Goldie's star shines on brightly in Cork City centre

 Goldie's star shines on brightly in Cork City 

The gold fish on Shandon (left)
and another "goldie",  the angel on
St Finn Barr's

The gold salmon at the top of Shandon is a landmark for visitors and natives in Cork City. The fish restaurant, named Goldie, in the flat of the city, is already in an elevated position when its comes to matters fish on the plate.

Goldie opened its doors in 2019 and quickly grew in popularity as Chef Aishling Moore’s ever varying menu drew high praise from the beginning. Goldie uses every bit of the fish and also uses only fresh fish, mostly landed by small boats in East Cork. For more on her methods, try her book Whole Catch.

Oyster Paté

You know you’re in the right place when your server chats and smiles and enthusiastically details what’s on offer. And we knew straightaway as we entered the upstairs room. Downstairs had seating also and you can see the kitchen there as well.

Our server was full of info as well as a courteous enthusiasm. We heard, as they spoke to the table next to us, that no, the salt cod was not salty and told us that the Brandade did feature corander but in a mild way, that if you wanted a “good feed” you would be as well to add a side (the Colcannon is a dish in itself!), that the chilli with the Megrim was not too hot and that any of the Killahora shorts would go well with the blue cheese.

Salted Cod tartlet

So we were well advised by the time we got to choose, the drinks beginning with a glass of the excellent Pecorini di Chieti, a great match with fish, and a glass of their top notch Angel Stout to pair with the oyster paté.

Oyster paté? You may well ask but that starter is one of the kind of surprise that await you here and indeed had the stout, made by their brewery across the road, is listed as an ingredient. The full description: Rossmore rock oyster paté, fennel and pickled dill, Angel Stout and apple treacle loaf. Meanwhile, across the table, the Salt Cod Brandade tartlet (with salsa verde and Churchfield tomatoes) was received with relish.

Sole

There was an appropriate relaxed pace to the service. And the 16 people in the room were all made to feel at home and got their food, and drinks, as required. No fuss, no rush.

I’ve seen quite a lot of Megrim (also called Cornish sole) on the French west coast but this may have been my first time eating it in Cork. iIt’s been on the Goldie menu for a few years and I did enjoy a Megrim Soup produced by Ciaran Scully who also featured a Witch fish on an evening meal  in the Bayview in Ballycotton.

Megrim

Goldie’s version: Pan roast Megrim, mange-tout, tomato and chilli butter sauce (25.5). Just one look and I knew it was good, and  then it was love at first bite. Happy tunes too from across the table as CL enjoyed her Pan Fried Lemon Sole, caramelised chicory chutney and café de Paris butter (28.50).

We were pacing ourselves to a degree and shared a serving of the excellent Sea Salt Shoestring Chips. We were glad we didn’t overdo it with the sides as two gorgeous desserts lay ahead.

Strawberry dessert

You just don’t ignore any chance to eat these super Bushby Strawberries and these came with a Macroom ricotta pavlova. I had a little chat with our server about which drink to take with the Wicklow Blue with slices of a superb fruit and seed loaf. I was pointed towards the The Niepoort Senior Tawny but I stuck with supporting local and enjoyed it with a glass of the Killahora Pom’o Port (finished in a Roe and Co whiskey cask).

Not a match made in heaven but in a foodie paradise. Go visit soon but be sure and book as it is a busy spot.

Wicklow Blue. That fruit and seed loaf was delicious.

By the way, while the menu is short, meat eaters and vegetarians will find something to suit. On our visit, Roast East Ferry chicken and a Summer Savoury Polenta (with grilled courgette and basil) were on the menu, along with the three fish dishes of Sole, Cod and Megrim.

There’s something about Aishling. Something fishy! Check it out at Goldie.

Hake Tail Schnitzel

 There’s something about Aishling. 

Something fishy! Check it out at Goldie.

Goldie’s Aishling Moore offers fish at her small but very comfortable restaurant in Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street. She offers you delicious fish in many guises. “Whatever the small boats bring us, we take. We forage on the local coast for sea vegetables and seaweed.”


Fish such as Megrim, Red Mullet or Gurnard that you rarely hear of and almost never see on Irish menus, appear here. Fish cooked with methods that will ambush you - in a good way - Salted Ling fish finger for example or Confit of Vindaloo Red Mullet. 

