The Oliver Plunkett’s A Specials Kind Of Place

The Oliver Plunkett’s A Specials Kind Of Place

Be sure and keep an eye on the specials when you dine at the Oliver Plunkett, on the Cork street of the same name. And, yes, for this month, you will be dining on that street! There is quite a bit of shelter here and that came in handy as the evening we visited wasn't at all sunny. Yet we two for sure and most of the punters nearby seemed to thoroughly enjoying themselves and even a light mist later on did little to dampen spirits!

The Oliver Plunkett chef Fred Desormeaux is well-known for his fish dishes and when I saw tuna on the specials list, I knew I was on to a good thing. And so it proved. The Pan Fried Fresh Tuna & Prawns on warm baby potatoes and chorizo salad, with a Cherry sun blush tomato pesto was absolutely amazing, perhaps the best tuna I’ve ever tasted. Don’t think you’ll see this or its likes in many restaurant, not to mention bar, menus.

Tuna & Prawns

I ordered it medium, though Fred himself prefers it rare. It was flavoursome and juicy and so easy to slice. The salad was a highlight on its own, the prawns fresh and delicious. What a combination of flavour and texture. Go for it if you see it listed.

The Oliver Plunkett kitchen supports local and its fish comes from Pat O’Connell in the English Market who gets most of his from the boats that work out of Castletownbere. I had also started with the produce of the sea: Fresh Crab Roll (Fresh Crab, Lemon Mayonnaise, Pickled Cucumber, Salad Leaves, Roast Garlic Aioli). Another perfect combination, right down to the beautiful Brioche buns on which it was served!

Crab

CL was in the sea as well as we started, her choice the Panko Crumbed Atlantic Prawns with Mango & Sweet Chilli, Lime Coriander Mayo & Side Salad. Very happy with that though she had also eyed the special of Grilled Dublin Bay Prawns in Lemon and Garlic butter, with toasted Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia. 

And as we moved onto the mains, her final choice was between the recommended special of Roast Stuffed Chicken Supreme Black Pudding wrapped in streaky bacon, creamy mash served with Chicken jus and the regular Lamb Shawarma (Slow Cooked Spiced Shredded Lamb Shoulder in Buttermilk, on a Flat Bread with Hummus, Pickled Onion, Spicy Wedges, Mango & Sweet Chili Yoghurt). She picked the lamb and enjoyed the mix of flavours, again top quality and quite a substantial dish.

Prawns

Dessert? Always the question and always a hesitation! So why not share our Raspberry Creme Brûlée? Why not indeed? And again we hit the jackpot. Studded with juicy fruit, this was perhaps the very best dish of its kind we’ve ever tasted. So that (along with the Tuna) makes two of the best ever on one menu. Not bad going at all.

By the way, watch out too for the breakfast here. Chef Desormeaux bases his selection on the renowned produce supplied by McCarthy Butchers in Kanturk. There’s also the possibly of a Sunday brunch being offered in the near future. Watch this space!

Lamb

The Oliver Plunkett  

Oliver Plunkett Street

Cork

Red And White Gems From The Southern Hemisphere

Red And White Gems

 From The Southern Hemisphere

Montes Limited Selection Pinot Noir Aconcagua Costa (D0) 2018, 14%

€17.99 Avoca Handweavers Shops; Baggot Street Wines; Barnhill Stores; Blackrock Cellar; Cinnamon Cottage; Donnybrook Fair; Ely Wine Store; Menloe Stores; Sweeney’s D3; The Wine Centre; wineonline.ie

“It is totally coastal influenced. In morning there’s mist and fog and then a shy sunshine from mid day. The vines grow happy. The grapes ripen slowly.” This was Aurelio Montes speaking of the Aconcagua Coast during last year’s Zoomed masterclass as he sipped a Pinot Noir. (quite possibly this one).

So this Pinot Noir, with its bright ruby red colour, comes all the way from the coast of Chile. Aromas are concentrated, of fresh summer fruit, cherries and berries. Touch of oak too. The palate is just as intense, toasty oak spice flavour in with the red fruits, elegant and complex, smooth with excellent acidity, rounded tannins also part of the harmony on the way to an abiding finish. Very Highly Recommended.

