Now THIS is how to make an ad
Posted on September 5, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Humour.
The new Vista ad from Microsoft. I think it’s an all-time great. Brilliant writing (by Seinfeld I assume). Not once is Vista mentioned, just the logo at the end.
When you get tired of “buy buy buy, buy this, NOW, do it now, limited time offer, for you, blah blah blah”, then funny oddball ads like this put a smile on your face. I swear my opinion of Vista has gone up since I’ve watched this. Now if they did one with George Costanza, I’d go out and buy Vista Ultimate on the spot.
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Food Culture in West Cork
Posted on September 2, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Food, Ireland.
I’m thrilled to see more and more great Irish food blogs being created and I was recently told about a real cracker.
Ivan McCutcheon, who works as a rural development officer with West Cork LEADER Co-Op and is heavily involved in the the Fuschia Brands initiative, has started Food Culture in West Cork. A must-read as far as I’m concerned. Check out his great piece on Fishy Fishy and Ummera.
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Bat Advice
Posted on August 31, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Ireland.
That has to be the strangest blogpost title I’ve ever used.
We arrived back from our much-needed and many-years-delayed holiday to France yesterday (long blog post to follow soon on that). A few hours later Catherine picked up a j-cloth in the kitchen sink to find……a bat!
It was absolutely tiny, barely bigger than my thumb and we had no idea what to do with it. I gently picked it up with a cloth (are they disease carriers?) and brought it outside down to the far corner of the garden. It made no attempt to fly but just slowly crawled across the patio.
A few hours later I was feeling bad about it and went in search. I found it half way up the back wall hanging upside-down. My worry was that some of the horrible local crows might eat it. So I nudged it onto a stick (squeamish huh?) and carried it to our shed. I gently put the stick up against the corner of the roof and it climbed into a nook. Happily for it, there was a spider there. I think it’s now an ex-spider.
This afternoon, I went for a look and discovered it was still there, well hidden in the nook, which was a relief.
But is that it? Do I leave it alone? Is it a small breed or a baby? Might it be hurt? Are they rare? What is their natural habitat? And most importantly of all, how the hell did it get into our sink? Down the chimney? All thoughts and pointers appreciated.
Here’s a wee pic of the little guy in his current lodgings:
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Think your killer recipe would sell in a supermarket?
Posted on August 31, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Entertainment, Food.
Aisling from RTE in Cork contacted a bunch of Irish bloggers about a new show they are doing. I’m thrilled she did, considering it’s exactly what I recommended only a few weeks ago in the context of my “Heat” review.
The idea is simple, it’s a 6 part competition show called Recipe for Success that will see 15 home cooks battle it out to have their own gastronomic creations stocked on the shelves of SuperValu. Viewers of the series will see the whole development process of the product.
I honestly think this is the smartest idea for a food programme that RTE has had since they spotted the potential of Darina Allen all those years ago. I can’t wait to see how you take a home-cooked meal and turn it into a shelf-ready product.
If you have a dish you know people love and which has the potential to be packaged, why not give this a go? SuperValu already stocks the wonderful Cully & Sully range so the precedent for high-end ready-meals is there.
The question is, would my Sophie Grigson derived (but still unique) meatballs make the cut or would potential customers just lump it into the same category as the dreaded B***s E*e Spag Bol in a bag (which I ate many times in college)? Sadly my Chicken Tikka, whilst amazing, is just a straight lift from a book.
All details are on the RTE site. G’wan, you know you want to.
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The Annual Slow Food West Cork Lough Hyne Picnic
Posted on August 11, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Entertainment, Family, Food.
I just got a note from Anthony Creswell of Ummera Smokehouse to let me know about the annual Slow Food picnic. It is on this Sunday August 17th.
Climb up Lough Hyne and treat yourself to a scrumptious picnic while gazing at the spectacular view. Meet at bottom of Lough Hyne to collect your pre-ordered picnic at 1:00pm. They aim to start the climb at 1:30pm
Packed picnics by Stephen Canty of Food for Thought Catering
LOCAL SMOKEHOUSE PICNIC · WEST CORK CHEESE PICNIC
SCHULL CHARCUTERIE PICNIC · SPECIAL CHILDREN’S CHOICEComplete Picnic Menu and Order Form PDF
Menu details also available at Urru Culinary Store Bandon, and Food For Thought Catering
Each picnic includes salads, dessert and ¼ bottle wine. Children’s picnics include fresh fruit juice.
