THE WEEKEND CATCH
Restaurant & Bar Scene in Cork
via Twitter & Facebook
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
BARRY'S TEA WINNER
Congratulations to Belinda Daly of Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, the winner of our recent Barry's Tea Competition. We asked
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
THE CLARE VALLEY COMES TO CORK
AN EVENING IN THE CLARE VALLEY
The Clare Valley is a very small part of Australia: it takes just 25 minutes to drive from Clare in the north to Auburn in the south. But the valley, really an inter-weaving series of rolling hills and valleys from north to south, punches well above its size in terms of the quality of wine produced there, as we found out last evening at a very entertaining few hours in Blackrock Castle where our guide to the area was none other than Tim Adams.
Tim and his wife Pam set up there in 1987, starting with an input of just 10 tonnes, now up to a current crush of 850. Wine styles are traditional and Tim has strong opinions on wine-making.
He puts the Clare Valley success – there are very few big producers here – down to the unique combination of the climate, the altitude, the soil (in part, rich in red iron oxide) and the weather where a cooling ocean breeze drifts in so regularly you can do without your watch and still know the time. The area is very strong in Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and we had examples of all to taste.
And each and every bottle had a
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
STRONG TEAM FROM BARRY'S TEA
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| Strong team from Barry's, plus regulars Gold Blend and Classic. |
BARRY’S TEA
Strong Line-Up For Competition
Barry’s Tea have been regular sponsors of sports events over the years so it is only fitting that our current competition has a sporting theme.
Whatever the result between Cork and Down later this month, Barry’s will always put a full team out for you. The prize, on this occasion, is a gift box filled to the brim with the entire Barry’s Tea Speciality range along with the usual Classic and Gold Blend treats! Their strongest side possible!
Have a go; the question is not too difficult. Closing date is September 9th (8.00am).
When did Cork last win the All-Ireland senior football title?
Was it 1890 or 1990? Send your answer to cork.billy@gmail.com
If you want a hint, go to http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/gaa-history/rolls-of-honour/
Sunday, September 5, 2010
MISS KATIE’S TEA ROOMS in Blarney
MISS KATIE’S TEA ROOMS
8A Blarney Shopping Centre
087 2359046
Cupcakes by Katie is a family business, founded by Kay Weldon, and it was Kay herself that we met in her Tea Rooms (next to Malone’s Bar on the Blarney by-pass) last Saturday.
We really enjoyed our coffee and cup cakes and a wide ranging chat with herself, ranging from picking blackberries to the good old days and also including the All-Ireland final. The few minutes we’d scheduled for the cuppa stretched pleasantly, not least because the cup cakes were gorgeous.
She does them in many flavours and in a few sizes: mini, large and giant and you may also order specials like Black Forrest Gateaux and Banoffee and Wedding Cupcakes (of which she had a few on display last Saturday).
Now you know where to go if you are in the Blarney area and need a cuppa and cake and maybe a pleasant conversation as well. We certainly enjoyed it and purchased a box of cakes on our way out.
Check out my review of MISS KATIE’S TEA ROOMS - I am cork - on Qype
Friday, September 3, 2010
Healy's Honey in Ballincollig
NOT QUITE A SWEET CONCLUSION
DEBATE GOES ON
Bought my honey chase for the summer to a temporary though sweet conclusion on a recent visit to Dunnes Store in Blackpool. My Recent Post highlighted the differences in price and make-up of the amber nectar around the Cork area.
I was in Dunne’s on a different “mission” when I spotted their honey offerings. Their own brand (€1.99) and a Boyne Valley product had the same make-up as the Aldi product, that is the honey was a blend of EC and non EC honeys.
So I left those and then I spotted Healy’s Honey. This has to be Irish, I thought. Well, yes and no. While Healy’s do at least one jar that is 100 per cent Irish honey, most of their products contain imported honey.
The one I bought was Healy’s Natural Honey Blend. It cost €2.99 and I found it very tasty and enjoyable. But it is not 100% Irish as it states clearly on the jar: a blend of Irish and non EU honey for improved flavour and quality. They also do an organic honey and that comes from South America.
I must try their Pure Irish Honey. But Dunne’s didn't have it and neither did Tesco (who also stock otehr Healy products). I’ll leave it there for the moment. Better try and finish off the jars accumulated in recent weeks!
Healy’s Honey, Maglin, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
http://www.healyshoney.ie
021 48 71 258
Check out my review of Healy's Honey - I am cork - on Qype
DEBATE GOES ON
Bought my honey chase for the summer to a temporary though sweet conclusion on a recent visit to Dunnes Store in Blackpool. My Recent Post highlighted the differences in price and make-up of the amber nectar around the Cork area.
I was in Dunne’s on a different “mission” when I spotted their honey offerings. Their own brand (€1.99) and a Boyne Valley product had the same make-up as the Aldi product, that is the honey was a blend of EC and non EC honeys.