They say: Our Montes Limited Selection range is a collection of individual wines. This premium wine is recognised as a seductive, voluptuous, smooth and satisfying sensual pleasure. This range includes a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Carmenère and a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère.

The wine has spent 6 to 7 months in oak. Recommended pairings are: White meat (including veal), fish, Pasta, Sushi, charcuterie, desserts. They advise decanting 15 minutes in advance of serving at a temperature of 14 to 15 degrees.

*****

Spice Route Chenin Blanc Swartland 2019, 13.5%

€24.99 Fresh Grand Canal and Smithfield; wineonline.ie

The Swartland is 65kms north of Cape Town (South Africa). The climate is hot and dry. Viticulture here it is not straightforward, according to Fairview and Spice Route owner Charles Back (widely regarded as a wine pioneer in the area). “You have to be very careful to select good moisture retaining soil in the first place, soil that can trap the moisture and slowly release it later when needed.”

“We monitor winter rainfall very carefully and if the rain isn’t enough, the yield must be cut. We use bush vines and the canopy has to be managed.”

That attention to detail is well illustrated here in this superbly complex barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc. Light straw with greenish tints. Fairly intense aromas featuring tropical fruits and peach. It’s a beautiful mouthful, immediately likeable. Very harmonious with fresh fruit and acidity all in tune. Plus a pretty long finish. Very happy with this one on the table (especially in the summer months) and Very Highly Recommended.

Charl du Plessis, the winemaker, said (on Zoom last year): “This Chenin Blanc is from a vineyard planted in 1978. These trellised vineyards are planted on a southeast facing slope and are dryland farmed. The soils are predominantly koffieklip (decomposed granite and iron-rich clay). Due to the late picking of the second portion, there were some raisins present on select bunches. This added a beautiful dimension to this fantastic grape variety which will benefit from 3 or 4 years bottle age.  Enjoy!”  I certainly did.

He went on to say that there is still a lot to discover from Chenin Blanc, that there is the possibility of getting a broader range of wines from it.

Kelly’s Puddings now stocked inTesco stores.

 Kelly’s Puddings now stocked

 inTesco stores

 

Kelly’s Black and White Puddings and Kelly’s Sausages are now stocked in 66 Tesco stores nationwide; a number of other Kelly’s products are available to purchase in select stores in Connacht. This is a significant achievement for Kelly’s Butchers, an artisan family business based in Newport, Co. Mayo, who celebrated 90 years in business last year.

 

The award-winning puddings, made to a closely guarded traditional recipe, have been a favourite of chefs and home cooks for years. They are championed by Neven Maguire and Philippe Farineau of Ashford Castle amongst others. Kelly’s motto is “We manufacture up to a standard, not down to a price” and they hold fast to that promise throughout the entire range.

 

“We are very pleased to see Kelly’s products so widely available on Tesco shelves”, said Seán Kelly of Kelly’s, “We have a lot of demand from customers all around the country and now it will be easy for them to pick up Kelly’s Puddings in their local Tesco”.

 

The full list of products available in Tesco nationally:

• Kelly’s Black and White Puddings (280g)
• Kelly’s Sausages (454g)

List of products available in Tesco stores in the Connacht area:

• Kelly’s Mini Mixed Puddings (2 x 140g)
• Kelly’s Hazlett (280g)
• Kelly’s All Day Breakfast Pack
• Kelly’s Vegetarian Sausages (227g)
• Kelly’s Vegetarian Pudding (280g)
• Kelly’s Jumbo Dinner Sausages (350g)

Kelly’s are introducing recyclable packaging across the pre-packed range. Sausages are now packed in clear trays with cardboard sleeves, both of which are recyclable and environmentally friendly. Kelly’s Butchers is a member of Repak. 

