Breakfast at ORSO, Cork

A good brunch is one of the requirements of a girlie night away. The others are dancing, cocktails and lots of gossip - not necessarily in that order! To cure the night before after our day of eating and drinking at the Campo Viejo Tapas Trail and Arthur Maynes, we were gagging for something substantial to tide us over till a late lunch. We were tempted to head back to Arthur Maynes but felt like a change of scene after spending hooours there the day before! We even had a look at the menu but were then enticed into Orso Kitchen and Bar which is right next door. 

We had just missed the 11:30 cutoff for breakfast but the staff happily made an exception for us and let us order of their amazing sounding menu. Orso have a very creative and interesting breakfast menu. Now tell me if I'm wrong but how wonderful does feta, spinach and raisin breakfast pie or warm flatbread with banana, cinnamon and toasted almonds sound! Now we were all craving bacon and eggs so two of us went for the Breakfast Manoushi while the other two went for the Breakfast Moglai.

Breakfast Manoushi

The G Counter, Galway City

Recently the boyfriend and I found ourselves at a wedding down in Athlone. It was one of those fabulous two day affairs which took place on a Friday meaning that we were halfway down the country and had a whole Sunday to spare. What to do, oh what to do, we thought. Sure the only answer was a quick nip down to Galway for the day since we were only an hour away.

We hadn’t had breakfast and were holding out for brunch in Galway. We decided on the G Counter as I had read good things about it from Warm & Snug & Fat. It was also on our route into the city and had ample parking so it was very handy. The G Counter is located beside the G Hotel but apparently they aren’t connected at all, even though the G logo is very similar. It is a bright, airy, almost industrial space and seemed a big hit with families as all the surrounding tables were packed out with the smallies. There was a decent sounding brunch menu which included all the usual suspects such as eggs benedict, waffles, pancakes and breakfast butties.

Nom Nom Noshington

Jacques: "Meet me tomorrow for Brunch." Marge: "What's Brunch?" Jacques: "You'd love it, it's not quite breakfast, it's not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end. You don't get completely what you would at breakfast, but you get a good meal!"  This Simpson quote sums up brunch so well. I like everything about it. I love the lie in that it follows and the fact that it sets you up for a day of shopping. Well that's how I like it to pan out anyway! So recently the mother and I headed to Noshington Cafe on South Circular Road, after having passed it many a time, and promising myself that we would have to give it a go.

The very lovely specials board

The cafe is bright and airy and, on that particular day, was filled with sunshine. It is a mixed clientele with groups of friends, couples and families filling up the place. Noshington offers a weekend brunch menu where poached eggs, pancakes and pudding all make an appearance. They also have a special menu which when we were there had quiche, nutloaf and hot pot on offer. It also had a delicious array of cakes on it!! I love poached eggs and a good hollandaise sauce but I was torn between that and the homemade beans on toast with chorizo. The eggs won and they were delicious! Perfectly runny and teamed with salty bacon and spinach...it was a match made in heaven.

Poached eggs with bacon, spinach and hollandaise sauce

The mother decided to go for the nutloaf special. Now I have never had nutloaf and for some reason the whole concept is very American to me and sounds terribly bland. Possibly too much TV as a young one!! This was gorgeous though, not too crunchy, quite moist and wasn't bland at all. The red onion was a nice addition and added quite a bit of flavour.

Nutloaf with baby potatoes, salad & red onion confit

Close up of Deliciousness!!

While brunch itself was filling, as everyone knows there is always room for dessert and being able to see the board filled with descriptions of all the lovely sounding desserts didn't help at all. So after much deliberating we went for a coconut macaroon and an apple and almond slice.  Both were totally delicious (though I had icecream envy) and a nice ending to a lovely meal.

Coconut Macaroon

Apple & Almond Slice

In total the whole bill came to around €35 and this  included two glasses of freshly juiced orange juice. You won't come away hungry from Noshington, you definitely get a good meal even if you don't get a slice of cantaloupe at the end!! 

Noshington is found at 186 South Circular Road. For more info click here.