Arthur Mayne's, Cork City

A few weekends ago, a few of the girls and I made a one night roadtrip to Cork especially for the Campo Viejo Tapas Trail. It was a great afternoon which turned into a great night! We ended up going back to Arthur Mayne's as we were told it had a lovely outdoor area and was open late. In fact it is open till about 2 in the morning and that was on a Sunday night. 

Arthur Mayne's is a 20-year-old chemist turned wine bar. Apart from display cabinets filled with wonderful old merchandise, it also boasts a wine system which allows you to sample 24 different varieties of wines. We decided to keep that though for another trip! Arthur Mayne's merges with Crane Line and between them there is a great outdoor area which is long and narrow and has a good few seats. The sun was gone by the time we were there but it was still lovely and warm where we were sitting. Later on that evening they turned the heaters on and sure we didn’t move till again till about 12.30 that night. 

Photo from Arthur Mayne's Facebook Page

Indie Dhaba: Bringing Tapas Style Dining to Indian Food

2013 has so far turned into the year of weddings and thirtieths. Some people want big parties, others want smaller more intimate affairs. It was with a small 30th get together in mind that we headed en masse to Indie Dhaba. Indie Dhaba is not your usual run of the mill Indian restaurant but instead has decided to shake the food scene up by offering Indian tapas. Now to be honest we were a little bit sceptical at the beginning - Indian tapas we exclaimed, they won’t fill us up and it will work out really expensive too as a group! Turns out we were wrong, oh so wrong. 

Indie Dhaba is situated on St. Anne Street in what used to be Venu. It is a big space and on the afternoon we were there only about four other tables were filled. This didn’t matter to us as we were a group of eight girls who could probably fill the place with enough chatter to make up for the lack in atmosphere. The menu is lengthy with choices of small plates, large plates, dhaba plates and Old Favourites among others. Our waiter explained to us the concept behind Indie Dhaba and some of the dishes on the menu. Being old pros at eating out in groups we co-ordinated our tapas so that we could have a bit of everything! We each choose two small plates and a main thinking that if we were still hungry we could always order more.

So to make life a bit easier as there were so many dishes, here are a selection of what we ordered (I think I have all the names right!).

PAPPADUM BRUSCHETTA: Mini Pappadums and Fryums topped with Indian Vegetable Ratatouille

 

CHATPATEE CHUTNEY MEZZE: Roasted red-bell pepper, aubergine, chickpeas and cumin, spicy olive, mathari sticks

 

NANOZZA: Indian Fenugreek dough, makhni sauce basting, vegetables, fondue of buffalo mozzarella, a.k.a. Jasuben’s Gujarati Naan-Pizza

 

BAGDA CHINGRI: Tiger prawn with Philadelphia Cheese, carom seed, toasted yellow peas flour

PALAK-MISSI TOAST: Sautéed spinach and mushroom, Indian spices, garlic, maize and chickpea flour tortilla   

 

TANGRA CHILI CHICKEN: Indo-Chinese stir fried chicken, Calcutta Chinatown style
   

 

TIWARI JI KI RAJ KACHORI: Giant Flaky-Dough hollow shell dolma, ragout of sprouted Green Mung-bean, baby gem, red kidney bean, natural yoghurt baratte and Tamarind chutney 
     

 

BANGLA CRAB CHOP: Pacific crabmeat and crayfish with spiced beetroot, house-made tomato and plum chutney  

 

We also ordered fig and goats cheese naan (one of the best naans I have ever had!) and garlic, onion & coriander naan and some Basmati rice for the table. The great thing about all the small plates were that they came out divided into four so they were perfect for sharing. One thing we did notice was that there wasn’t much size difference between the large and small plates but the large plates are where you will find the more expensive options of meat and fish. The flavours of the food were amazing and so different to what we are normally used to when we think of tapas. The food was vibrant, intense, fun and was a joy to eat.  

The only dish I was slightly disappointed with was the Bangla Crab Chop as it was just a bit bland and didn’t live up to the experience created by the other dishes. Another plus was that our meal cost us around €20 each. That was for 2 small plates and a large plate X8 so yes it did feel like plate after plate was arriving at the table.  For me this meal was one of the standouts of the year so far. I love the concept behind it and the creativity in the dishes. It also won’t break the bank, is great for groups and they also have Darren, an award winning mixologist, working in house who makes Dublin’s best cocktails (well I think so anyway!).  So all in all Indie Dhaba was the perfect choice for a small 30^th – it was good food and good cocktails all at an affordable price. Could we really ask for anything more! 

Web: www.dhaba.ie
Find them on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

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Lunching Around Ireland

Last week saw me trapse through the bottom half of Ireland for a mixture of business and pleasure. This whistlestop tour brought me to Wexford, Limerick and Galway and it was the perfect opportunity to try out some new places I wouldn't normally get too. Now as we all know the locals always know the best places to go so I got a few to divulge their secrets on where to go to for a lunchtime feed and I think I have found some gems!!!

La Dolce Vita - Wexford

This Italian cafe might be one of the best kept secrets EVER. Having lived in Italy I am notoriously hard to please when it comes to Italian restaurants. A lot of restaurants entice me in with promises of perfect pastas, pizzas and tiramisu but few deliver. La Dolce Vita is perhaps the BEST Italian food I have had outside Italy in a long time!! Forgive all the capitals but I really can't emphaize how special this little place is!!