So I left those and then I spotted Healy’s Honey. This has to be Irish, I thought. Well, yes and no. While Healy’s do at least one jar that is 100 per cent Irish honey, most of their products contain imported honey.
The one I bought was Healy’s Natural Honey Blend. It cost €2.99 and I found it very tasty and enjoyable. But it is not 100% Irish as it states clearly on the jar: a blend of Irish and non EU honey for improved flavour and quality. They also do an organic honey and that comes from South America.
I must try their Pure Irish Honey. But Dunne’s didn't have it and neither did Tesco (who also stock otehr Healy products). I’ll leave it there for the moment. Better try and finish off the jars accumulated in recent weeks!
Healy’s Honey, Maglin, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
http://www.healyshoney.ie
021 48 71 258
Check out my review of Healy's Honey - I am cork - on Qype
Amicus Restaurant in Paul Street, Cork
AMICUS
(Paul Street)
021 4276455
My first impressions on entering Paul Street’s Amicus, after a long absence, were good. There was a jolly welcome and we were escorted to our lunchtime table upstairs. Seating was comfortably and the place looked good and clean.
The service was friendly and smooth throughout and we were asked if everything was okay two or three times which is about sufficient.
The food was excellent. I went for the specials, I often do. Started with a Celery and Bacon Soup, a hearty bowl of freshness with plenty of tasty bits in there.
Picked the main course off the board: Lamb with vegetables, garlic and rosemary mashed potato and a red win jus. Everything here was spot on, particular the vegetables which were cooked to a t, indeed a degree or two better than in a recent dish at Market Lane where they were a touch too hard.
They really have a huge menu here, huge choices and some bargains to be had. The drink list is also extensive and they sell red wines by the glass. I picked the De Gras Cabernet Sauvignon and this deep red medium bodied Chilean was great value at €4.95.
The bill for two (2 starters, 2 mains and 2 wines) came to €42.80. Would be quite willing to go back there again for an evening meal.
Check out my review of Amicus Restaurant - I am cork - on Qype
Cronins Bar in Crosshaven
CRONIN’S PUB
Enjoyed a decent lunch in Cronin’s Pub in Crosshaven in mid-week. By chance, we ended up in a rather gloomy corner though there we later saw there was a much brighter room at the other side of the bar. Loads of boxing pictures (mainly old) and some interesting old posters, also lots of illustrations of ships around the place.
The welcome was bright and breezy and the starter, their famous fish soup (they don't call it chowder anymore) was top class, more like the fish soups you get in the south of France. Great value at €6.00.
Then on to the main course: garlic prawns on brown bread with chips and salad (€10.00). The excellent tasty chips were homemade. The salad was well varied, including a potato and dill portion, and well dressed. The prawns and the dip were also excellent.
On a personal note, I’m not really sure that brown bread and prawns, though they do pop up together every now and then, is the best of combinations. We had the brown bread with the soup and it was fantastic. But, wet from the prawns, it didn't taste its best. Perhaps, the brown bread could be served with the dish but separately.
Still, that didn't take much from an enjoyable meal which we rounded off with two decent coffees (€2.10 each). Service was quite efficient and friendly but next time we’ll probably sit on the brighter side!
Crosshaven
021 4831829
www.croninspub.com
Check out my review of Cronins Bar - I am cork - on Qype
Enjoyed a decent lunch in Cronin’s Pub in Crosshaven in mid-week. By chance, we ended up in a rather gloomy corner though there we later saw there was a much brighter room at the other side of the bar. Loads of boxing pictures (mainly old) and some interesting old posters, also lots of illustrations of ships around the place.
The welcome was bright and breezy and the starter, their famous fish soup (they don't call it chowder anymore) was top class, more like the fish soups you get in the south of France. Great value at €6.00.
Then on to the main course: garlic prawns on brown bread with chips and salad (€10.00). The excellent tasty chips were homemade. The salad was well varied, including a potato and dill portion, and well dressed. The prawns and the dip were also excellent.
On a personal note, I’m not really sure that brown bread and prawns, though they do pop up together every now and then, is the best of combinations. We had the brown bread with the soup and it was fantastic. But, wet from the prawns, it didn't taste its best. Perhaps, the brown bread could be served with the dish but separately.
Still, that didn't take much from an enjoyable meal which we rounded off with two decent coffees (€2.10 each). Service was quite efficient and friendly but next time we’ll probably sit on the brighter side!
Crosshaven
021 4831829
www.croninspub.com
Check out my review of Cronins Bar - I am cork - on Qype
THE WEEKEND CATCH - YOUR WEEKLY CORK FOOD & DRINK UPDATE
A bumper Weekend Catch, fresh from the Net.
