Restaurant Review - Breakfast is King
Thursday 05 September 2013
“Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Lord, and dine like a pauper”, is an old adage. Perhaps it’s not a bad one for, having cast aside our Celtic Tiger ways and returned to many old traditions, we are realizing that perhaps Granny did really know best. B & B, in this case breakfast & brunch, is hot hot hot, with many restaurants and cafes adding it to their repertoire.
So on a fine Sunday morning I headed to meet friends in the new Romany Stone Café Restaurant in Delgany for breakfast. The decor is lovely but, on our visit, the service was so laid back it was almost non existent. Nobody greeted me as I went in. Various pretty girls flitted around chatting to one another. I felt like the invisible woman. On top of that the floor looked as if it needed a good sweeping from the night before, while a busboy’s backpack and clothes were on the banquette in prime position. Nobody seemed to realize that when you open the doors for business, it’s like the curtain going up in a theatre – the show starts. Ordering a glass of orange juice (€2.45) - I was mesmerised at how long it sat on the counter before it eventually reached my table. Mary had panfried field mushrooms with lemon and tarragon crème fraiche on toasted sourdough (€6.95 with the addition of a poached egg for €1 extra) whilst my Croissant filled with home baked ham, warm Wicklow Brie, with red onion marmalade and poached egg at €8.95 was also pleasant. The food itself was good but service needed to be taken by the bootstraps; the attitude was all too cool for school.
O’Connell’s in Donnybrook are now kicking off with breakfast from 7.30 a.m. Tuesday to Friday with Saturday brunch from 9 a.m. Ever evolving his D4 eatery, Tom O’Connell says it adds to the community feel when people can come along and read the papers, enjoy a good breakfast, or just have coffee and scones. Seeing that O’Connell’s were doing ‘Turkish Eggs’ I was hooked for a breakfast visit. O’Connell’s produce is so well sourced and true to the spirit of local, seasonal and artisanal. Brown bread is made with Macroom Wholemeal Flour and you can lavish this with Crossogue preserves. Its fruit dish at €6.95 comes with Honeydew melon, roasted plums, Toonsbridge Buffalo Ricotta, Lisanley honey and toasted nuts, whilst Kilbeggan Porridge oats feature in the muesli and porridge. Savoury corn crumpets at €9.75 incorporate spring onion and chilli with Gubbeen Chorizo, slow roasted tomato and sour cream.
We kicked off with a “Good Sized Glass” of freshly squeezed orange juice at €3.25 and Sir followed up with the Half Irish at €9.75 including coffee and toast. It sported Kelly’s of Newport sausage and black pudding, fried egg, smoked Gubbeen Bacon, Portobello mushroom and a slow roast tomato. I loved my brace of Turkish Eggs (€7.95) bathed in piquant chilli butter, offset with a swirl of cooling natural yoghurt, in a terracotta gratin dish, served with toasted sourdough bread.
Last but not least The Douglas Tea Rooms in Cork does a hearty breakfast in a pretty floral Cath Kidson’ ambiance with quirky light fittings, and multicoloured oilcloths. Service here was immediate and friendly. Sir had the Medium Irish at €6.95 which included tea and had bacon, sausage, mushrooms, black and white pudding, and a fried egg with toast - decent value. I had fresh orange juice (€2.95) and a Mocha (€2.70) with Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon at €7.95. A pleasant stop off. <ep>
Romany Stone Café,
Old Delgany Inn,
Delgany,
Co. Wicklow.
Tel: (01) 287-7102
O’Connell’s in Donnybrook,
135 Morehampton Road,
Dublin. 4.
Tel: (01) 269-6116
Douglas Tea Room
Barry’s Court House,
East Village,
Douglas,
Cork.
Tel: (021) 436-1613
www.lucindaosullivan.com