SUMMER IN THE CITY. THE HARBOUR, GALWAY SET TO RE-OPEN ON JUNE 2ND

 press release

SUMMER IN THE CITY

 THE HARBOUR, GALWAY SET TO RE-OPEN ON JUNE 2^ND

 

After months of isolation and restrictions, it’s almost time to experience life’s pleasures again as hotels and domestic destinations swing open their doors with a warm welcome for all.

The beloved Harbour Hotel, Galway will re-open for leisure guests on June 2^nd and inspired by the lyrical beauty of the City of Tribes and the breath taking terrain of the Wild Atlantic Way, have created some super new summer experiences with FREE interactive walking tours. The interactive walking tours will afford guests the experience of discovering the heartbeat of Galway City, taking in the hotspots like the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square plus some secret boltholes frequented by Galwegians.

Back by popular demand The Harbour’s Rekindle package is bookable online and includes 2 nights’ accommodation in a luxurious Executive Room, a chilled in-room bottle of Prosecco on arrival, a three course dinner for two on an evening of choice at the popular Dillisk on The Docks plus delicious à la carte breakfast each morning.   Two night package experience costs from €412 per couple.

“We have had time to rediscover our amazing surroundings during lockdown.  We are blessed to reside in the West of Ireland and want our guests to experience the magic of our city and environs.  It is also great to work with some local businesses too, as we all collectively recover and bring some hope and respite to our Irish customers this summer” said General Manager”, Ali McHugh.

If you’re looking for an authentic Wild Atlantic Way experience then a trip aboard Galway Bay Boat Tours is a must, or if you fancy venturing a little further this summer,  Aran Island Ferries will be departing around the corner from the hotel at the docks! Those looking for a more serene experience can enjoy a leisurely cruise aboard the Corrib Princess which departs from Woodquay at Galway City Centre and heads out onto Lough Corrib.

With an enviable waterfront location in the heart of Galway City, just a 3 minute stroll will take you to Eyre Square and the city centre, Shop Street, Quay Street and the Latin Quarter making it an ideal location to enjoy the renowned charms of “The City of Tribes”.   For those looking to explore the magic of the west of Ireland then a mere 5 minute drive will take you to Salthill Prom, the coast road to Connemara and the sights of the Wild Atlantic Way, plus the hotel offers on-site parking.

To book your stay visit www.harbour.ie or T: +353 91 894800 for more details.

An October Wander in Mayo and Galway

An October Wander in Mayo and Galway

Afternoon near Letterfrack

Dozio & Pears in TIA

So here I am in Mayo, in Louisburgh to be precise, enjoying a delicious Swiss-Irish cheese in a lovely friendly Portuguese-Irish cafe. The cheese is called Dozio ( pronounced dots-i-o) and the café is called TIA. It is the last Friday in October, it is dull and showery, but I’m nice and cozy and enjoying the grub and the  lunchtime buzz.

TIA tiles

TIA, according to Google, means aunt in Portuguese and there is a family feel about the place, lots of school kids in either with a parent (maybe an auntie) or without and a fair bit of banter between the customers and the staff. And the food is local as exemplified by the board that says the lamb chops are PJ’s. They appear on the list of more substantial meals (more like your dinner).

We study the other board and order a couple of delicious salads. There is a Sourdough toast, honey roasted ham, Barr Rua cheese (also from Dozio), relish, salad and TIA crips. The potato, chorizo, kale and fried egg combination looks attractive, well priced at €8.50. All the dishes seem well-priced and all the food is sourced locally.

Achill Island

This section also details a Chicken, Mozzarella and Ciabatta salad; another salad of Sausage rasher, fried egg with Blaa; and a Vegetarian Burger with Sautéed potatoes, salads and pickles.