THE WEEKEND CATCH
Restaurant & Bar Scene in Cork
via Twitter & Facebook
http://www.dineincork.ie/ Mark your calendar ‘Evening Echo Dine In Cork-Restaurant Week’ running from Friday 5th November to Sunday 14th November
BlairsInn Our delicious 10oz Angus Rib Eye Steaks at eur19.95 are fantastic value. Up to 20% cheaper than other places in Cork. http://bit.ly/ceCCIn
No.5 Fenns Quay Restaurant New vegetarian starter; Wild Mushroom Mille feullie with an Ardsallagh goat’s cheese cream. Another Fenn's Quay classic.
Hayfield Manor Hotel
...
Ballymaloe House ...
Bordbia Lots of events coming up for National Organic Week 13-19 Sept. Full list of events - might be something u fancy -http://bit.ly/9Fx4Hh
glassofwin Glass of Win | RESTAURANT REVIEW: CAFE PARADISO (#Ireland) http://tiny.cc/fj053 The finest vegetarian restaurant in the world #foodie #Cork
smallsips Irish wine blogs: Super Market Plonk Showdown Part 1 Tesco’s VS Dunnes… http://short.ie/ats243 #wine #Ireland
grapes_of_sloth Chilean tasting from @OBriensWine on Thur Sept 9th. Hear firsthand how 2010's big earthquake impacted on Chilean wine. http://bit.ly/cAkqxb
fotawildlife New cafe in Fota - I posted 8 photos on Facebook in the album "Savannah Cafe" http://fb.me/I7KgMKmq
@HayfieldManor from 3pm tomorrow(3rd) say 'Free Friday' to any staff member at Manor Bar & get first 2 drinks 4 half price(excludes whiskey).
SoHo Bar & Restaurant Our New Food menu started Thursday- mmmmm lots and lots of new dish's to try !!!
Curious Wines: Ireland's Online Wine Store O Autumn, laden with fruit: September specials from Curious.
Nautilus restaurant This weekend, as you might have guessed, we have fresh mackerel for starter special and roasted cod (with a tomato, basil and tarragon risotto) for main course.
EATcork
Barry's Tea Guess what tea lovers...oh so soon you'll be able to get your Barry's Tea fix in a Marks & Spencer near you. (Don’t forget to enter our Barry’s Tea competition on this site – win the full range!)
oliver_moore The fledgling flight of community supported agriculture in Ireland: http://bit.ly/97D5o2
SAVEURMAG Have you seen our 15 Heavenly Hamburger recipes? http://bit.ly/12xmKa Yes, we do have a hamburger for everyone!
We search the net, via Twitter and Facebook, each Thursday evening and early Friday morning, for the latest from the Cork restaurant and bar scene. If you don't have either of the above, reach us at cork.billy@gmail.com. Deadline 9.00am Friday.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
HOW I ACCIDENTLY MET MOELLEUX
MEETING MOELLEUX
Funny how things happen.
This year, while on hols in the Dordogne, I won a prize for being a diligent tourist. Had I been really wide awake and diligent I would have won two of them but didn't catch on to the scheme until my holiday was half over.
The prize was a bottle of the local Bergerac white and was presented to me by a pleasant young lady while I was doing a tour of Cadouin Abbey. Co-incidentally, the lady had spent three months learning English in UCC. So that wasn't wasted. The specially packaged bottle was a Moelleux, the semi-sweet wine of the area. A few weeks earlier, I might have turned up my nose at it. But not in Cadouin and not anymore.
On arrival In Sarlat on our first night in the Dordogne, we rushed down to the local Lidl (the only shop open) so stock up. I took charge of the wines and spotted a cardboard box full of Jurancon. From an earlier holiday in the Pays Basque, I knew this to be a lovely dry white so I grabbed one and lobbed it in the trolley.
But we needn’t have rushed to Lidl as our host plied us with red wine, beginning with the excellent local vin de pays (Domme) and progressing to Cahor. The Jurancon was left in the bag. Pulled it out the following day and looked at it. Saw that it was a yellow colour. Checked the back and saw the Moelleux word.
Not too impressed. I didn't like sweet wines, only dry. Still, by this stage, we had plenty in the gîte and said we’d try it as an aperitif, as suggested on the bottle. Love at first taste. Aperitif and also dessert. Can't remember what we had in between.
That meant Moelleux was on the buying list after that and some even survived to home with us, including the prize that we opened and enjoyed the other day. There are a few more to come, all from Bergerac, except for one Gaillac.
But if you crave a Moelleux fix, there is an international line-up from which you may pick: Lambrusco (Italy), Riesling Kabinett and Riesling Spätlese (Germany, Austria), Jurancon and Vouvray (France) and late harvest Riesling (USA and Australia) to mention a few. They won’t all be stamped as Moelleux, just watch out for medium sweet.