Adults €20. Children €8, €15 for 2, €22 for 3
Book on 087 752 8940 or to stephen@foodforthoughtwestcork.com
Note that you need to book your picnic by this wednesday.
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Fun Food in Arthurstown
Posted on August 11, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Entertainment, Food, Gardening, Reviews.
A brilliant gift of a cookery course in Dunbrody by my fabulous sister-in-law Paula led to one of the best day’s out I’ve had in ages. Interesting and enjoyable in every way without a dull moment in a gorgeous location.
We did our annual extended family meet-up on the August Bank Holiday weekend in Rosslare recently. On Friday morning I borrowed my mother’s car and drove the 45 minute journey to Arthurstown near the ferry in Ballyhack.
For some silly reason I thought Dunbrody was just a cookery school and restaurant but soon discovered it is a hotel and spa too. I arrived on the dot of 9.30 to find just two other people there; a B&B owner and a GP, both of whom were very friendly. A moment later, Edward, our teacher, swooped in to start our day of “Light Lunches”. I have to say that the guy was just wonderful for the whole session. Tons of energy, knowledge and anecdotes. He’s just finished a cookery book which will be launched soon. Keep an eye out for it: “Entertaining with Edward”. I wish I had been that accomplished at the age of 26!
My only tiny disappointment on the day was realising that it was all demos with no hands on. This is inevitable given the size and layout of the room but I do love to get stuck in. My concern that I might get bored just watching proved totally unfounded. Edward’s manner and approach made sure we didn’t even suffer the mid-afternoon lull.
The list of things he made was extensive and there wasn’t a clunker among them. I would just love to be able to multi-task the way that he did. He did the following:
Traditional Brown Soda Bread: This was lovely and nutty. Not as good as my mothers but still great.
Fresh Basil Pesto: For some reason I have never made pesto. This was one of the best I’ve had.
Crab Croquettes with Sweet Chilli Jam: Whilst I’ll definitely be making the croquettes again, the jam just made me feel stupid. I cannot believe how easy it is to make and how much better it was than any bought jar. This is going to be one of my regular creations from now on.
Smoked Haddock and Rocket Tart: One of the absolute highlights of the day. If you love fish pie, this makes a quicker and lighter alternative
Cheese and Bacon Quesadillas: Simple and tasty as hell. Will be trying this on the kids. Total winner.
Fish en paupilotte: This genuinely shocked me. I love smoked salmon, I detest cooked fresh salmon, it makes me gag. Yet somehow, this tasted beautiful and I scoffed the lot. Another ultra-easy meal which will be a future regular.
Mild Cajun Chicken: Lovely and juicy in a yoghurt coating
Classic Italian Meatballs: Excellent but not a patch on my own 
The mince mix would make fantastic burgers or meatloaf.
Vegetarian Roulade with Spinach: The least favourite for the three of us but still good. Some of the intended ingredients were not delivered on the day which is a pity as I can imagine how much better it would have been.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad: Using roasted veg and some of the pesto, this is perfect BBQ food.
Meringue Roulade with Summer Berries and Toasted Almonds: Should be illegal. We had it for our elevenses and it was light as a feather and totally delish.
Edward also gave us two tours of the kitchen gardens which were a joy to see. Jammed with every sort of veg, fruit and herb. If only I had the acerage and the time!
I was chuffed to get a branded apron and Kevin Dundon’s latest book as I left. This course won’t teach you amazing new techniques if you are already a solid home chef but it will give you tons of ideas for tasty interesting family meals. It’s also a perfect day of relaxation and fun.
Full set of photos from the day including geo-tagged ones on Flickr.
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Heat zaps the bugs and delivers a winning final
Posted on August 10, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
I had written off this series by the third episode but it still showed glimmers of quality. Luckily those glimmers shone through to beat off the bozos and tooth veneers. The final gave us the two best chefs who were clearly passionate and capable.
The food they cooked was fantastic, the mistakes understandable and the emotion strong. My heart was with Ann but I knew in my gut that Paul would clinch it at the end. However I do think she’ll be the one to follow her dream and open that cookery school in Italy. Kevin Thornton had obvious affection and admiration for her.