I go for the Warm Roast Pear Salad, Dozio Cheese and excellent homemade brown bread (12.00). Danilo Dozio and Helen Grady are making cheese in Mayo, using ancient recipes from Canton Ticino in the South of Switzerland. They make a few different varieties including the soft Zing (with apricot) that I so enjoyed with my salad. Meanwhile CL was loving the Warm Chicken salad, pickles, wedges and a Chilli Mayo (10.90). And it was two happy customers that left the Halloween decorated café to continue our journey to Clifden in the heart of Connemara.

The Breaffy House Hotel, our base for the middle night.

Our trip had started two days earlier near Ballina with a visit to relatives. Later that evening, we dined in the quirky Gallery Wine Bar in Westport, details at end. The following day, on the Thursday, we took up an invite to visit the Foxford Woollen Mills and its gorgeous revamped café. Terrific food here also from Chef Kathleen Flavin and you may read about the mill and the meal here…

The morning hadn’t been great but the sun was out and about as we left the mills and so we decided to head for Achill (a change of plan as we had been thinking of visiting the nearby National Museum featuring country living, our rainy day option). And quite a few stops were made and many photos taken as we made our way around the nearer loop (we didn’t go as far as Keem Bay), taking in the sights including the Grace O’Malley castle.

Superb burger, with local beef and bacon and topped with Dubliner cheese, at Oxtail in Balla.

That evening, we headed out to Balla for an excellent evening meal at the Oxtail Kitchen (you’ll find it above the Shebeen Pub on the main street). Here, Balla born Patrick McEllin and French lady Rebecca Miton, support local farmers and producers through the ever changing menu, a menu Patrick describes as classical with a modern twist. We certainly enjoyed our visit. Details also at end.

The following morning we met up with a friend of ours in Westport and enjoyed a chat and the coffee in Leafy Greens before heading west along the road to Louisburgh. First though, we stopped to see the impressive famine memorial in Newport and the horrors of the famine would again be in our minds as we headed to Leenane via the beautiful Doolough valley, haunting and maybe haunted by the happenings there during the famine, and now commemorated by a plain stone memorial as you go through the Doolough Pass. A yearly walk is held along this route in memory of the Doolough dead  of 1847 and to highlight the starvation of the world’s poor today. Otherwise though it is a lovely drive and a terrific cycle route (I’m told!).

Detail from the famine ship memorial in Muirisk

On then through some spectacular roads, including the final Sky Road, to Clifden. That night we would dine in the Marconi Restaurant in Foyle’s Hotel in a room whose decor recalls the exploits here of Marconi and also the story of Alcock and Browne. A good meal was followed (indeed accompanied) by pints of Bridewell, the local brew. Some excellent music in Mullarkey’s Bar meant a pleasant extension to the evening.

The famine memorial in the lovely Doo Lough Valley

Napoleon was all over the
place, even in the bathroom!

We spent the night in the Napoleon room of the quirky and hospitable, if expensive, Quay House, an 8-minute stroll from the town centre. The Quay, which closes up for the winter, has one of the brightest and well appointed breakfast rooms in the country, a conservatory room indeed and a breakfast to match.

Thus fortified, we started up the trusty Toyota and headed south, enjoying the benefit of the newly extended motorway, at least to Limerick. After that we drove through a lot of bends and a whole lot of broken promises by politicians before our home city came into sight.

 

Anyone for breakfast? The gorgeous conservatory at Clifden's Quay House.

Also on this visit:
Dinner and wine at Westport's Gallery
Foxford Woollen Mills: Visit and Lunch

É a ioc, é a ól, é a iompar. Spirits from the Bog by Micil Distillery.

É a ioc, é a ól, é a iompar. 

Spirits from the Bog by Galway’s Micil Distillery. 

You can take Poitín out of the bog but you can’t take the bog out of Poitín. During Tuesday’s very interesting tour of the Micil Distillery, upstairs at the Oslo Bar in Galway’s Salthill, Pádraic Ó Griallais told us that Bogbean has long been associated with Poitín and they use it as a botanical in their smooth and delicious Micil. Their gin is worth checking out too! 