 

Kelly's Butchers are also proud of the many awards and honours achieved over the years from organisations such as the Great Taste Awards, Blás na hEireann, Craft Butchers of Ireland, Food & Wine Magazine and Slavatko Holland. In 2019 Kelly’s products won an unprecedented four gold medals (eight medals altogether) at the IFFA Food Fair Frankfurt, Germany, the world's leading trade fair. Seán Kelly was the first man in Ireland to be made a Knight of the Boudin Noir by the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin from Mortagne-au-Perche, France.

 

Kelly’s Butchers shop has been a feature of Newport’s main street for almost a century and they have recently extended the retail shop area and completed a full professional refit giving it a contemporary look, which blends seamlessly with the traditional butcher’s counter. Provenance is a major consideration and stock is sourced locally or in Ireland where possible. The retail area includes foodstuffs and some giftware. Their location, right on the Greenway cycle trail has brought a whole new wave of customers to the butcher shop and Kelly’s Kitchen café next door.

press release

CorkBilly Food & Drink with Stonewell Cider, Trigon Hotels, Wines of the World, Mahers Coffee, O'Tuama Tours

CorkBilly Food & Drink

with Stonewell Cider, Trigon Hotels, Wines of the World, Mahers Coffee, O'Tuama Tours

Daniel Emerson (left) and Tony Varian.

Stonewell Cider to aid Irish Bee Conservation Project

Starting this summer, when you buy a bottle of Stonewell Cider, Stonewell will make a donation to the Irish Bee Conservation Project (IBCP).

These funds will go towards the general activities of the organisation, including the creation of pollinator trails, the construction of bee lodges and raising awareness of the plight of the Irish Bee species.

The Irish Bee Conservation Project, an Irish volunteer run organisation that works to protect Honey Bees, Bumble Bees & solitary bees, has teamed up with Stonewell Cider to help them increase the survival of all species of native Irish bees through research, ecology support and biodiversity protection.

Stonewell, a craft cider producer in Cork, uses only fresh apple juice to produce its ciders. The apples used for that juice would not grow without bees and pollination. Bees therefore are vital to Stonewell’s very existence.

“Without pollinators there would be no apples and without apples there would be no Stonewell. Supporting such a vital part of our supply chain makes so much sense. The Irish Bee Conservation Project takes an open and encompassing approach to all pollinators and that chimed with what we try and do at Stonewell. We hope with this initiative to give back in some small way to the ecosystem which provides our primary ingredient of apples” stated Daniel Emerson, Founder and Cider Maker at Stonewell.

“A third of our food relies on pollinators like bees, there are 99 Irish bee species, of which unfortunately 53 are in decline and a further 3 that are extinct. We feel passionately that people need to be made aware of declining Irish bee numbers and shown they can assist in turning the situation around. To achieve this, we provide information to communities regarding bee habitat requirements and to increase the survival of all species of native Irish bees through research, ecology support, education and biodiversity protection. In addition to our volunteers and other fund-raising activities, Stonewell Cider’s support will contribute towards our goals” said Tony Varian, Chairperson of the IBCP

Both organisations are excited about the mutually beneficial aspects of this partnership and hope that it will lead to a reversal of fortunes for the Irish bee population and also increase awareness of its importance.

 

www.stonewellcider.com

www.ibcp.ie

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TRIGON HOTELS SHORTLISTED FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY AWARD

 

The MET Bar.

Trigon Hotels has been shortlisted at the Health and Safety Excellence Awards 2021. The Cork-based group is a contender in the Hotel and Leisure category. 

 

It’s the second year of the awards which are judged by an independent panel of experts drawn from the industry and academia. The winners will be revealed on Thursday, July 29th during a live digital broadcast hosted by comedian, writer and broadcaster Colm O’Regan. 

 

Kathleen Linehan, Strategic Director of Human Resources at Trigon Hotels said: “It’s a tremendous achievement to be shortlisted in this category. We’re delighted to be one of five companies in the hotel and leisure sector chosen to go forward to the finals. It’s recognition of the Health & Safety & Wellbeing practices that we have implemented across all our hotels. Protecting our guests and team members is our top priority and involves a massive team effort. In particular, I want to extend a huge well done to the Health & Safety Officer at Trigon Hotels, Anne Conway and the HR team for all their work on this.”