But do watch out for them. No zeal like that of a convert!
Some technical stuff follows, might be helpful:
A – Moelleux: A French term used to describe white wines that have at least some residual sugar. A single-word translation is difficult because the meaning for Moelleux is a complex compound meaning "soft-smooth-mellow-velvety-lush."
B - Vins Moelleux: The term "vin blanc Moelleux" is used to describe a sweeter white wine that is made from grapes harvested later than usual, but not so late as to be subject to the "noble rot" applicable to the true dessert wines – known as "vins liquoreux".
Post originally appeared as "guest" on www.curiouswines.ie
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
FENN'S QUAY
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| Fenn's Quay terrace pictured Oct 1986; the book shop on extreme right is now the restaurant. |
FABULOUS FENN'S QUAY
A truly great dining experience. That's how Matt of Curious Wines, our guest blogger, described a recent visit to the city centre restaurant....
With the surprise arrival of my girlfriend into Curious Wines on Saturday afternoon after a 4 hour drive from Armagh (she must love me), I decided a night out in Cork City
I had confidence in this choice of restaurant because of the recommendations from previous clientèle and I knew Kevin at Fenns Quay is a passionate man for his wine. Too many restaurateurs can't see anything past profit margins on a wine list, so it's great to see someone making a name for themselves through their wine offering as well as their food.
I ordered a Clonakilty black pudding starters and Bronagh opted for mushroom-pastry-type dish. We were in a mood for a red meat main course, so I got Slaney Valley Ireland
Everything was excellently presented, the seasoning and flavours were balanced, and the atmosphere was relaxed. The wine list certainly didn't disappoint either, a good selection offering the usual suspects (Italian Pinot Grigio, Aussie Shiraz) as well as a number of wines that you won't see everywhere, including an Austrian Grüner Veltliner and an Italian Grillo.
I needed something edging on big and bold for the main course, so my mind was made up (with the help of Kevin) by the Doña Paula Argentian Malbec. I understand we received one of the very last bottles. The back label would lead you to expect red fruit on the nose, and this might have been the case when young, but this '07 was showing darker fruits on the nose (dark cherry, blackberry) and even a little licorice. The palate was beautifully rounded, medium-full bodied with melt-in-your month tannins and another good whack of blackberry. It just added that extra 20-30% to the whole experience.
Obviously the standard of the food is the most important thing when eating out, but the experience as a whole can be diminished by a poor value wine list. I recently went to a very popular Cork Cork
Check out Paul Kiernan's take on Fenns Quay. See also earlier reviews of Fenn's Quay here
Don't forget to visit Matt and Mike and Julian at http://www.curiouswines.ie/
Don't forget to visit Matt and Mike and Julian at http://www.curiouswines.ie/
Monday, August 30, 2010
DARINA'S FIVE STAR CHUTNEY
IN JARS
Bought a lot of stuff in jars on a recent visit to East Cork and must say now, a few weeks after, that I’m quite happy with the loot.
Perhaps the real star was Darina Allen’s Ripe Tomato Chutney, bought at the Garden Shop in Ballymaloe. Absolutely brilliant as a dip or with pates, cold meals, cheese, foie gras (if you’re lucky enough to have it) and so on and quite reasonable at €4.20 for 340gms.
Another Ballymaloe product also hit the mark. That was the Ballymaloe Seville orange marmalade (Medium Cut). An excellent spread, again at a reasonable price of €3.29 per 340 grams.
While in the Ballymaloe Shop (this one alongside the house – the Garden Shop is by the Cookery School), we also bought a Plum Jam, €3.50 for 340gm. This as handmade by Helen Gee, a Good Food Ireland member from Abbeyleix. Again this was a splendid product, so different to an anonymous paste (billed as Plum jam) that we bought recently from one of the big chains.
Now the Village Greengrocer in Castlemartyr has many good things on the shelves there, including a pot of homemade Blackcurrant Jam. Absolutely gorgeous, as it should be this time of year. The small jar though didn't have a weight mark on it. It was probably about the 220gm mark and I thought the price €2.75 was rather expensive.
Picture: Ballymaloe House
Sunday, August 29, 2010
CAFE GUSTO at Lapps Quay
CAFE GUSTO
(Lapps Quay)
Enjoyed the coffee, the blueberry muffin, the small boats bobbin', the ladies knitting, the talent kids strutting and the views at sunny Lapps Quay on the weekend.
Was on the Heritage Day trail around town and decided to take a break and it is hard to find a better place than this waterfront cafe. Not just for the coffee and service, always top class, but also for the ambiance of the area.
Something going on here, almost always. On Saturday, the ladies were knitting for a cancer charity and the kids were limbering up while queuing for a national TV talent show. The sun was out and the riverside views were pleasant.
Picture looking down on Cafe Gusto (top left) from top of Clarion Hotel.
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