The distillery and its products - there will be a whiskey in the future - are named after Pádraic’s grandfather Micil, a legend of the bog and its Poitín. Micil is ninety one now and still enjoys a bottle of the spirit every week, shared of course!

Later, Pádraic told us a yarns about Micil. We’ll call this Tús a Phota, the first of the pot. Tradition deigned that the first drop from the pot (still) would be set aside for the “others”. These others were vaguely defined, might be the little folk, maybe dead relatives. 

So normally, while operating in the middle of the bog, that first sup was left in a little container at the edge of the operation (illicit) and, normally, was never touched. But then, one night, the first offering was taken, behind Micil’s back. And so was the second. The third though was still intact as dawn broke. In the near distance, Micil saw a human form lying on the turf. Turned out to be a neighbour who had emptied the two jugs but couldn’t take the high alcohol and fell asleep before he could make good his escape.

Micil had over time "distilled" the three prerequisites of drinking: é a ioc, é a ól, é a iompar. That the drinker should be able to pay for it, able to drink it and able to hold it. The native language here at its most precise.

The Mac Chearra family trace their association with distilling back to 1848, to another Micil, Pádraic's great-great-great grandfather. Pádraic is the sixth generation and has many tales to tell, including escapades involving the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Garda Síochána. Poitín has been legal since the late 20th century and, in 2008, Irish Poitín was accorded (GI) Geographical Indicative Status by the EU.

One generation after another of Padraic’s ancestors made Poitín, illicitly! He himself doesn’t admit to anything illegal of course but does say he picked up a lot from his grandfather. By the way, Micil is the first distillery in Galway since Percy’s, whiskey producers, who last operated in 1911. Pádraic dispelled the theory that Poitín is made from the potato. Theirs, like most, is made from grain and comes in a dark bottle (like much alcohol in the good old days, it was for “medicinal purposes”!).

Pádraic and some of the old gear, plus a few sods of turf and a sack of grain

We’d been talking but also tasting, neat first, and then with ginger beer (Fever-tree) in Micil’s take on the Moscow Mule. It is amazingly smooth, much more of a body than you’d get with vodka. By the way, I’d prefer to sip the Micil on its own rather than with the ginger beer. The again, if I had all day, I might have found a happy medium!

Bogbean

Then Pádraic produced another Poitín, their Heritage Edition, the only one hundred per cent Irish peated spirit, 80% barley and 20% oats. It is quite viscous, he pointed out, the legs slow to clear, the only spirit using peated oats in the country.

The nose is earthy, spicy, lightly smoky. Much the same on the palate, the peatiness there too but not at all dominant. “Very akin to a single malt,” he said, “Very approachable.” We agreed. Do look out for this exceptional drink.

And now we were on to their Micil Gin, a complex gin. It does have the essential juniper but this is “very West of Ireland” and contains local botanicals such as heather flowers, bogbean, hawthorn berry and bog myrtle (used in previous times instead of hops). Juniper, of course, is used and other more traditional botanicals include Coriander (for its citrus), Orris Root Power and Angelica Root Powder (both for their fixative properties), orange peel, lemon peel, caraway seed, cardamon, elderflower and elderberry. The final result means that Micil is somewhat sweeter than London Dry Gin.

It is an excellent gin. You don’t need too much else in the glass with this one. “Micil does the talking itself,” says a rightly proud Pádraic. The distillery is a relatively new adventure. Indeed, up to recently, its space was the place where all the fabulous Galway Bay beers were being produced. Now Galway Bay Brewery have moved to another location in the city and Poitín and gin have moved in and, as he wrapped up the weekly bottle for Micil himself, Pádraic said whiskey will soon make it a trio of divine, if not holy, spirits. Let us pray we are all able to pay for it, are able to drink it and also able to hold it.

Read more about the Micil Distillery here.