Dare I say it, I’m looking forward to the next series. But please please please, dear production company, use this crazy new fangled thing called the internet to encourage foodies not media whores to apply. There are enough of us foodie bloggers out there to create a buzz and get you applicants who care about food and cooking not 15 minutes of pseudo-fame.
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Terra Madre Ireland
Posted on August 4, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
Dianne Curtin just let me know about Terra Madre Ireland which is on in WIT, Waterford from 4th - 7th September. Anyone involved in the Slow Food movement will know what this is about. If you don’t:
A Sustainable Future for the Irish Food Industry
An important conference for all those involved in the Irish food chain including state bodies, retailers, growers and food producers. Attend the morning conference and choose 1 of 40 workshops (click for list) to contribute to key policy debates. A Policy Statement from each Workshop will be produced with key recommendations presented in the afternoon feedback session to Ministers for Agriculture (North and South). President Mary McAleese will address delegates on Friday afternoon.
Sounds like it may be a very special weekend.
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Fax Spammers still allowed to operate with impunity in Ireland
Posted on August 4, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
JD, one of the most prolific commenters on this blog, let me know about some fax spammers called Prism Fax badgering his elderly parents. It appears that the white elephant known as the Data Protection Commissioner was utterly useless in dealing with this. If Brian Cowen is looking to save a few bob, I can think of one organisation that wouldn’t be missed if it was shut down tomorrow. Read the full story here.
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Blog Moved to Blacknight
Posted on July 31, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Blogging, Business.
8 years after I first registered conoroneill.com, this blog is finally hosted in Ireland where it belongs. Based on all the great feedback I heard about Blacknight and the fact that they are great supporters of the Irish tech startup community, I went with them.
We’re on the SOHO package with is just €35 per year ex-VAT and it does everything I need. The move was extremely easy to do. I just copied all the Wordpress files off the old host, copied the Wordpress Database, loaded both up on Blacknight and told GoDaddy that the blog is now there.
All in all, maybe an hours work including email account setup? The one glitch I had was solved by their support people in less than 10 minutes. The blog feels a lot faster, I hope it’s the same for you.
Full review coming soon once I’ve poked around a bit but so far it’s 5/5. If you are thinking of setting up a blog, go for their blogger package and you’ll be up and running with close to zero effort or knowledge.
p.s. if you didn’t see a bunch of posts from the past two weeks, that’s my fault. Should be working ok now.
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New Cork Foodie Blogger
Posted on July 28, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Blogging, Food.
Ivan Santry has started a top-notch food blog over at Messy-Chef. Recipes, reviews and thoughts. The blog design looks gorgeous too.
Check it out.
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Bobby Walls, a life enjoyed
Posted on July 27, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Family.
On June 9th, my uncle Bobby Walls, passed away suddenly. He had been suffering from cardiomyopathy for several years and left us too young at the age of 56.
I probably hadn’t seen Bobby since the last funeral I attended in Ratoath. The line about Irish families only meeting at baptisms, weddings and funerals is so true. However, as with all my uncles and aunts, I was incredibly fond of him, having spent many summers in my Granny’s house as a kid.
Bobby led a simple life. He loved his family, horses, having his few pints, local sport, Man United and laughing. For many years he worked in Woodpark Stud. I remember my mum telling me that he worked in an office until my Grandad died because Grandad wanted him to have more opportunities than he had. But horses and the outdoors were his love and the draw was obviously too strong.
Bobby lived in the house at the junction of Glascairn lane and Fairyhouse Road with his two brothers Frank and Martin. Since my Granny died, he ran the house and made sure that my uncle Martin, who has been crippled by mental illness for many years, was ok.
He died just as he was about to head off and watch one of the syndicate horses run in Roscommon. As the priest put it, in a line Bobby would have loved, “I believe it is still running”.
The funeral for this man who never married, never had kids and lived in the same house most of his life was packed. So many people wanted to carry his coffin, we had to do it in relays down to the graveyard. The overwhelming upset of my younger cousins reminded me of how much Bobby was loved.
I’ve been meaning to write about him since the day he passed. What finally got me to do it was the death of Randy Pausch the other day. For those of you unfamiliar with Randy, he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer last year and given 6 months to live. He gave a “final lecture” to his students at CMU which has become famous and resulted in a great book too. If you or your family is dealing with mortality, this life-affirming talk may prove to be great comfort to you. Randy’s talk is about living not dying.
