The Mercantile Bar
Manor West Hotel
I FOUND myself in Manor last Thursday. Me and the rest of Kerry it seems.
At about 1.20pm a parking space was harder to find than a Narie on a bus to Killarney this Sunday.
From now until the first week in January, Manor will be heaving every day with shoppers scouring for ‘The Perfect Gift™’ for Christmas while at the same time looking to refuel before hitting the shops again. So what can they expect?
We’ve already reviewed The Cafe (formerly The Streat) which is a great place to grab a bite in friendly surroundings, but on this occasion I decided to visit a place I haven’t eaten at in about six years.
On that previous visit I found it a little soulless, possibly due to the fact that it was half-empty and the menu seemed a bit dull.
When I entered The Mercantile Bar in Manor West Hotel, the place was jammed. Every booth, nook and cranny of the bar was occupied, but luckily I spotted a couple leaving and pounced on the table.
The place was full of what looked like workers from the surrounding area, shoppers and families on the mid-term break.
The waitress arrived promptly with the menu and it looked great.
Mind you, the recession is definitely over with the some of the prices on the mains menu; fish and chips €15.50 and ‘create your own omelette’ €13.50 to name but two.
The specials were more reasonably priced with poached cod and smoked haddock duo at €10.95, butter roasted fillet of hake at €10.95 and roast lamb at €12.50.
I decided to go for chowder at €5.20 and the open flat bread with tomato tapenade, hummus, black olives, roasted vegetables and pesto for €6.25.
The waitress, considering the place was full, was very quick with the order.
The chowder was excellent: it was creamy, but not too thick, with mussels, cod (or was it hake), smoked haddock, celery and spring onions. It was perfectly seasoned and came with a large slice of brown bread and a bread roll – a meal in itself.
Considering I was having the flat bread, I left the roll and only sampled a tiny bit of brown bread, which was fresh and excellent.
The flat bread arrived soon after and was better than the chowder. There were roasted peppers and courgettes with warm olives, salad and parmesan on top of the bread which was ‘buttered’ in the tapenade and hummus. I devoured the lot, despite being half-full after the chowder.
I washed it down with a huge ‘regular’ cappuccino.
Maybe I was lucky with my choice, but it was one of the best lunches I’ve had so far since I started the reviews. Shoppers in Manor will be truly spoiled this winter.
4/5
