O'Mahony's. Happy Place on The Hill
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| Rhubarb & Custard |
O’Mahony’s is one happy place. It begins with big, wide smiles as you walk in from the Watergrasshill street for lunch. Or dinner. Or just a drink. Perhaps one of John Coleman's cocktails (his creations are not "just a drink"). And the smiles continue through the service and also as you make your totally relaxed exit.
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| A Head of the Pack. Original 7 Revolution IPA |
Happy. And hoppy too. Great to go into a bar and see a little line of local craft beers beckon. Last week, I spotted Eight Degrees, Blacks of Kinsale and Original 7 taps. Happy, hoppy. Hippy too. If hippy retains its original meaning of tolerance, community and unconventional, well, you’ll find that here too.
Last Thursday, the diners included singles, couples, strapping young men (no less than six together) and a family (nine in all), and an old lad (not me!) sitting at the bar and enjoying his drink and the banter. Quite a mix of generations that, along with the place itself, reminds me of one of my favourite books of recent years, Still Life by Sarah Winman.
I did enjoy my drink, a cool pint of Original 7’s Revolution IPA. No shortage of hops but well controlled and this flavoursome, well-balanced ale goes straight into our expanding list of top Irish beers. See the top ten here.
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| Ragu. Another gem from Chef Mark Ahern. |
The lunch menu features a list of small plates, positioned somewhere in between the usual lunch plate and a full dinner, though you can of course “reinforce” it with one of their sides or perhaps by starting with a helping of Rossmore Oysters from East Cork. And the support of local producers is another element, a very attractive one, in O’Mahony’s superb menu.
You’ll see many of them listed on the menu, a menu that beautifully, in relatively simple strokes, evokes the countryside around us, its freshness and its seasons. Perhaps it also evokes the flavours and goodness of the past, before the race to mass produce began and before we damaged the land and the sea, not to mention ourselves and our children, with all those double-edged 'cides (insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides...).
One featured producer is local pig farmer Peter Twomey, from Upper Glanmire, whose name caught my eye as I was tempted by Glenbrook Farm pork ragout, pappardelle, rocket, pangrattato, smoked Gubbeen. Peter’s free-range meat is outstanding and enhanced further with its accompaniments here, and it gets a mighty thumbs up.
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| Bacon & Cabbage |
Just in case you’re wondering - I was - ragout is French, while the Italians spell it ragu. Bella Napoli in French Church Street serves a couple of excellent dishes (each featuring slow-cooked beef), including a favourite of mine, Ragu Alla Genovese, but Ragu Alla Glanmire is up there with the best! As I write this, I'm looking forward to a 12-hour Lamb and Tomato Ragu in the Harbour Hotel (Schull) tomorrow night. (Watch this space!)
CL chose the Bacon & Cabbage Croquettes, Tomato & Raisin Chutney, and Cais na Tire, another well-sourced, well-cooked, and well-presented dish that charms for all the right reasons (a bit like O'Mahony's itself). We “supplemented” our dishes with a shared bowl of their Home Cut Fries and a delicious caramelised onion aioli. Other sides here include Kilbrack mixed leaves, citrus and herb dressing, and Cumin roasted carrots with sour cream.
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| A recent dish. Torched mackerel, yoghurt, stewed rhubarb, broadbean and green peppercorn dressing, lovage oil. O'Mahony's pic. |
And there would be a sweet ending. The dessert list is short but definitely worth a look. We agreed on the Rhubarb & Custard, with a delicious almond crumble. Other choices included a Double chocolate brownie with Freezin' Friesan vanilla ice cream and, an Irish cheese plate, accompanied by crackers and Watergrasshill Apiary Honey.
Time then for more smiles (we hadn’t stopped) as we made our way out of the lively and more or less full room, saying goodbye to our hosts Máire O’Mahony and Victor Murphy. A bientot!


































