Charlie’s Bar
Kerins O’Rahilly’s Clubhouse
RIGHT. This week’s review is a tough one because it’s a little too close to home…literally!
I live in ‘Narieland’ so the Kerins O’Rahilly’s clubhouse is a place I go to quite a bit for a pint, to watch a football match and have a bite to eat.
My wife had her fortie…uh..I mean a ‘significant’ birthday there and we had our daughter’s christening party there, so, of course, this means I know the people who run Charlie’s.
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Because I’d like to actually go in there again, I was hoping they wouldn’t have an off day!
I wasn’t too worried about that though. I’ve had many good meals there and some ‘just okay’ ones too, which is a good return for frequent visits over the years. Strangely, it’s a place I’ve rarely gone to for lunch on a weekday, normally opting for Sunday lunches or evening bar food.
So I popped in there on Friday afternoon (around 2pm) and unsurprisingly it was very quiet after the lunch crowd had gone back to work.
I got the lunch specials menu off Tom Shea, who runs Charlie’s with his wife Eileen, and was struck by the great value of the special of the day – ‘homemade beef burger with cheese in a sesame seed bun with salad and chips, tea/coffee’ for €10.
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Before I could even think about ordering it though, Tom informed me it was sold out.
All the other mains were priced very reasonably at €9.50 and included ‘roast turkey and ham with herb stuffing and rich gravy’, ‘baked fillet of fresh salmon with a white onion sauce’ and ‘mild chicken curry on a bed of basmati rice with chips’.
For some quare reason I ordered the turkey, even though I knew I’d be eating it for breakfast, dinner and supper from Thursday til doomsday.
Within minutes, it arrived replete with mash, sprouts and chopped carrots. Now I’m one of those weirdos who loves sprouts and these ones were great – not too hard and not too soft – ‘Goldisprouts’ if you will.
Even though there was gravy on the turkey, I could still tell it was moist and it was really tasty. The ham was okay, not the Christmassy ham, but fine nonetheless and the mash was very good (and I’m hard to please with mash).
I devoured every scrap of the big portion and followed it up with a very fine cappuccino.
Charlie’s is a place a lot of people would not think of going to for lunch, but on Friday’s evidence I’d recommend it as great value.
3.5/5
