THERE are advantages to a late Easter.

The weather usually improves in the second half of April, there’s a short time between the next Bank Holiday weekend and it’s a time when restaurants and cafés spruce up their menus and, literally, bring something new to the table.

This is especially true over in Ballygarry House Hotel, where they have launched a new Brunch Menu in Owen Mac’s Bar and were kind enough to invite yours truly out to sample the fare.

Elaine Courtney, Sales & Marketing Manager at Ballygarry House said; “We want to develop a coffee culture as well as creating a new menu offering in the morning for our guests and we have extended this to our valued local customers, morning commuters as well as business people looking for a venue to have a breakfast meeting.”

Continued below…

Served from 10am to 12 noon Monday to Friday, it’s designed for healthy eating with wholesome and organic options and there’s something for everyone.

The menu is inventive, yet also features their own take on much-loved favourites. There’s  Smashed Avocado & Egg; Toasted Bagel with Daly’s Smoked Salmon served with cream cheese and Bacon & Free Range Egg Butty using a brioche bun.

The Owen Mac’s Brunch Special is one to try and has gone down a treat with diners. It consists of Toasted Sundried Tomato Bread with Sweet Potato Spread topped with Free Range Poached Eggs, Chorizo and Feta Crumble all complemented with delicious tasting coffee, tea and a full range of herbal teas.

There’s also Flahavan’s Organic Porridge served with local honey, Berry Compote or, if you’re not that hungry, a scone with with strawberry jam and whipped cream.

I tried the Smashed Avocado & Egg and it was delicious.

The thick slice of bloomer bread is heavily ‘buttered’ with the smashed avocado, slices of beef tomato lie on top and that’s augmented by a duo of perfectly poached eggs. I completed the dish with two slices of crispy, streaky bacon.

It was amazing — surprisingly light and not too filling. It’s always a joy to head out to Ballygarry and their new brunch menu offers yet another great excuse. Try it during the Easter break and then go for walk in Ballyseedy woods to keep up the healthy theme.

4/5

Wild Cafe

Corner of The Mall and Ashe Street

IT might be only February, but there’s a real buzz about the food business in Tralee at the moment that suggests optimism for the year ahead.

Croí has been getting great reviews since it opened last May, The Brogue is absolutely flying and is about to start expanding, Ugly Mug on Ashe Street is a charming little cafe opened last year, Ballyseedy Garden Centre is doing great things in the Wetlands and Chez Christophe has moved his restaurant around the corner to a bigger premises where Il Forno operated.

This is great news for Tralee as new jobs are created and it brings more life to the town centre. It was timely then that Wild Cafe opened its doors at the start of December to coincide with the completion of The Mall revamp.

Continued below…

The cafe is in an excellent location at the corner of The Mall and Ashe Street which sees a great amount of footfall all day.

The owners have done a fine job on it too, and the colour scheme is really cool throughout — a mix of light blue, turquoise, greys, browns and mustards.

The cafe is over two floors so I headed upstairs as the ground floor was packed with diners (it was lunchtime). It was quieter there and I was immediately given a menu to peruse by the friendly waitress.

I found the choice very impressive. There was a choice of four superfood salads all around the €8 mark, sandwiches like roast beef, smoked salmon, cornfed chicken and ham were between €9-€10 and large plates ranged between €8 and €13.

The Wild Seafood Fish Cake with avocado, pineapple salsa and spice salad looked especially appealing, but being a bit boring I plumped for the ‘Dingle Bay Seafood Chowder with Bácús Soda Bread’ for €7.

Continued below…

I didn’t have long of a wait until it arrived. A big proper bowl of chowder with a thick slice of bread on the side. It looked delicious and tasted even better.

I’m not a big fan of the actual soup being thick in the chowder, rather I prefer the fish and veg to provide the thickness in the bowl and this didn’t disappoint.

This was excellent, perfectly seasoned chowder, the haddock and other white fish working with the diced veg to create a tasty and filling lunch. The bread was great too.

I finished off with an Americano. If the rest of the dishes are anything like as good as the chowder, Wild is here to stay.

4/5 

Cork International Hotel

Cork Airport

THERE was something soulless in the past about airport hotels that made you glad you weren’t staying very long.

They were normally a stop-gap for an early morning flight or somewhere to lay your head if the plane gets in late and you were too tired to drive home.

Bad food, dull decor, depressing. It was almost as if they were subsidised by the airlines to look bad to make you grateful you were escaping abroad.