I cannot think of two less similar people than Bobby and Randy but so much of what Randy said applied to my uncle. Most importantly of all:
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”.
Anthony “Bobby” Walls, RIP.
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Like a fine wine
Posted on July 25, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
In a change from our usual programming here at Bandon HQ, I kicked off a light-hearted conversation on Twitter earlier about great looking women who just get better and better with age (we also covered men). The results of the Twitter jury in chronological (not age) order were as follows:
- Neve Campbell
- My wife
- Marisa Tomei
- Maria Bello
- Catherine Keener
- Monica Bellucci
- Helen Mirren
- Isabella Rossellini
- Candice Bergen
- Mary McDonnell
- Natalie Portman
- Laura Linney
- Joan Allen
- Mary Louise Parker
- Lauren Graham
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Felicity Kendal
- Glynis Barber
- Sigourney Weaver
- Susan Sarandon
- Helena Bonham-Carter
- Helen Baxendale
- Jennifer Beals
And for the men we had:
- George Clooney
- Paul Newman
- Richard Gere
- Sean Connery
- Pierce Brosnan
- Harrison Ford
- Liam Neeson
- Steve McQueen (I snuck that one in there)
- Hugh Laurie
- Alan Rickman
- John Hannah
- Adrian Brody
Those are far more satisfying that the pneumatic nobodies that grace most (wo)mens magazines. Any we’ve missed?
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Deep thinking on Energy Demand vs Supply
Posted on July 24, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Cork, Ireland.
I’ve been talking quite a bit recently to Phoebe Bright who is based down in Drinagh. She wears many hats but is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about energy.
She writes some absolutely brilliant stuff in this area on her blog and I highly recommend you subscribe to it. She is no happy clappy, let’s wear hemp shirts and cycle 40 miles to work every day person. The blog talks about fundamental issues around energy supply and managing energy demand. It’s about how it directly affects you.
We were talking about this general topic on the way back from OpenCoffee BBQ recently and I expressed the opinion that the Green Party are letting themselves down very badly. They should be providing a grand vision backed by simple steps and milestones to help us get our energy usage under control. This requires thought leadership, practical assistance, changes in building regulations, direction to energy providers and a simple message that you will spend less, not more, if you apply some smarts to how you consume energy over the course of a day/week/year. Idiotic prattle about election posters really doesn’t cut it.
So get yourself on over to her blog and start having those conversations and asking those questions.
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Local Business Support
Posted on July 24, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
I’ve done a post over on our business blog about the supports offered to local business by West Cork Enterprise Board. If you are based in the region, it’s well worth reading. The highlights are:
- 6 hour IT Consultancy for €150 via Tech-Check
- Feasibility Study Grants up to €5100
- International Trade Show Attendance Grants up to €2000
- Ecommerce Web-site development Grants up to €1500
That last one is absolutely brilliant. If you are making any sort of product (I’m thinking crafts and food in West Cork) that could also be sold by mail order, you’d be nuts not to avail of it. Note that the grants are all done on the basis of “matching funds”.
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Opportunity for a Property Developer
Posted on July 22, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
Now that’s a phrase you didn’t expect to hear in the current economic climate.
One of the reasons we settled on Bandon when we moved to Cork was the classic location, location, location. It really is ideally situated in Munster for access to almost everything - Cork City, Airport, beaches, businesses, school, sports facilities etc etc.
However, this prime location is missing something critical - somewhere people can meet in a modern business context. Whether it’s for seminars, conferences, training or bigger community events, we have nothing. There are many organisations (state, semi-state and private enterprise), who would kill for a venue where people from all corners of Munster, Ireland and Europe could meet and get to easily.
The beneficial knock-on effects to other local businesses of having a regular stream of visitors are obvious. At the moment, all that business traffic goes to the city, Clon, Skibb, Kinsale and elsewhere.
So there you have it. If you are someone who has spent a fortune on property in the area over the last ten years and/or if you are sitting on assets you won’t be able to shift until 2010 at the earliest, here’s a way to generate immediate regular cash and provide a major boost to the town.
The Munster Conference Centre, Bandon: Which of you is up for it?
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Hot Hot Hot Hot Sauces
Posted on July 10, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Food, Reviews.
The offer of a free box of these sauces was irresistable and we have spent the past few months trying them in a variety of different ways. Whilst our weak-willed Irish palates found the hotter ones just too hot, the depth of flavour is just fantastic. If only they had an Irish distributor!
