Restaurant Review - Two new Gastropubs
Wednesday 18 December 2013
It’s always great to see new restaurants and eateries opening. I recently visited two new gastropubs, which have more than one thing in common. Both hostelries have been opened by Irish guys who have lived and worked for a considerable length of time in the pub eatery business in the U.S.
Padraig Hennessy lived in the New Jersey area for twenty-eight years and “on the heels of several hospitality ventures in the New York City area” wanted to bring his family back home to raise his children in Ireland. A lot of money has gone into transforming what was Youghal’s Railway Bar of yore into the contemporary Clancy’s Bar & Restaurant. Bright airy and spacious, the railway theme has been highlighted throughout including using sleepers in the décor, and having a model railway above the bar. <ep>
The provenance and ethos of the food here is excellent. Head Chef Nick Davey is ex Shanahan’s on the Green, the Chop House at Lismore, the Cliff House in Ardmore, and Dunbrody House. We called in for Sunday lunch on our way home from Cork and were very pleasantly surprised to discover such a gem. Starters (€4.50 - €7.95) included McGrath’s of Lismore beef skewers; smoked haddock croquettes with roasted red pepper relish and salad; calamari with garlic saffron aioli; organic tomato and garden basil bruschetta. A superb seafood chowder (€7.95) for me, in an old style white soup plate, would have graced the table of any 5 Star hotel. Silky and creamy, with copious chives, chunks of salmon, smoked haddock and mussels, it was served with delicious homemade brown bread and beautifully presented butter. Brendan too thoroughly enjoyed an excellent goat’s cheese salad (€8.95) – always a favourite of his.
Mains (€9.95 - €17.95) included an Irish Hereford beef burger on a Waterford Blaa; chargrilled chicken breast with a wholegrain mustard cream sauce, and tagliatelle with cherry tomatoes, basil pesto, garden leaves and roasted almond. Brendan’s Cottage Pie (€11.95) proved a confection of delight with rich golden lavishly piped potato, browned on the top, and served simply with dressed rocket. A roast beef ‘special’ for me (€12.95) was also elegantly presented as two good tranches of striploin, rare in the middle, resting on just cooked fresh cabbage and a delicious crispy roast potato. There was something very clean cut here with the food and its entire presentation. They also do ‘posh sandwiches’ and a children’s menu at €5. The evening menu offered rib-eye and striploin steaks, lamb chump chops, a seafood pasta, gourmet burgers and they have a 3-course set dinner menu at €25. They provide a courtesy car shuttle service each evening within a four-mile radius of Youghal. They are certainly making big efforts all round. Our bill with service was €44.50p <ep>
The Taphouse Bar & Kitchen opened recently in what was the former Russell’s in Ranelagh. This is the enterprise of David Kelly who built up a $30m business with 500 plus employees across 10 States importing the “real” Irish Pub. Craft beers are big at the Taphouse and the food is very casual in the form of Bites at €6, which includes wasabi salmon with Asian slaw; Hummus; Caesar salad; spiced chicken wings et al. Sliders on brioche buns are €4 each, or three for €10, including fillers of pulled pork, fennel and cabbage slaw; maple smoked bacon, fried quail’s egg, and Tabasco ketchup, or 28 day dry aged Irish beef with caramelized onion, spicy aioli, and crispy lettuce. Sharing Plates (€12) included fish and chips; and antipasti plates. It seemed to be proving popular with the young social set as they drifted in to join friends for Sunday brunch/lunch on our visit. We shared Gambas Pil Pil (€6) which were four big prawns in tons of hot chilli oil with chargrilled ciabatta for dipping, and a second dish of citrusy chilled calamari, a Vietnamese type dish with crunchy Asian slaw, ginger, chilli and garlic. Both were very tasty, well spiced light nibbles at good prices. With Diet Coke (€3) and Ballygowan (€3) our bill with service was €21.
Clancy’s Bar & Restaurant,
Front Strand,
Youghal,
Co. Cork.
Tel: (024) 25444
Taphouse Bar & Kitchen,
60 Ranelagh,
Dublin. 6.
Tel: (01) 491-3436