Nox Hotel’s "Pay for Dinner Stay for Free Offer"

Nox Hotel’s "Pay for Dinner Stay for Free" Offer

Great Location For Business and Pleasure

Fish of the Day

Hard to beat the modern Nox Hotel in Galway for its marvellous location. More or less at the junction of the M6/N6 (now the main road in from Dublin, Sligo, Limerick, and Cork) and the  N84 (to Mayo), it is situated within a few kilometres of most of the city business parks, is within minutes of the city centre and, if you want to go west to the heart of Connemara, skip the city traffic by taking the N6 over the Quincentenary Bridge, pick up the nearby N59 and soon you’ll be in Clifden.

I paid my first visit to the hotel this week and it looked quite small on the outside. So it was with some surprise that I found out they have over 100 bedrooms. Lovely spacious well-equipped rooms too with all you, as a holiday-maker or as a business traveller, will need, including top class WiFi. The duvets are warm, very warm, and the mattresses are deep and comfortable and rooms have individual thermostat control. No bath in our room but a very efficient and easy to use shower-unit.

The hotel is neat and tidy throughout and all the main services are clustered together on the ground floor. A superb comfortable lounge area is on your right as you enter and more armchairs and nooks and crannies by the reception. To the right of the reception, you’ll find the Fork Restaurant where they serve evening meals and breakfast.

And the other thing you’ll soon notice is the warmth of the welcome. As we were waiting for check-in, one employee was on her way home. She noticed the receptionist was tied up on the phone, so removed her overcoat and booked us in. And that quality of care and courtesy continued throughout the evening meal and the breakfast.

Prawns starter

Actually, I'll start with the breakfast as I think its delivery sums up the hotel, friendly, neat and tidy and efficient. The breakfast is served  every morning from 7.30am-10.30am; it is all buffet so you’ll help yourself from their Georgina Campbell Award Winning continental and cooked Breakfasts. Staff are on hand to help and they keep a regular eye on the well-organised buffet so all the cooked stuff is just so and there’s no shortage of anything, right down to their specialty Nespresso coffee or the wide selection of herbal teas.

We were soon seated and had no bother helping ourselves to the juices. CL enjoyed picking from a great selection of fruit while I went for Granola Topped Yogurt. Lots of other choices too, including cereals. The hot buffet was excellent and one of the good things about buffets is that you may take just as much or as little as you like. You make your own tea (and coffee) here and that can be a good thing as in some hotels, the tea is on the table stewing before you even start!

Chowder

Lots of hotels and restaurants are going on about the VAT hike and the slack period after the Christmas and New Year. Others do something about it. And Nox have a very attractive plan for you: come and dine with us and pay for it and then stay for free! How cool is that? 

General Manager of Nox Hotel Galway, Victor O Brien, encourages people to avail of this exciting not to be missed offer: “January is often a month where people don’t have a lot to look forward to, so this year we decided to do something about that! For just €79, two people can enjoy a delicious three-course meal and overnight stay in one of our contemporary and comfortable duo rooms. I can’t wait to personally welcome both new and returning customers during January. With food as good as ours we don’t believe in New Year’s diets, and after visiting neither will you!”

Delicious sauce with the chicken!

Read more about COME FOR DINNER, STAY FOR FREE! here.  By the way, breakfast is not included.

We were there specifically to check out the menu for the offer and, even if it’s not quite as expansive as the usual A la Carte, we found plenty to choose from; it was well cooked, tidily presented and served and we enjoyed it very much indeed.

Apple crumble

You’ll have a choice of four starters, including soup and a Goats Cheese Pannacotta. I picked the Seafood Chowder, a big creamy bowlful packed with salmon, mussels, prawns and vegetables and served with a very tasty brown bread. CL enjoyed her Tempura Tiger Prawns that came with Oriental Salad an Chilli oil.

And the good mood continued with the mains. Hers was the Fish of the day: Pan-fried fillet of Hake with Samphire, mussels, pea purée (and lots of peas!) and some very acceptable crispy potatoes (I had a few of those).