 

Trigon Hotels operates The Metropole Hotel Cork, The Cork International Hotel and the Cork Airport Hotel. Across the three hotels there are 334 guest rooms in Cork.

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Competition News News From Wines Of The World

Did you know that we are running a competition this month to celebrate the month of June?

You can be in with the chance to win a picnic basket with Graham Norton...

A picnic basket with a full outdoor dining set for a group of 4 along with Graham Norton wines!

The full range of Graham Norton Wines- GN Frizzante Prosecco, GN Frizzante Rose, GN awarding winning Sauvignon Blanc, Rose and Shiraz.

5 delicious wines!

All you have to do is place an order over the month of June – any order, any wine to any amount and your name will be put into a raffle to win,

The more times your order, the more times your name is entered into the draw.

 

Place your order today for any selection of our wines or pre mixed cases and be in with the chance to win.

 

Good Luck! Enter here

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Hurry! Fathers Day Sale at Mahers Coffee

What more could your Dad ask for than the tantalising aroma of freshly ground coffee & an invigorating caffeine boost this Father's Day?

Enjoy 10% Off Our Entire Father's Day Collection, Use Code FATHERSDAY At Checkout!

Order before 2:00 pm Thursday 17th of June to ensure delivery in time for Father's Day.

Shop now: https://maherspurecoffee.ie/collections/fathers-day-2021

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O'Tuama Tours

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A Quart of Ale± #56 Another session on the craft journey with Lager, Pale and Dark Ale and Stout.

A Quart of Ale± #56

Another session on the craft journey. 

O’Hara’s Nitro Stout 4.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Great visuals with this one. After the sound effects of the widget, you pour, at the 45 degrees of course and slowly, and then it clears, upwards, from a muddled mess to a shiny black mass with a steady and creamy head. The roasted aromas confirm the familiar feeling. Am I back in the bar or what? The magic continues on the palate, full bodied and impressively smooth and all the while that superb roast flavour, a hint or two of smoke there too. And then that traditional dry finish. 

Like the few words on the label: Chill Pull Pour Pause Enjoy. Pretty accurate! By the way, we finished (rather than started with this beauty!)

So what’s this nitro? Nitrogenation was used in stouts to approximate the smooth carbonation typical of cask conditioned ales and has become the norm for kegged Irish stout, giving a smooth creamy texture to the head.

And stout itself? While the term stout is reputed to have been applied to higher abv porters in Britain, it is said that the “stout” style that evolved in Ireland originates from the use of heavily roast malts introduced in Irish breweries after the famine in hardened economic times. While not strong in terms of abv the stronger roast flavoured malts lends a more robust flavour to the style giving a dry finish – hence the term Dry Irish Stout.

Geek Bits 

Plato °

10.75°

IBU

36 

Fermentation

Top fermentation

Availability

 (nitrogenated), Keg 50cl and 33cl, occasional 41L cask Can 44cl

Serving Temperature

6-10°C.  

Food Pairing

Excellent with seafood particularly shellfish and smoked salmon. Also pairs well with strong flavoured cheeses and dry cured meats such as Parma ham.

Glass

O’Hara’s tulip glass

Brú Lager 4.2%, 330ml can Bradleys

Very clear light gold colour.  Aromas are malty and on the palate it is the malt that comes through more than the hops (their website describes it as their love song to malt). It’s a light and refreshing lager, certainly more for recreation than meditation, more for a multi-person session than a solo hour. Enjoyable.

Details:

Hops: Tradition

Malts: Lager, Carapils, Munich, Crystal

They say: You can find BRÚ beers on the shelf or at the bar across Ireland in many pubs and restaurants and in your local independent off licence. We’re also stocked nationwide in some of Ireland’s finest retailers.

