.
The Mercantile Bar
Manor West Hotel
The Mercantile Bar at Manor West Hotel.
THE last time I was in the Mercantile Bar for a bite to eat was in November 2014.
The bar was packed with hungry shoppers refuelling for the afternoon ahead and the lunch of chowder and open flat bread with tomato tapenade, hummus, black olives, roasted vegetables and pesto, was one of the best I had since I started these reviews over two years ago.
Continued below…
.
Well I decided to return there on Friday afternoon to see if much had changed in the intervening 20 months, a time when the economy has improved (we’re told) and foreign tourism is booming.
Despite entering the large hotel bar at 2.20pm, the place was still full with diners, but I didn’t spot many foreign tourists.
It was more groups of office workers on late lunches, shoppers looking for lunch and perhaps families down on summer holidays. It was a good sign for the bar whichever way you look at it.
Continued below…
.
I managed to find a table eventually and was immediately handed a menu. The specials were loin of bacon, rosemary and garlic pork noisettes and Atlantic codling which all looked delicious on paper, but the Moroccan lamb pita with roasted vegetables, mint and cucumber raita and spicy potato wedges (€10.60) looked more intriguing.
This was on a main course menu with equally attractive propositions like steak sandwich (€15.50), sweet chilli and plum infused chicken stir fry (€13.50) and Thai red and coconut curry (€10.95).
The pita dish took a bit of time to come, but when it did it tasted like there was time and effort put into it. The wedges were just out of the fryer – delicious and crispy without being too spicy.
The lamb in the pita bread was two succulent mini-lamb burgers, combined with the roasted veg of peppers, courgettes and tomatoes – which were incredible – fused with the feta cheese. The mint and cucumber raita proved a perfect accompaniment to the dish.
Again, it was the best lunch I had in a long time. I didn’t have time for a coffee, but I didn’t mind. It’s not a place you’d linger in for too long in on a sunny day, so I made my way back to work sated.
Either I hit it lucky two times in a row, or the food in the Mercantile Bar offers one of the best places to have lunch in town.
4.5/5