I went for the humble chicken but with a very interesting sauce indeed. The Grilled Fillet of good quality chicken came with Mashed potato, spiced carrot purée, kale and that lovely chorizo and black lentil jus. Happy out!

Other main courses available included Confit Duck Leg, Roasted Mediterranean Pasta, and 6 ounce Striploin steak. Dessert choices were more limited but we both enjoyed the Nox version of Apple Crumble, made with excellent real apple!

The bar is part of the restaurant so no shortage of drinks but there were no local craft beers (they are available during the season) but we enjoyed a glass of wine (6.50) each. There’s a decent gin list there including Dingle and Gunpowder. Maybe the local Micil will be added soon! 

No shortage of cocktails either. Perhaps you’d like to try the vodka based Ballsy Cherry Bomb or the Corpse Reviver (another vodka based one). Think my favourite might be the Good Fellas (Tullamore DEW, Amaretto, Fresh Lemon, Sugar Syrup, Egg White and Bitters). Cheers from Nox!

Taste of the Week A Sheridan’s Cheese and Jam Double

Taste of the Week

A Sheridan’s Double

Sheridan’s get the credit for our current Taste of the Week. It’s a double and features one product bought in their Galway store during a recent visit to the City of the Tribes and another product bought in Bradley’s of Cork but distributed by Sheridan’s.

The product from Bradley’s is a semi-circle of Cashel Blue made, as always, by the Grubb family in Tipperary, but selected, matured and distributed by Sheridan’s.

So there I was one lunchtime with that Cashel Blue at hand and wondering how I’d enhance it. And then I remembered being served Black Cherry jam with sheep’s cheese in the Basque Country. I had the very thing in the cupboard: a big pot of artisan made Confiture Cerise Noire (my purchase from Sheridan's).

A perfect pairing and a delicious Taste of the Week. Lots of that jam left, so it looks as if I’ll be heading to Bradley’s for more cheese. Indeed, I may well also keep an eye out for that new hard sheeps cheese by Velvet Cloud.

By the way, I also found another match for the cheese, a bottle of Gerard Bertrand’s Banyuls Vin Doux Naturel (from O’Brien’s Wine). Not the whole bottle, mind you, a little sip will do! 

Getaway to the City of the Tribes. Two Days in Galway.

Getaway to the City of the Tribes. 

Two Days in Galway.

Banners of the tribes

Galway city centre is compact and it is often packed. Finding parking can be a problem so we’re happy when our guesthouse suggests we park there on College Road and stroll into the centre even though we arrive well before the given check-in time. 

Eight minutes after leaving the car we arrive in sunny Eyre Square, so sunny in fact that people are seeking shade. A group of French students have gathered under one particular tree and have squeezed into the roughly circular shadow underneath.

Wine bottles in museum

The sun is at its high peak, signalling time for lunch. We exit the square and head for the pedestrian area, amble right down to the Spanish Arch and a lovely restaurant, simply called Kitchen, attached to the Galway City Museum. Enjoyed the meal here. 

Later we take a walk by the waters and find our own patch of shade for a siesta of sorts before heading back to the museum. Opened in 2006, and still a work in progress, the museum proclaims itself as a “collecting museum”. So you see many objects associated with the area, some donated by locals and friends (not mutually exclusive) and quite a few shared by the National Museum. 

Galway Hookers in the museum - not the life size one!

There are six main headings: Prehistoric, Medieval and Post medieval, World War 1, The 1916 Rising and aftermath, Pádraic Ó’Conaire, 19th and 20th Century Galway. Objects include some beautiful old wine bottles (probably 17th century). Galway had a shell factory during the Great War and there is a shell on display here.  You’ll also see some old clay tobacco pipes (dúidíns). 

In the mid 1960s, Galway won three All-Ireland football titles in a row and that feat is enthusiastically celebrated. The bigger items include an Ó’Conaire statue and the biggest is what looks like a full size replica of a Galway Hooker. No, not a pint of the local brew, but the famous work-boat of the area. Admission is free. Details here.  