Lineman Electric Avenue #2 Extra Pale Ale 5.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Treat this one fairly roughly at the start and you are rewarded with a big white head, with a bit of staying power. Colour is an almost totally clear light gold with many fountains of bubbles finding their way upwards. Take a sniff over that slowly shrinking head and you get the freshness of the hops. Dip your finger into the foam and you get a hint of what’s to come, a bit of bitter orange, as if you’d eaten a piece of the peel. That orange is still there on the palate but now there is a balance, a crisp and refreshing harmony all the way through to the finish. The label promises a bright crisp Pale Ale designed to let those delicious hops sing. I reckon they got it spot-on. By the way, after all that smelling and tasting, the head is still there but barely half a finger’s worth - no matter.

This March issue is the second in the Electric Avenue series which uses the freshest hop combinations on a base beer that allow them to shine. Hops used here are Talus and Hallertau Blanc. Talus is a new proprietary hop from the USA. 

They say: Hallertau Blanc has been a firm favourite here at the brewery but we hadn't got our hands on Talus before now. It didn't disappoint. We think this is a great pairing.

A relatively simple beer. Simply superb.

Their story: Lineman had been a long-planned project of founder/owner/brewer Mark Lucey. Having been obsessed with beer and heavily involved in homebrewing for all his adult life, it was always an ambition to open a brewery or have a commercial brewing project that would allow him to produce a diverse range of beer: Stouts, Belgians styles, IPAs and Mixed Fermentations.

It soon became a proper husband and wife team when Vivienne joined shortly before the first beers were released. Being a graphic designer with lots of commercial experience she was able to bring the look for Lineman together just in time for their beers to be released. Vivienne produces all the artwork and looks after the marketing side of things.

West Kerry “Cúl Dorcha” Dark Ale 5.0%, 500ml bottle Bradleys 

The name Cúl Dorcha comes from a local shore and means dark back (probably no lightbulb out the back). Dark red is the colour of this Kerry beer with its soft white head that reduces soon enough.

All’s dark then. Roasted malts on the nose, hints of smoke. The malt runs deep, caramel, chocolate, smoky peat; complex palate also has a sourish aspect and slightly bitter too towards the finish.

It is indeed a distinctive beer as we’ve come to expect from West Kerry where sculptor Adrienne is also the owner and brewer at Tig Bhric, the public house where the West Kerry brewery is based.

They say: Cúl Dorcha is a dark ale, with a deep maltiness that includes hints of dark chocolate. Hopped with English hops for an easy-drinking beer with a slight spice note to the finish.

Taste of the Week. Ballymaloe Cider.

Taste of the Week. 

Ballymaloe Cider.
 

Ballymaloe Cider 2020, 5.2%, available at Ballymaloe

Did you know that cider is made in Ballymaloe? It's a beauty, delicious and refreshing with unique flavours,  and our Taste of the Week.  I got mine recently at the Saturday afternoon pop-up wine shop at the Grainstore in Ballymaloe; opens at 2.00pm. Lots of wine of course and also the Ballymaloe Garden Gin.

They make the cider with apples grown on the farm, including Dabinett, Crimson Bromley, Santana, Topas, Delles Bell and Dellinquo. Other old varieties are grown across the farm, in the walled garden, and beside the aptly named Orchard Cottage. This is an unusual blend of apples that gives the cider its rich and refreshing flavour.

Superb Dining in “Garden Restaurant” at Liss Ard Estate

Superb Dining in “Garden Restaurant”

 at Liss Ard Estate

John Dory

Garden Restaurant at Liss Ard Estate is quite a splendid venue and the food served up by Alex Petit and his team in the bright and high ceilinged L-shaped dining room is top notch. Because of Covid restrictions it is not at full capacity these days but there is still quite a buzz.

Mackerel

We hadn’t been here for a few years and then the meals were based on local produce. And glad to realise, as we read the menu, that the new owners and the new chef have continued on that trail, with top West Cork producers such as Gubbeen, Skeaghanore and Woodcock featured, along with quite a bit of produce from their own walled garden.

Beef starter

Good to see some local beers on the drinks menu even if the only craft beer on draught was the Lagunitas IPA but then the new owners are American, I’m told. I went on to enjoy a bottle of the West Cork Brewery's “The Rapids” Rye IPA and also the Inchydoney Blonde Belgian Style Wit by Clonakilty Brewery.