Back in January I got a comment on a very old post from 2006 that I did about buffalo wings. I had used the famous Frank’s Hot Sauce and mentioned that I was a little disappointed by it. Mark Stirling from Branding Iron Foods offered to ship me a box of their sauces all the way from Washington State to try out. I was stunned and of course I accepted.
In no time at all, a box arrived with nine big bottles in it. Three each of EZ Earl’s Blazin Hot Stuff, Smokin Hot Stuff and Spicy Sauces. Mark told me that they have been refining the recipe in these sauces for generations. I couldn’t wait to try them out and immediately tried the hottest (Blazin) on a tray of chicken pieces in the oven. It blew my face off. Seriously, this makes vindaloo curry taste like a korma!
Over the next while we tried out all three levels of heat both at home and on some of my extended family. It turns out we are all a bunch of big girl’s blouses and the lowest heat (Spicy) is our favourite. All three work brilliantly well on buffalo wings but the hottest is just too hot for us in things like pitta kebabs.
But heat shouldn’t be the main focus of this review, it should be taste. These sauces deliver that in bucketloads. There is a phenomenal depth of flavour that far exceeds anything I have tried before. In particular, the Spicy one gives you the opportunity to really get the notes of all the ingredients.
All of the sauces have smoke in them which I guess is traditional in the US? This is perfect for all those BBQ sutuations but I’d love one more member of the product family to be created without the smoke so it can be used in an even wider variety of situations where you need to add a strong spicy undertone to a dish.
Whilst using the sauce instead of Tabasco in a Prawn Cocktail might seem a bit odd, trust me, it works so so well. I actually find myself looking for unusual ways of using the sauce, it really is that good.
My gut tells me that the hottest level would not sell in Ireland and that the best seller would actually be the Spicy. But I do think it would be a best seller. If any Deli or Gourmet shop here is looking for unique products to import, you really should look at these. I’d be happy to put you in touch with Mark.
Now all we need is some decent weather so I can get some BBQ done!
UPDATE 1: The first ever OpenCoffeeClub BBQ was held in Terryglass, Co Tipperary on the shores of Lough Derg recently. I decided to test out the Blazin and Smokin sauces on the attendees. I got a few kilos of wings, some bone-in chicken breasts and some massive pork chops from the excellent Dan Moloney’s butchers in Bandon. I put each of them in ziplock bags and emptied bottles of the hottest sauce on the chicken and the less hot on the chops. They went in the fridge overnight and then were transported in a cooler box to the BBQ.
Due to the bad state of the grill near the venue, the food was actually cooked in some ovens. But boy were they popular! People descended on them like ravenous wolves. The feedback was all positive and contradicted what I said earlier about heat, no-one found them too hot, they thought they were perfect! Marinating them and then dry roasting them seemed to have mellowed the heat compared to wet cooking. The depth of smokey flavour came right through. Very memorable wings.
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Film Society for Bandon
Posted on July 8, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
Denise Cox has let me know that a new Film Society is being organised in Bandon. I don’t have any of the details yet but if you are interested, fire an SMS over to Declan Waugh at 086-3853363. I’ll post an update when I hear more.
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Food and Health
Posted on June 29, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Business, Food, Health.
I got an email during the week from Mary Wedel who runs the brilliant An Tobairín Health Food Shop in Bandon. We’ve watched Mary grow this business since we arrived here from a pokey place on North Main Street to the bigger one on Factory Lane to the current flagship on South Main Street. I see no reason why she won’t be as successful as Whole Foods Market in the US.
The range of products on sale there has always amazed me. From vitamins to organic food, chocolate, cosmetics and alt-med stuff, she has something for everyone. Now I’ll be totally open here, I’m not a fan of a large number of alt-med approaches despite having a friend who is a homeopath. However, having said that, there is a huge amount to be gained in the area of health by everyone thinking about the products they use on their bodies, and more importantly, the things they eat.
So her new project, the Fionnuisce Healing Centre (web-site not live yet) in Heron Court on Market Quay holds great interest for me. Apart from the alt-med side, there is a large meeting room with a demonstration kitchen area. So far this space has been used for yoga, dance and various workshops including cookery demonstrations in co-operation with Karen Austin of legendary Lettercollum Kitchen Project.