Rear of the restaurant Ard Bia at Nimmo's

After that, we retraced our steps, more or less, under the Spanish Arch, up through Quay Street, High Street and Shop Street, shuffling along with and against the other pedestrians, listening to and looking at the various buskers and street entertainers, and finding ourselves back in Eyre Square. We had a seen an illustration of the Tribes of Galway in the museum and in the square they are commemorated with a series of large banners.

The tribes were the families that effectively ran the city from the 15th to the 17th centuries. They were: Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, Darcy, Deane, Font, French, Joyce, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris and Skerret. In 1493, the mayor and magistrate of Galway James Lynch FitzStephen, condemned and hanged his own son, an incident that is quoted as giving rise to the term “lynching”. The building, Lynch’s Castle, still exists and is now used by AIB. 

Students in the shade

Fishery Watchtower

Later we were back in the city centre for dinner at the Michelin starred Aniar, details here,  and then it was time for a night at our excellent base, the Ardawn House. Here, we had everything we needed, including that private parking!

Mike and Breda are exceptional hosts, always willing to go that extra mile, so that their guests enjoy themselves, not just while they’re in the house, but also when they go out and about during the day. Nothing is a problem here - they’ll give you all the local information you’ll need but in such a way that it’s your choice. In other words, they’ll give you the info but won't force their opinions on you. And, by the way, you’ll also have an excellent breakfast before you’ll leave their friendly place.

On the second day, we visited the very small fisheries museum, tracing the fishery story from 1283, in a restored Fishery Watchtower at Druid Lane. 

The highlight though was our cruise on the Corrib Princess. You join the boat in the Woodquay area and head up-river passing the cathedral, the university campus, a couple of castle ruins (Terryland and the more impressive Menlo), before reaching the impressively expansive Lough Corrib, the biggest lake in the republic. It is a very pleasant trip, especially in the exceptional sunshine, and out and back takes about 90 minutes.

We had lunch earlier, and a very nice one too, at McCambridge’s, a Galway icon, details here.

And later, we called in to Sheridan’s, the famous cheese mongers and picked up a few bits and pieces, cheese not so much as most of it is available in Cork. 

Dinner would be at the King’s Head Bistro, a delicious meal based on local produce including fish of course. And we then adjourned to the lively King's Head bar in a medieval building, But nothing medieval about the food and drink here, lots of craft drinks (including Galway Hooker), cocktails galore, music (after the World Cup game) and lots of craic. Read about it here. A terrific evening to remember a terrific visit by. Slán go fóill!

SUP: On the Corrib river, and below

Menloe Castle ruins

McCambridges. A Galway Icon.

McCambridges. A Galway Icon.

Ask anyone from Galway where’s best for lunch and you can be sure that city centre McCambridge’s, operating since the 1920s, will appear on the shortlist. This busy spot keeps the standards high and the customers keep coming back.

Spread over the space of two shops, McCambridge’s is basically operating on two levels. Downstairs it is mainly a Food Hall with a full grocery range (mainly local produce),  a large sandwich bar, a self serve salad bar and olive bar, a deli counter stocking the best of cold meats and cheese, a well stocked wine and spirits section and a full coffee bar.

Some sandwich!

There are a few tables and chairs on the street outside for when the sun shines, but mostly the restaurant operates in the spacious and bright room at the top of the wide stairs. Here, if you are lucky enough to have a seat near the windows, you can watch the bustle of the city while enjoying a glass of wine. 

Only the finest of  ingredients are used, with a strong preference for local and artisan produce. It is a casual atmosphere with great food.  An All Day Menu is served from Monday to Saturday, with an All Day Brunch being served every Sunday.  You can also enjoy a wide range of wines, craft beers and cocktails with your food.