Thankfully, the Cork International Hotel is different. My family and I had an early flight to the sun recently (not literally to the sun of course, that would be absurd…besides it’s off-season and you can’t get a cold pint there) and decided to stay in the hotel, which is just a stone’s throw from the airport.

Continued below…

The International is a different animal altogether. It has a sumptuous lobby with comfy leather couches, eye-catching art and impressive decor. It’s family friendly too with a kids entertainment room on the first floor.

The rooms are modern, warm and spacious and then there’s those mad-looking, multi-coloured bathrooms off the lobby!

But this is a food review so let’s visit The New Yorker. The hotel bar/restaurant has a maître d’ to show you to your table in a really stylish space. The staff are mega-friendly and helpful while the menu is extensive – curries, fish, burgers, steak, pastas and pizzas etc.

Continued below…

I had a very good sirloin steak, cooked to perfection (plenty blood!) while herself had a delicious burger. The fries and chunky chips were suitably crispy and spuddy (it’s a word!) respectively, the salads well-dressed and tasty while the small girl raved about her pasta. A delicious cheesecake and a coffee rounded off a great meal.

A week later – after a great holiday – we returned to the hotel to grab lunch before driving back to Kerry. This time I had the most amazing beef brisket sandwich with tomato, coleslaw served on Waterford blaa with French fries.

It was unbelievably good, if a bit messy. My wife’s Italian flatbread with Parma ham, tomato, spinach pesto, rocket, grated Parmesan cheese got a similar thumbs-up while fries and chicken gougons were devoured by the little one.

For food or an overnight stay I couldn’t recommend this hotel enough. The cost of our visit for two adults and a child, 8 nights parking and a very good breakfast was €119. A steal.

4.5/5 (for the food and accommodation combo)

Chez Christophe

Courthouse Lane

IT’S been two and a half years since I last visited this French restaurant on Courthouse Lane.

That afternoon in July I enjoyed one of the best lunches I reviewed in almost three years – a chicken supreme with bacon and mushroom sauce, served with boiled white rice and a salad of tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot and egg.

Chez Christophe is enjoying its fourth year open in Tralee and it’s hugely popular thanks to the simple dishes cooked well. I decided to pop in this week to grab a quick bite for lunch.

Continued below…

With Christophe on cooking duties, two French waitresses serving and the Gallic music in the background, there’s no lacking in continental atmosphere.

The restaurant was quiet that day, with members of the legal profession having lunch on district court day and a few other office workers.

Among the dishes on the menu are French omelette, goats cheese risotto, lamb burrito, quiche/crepes and specials of the day. These included a seafood paella, roast loin of bacon and a vol au vent.

I fancied something light and quick, so I opted for the salad plate for €8.50. It certainly fitted my needs as in no time the dish appeared in front of me.

Continued below…

It was not what you’d usually expect from a salad. No sign of coleslaw or potato salad here, rather a delicious mix of shredded carrot with raisins and citrus fruit, a tasty rice salad, a bean salad with aubergine, some lettuce, beetroot and juicy, marinated tomatoes.

It was an excellent mix, plentiful, unfussily presented and most importantly, very good. I followed it up with an good Americano with the bill coming to €11.

The main courses I spotted on other tables looked amazing and smelt even better, so I promised myself I’d return soon.

4/5

No.4 On The Square

The Square

THERE’S a bit of hustle and bustle about the town of late, as time starts to run out to grab those Christmas pressies.

Of course, a great part of all that shopping is taking a break and that’s where the town’s bars and restaurants come in.

One such place is No.4 On The Square and I called in for a bite to eat on Friday.

Continued below…

While I haven’t had lunch there for about a year now, I was at No.4 a few months ago for an evening meal and it was excellent – the food, the decor, atmosphere and the amazing background music made for great night out.

There was a nice mix of young families, couples and small groups of ladies when I entered and managed to find a table in the corner.

Before even looking at the menu, the special of oven roasted hake caught my fancy on the blackboard. Alas, it was sold out,  but the friendly waitress guided me towards the marinated pork chop (€11.95) so I complied with her directions.

Continued below…

While waiting for the dish, I had a look at the menu and it contains some delicious looking lunches, sandwiches and toasties to satisfy the hungry shopper.

The chop was big and juicy looking, placed on a bed of mash, with a sauce on the side and a mixture of carrots, parsnips and mushroom.

While pork chops are always a bit fatty, there was plenty meat on this one, tender and it tasted great.

The sauce was absolutely delicious, the mash was especially creamy and perfectly seasoned, while the veg were cooked to perfection.

I stayed on for a while to enjoy an Americano coffee before heading back to the hustle and bustle of work.

No.4 On The Square has both style and substance and is set for a very busy Christmas.