There are lots of interesting cookery events lined up for September that include a Sushi Saturday and Mediterranean Veg. In October Karen will offer Indian Vegetarian, November Thai and December Christmas Veg. There will be a wholefood cookery night class running Tuesdays from 1st week in October for 10 weeks with Dorothee Clarke.
She had me at sushi
They are also running a cool 1-day drama workshop on Sunday 13th July by Belinda Wild who describes it as being for anyone with or without experience in Drama who is interested in exploring creative self-expression through the medium of theater - and she guarantees to make you laugh. I’d honestly be tempted, having played Sybil Walling in “Brush with a Body” in the Kieran’s College school play, aged 17.
If you are interested in any of the above, shoot Mary a TXT on 086-3882440. I’m trying to convince her to start a blog since I think any place that has regular events is ideally suited to one instead of a static brochure page. It might be worth her putting all the events up on Yahoo Upcoming too.
UPDATE: Some of the dates for the foodie events are as follows:
- Saturday 6th September, Succulent Sushi with Delwyn Klevenow
- Suturday 20th September, Mediterranean Vegetables from Karen Austin’s abundant garden
- Saturday 18th October, Indian Vegetarian with Lettercollum Karen
- Saturday 15th November, Thai Cookery with Lettercollum Karen
- Saturday 12th December, Vegetarian Christmas with Karen
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Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Posted on June 29, 2008, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Family, Food, Restaurants, Reviews.
A last minute decision to pop down here for Sunday lunch turned out to be a total success. Fantastic seafood in a relaxed atmosphere with serene views of Clonakilty Bay. If they could just do something about parking, it would be perfect.
I’ve eaten in Deasy’s once before and thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason they popped into my head this morning and I hopped into the car with four of the five monsters to see if they were still doing Sunday Lunch. The usual crawl to Clon ensued followed by the twisty road to Ring.
I knew the parking had been bad but time had dulled my memory. It’s brutal. Four spaces in front of the pub and then you have to travel a few hundred yards to find a roadside spot. Fine as an adult, a total pain (and dangerous) if you have kids. I had to circle three times before parking. Just in case, I ran down and discovered that they didn’t open for lunch until 1. So we headed over to the newly revamped playground in Clon. This looks great but now seems much more oriented towards older kids. My middle-uns were scared to climb the ladders to the slides.
Back we trotted to Ring and luckily one of the four spaces was free and we parked right at the door. It was still pretty quiet at 1pm but people arrived bit by bit over the following hour. We were seated towards the back which made sense from a safety perspective. The staff and owner were very friendly throughout. The lack of a baby-seat was a bit of a pain but not the end of the world. After seeing the usual stroppiness of our four demons, they gave us some crayons and colouring sheets which calmed everyone down.
The menu is a big step above what you’d expect from a rural Irish pub. The three course lunch menu is €30 and looks great value to me. However, as our family meals are all about speed, I went straight to the main courses. Initially I was concerned that there was nothing very child-friendly on the menu but then I copped myself on and realised they should be eating the same stuff as me.
So I ordered three half portions of Monkfish and Fennel Risotto with puttanesca salsa for them and a Hake with Lemon Butter and Swiss Chard for me. They arrived reasonably quickly on adult stopwatches but an eternity in kid-time. I tried to explain “cooking on demand” to the kids but failed.
Of course all them said “yeuch, I’m not eating that” as soon as the plates were put on the table. Rather than get hassled, I let them be and started on my hake. Never ones to miss an opportunity to annoy me, two of them asked to taste the hake and both decided they loved it, the little sods. I split mine between them and then took over their plates of risotto. Dishes of lovely baby spuds and one of the best selections of vegetables I’ve ever seen in an Irish restaurant appeared too.
Myself and the two middlers had a bit of everything. Baby would eat nothing. 2 year old wouldn’t touch anything until near the end, at which point he let me feed him a mix of fish, risotto, carrots and spuds.
Oh, I nearly forgot to say, the food was fantastic. The fish perfectly cooked, the flavours subtle and not overpowering, the vegetables beautiful. Apologies for the lack of pics and menu details but I really had my hands full.
The two boys began messing too loudly so it was time to go. The bill for the food plus three 7-ups and a Ballygowan came to a refreshingly low €53. We’ll be back very soon avec wife and fifth child so I can sample more and have both hands available to eat with.