We are spotted as we reach the last few steps of the stairs and quickly directed, with smiles and courtesy, to our table. The menu is soon at hand. The place is busy but the service is good. I’m looking at the Ceapairí, that’s sandwiches for you non-gaelgeorí, little knowing that the one I pick will be a champion, one of the best ever.

Here is the mix: McCambridge’s Baked Ham, Janet’s Country Fayre Beetroot Blush Mayo, Coolatin Cheddar, and red onion served on a toasted Roundstone sourdough (9.95). Nothing very mysterious there but all good quality ingredients all together in a superb sandwich.

The OBC is not looking for anything big today so settles for something from the starters: Chicken Liver Paté, McCambridge’s Red Onion marmalade and toasted brioche (5.95), plus a side of leaves (3.95). Happy enough with that. By the way, you may buy quite a few of these ingredients downstairs in the deli.

In the deli

A pot of Campbells Tea and a glass of Sparkling Elderflower (dear enough at 3.95) brought the total to €26.30. Soon we joined the throng in the pedestrianised Shop Street outside, the buskers playing, onlookers delaying, and made our way down to the fresh air in the Nimmo’s area.

McCambridge’s 

38/39 Shop Street

Galway

091 562259

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McCambridges/ 

Also on this trip: 

Also on this Galway trip:

Aniar

The King’s Head Bistro (and bar!) 

Kitchen, at Galway City Museum
Getaway to the City of the Tribes. Galway

Kitchen at the Galway City Museum. Serves A Cracking Local Plate.

Kitchen at the Galway City Museum.

Serves A Cracking Local Plate.

So here we are at lunch-time down by the Spanish Arch in Galway. We have a string of recommendations including Ard Bia at Nimmo’s. We see the last shaded outside seats taken as we stroll through the Spanish Arch. I’m sure it’s super-cool on the inside of this ancient building as well and am inclined to try it.

Until we spot the Kitchen at the Museum, just opposite Ard Bia. This has been firmly recommended by our guesthouse host just 30 minutes earlier so we head the few metres to the Kitchen.

Here, the outside seats are in full glaring sun, so we move inside, still all bright and light here, and a lovely welcome from a server from Rochestown. Amazing, I’ve been in Galway for 30 minutes and two of the first three people I meet are from Cork.

The mission statement at Kitchen declares their intention to be a stand-out dining venue while supporting local producers. They score very highly on both counts and we very much enjoy their delicious colourful healthy food.

They serve lunch from 12 noon, under two main headings: Sambos and Get Fresh. There’s a Cuban Ham and cheese sambo, a Bacon Bagel, a Loaded Raw Veggie Wrap and more. I pick the Zesty Lemon Chicken Wrap (poached chicken, preserved lemon yogurt, red peppers, grated carrot and baby leaves, all for eight and half euro). This is terrific, packed with colour and flavour and crunch.

And, at the other side of the table and from the other side of the menu, the high maintenance OBC (official blog chef) is powering up for the long day ahead - just in case she mightn’t get enough in Aniar later on - with her Warm Cajun Chicken Salad ( BBQ chicken breast, paprika fried potato, charred sweetcorn, tomato and red onion salsa, coriander, jalapeños, sour cream, grated carrots, and slaw, for €12.50). Everything you need in a salad!

They have a nice little selection of drinks here, including beers from Galway Bay and Galway Hooker and also Cooney’s Cider. But we are being good and get a very good one: a litre of Elderflower Fizz (including Prosecco, of course), a big pitcher of refreshing cool deliciousness for under four euro, probably the best value drink we got during our two days in Galway, day or night!

During the meal we had time for an exchange or two with  our server, swapping info on eating out in Cork and Galway, and soon two very happy customers were on our way, out to the sun. We would be back to visit the adjoining museum (hope to have a post on that in the near future).

Also on this Galway trip:

Aniar

The King’s Head Bistro (and bar!) 
Getaway to the City of the Tribes. Galway

Kitchen 

Galway City Museum

Spanish Parade

Galway

Phone: +353 (0) 91 534 883