficient, and the kitchen excels in superbly cooked (they even get the broccoli spot on) and perfectly presented dishes. All in all, 51 is top-class from start to finish. As you’ve gathered, we thoroughly enjoyed last week’s stellar dinner in the Coal Quay.

Salad & Super chips

The feel-good factor starts with the smiling welcome and some pertinent tips on the menu. Our enthusiastic server seemed to know it inside out and gave us ace pointers, including on sides and wine pairings, as they did to everyone else (you tend to hear a bit more in the compact venue).

The menu has four sections - nibbles, snacks, plates and desserts.  We went for the nibbles rather than the larger snacks because we didn't want to load up too much before the main event! 

Our picks were the Greek Garlic & Thyme Olives  (4.50) and Iberico (Acorn Fed) Salchichon & Date Ketchup (5.00). Those big green olives, somewhat larger than normal, were a neat appetiser but were outshone by that premier pork Salchichon, which came with a delicious date ketchup.

You may think twice before paying €28.50 for a grilled pork chop, but not here. Free range and large, this was accompanied by a whole-grain Mustard Cream and a side salad of apple and fennel. The meat was tasty and tender, enhanced by the cream and the salad, and worth every cent.

Nibbles

Across the table, CL was enjoying her Grilled Monkfish Tail on the Bone, Smoked Hollandaise, Organic Broccoli & Hazelnut Butter, and Cucumber Relish (32.50). They were particularly happy that the broccoli was cooked perfectly, not too hard and not too soft, just spot-on.  I must also mention that we shared and enjoyed the side of House Chips & Roast Garlic Mayonnaise (extra at €6.50), some of the best chips in the city.

The only let-down on the evening was the continuing poor bus service, which seems to draw endless complaints. We arrived at our Mayfield bus stop at 5.00 pm and didn’t get to town until a few minutes after our reservation time of 6.15 pm. I’d love to use public transport more often, but it is just plain unreliable, enough to discourage you from heading into town for an evening. The public lighting in Coal Quay is quite poor, at least on the western side. 

Monkfish

I didn’t realise the other night that 51 owners David and Anne are celebrating five years here. Their first test was an early COVID lockdown, but they survived and thrived. 

They recall (on Insta): “We opened our doors with a Benedict, a Flapjack and probably a ropey cup of coffee. Now, we’re wiser, more wrinkled and emotionally a little numb, but our love for our food, our team and our customers continues to grow to new heights at every turn.”

“ Thank you for all of your constant support to our little room on The Coal Quay. To our team and everyone who has been a part of it, thank you for your hard work. To our customers, you make it easy - having a room full of your laughter fills us with joy. Looking forward to a real belter this year with lots of excitement in store for 51 and its future endeavours.”

Night Time Is The Right Time at 51 Cornmarket!

Night Time Is The Right Time

 at 51 Cornmarket!

French Toast for dessert. Oh La La!

You know nighttime is the right time

To be with the one to you love..

Eating the food you love

After a fine evening meal at 51 Cornmarket Street last Friday, we two happy punters were strolling down a crowded Pana. No evening sun, but the feel good factor seemed all around us. There was loud music playing. Very loud. Then I spotted an adult guy slowly pushing a buggy, with a child (about 2-years old) in the seat. And I realised the music was coming from a boombox in the undercarriage, Muddy Waters himself belting out Mannish Boy as we passed the Pav.

Fried Courgette Flowers, Ricotta, Green Mayonnaise & Tomato

No blues on this night though after that righteous feed from David and Anne at 51. Having established an excellent reputation with their lovely inventive lunches (and brunches) over the past couple of years, the duo aren’t content to sit on their laurels and have switched to the evening, challenging themselves and reaching higher to where they want to be and, if the past month is anything to go by, bringing their customers with them and indeed gaining quite a more admirers for their style.