Oyster Paté

Russell Garet
Master Brewer
Elbow Lane

The menu changes daily, depending on the catch. Look out for Fish spines served with house togarashi, made with hops from Elbow Lane’s brewery, and Pollock collar Teryaki. For mains, Cod Tail Schnitzel may be on the menu or perhaps Pan roast Monkfish, beetroot achar, butternut squash Katkut, dill.

And she is, of course, famous for using the whole fish. Read more about it in her recently published book, The Whole Catch. Goldie supports local in a big way and over 20 suppliers, ranging from Churchfield Community Trust (garden) to Cuinneog to Garryhinch Mushrooms and Durrus Cheese, are listed on the menu.

Business partners Aishling Moore and Stephen Kehoe
collaborated to set up Goldie 

Local drinks, too, include Killahora Orchards and Stonewell Cider. And none more local than the Elbow Lane beers produced across the street by a sister company.

 

I started our meal last week with their superb Angel Stout, one of the very best, and it paired perfectly well with a relatively new dish, Rossmore Oyster Paté, Angel Stout Loaf, pickled dillisk and fennel.

The beer and the paté can be heartily recommended, and there was a similar endorsement at the table where CL enjoyed her Hake Tail Schnitzel, gherkin and celeriac remoulade, and soy-cured egg yolk.

Pan-fried Hake, caramelised chicory chutney, and Café de Paris butter featured in our mains, another appetising combination that sings in the mouth. I got an umami plateful as well: the Pan-fried plaice, confit oyster mushroom, and katsuobushi butter sauce. I'm not sure that I’ve enjoyed plaice as much anywhere. We shared a little barrel of their tasty Sea salt shoestring chips (from a choice of interesting sides).

Desserts enjoyed were Caramelised white chocolate, Achill Island Sea salt milk sorbet, buckwheat and Spiced Pom'o Port panna cotta, caramelised apple, and oat crumble, and then it was time to head out to the cold. We departed with a sense of warmth, thanks to the fantastic innovative food and possibly the friendliest and most knowledgeable service, all contributing to a feel-good atmosphere.

We are not the only ones praising Goldie. 

The Sunday Times: “There is a fear­less­ness to Aish­ling Moore, a will­ing­ness to take the plunge afresh every day as the catch dictates.” 

The Mckennas’ Guide:  “… some of the best, most intrigu­ing and dynamic mod­ern Irish food”.

Sunday Business Post: “Eat­ing in Goldie is good for the stom­ach and good for the soul – I can’t remem­ber the last time I encoun­tered such lovely staff and such a nice vibe.”

And, just last week, from Michelin:

One of two brilliant Bib Gourmands in Cork City itself, Goldie centres its menu around sensibly priced and thoroughly satisfying dishes that showcase a variety of seafood treated with a fin-to-scale approach and enhanced by a wide arsenal of techniques and flavours, from pickling and preserving to a range of Asian influences. The compact space creates a crackling atmosphere from the joyous, well-fed diners. It's the kind of place you'd find in the Mediterranean without having to leave the wonderful streets of Cork.

Goldie 

128 Oliver Plunkett Street (opposite Market Lane)

Cork

Open 5pm, Tue - Sat.

info@goldie.ie

+353 21 239 8720

AISHLING MOORE OF GOLDIE WINS 'IRELAND'S BEST CHEF 2024' AT RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND (RAI) AWARDS

press release

AISHLING MOORE OF GOLDIE WINS 'IRELAND'S BEST CHEF 2024' 

AT RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND (RAI) AWARDS

The ultimate accolade for a chef in Ireland has been awarded to Aishling Moore of Goldie Restaurant in Cork, who was named ‘Best Chef Ireland 2024’ at the Restaurant Association of Ireland’s Annual Awards which were announced last night, Monday 20 May 2024, to a

From gill-to-fin, Aishling Moore has the Whole Catch covered in her new book

Red Gurnard and, below, on the plate at Goldie.

 

#10 WHOLE CATCH

Aishling Moore

Blasta Books

Published 25^th April, £13/€15

#10: WHOLE CATCH introduces you to pioneering young chef Aishling Moore, one of Ireland’s biggest advocates for regenerative aquaculture and a promoter of the gill-to-fin approach.

 

At 24 years old, Aishling opened Goldie, a seafood bistro in Cork. In just two years,

CHEF AISHLING MOORE SETS SAIL TO PROMOTE HER NEW BOOK: ‘WHOLE CATCH’

 CHEF AISHLING MOORE SETS SAIL TO PROMOTE HER NEW BOOK: ‘WHOLE CATCH’

Aishling Moore, head chef and owner of goldie, Cork’s famous, sustainable, seafood restaurant, will promote her new book ‘Whole Catch’ at two exciting new collabs in February 2024.