4/5

The Mercantile Bar

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

Mary Anne’s Tea Rooms

Denny Street

SOMETIMES, as natives, we really underappreciate the beauty of Denny Street.

Walking up the grand old street on Friday, I tried to imagine myself as a tourist seeing it for the first time and admiring the Georgian buildings with the imposing Ashe Memorial Hall looking over it.

I decided to pop into one of said buildings which has retained some of the old world charm. Mary Anne’s Tea Rooms is a pretty place to have a bite of lunch and – having eaten there on a few occasions – I remembered it offered great value for tasty food.

Continued below…

Normally when I pass by the place is busy, but it was unusually quiet on Friday when I visited so I took my seat and waited for the menu.

As I said, Mary Anne’s has a vintage look with its quaint teapots and crockery and decor from about 60 years ago.

The menu is extensive with salads, paninis, sandwiches (gourmet and toasted), soup, chowder, an extensive breakfast menu and even afternoon tea. They’re famous for the beautiful cakes which are on display near the till and they looked amazing.

There were mains specials of roast chicken €9.95, beef burger and fries (€8.95) but I fancied something lighter so I went for one of the many salads on the menu.

Continued below…

It was the morning after the Nice atrocity and the country was on my mind. I’ve been to that great French city twice and enjoyed more than one of the area’s signature salads in pretty restaurants near the Cours Saleya in the Old Town, so when I saw Salad Nicoise on the menu I decided to order it.

The salad arrived and it was a large portion of lettuce, tomatoes, tuna, olives, red onion, feta cheese and vinaigrette. Seasoned salad Nicoise fans may have noticed a couple of additions and omissions from the traditional recipe here – the sliced hard boiled egg and anchovies (although the anchovy ingredient has been left out of many I’ve had in the past).

The salad was really good, the vinaigrette was especially tangy and went well with the tuna and feta cheese which was a welcome addition, complemented with a delicious slice of brown bread. At €7.95 it offered good value too.

I ordered an Americano to finish and went off happy, despite not indulging in one of the mouthwatering cakes.

4/5

The Station House

Blennerville

LIVING on the west side of town near the canal, I really missed The Station House over the past few years.

It was nice to stroll over the bridge for a bite to eat and a pint in the evenings before a picturesque walk home.

I was delighted then with the opening of restaurant in late May and I got a chance to go there for lunch on Friday to see how Nick Wang and Jane Liu are doing in the venture.

Continued below…

They’ve done a fine job with the decor giving a very welcoming feel and the staff are very attentive to diners.

I sat down and perused the menu which devotes an entire page to breakfasts, where you get everything from the full Irish to fruit pots.

There was lunch specials of roast pork, fillet of plaice and roast chicken while the menu had lamb burger, lasagne, fish and chips and more, priced between €9.50 and €14. I was feeling like something lighter and I spotted The Stationhouse Open Seafood Platter for €9.50.

The price aroused suspicion in me, as most seafood platters are priced well above €9.50 in my experience. I ordered and asked for brown bread to come with it, as I expected a couple of prawns and a crab claw for that price.

Continued below…

Happily, I was totally off the mark. Within minutes the cold platter arrived with four large tiger prawns in marie rose sauce, a very decent portion of smoked salmon, four good-sized crab claws, a small bowl of cold mussels, haddock and salmon and a salad.

This is fantastic value and it was good stuff too. A couple of minor gripes; the salad was underdressed and the meat stubbornly stuck to the crab claws rather than sliding off, but otherwise this was delicious food and plenty of it.

The brown bread was also excellent. The Stationhouse was nearly full when I was there on Friday and no wonder. The bill, with a cappuccino, came to €12.25. I foresee many enjoyable walks home over the next few months.

4/5

Johnny Franks Bar

Meadowlands Hotel

WE finally got some really good weather on Friday and it appears the whole town took advantage of it.

There was an exodus to the beaches while the Town Park saw an influx of lunchtime walkers and diners, probably keen to soak up any fine weather ‘just in case’…

Consequently, at 12.30pm, Johnny Franks Bar was quiet with only a handful of diners at the tables. It was a similar case when I last ate in the Meadowlands and reviewed it two years ago (although to be fair, that time it was 2.15pm on a sunny Friday in July, after the lunchtime rush).

Continued below…

Even at peak time though, it’s difficult to fill as the bar is so vast and spacious. It’s undergone a refurbishment too since September of last year and looks very smart indeed with new furniture and upholstery, adding a brightness to contrast the dark wood furnishings.