Carpaccio

And that style is local and seasonal where a whole string of local producers are given a turn on the plate whether they produce or supply vegetables, dairy, meat or fish. You may start with snacks and or oysters, move on to plates (anything from Fried Courgette Flowers, to fish of the day, to steak) and then finish with a fabulous dessert. 

And if you become a regular here, you won’t be bored. The menu is changed every few days, depending on what is fresh in the market and what is in season plus the surprises the growers and other producers come up with from time to time. The wine list is short but very well chosen, along organic and natural lines.

Super chips

I mentioned the courgette flowers and they featured in one of our main plates: Fried Courgette Flowers, Ricotta, Green Mayonnaise & Tomato (16.50), full of colour and flavour and totally delicious. A different kind of texture in our other mains: Beef Carpaccio, Parmesan, Egg Yolk, Organic Rocket (15.50). 51 are noted for their use of eggs and the yolk was put to good use here, adding moisture and flavour, almost like a sauce, in another superb ensemble.

And, of course, they have sides. And these include their House Chips & Béarnaise. Chips is a humble name for this little pot of delight. Heavenly is a bit of a cliche but it could well fit these fantastic fries and that Béarnaise was an inspired pairing. Not just a humble side and I would order them as a course on their own.

Yellow Courgette

All the while, we were sipping our wine. CL picked the Steininger Gruner Veltliner from Austria, floral and fruity and with a matching lively acidity. Gruner is always a winner with food and this one’s a champion. Very impressive indeed. 

My red, Cuvée Cantalouette by Tour des Gendres, is one I had come across before via Le Caveau. It’s a Malbec/Merlot led blend from Bergerac. The fresh fruit flavours are intense and there’s  a touch of gentle spice too. Tannins have a tender grip and this is an easy-drinking soft and balanced wine with good length. Really gorgeous, well made (typical of Tours des Gendres).

We had begun the evening, after a warm welcome, with two of the snacks (6.50 each). The Yellow Courgette, Garlic, Creamed Cheese & Mint Crostini and the Anchovy & Chickpea Crostini were easily shared and each got the thumbs up!

#51

The meal finished with another big sweet thumbs up. In the past few weeks, we’ve had French Toast at breakfast, at lunch, and we made it a hat trick at 51 when we had it as dessert. The menu description is French Toast, Rum Butterscotch & Vanilla Ice cream. 

No wonder we felt real good as we said our goodbyes and headed out into Cornmarket Street past the diners and drinkers enjoying the outdoors by Benny McCabe’s establishments, along with the Cornstore, the Roundy and more. Nighttime is the Right Time as Ray Charles sang back in the day.

And then we were into a busy Patrick Street and, from the base of a buggy, the blues shouts of Muddy Waters. As another bluesman, John Lee Hooker, might say: Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. …I like it like that.

• Restaurants who support local matter and should be supported. Just consider this list of suppliers to 51, all real people - note those first names:
• William at Caherbeg Pork, Rosscarbery
• Tim at McCarthy's Butchers, Kanturk
• Helena at Skeaghanore Farm, Ballydehob
• Adrian at Ballycotton Seafood, East Cork
• Ted at Gulfstream Fish, Kenmare
• Jamie at Haven Shellfish, Oysterhaven
• Paddy at Kilbrack Farm, Doneraile
• Malachy at Annabella Farms, Mallow
• Brian at Cork Roof Top Farm, Coal Quay
• Tom at O'Briens Eggs, Whitechurch
• Ger at Olives West Cork
• Brian at Brian's Wine, Cork
• Colm at Le Caveau Wines, Kilkenny
• Barry at Killahora Orchards, Glounthaune
• Fionnuala at Wines Direct, Westmeath

And here’s why Anne and David support local:

"Our ethos is simple. Seasonal local food served with the utmost respect and appreciation for where it came from. We cook from the heart and entirely from scratch in our kitchen at the back. Our suppliers are very close to our core and we know you'll enjoy their treasure as much as we do”.

Anne & David