Venues include the uber-hip Dead Rabbit Irish pub in NYC where she and fellow Irish chef, Mark Moriarty, will help diners celebrate St Bridget’s Day in style with a series of sell-out lunches and dinners on Sunday 4 February.

Later in the month, on the 18th of February, Moore and her good friend Daniel Hannigan will cook for guests for one special evening at Hannigan’s Orwell Road Restaurant in Rathgar, Dublin 4. Tickets are €90 pp and can be purchased at www.breenbros.com

Expect lots of wonderful Irish seafood cooked with the utmost style and skill and a good dollop of Moore’s sense of the quirky and exotic. Dishes will be taken from her new book which is a feast of delicious, easy-to-cook seafood recipes, with the whole family in mind.

The title of the book 'Whole Catch' refers to the founding principal of Moore's goldie restaurant, where she takes the entire catch landed by the local fishermen who supply her. This dictates what is on her daily changing menu. Nothing is discarded so there is no waste and her suppliers also benefit. Moore's fin-to-gill style of cooking ensures that as much of the fish as possible is used - again reducing waste to an absolute minimum.

Moore won ‘Best Young Chef in Ireland in 2023’ and Goldie won Best Casual Dining Ireland in 2022. The restaurant has retained its Michelin Bib Gourmand since it opened in 2021.

‘Whole Catch’ is the second 2024 launch from the Blasta Books stable. It can be pre-ordered on https://blastabooks.com/products/blasta-books-10-whole-catch

press release

Local Shellfish Takes Center Stage at Goldie for Cork on a Fork Festival (16-20 Aug 2023)

Local Shellfish Takes Center Stage at Goldie for Cork on a Fork Festival (16-20 Aug 2023)

Oysters. Pics by Ruth Calder- Potts

For the highly anticipated Cork on a Fork Festival (16 – 20 August), award-winning seafood restaurant, Goldie (Oliver Plunkett St), will showcase the county’s rich bounty of sustainable shellfish with a mouthwatering menu on Thursday evening 17^th August 2023.  Guests can tuck into a feast of locally landed mussels, oysters, crabs, prawns and lobster cooked with Goldie’s signature flair to bring out their unique tastes and textures.

 All profits on the night will go to Ballycotton RNLI.

Head Chef Aisling Moore

“As well as being delicious, we want to highlight how shellfish can help create a healthier marine environment,” says Aishling Moore, Head Chef of Goldie. "It is also a good opportunity to show our support of Ballycotton RNLI. We are acutely aware of the invaluable service they provide to the small fishing community of Ballycotton where we source the majority of our produce for the restaurant. We look forward to a long, fruitful relationship with them” she added.

Sustainability is at the heart of operations at Goldie which has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2021. The restaurant is famous for using every part of every fish to create its menu. It also operates a ‘whole catch’ approach by creating new dishes daily based on what arrives on the day boats from nearby Ballycotton harbour, so there is no wastage.

The menu on the 17th August illustrates what an important role shellfish plays in fostering the health of our coastal waters. Both farmed and wild shellfish, particularly oysters and mussels, improve water quality by removing nitrogen, sequestering carbon and increasing biodiversity. Other varieties such as lobsters and crabs are most often caught in traps and pots, which is a low-intervention method of fishing. These pots are designed to allow undersized fish to escape and have little impact on the seabed.

There will be two sittings on the night at 5.30pm and 8pm.

Goldie Sure Has That Swing. O🐟ial!

Goldie Sure Has That Swing. 

O🐟ial! 

Pannacotta

You can have the best produce. The best equipment in the kitchen. The most comfortable seating. A stellar wine list. All those won't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. 

And Goldie’s Aishling Moore sure has that swing. She gives it everything she’s got and her food sings. Cool or hot, the rhythm is on the spot, taking customers to a different level every single visit and each and every dish.

Just a few years on the scene in the heart of Cork City and Goldie has built a unique reputation for the quality of its fish dishes. But it is not all fish here. There are some very tempting vegetarian dishes and those desserts strike, well let us caress, those sweet spots. Even Michelin agrees. Goldie has a Bib Gourmand and is also on its latest list of the best places to go for seafood in Ireland.

Aishling is quite a conductor, often composing as she goes. The menu changes daily. “Whatever the small boats bring us, we take. We forage on the local coast for sea vegetables and seaweed.”