The menu in La Dolce Vita offers paninis and other lunchtime fare but we were here for pasta. Or so I thought until I saw the specials menu - swordfish, venison, ossobuco - Oh where to start!! So after having a few quick steathly peeks at what other diners were eating we settled on two specials - Spagetti with Taleggio and Tomato and Ossobuco with Germolata.

The spagetti was delicious perfectly cooked and really flavoursome with the taleggio melted through it.

The Ossobuco was divine, the meat was falling off the bone and the sauce was light but tasty and it was covered with wondefully fresh gremolata. The portions size are huge and perfect for sharing. Great if you are looking for a Valentines lunch this week!! Of course then we decided it would be rude to leave without trying the tiramisu and an espresso, both of which rounded off the meal.

One other lovely thing about this restaurant is that the owner was really involved in the running of the place and would come out to check on us and make sure we were enjoying ourselves. It was a lovely touch and the fact that he gave me one of my favourite italian chocolates on the way out has endeared him to me forever!! The only thing wrong with this place is that it isnt closer to Dublin!!

La Dolce Vita don't have a website but you can find them on Menupages here

 

The Sage Cafe - Limerick

Our Limerick local told us to get down to The Sage Cafe early as the place is jammers at lunch and as soon as we arrived we could see why. This cafe is easy to spot with its inviting green exterior and funky decor. All the food looked very inviting from their daily specials right down to their desserts which are homemade along with all their breads, jams and chutney. After crawling intently through the menu we both finally settled on the fish pie. The pie was gorgeous not too dense and topped with fluffy mashed potato. This is a great lunchspot and so if you are in Limerick why not give this little spot a go and team it with a visit to the Milk Market for a perfect food filled morning out. Apparently Mike Hogan from the Cranberries owns the restaurant too. Now there is a prime bit of local gossip for you!!

For more info on the Cafe click here

Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar - Galway 

This is a tapas restaurant but lunch is served here daily. The menu includes loads of gorgeous Bocadillos (Spanish Sandwiches), lovely soups and salads, stew and some specials which are changed to relect what's in season. I was very tempted by the sounds of the chickpea stew with chorizo and meatballs but instead I went for their great offer of a soup, sandwich and coffee for only ten euros. So for ten euros this is what you get:

 And look at that for a sandwich, full of serrano ham and manchego:

 And a delicious bowl of broccoli soup:

The lunch food here is tasty, filling and great value. I will definately be back for a return visit and hopefully I can fit in a dinner visit next time.

For more info on Cava Spanish Restaurant click here 

Raw at the Rustic Stone

Just before Christmas I was treated out to a meal at the Rustic Stone in Dublin City. I was unconvinced, cook the food myself...why...sure couldn't I do that at home! But I was converted and so much so that I told my friends they had to come and try it with me. So last Sunday we all managed to drag ourselves into town despite the neverending deluge of rain. It was wet, it was miserable but it was worth it (including my wet shopping bags distintegrating on the luas!!).

We were welcomed in by the very friendly staff, shook off the raindrops and sat ourselves down to what was a truly remarkable lunch. Rustic Stone offers two menus: you can order off their normal menu which is full of salads, pastas and food on the stone, this is where the cooking it yourself part comes in. One of the group went for this, deeming it her dinner for the day so Ms. J went all out and ordered herself a fillet of beef with mushrooms and wild tarragon.

Fillet of Beef

This came out to her sizzling on the plate. It was juicy, flavoursome and perfect by all accounts. She now is on a mission to find out where their beef comes from!! She also ordered a side of pesto chips with garlic and tomato parmesan. Big, fat, doorstops of potato and boy were they good.

Pesto Chips

Or you can order off their Raw menu which is only available at lunchtime.The Raw menu is described as 'a simple concept of applying less heat to food' and since this was just lunch for myself and Ms. B we ordered off this thinking we would still have room for sunday dinner later!! The menu basically works like a tapas menu, you can order two or three dishes as they come in small or big portion sizes. Now in reality there doesn't seem to be much difference but you do get two side salads with the main.

For starters we ordered mango slices with coriander, crab meat and radish and sushi - style tuna with ginger cous-cous, tofu and lime. Both were amazing the tuna was thinly sliced and placed on a small square of cous- cous tofu mixture. The mango and crabmeat both worked very well together and one didn't overpower the other. We milled through these and then it was on to the mains.

Monkfish and Salmon

The mains arrived beautifully presented. The one on the left is monkfish cured in beetroot followed by salmon on seasonal melon. The salmon and melon were as you would expect - fresh, tasty and tangy but for me it was the monkfish that stole the show. It was amazing with small but meaty pieces of monkfish wrapped in wafer thin beetroot.

We had such a fabulous lunch that we couldnt resist dessert!! Strawberries suspended in jelly with a lime foam, seasonal berries with passion fruit sauce and a vegan friendly oat crumble with kiwi and chocolate and avocado sauce. I have to admit I got the last one predominately because I was curious. It was different, very strong with a slight aftertaste but it's worth trying. The seasonal berries with the passion fruit sauce got the top vote with fingers being stuck into the pot to get the last remaining drops!! Overall the Raw menu in Rustic Stone is wonderful. It is very different, adventurous, creative and unusual. It is also a great restaurant for anyone with allergies as everything is marked clearly on the menu. So if you are floating around town and wondering what to do for lunch or indeed dinner, I'd definately suggest giving this a go, you won't be disappointed.