Classy Cuisine in Cork’s Comfortable Cornstore. Delightful dinner and superb service in Cornmarket Street.

Classy Cuisine in Cork’s Comfortable Cornstore

Delightful dinner and superb service in Cornmarket Street.

It wasn’t the best of evenings weather-wise but that was all forgotten for an hour or two on a midweek visit to The Cornstore, one of the most comfortable dining venues in the city. And it wasn’t just the fixtures and fittings because the cooking and the service were also superb. 

The menu is extensive and they still have an emphasis on steaks, seafood and cocktails here. But there is much more and we tried something from the different sections, seafood for a start, then vegetarian and pork and then a sweet finalee. By the way, quite a few of the regular dishes are also offered on the good value Early Bird, so be sure and consider it.

Comfortable!

We got the friendliest of welcomes from the team here, and were soon seated in those plush chairs, studying the menu (we also received copies of that Early Bird, the evening’s specials and the tempting drinks listings with cocktails included!).

Seafood appetisers included Chowder and Prawn Pil Pil and oysters of course but I already had my mind set on the Mini Lobster Rolls, with buttered brioche and the Atlantic Lobster (15). We were off to a flier here with this exquisite flavoursome combination, everything from the little brioche buns to the flavoursome lobster was spot on. Other starters included Heirloom Beetroot Carpaccio, Creamy Burrata (with Heirloom tomatoes) and Fillet Beef Churro. Something for everyone!

Lobster rolls

Choices galore also with the Main Course offering that highlighted their range of dry-aged steaks including a Chateaubriand (for two!). Also available were Braised Angus Beef Cheek Bourguinon, Citrus Half Chicken, Tuna Steak and more!

CL picked the Grilled Cauliflower Steak with vegan Café de Paris butter, grilled onion, oyster mushroom and chimichurro sauce (19.00). Quite a generous amount of cauliflower but there was nothing of it left on the plate. The accompaniments enhanced the experience and indeed that onion was a tasty surprise, reminding us of one that we enjoyed in the Michelin starred Nerua in Bilbao’s Guggenheim a few years back. 

Bilbao onion with cod skin.

At the other side of the happy table, I was tucking into my Slow Cooked Crispy Pork Belly Porchetta with braised red cabbage, crispy kale and a black pudding crumble (26.00), another dish that I can heartily recommend, so well executed with every element well chosen to contribute. The pork itself, “crackling” included, was packed with flavour and the red cabbage was the perfect partner.

Then our server, who were all friendly and helpful, gave us another dilemma, that of choosing something for “the best course”. Not easy. They had three Dessert Cocktails on the list plus more than a half dozen classic desserts including Vanilla Crème Brulée, Granny Smith Apple Tartan and Panna Cotta plus the Cornstore Cheeseboard.

Our choice was the traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding (right) with vanilla ice cream and an orange caramel sauce (8.00). And it more than lived up to its classic reputation, one of the best I’ve come across recently. It reminded me very much of the gem that I used to enjoy decades ago in an upstairs Emmet Place French restaurant. I cannot remember its name but Aroma is there now.

Like many restaurants, the Cornstore has been through the wringer over the past couple of years and it was great to visit and enjoy a meal that certainly confirms that they are in top form both in the kitchen and front of house!

My pic of the Pork Belly. To see how they plate it up (before the crispy kale is added), check their short Instagram video here

All Calm and Comfortable in Cornstore "Comeback". And Well Fed Too.

All Calm and Comfortable in Cornstore "Comeback"

And Well Fed Too. 

Up and running at The Cornstore

You almost pass the hand sanitiser station on the way in. You almost reach out a hand to shake that of a staff member friend you haven’t seen in a while. This new normal takes a bit of getting used to -  just a little bit. At least that’s the way it was last Thursday as Cork’s Cornstore made a pitch-perfect return after the long days of the lockdown. 

The restaurant's crew, even behind their face shields, played a blinder, exhibiting a smiling calmness and courtesy all evening as they got it up and running and made us all feel at home. Terrific service, the usual high standard of food and drink, plus very comfortable spacing between customers, had us all relaxed in no time, not that we were in any way apprehensive as we walked into the splendid Cornmarket Street venue. 

We had booked and were soon shown to our table. Of course, we also had a look around, at least in our immediate vicinity. There was a table to our left and that looked about the right distance away - I wasn’t doing any measurements, no interest in 1.9m or 2.1m. The one to our right was much closer but there was a more than adequate glass or plexiglass panel between us. 

The middle row of tables in that section has been removed. All the available tables were soon filled, a lovely buzz of conversation gradually built up as we were ordering from a pretty comprehensive new menu. There was a time limit on the table but never once was there a sense of being rushed, quite the comfortable contrary actually.

While it was our first night out since early March, we weren’t about to go all out as we still had a private engagement later on. And so we decided to share the starter. The Spicy Chicken Wings is  a tradition here and we could see why as we got our hands good and sticky with the superb celery and blue cheese dip that came with the tasty wings (11.50). 

Starters range from Goats Cheese Crostini to Prawns Pil Pil and include Duck Liver Parfait, Burrata, Classic Mussels, and Fillet Beef Carpaccio. No shortage of choice. And that choice continues through the mains which feature their renowned steaks plus a daily fish board and much more. 

I was looking hard at the Classic Fillet Beef Stroganoff before switching attention to the steak, all sourced from local suppliers and all their steak cuts have been dry-aged with Himalayan salt. My choice was the 8 ounce Fillet (€21.00), a perfectly delicious piece of meat and perfectly cooked to order. No less than six sauces available and I went, for a change, with the Field Mushroom and Jameson Whiskey one, a gem.

Exterior of the Cornstore (from last February)

CL was tempted by the Oven Roast salmon before settling for the Confit Duck Leg. She got quite a plateful as the leg came with sautéed baby potatoes, chorizo, pak choi, red onion marmalade and hoisin sauce. You could see the kitchen made quite an effort with this one and she enjoyed one of the best duck confit dishes we’ve come across in a long while. They offer quite a list of sides here, everything from Proper Chips to Blackened Cauliflower Mornay to Grilled Asparagus (from 4.00 to 5.50).

And do take a look at the Pizza section. We got a tip on this but a little too late on this occasion. Maybe next time. And the pizza will come in handy too during the late weekend nights when the Cornstore hosts The Night Lounge (from 10.30pm). They range in price from 15 to 19 euro. 

We did see, from a nearby table, that they are massive. Here’s two descriptions, just to give you an idea. The Farm (16.00): Goats cheese, poached baby pears, roast peppers, toasted pecan nuts and whiskey maple syrup. The Ploughman (18): Pulled Pork, Parma ham, olive oil, mozzarella cheese, with fried pickles and Dijonnaise sauce!

Cornstore Cocktails have always been excellent and they list a few on the main menu including the Irish Penicillin (Jameson, Connemara, craft diner liquor, honey and fresh lime juice). 

No shortage of red and white wines, plus sparkling  of course. We two settled for the beer though, thanks to our server who came up with a couple of bottles of the excellent Kinsale Pale Ale from Blacks Brewery in Kinsale. I love to support local and there’s no hardship in this case as the KPA is really top notch.

And, speaking of top notch, well done again to Mike and his team in the Cornstore on a seamless superb return to action in the kitchen, the bar and front of house. Thanks for looking after us all so well in what was a very pleasing and comfortable experience all round. A bientôt!

The Cornstore Cork