We had a choice of five starters or Small Plates as they’re called here. The Wild Atlantic Mackerel (with gooseberry jam, pickled radishes, seaweed and Walled Garden potato salad, and dill oil) was eye-catching and palate pleasing. And the West Cork Beef (12 hours braised beef croquette, smoked aubergine yogurt, charred Walled Garden courgette, chimichurri dressing) was another excellent opener. Other starters on the night were Skeaghanore Duck, West Coast Scallops and the vegetarian Walled Garden Offerings.

Pork Belly

They say: “All dishes are inspired by the seasons, harvested from the garden, coupled with the best of local meat, fish & game to bring you the most authentic West Cork flavours. Garden’s ethos combines; supporting small producers, locally sourced ingredients & farm to fork lifestyle.”

And that’s the way it turned out over the enjoyable evening. Five main courses were reduced to four from early in the evening as the Bantry Bay Lamb had sold out. My pick was the Free Range Rosscarbery Pork Belly (Thai spices, roasted turnips, peanut rayu, and fresh apple salsa) a flavoursome and slightly spicy combination and enhanced by a shared side dish of really excellent potatoes.

CL meanwhile was delighted with her Wild Atlantic John Dory. The quality of the fish was certainly respected here by the kitchen and, cooked over charcoal, with Walled Garden beets, dukkha crumb, saffron aioli and on Woodcock smoked mackerel and tomato purée, it proved to be a gem of a dish. West Cork Fillet of Beef and the vegetarian Walled Garden Carrots were other mains available.

There was a hiccup with the service but the faux pas was quickly acknowledged and corrected and indeed, free desserts and coffee were offered. Just room for one dessert though and that was  their own strawberries (white chocolate parfait, caramelised pecan nuts, edible flowers, lemongrass and lime leaf syrup). Smooth and sweet and all’s well that ends well. Other desserts on offer were Dark Chocolate Crèmeux, Walled Garden Rhubarb, Café Gourmand, and West Cork Cheeseboard.

Woodland shortcut back to rooms,
lit up after dinner

After that, we resisted a call to the splendid and comfortable bar and headed off on our 8-minute spotlit walk through the woods to our room at the Lake Lodge. As the name suggests it is at the edge of the lake and has great views over it. It includes six of the estate’s “ 25 oversized guest rooms”. Our room was not one of them; we knew that as it is named “Cozy”. 

Quite a lot of money is being spent at Liss Ard and I’m sure some will find its way to the lodge. If you can’t do without your mobile, this lodge is not for you; the signal is bad, sometimes non existent and the Wi-Fi is not great either, certainly not in Cozy!

The main building, where the restaurant and bar is situated, is quite impressive and here the Wi-fi is fine. You have 163 acres of pristine nature and manicured gardens to explore, a 40 acre private lake to paddle on and it is also home to James Turrell’s renowned Irish Sky Garden.

Breakfast in The Garden

We visited the Sky Garden after breakfast which was taken in the Garden Restaurant. Again, Covid regulations were adhered to, which wasn’t the case in a 5-star hotel in Kerry last summer. There was no buffet but a good mix of cereals and juice and breads was brought to the table on a sharing board and there was a decent choice of cooked dishes to order from.

Weather wasn't the best this June,
so I've pulled out this pic of the lake from Spring 2013 visit.

We were both inclined to go for the pancakes but they were off. Still, I absolutely enjoyed my second choice of Eggs Benedict, perfectly cooked and presented. CL, who picked the Real Beans on Toast (slowly cooked beans in a rich tomato sauce, avocado & tomato salsa, poached West Cork egg, herb oil) was also very well pleased indeed. Other dishes listed included Creamy Porridge, Gubbeen Continental Plate, Union Hall Smoked Kippers and the Full Irish (of course!).

We had visited the Sky Garden eight years back but it still managed to surprise us. After that stroll, we packed the cases, settled up and headed a little deeper into the misty west on the search for Ron D’s Food Truck in Ballydehob!

Swing seat at The Lodge overlooks the lake.

Also on this trip:

Ron D's Food Truck Ballydehob

Visiting the home of Clonakilty Black Pudding