And there’s some singing in the background too. West Cork’s Singing Frog Gardens are prominent on the menu. Lots of herbs, even wasabi on the cured plaice. That wasabi is of course local and other local suppliers include Rossmore Oysters, Churchfield Community Gardens, Cuinneog (Mayo), East Ferry poultry, Bushby Strawberries, St Tola cheese, Achill island salt and more..

Our server has a warm welcome for us and gives us an enthusiastic run through the menu, highlighting the Red Mullet Anchovies in the Snacks, the Cured Plaice in the 5 Small Plates and the three fish in the 5 Mains.

Schnitzel 

We take our time as we make our choices. The Rossmore Oysters for me and the Cod Tail Schnitzel for CL along with a glass of the Angel Stout and Elbow Lager (both made across the road by the Elbow Lane microbrewery, part of the Market Lane group as is Goldie). 

Aishling tells us the beers chosen are just perfect for the small plates. Small? In quantity, I suppose the word fits. But the quality is stratospheric! Those oysters, with the Singing Frog lemongrass and ginger granita, are the best I have ever tasted. Quite a beginning, zing and swing.

Monkfish

Stout

And CL’s Cod Tail Schnitzel is also out of the usual orbit, that soy-cured egg yolk, along with a celeriac and gherkin remoulade, enhancing the flattened cod. I got a taste,  delicious flavours, stole another and had to stop at that for fear of retaliation!

Now for the mains, not too easy to relegate the Pan Roast Turbot with Churchfield herb panisse but we choose the Pan Fried Plaice and the Panfired Monkfish.

CL’s Plaice came with Singing Frog Courgette and a chicken and miso butter sauce. Again, everything was just perfect, the courgette a surprising enhancement along with the sauce. Not forgetting some of the shared side of Sea Salt Shoestring Chips (say that quickly!).

Plaice

Panaeng is a lovely mild curry named after tropical Penang and that was what my Monkfish came in, along with a tasty sunflower seed relish. The Panaeng can be spiced up with chillis but this was perfect as it was and the whole dish was another hit from the Goldie repertoire. Just to mention that those fries were also top-class.

Desserts are often an afterthought if they are thought of at all, in many restaurants, and you often have the usual suspects to choose from and nothing innovative in sight. Not here. Even though the list is short, just three, they are rather special.

A duo of sweet beauties highlighted the finalé, with Rosscarbery fruit growers, Bushbys, featuring deliciously in both. Mine was the Singing Frog basil pannacotta with Bushby’s strawberry sorbet and meringue. What an ensemble! And CL’s was another hit from the Goldie playlist, a beautiful combination of the St Tola cheese ice cream, with Bushby raspberries and beetroot molasses. 

We relaxed, serene in foodie Nirvana. Very Highly Recommended. Very well priced also, by the way. Put it on your list and put this song on your playlist!

St Tola

“Yes, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing

Well, it don't mean a thing, all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm everything you got”

(It Don't Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills)

CORK’S GOLDIE RETAINS IT’S BIB AT MICHELIN 2022 AWARDS

CORK’S GOLDIE RETAINS ITS BIB AT MICHELIN 2022 AWARDS

Aishling in Ballycotton

Goldie, Cork city’s sustainable fish restaurant on Oliver Plunkett Street, has retained its highly coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand for the second year. The restaurant, which continues to grow in popularity, entered the Guide for the first time at last year’s awards.

Since then, Goldie’s talented young chef-owner, Aishling Moore, and her team have hit their stride. The food is inventive and assured, and, while Moore uses only local fish she takes her inspiration from all over the world to build her daily changing menu. Dishes like Monk cheek scampi, Taiwanese fish nuggets, handmade prawn cocktail crisps and crunchy fish spines imbibe the menu with a keen sense of fun and provide an easy entrée for diners into a mostly fish menu which has serious style.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the news” says Moore. “This recognition is really encouraging for the whole team as we gear up to normal trading conditions. It reaffirms our commitment to sustainability and to serving delicious, accessible seafood in a lovely, relaxed and casual environment in Cork’s city centre.”

The restaurant’s ‘whole catch’ approach, which provides fishermen with a guarantee of income (and no discarded fish), in turn means that it is up to Moore to create a new menu every day depending on what catch is delivered to her kitchen. This, in addition to the restaurant’s ethos of gill to fin cooking, demands maximum flexibility and creativity from the whole team both in and out of the kitchen. “Using most of the fish from gill to fin was a challenge for all of us to start off with, but now I can say we are thriving on the opportunities it provides us to change things up on a regular basis” says Moore.