I took a seat and had a look at the menu. I only fancied a sandwich, but perused the daily special lunch options and they all looked great and reasonably priced for a hotel bar.

Roast loin of pork, poached paupiettes of lemon sole, smoked salmon and spring onion quiche were all €10.90, while supreme of chicken and pasta carbonara were just  €9.70.

There was a great selection of all types of sandwiches and salads, but my eye was drawn to the ‘speciality sandwiches’ section where there was a ‘chicken with pesto and mixed leaves on bloomer loaf’ for €6.95.

Continued below…

It sounded tasty, so I ordered and listened to Radio Kerry while watching the office workers wander in to the bar for some sustenance. It wasn’t long before the sandwich appeared and my first reaction was that there didn’t seem to be much on the plate.

After taking the first bite it really made me wish there was more, because the sandwich was very good. It was lightly toasted, drizzled in pesto and while the salad was sparse, it was really good.

The temptation here is to suggest the reason the food in this 4-star hotel bar is priced lower because the portions are smaller.

However, this theory was dispelled by seeing some of the plentiful and mouthwatering mains dishes being brought out. The sandwich was great but it didn’t fill me, so an Americano was in order (coffee always kills my appetite).

Johnny Franks has great food and friendly staff but the next time I’ll go for the roast pork!

3.5/5

Gaudinos

Castle Street

WHEN I last reviewed Gaudinos in January 2015, in its former life as the Allegro (click here), I had the same thing I’d always had as an adult going there – my guilty pleasure of liver, bacon and chips.

But it’s no longer the Allegro. The restaurant has a new name and a cool new look so I decided to call in there on Friday for a bite and to see the changes.

It looks a lot different alright. The furnishings look good and they have a cool area at the back which could accommodate private parties.

Continued below…

I called in after the lunchtime rush at around 2.30pm so it was pretty quiet. I took a seat and the very friendly waitress came over to take my order. It was predictably quiet at this time with just one other customer, but by the time I left a half hour later there were six other tables taken.

The menu caters for all tastes with loads of reasonably priced pizzas and pastas, steaks, grills, sandwiches and, yes, my beloved liver and bacon.

They also had some specials on offer which piqued my interest – breaded pork on sourdough bread topped with tomato sauce, melted cheese with salad and chips; risotto mushroom and chicken; coconut prawns with a spicy pineapple dip or roast chicken and ham. All these specials were for under €10.

Continued below…

I decided to go for the risotto (€8.95), which is something that’s not fried, thus breaking a 30 year tradition of artery-clogging loveliness enjoyed in the Allegro down the years.

The risotto did not take long to appear and it was good. A decent portion, the sauce was very tasty, the rice not soggy and the mushrooms delicious.

One thing I will complain about is the music. The restaurant has had a really nice refurbishment and could do with either some St Germain/Zero 7 (I’m showing my age here!) style funky/chillout sounds or Cuban/Mediterranean beats, rather than the vapid Richard Clayderman/hotel bar music that was playing in the background.

I had a good cappuccino (which could have been a bit hotter though) to finish and the bill came to €11.65.

The back area, as I mentioned before, looks like an inviting spot for an early bird or evening meal, so I might check it out soon.

All in all, a good lunch.

3.5/5

Brudair’s Coffee Shop

Abbey Court

SOMETIMES you just want something simple.

I was in town on Friday with a few jobs to do, so I  needed a quick, simple lunch and a cup of tea.

I left the car in the Tesco car park and while strolling down Abbeycourt I realised I hadn’t reviewed Brudair’s.

Continued below…

The coffee shop has been there for, what seems like, donkey’s years now and there’s always a steady stream of people going in and out getting their pastry fix.

I wandered in and perused the lunch menu written on a whiteboard. It’s pretty basic fare with soup, sandwiches, baps and rolls with the usual chicken, bacon, tuna and salads fillings.

I queued up and ordered an egg salad roll with red onion and lettuce and tea for one. I’m a big fan of the old egg salad and regularly make my own with iceberg lettuce, finely cut onion and tomato, sea salt, cracked black pepper and – vitally – real Hellman’s Mayonnaise.

Roll made up and paid for, I took a seat and tucked in. The roll was the real star of the show with it being so crispy and the fresh inside, but the egg salad was also really good in fairness. Filled the gap with aplomb.

I also noticed, while eating, the amount of people coming in buying bread, cakes but especially the pastries and buns by the box load.

Maybe it was for the Friday 4pm tea break treat in the office, but having sampled their buns in the past, I’d say they’re doing a roaring trade all the time.

The bill came to €6.50. I must go back for their buns sometime.

3/5