The practice of foraging, preserving, pickling is also central to the ethos of the restaurant and the shoreline of Ballycotton Bay provides the kitchen with much of its bounty. “Finding ways to preserve seafood other than freezing has been very important, as the weather effects our base ingredient availability every week” adds Moore. Other premium local producers showcased in the restaurant include Rossmore Oysters, Hive Mind honey, Churchfield Community Gardens and Singing Frog Gardens to name but a few.

Encouraging the next generation to embrace fish in their diets is also on the menu at Goldie, and young diners eat free on the first Wednesday of every month. www.goldie.ie

Goldie Wins Best Casual Dining Restaurant in Munster at Restaurant of the Year Awards 2021

Goldie Wins Best Casual Dining Restaurant in Munster

 at Restaurant of the Year Awards 2021

Aishling in Ballycotton. Never know what you'll find in the rock pools.

Aishling Moore, head chef and co-owner of Goldie restaurant, Cork city centre, which won the Best Casual Dining Restaurant in Munster at the prestigious Restaurant of the Year Awards 2021, which were announced at an Awards ceremony in Dublin on the 7th November.

Moore is pictured at Ballycotton where much of the seafood for Goldie restaurant is landed. The restaurant is famous for its ‘whole catch’ approach, which guarantees an exciting, ever-changing menu, and the delicious inventiveness of its dishes for which Moore uses as much of the fish as possible.

Speaking about the win Moore says “I am so proud and delighted to share this award with the best team ever,  who are so committed to serving great food in relaxed and fun environment.”

Moore was also shortlisted for Best Young Chef of the Year at the Awards.

Goldie opened in September 2019, and had barely started trading before the pandemic caused the widespread lockdown of the restaurant industry.  Despite these hugely challenging trading conditions, in 2020 Goldie was awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide and Moore was named Best Irish Chef by the McKenna's Guide.

Goldie is located on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork city and is part of the Market Lane group of iconic restaurants which also include Market Lane, ORSO, Elbow Lane Smokehouse & Brewery and Blackrock Castle Restaurant. 

press release

Goldie lands another winner with Bosca na Farraige #4

Goldie lands another winner

with Bosca na Farraige #4

You can buy all kinds of food boxes and kits for eating at home these days. There are many excellent ones available around the country and many in the Cork area have been covered here in the blog. A large variety of cuisines are offered. Many different prices too! There is one available from Michelin starred Aimsir. It costs €210.00. The one I got last Friday from Goldie (they have a Michelin bib) cost just €35.00 and I enjoyed it very much indeed.

The initial list hardly tells the whole story:

Lobster Cocktail Marie Rose.
Smoked Haddock Kedgeree Pasty.

Chervil & Seaweed Scones.

Whipper Thermidor Butter.

Gherkin Ketchup/Ale Muster/Kraut.

'Beelionaires' Caramel Slice.

By the way, there is no cooking involved here!

This is your Lobster Cocktail Marie Rose. It is Crosshaven lobster claw and tail steamed and dressed in Goldie Marie rose sauce with a salad of iceberg, cos and fennel. Superb starter

This was our "main course", the Smoked Haddock Kedgeree Pasty. The pasty is filled with haddock and potato kedgeree. It is ready to eat cold but we got a tip to warm it in the oven for a few minutes and we were on a winner. It was delicious and even more so with the surprising Gherkin ketchup (I loved that). Not so much with the mustard kraut but that is down to personal taste rather than anything to do with quality!

You often see seaweed listed in the ingredients but it doesn't always impact on the dish. Here it did, in a delightful way. These Chervil and Seaweed scones were a favourite of mine. I managed to keep one of the four for the following day when it tasted just as well if not better. Also in the picture is the Whipped Thermidor Butter, a compound butter flavoured with all the ingredients that usually feature in a thermidor sauce that is classically served with lobster!

Goldie has won its spurs as a fish restaurant but their desserts never disappoint. This 'Beelionaires' Caramel Slice (x4) was superb, a well thought out finalé, not too heavy and not too light, just the job.

Each week, Goldie includes a "simple recipe" in each Bosca. This week, they featured their lovely Marie Rose Sauce.

What will they come up with for the coming weekend? They post it on their social media early in the week so do look out for Bosca na Farraige #5!