A Foodie Road Trip (Northwest/West of Ireland): Part I

After much discussion about how to ‘do’ a foodie road trip in Ireland, my chef BNBFs and I resolved to make it several, as opposed to just one, focusing on themes – such as regions, establishment-type, seasons etc. For our first jolly, we decided on a restaurant trail of sorts in the northwest, owing to the fact that I have the ultimate foodie contact in Donegal and, very helpfully, a holiday home in the same place.

I put in a call to my Inishowen friend, owner of Harry’s Bar & Restaurant and all-round lovely guy Donal O’D, and in the blink of a rare breed porker’s eye we had a plan. Two nights at my family farmhouse in Dunree (Donegal), a quick visit to Sligo town en route to Galway for a night, then a blast through Athlone en route to a final feast at VM in Viewmount House, Co Longford, before heading back to Dublin. With thanks to the inside help from Donal and some fortuitous timing, our foodie trip was jam-packed with great food and fun. In fact, we had such great experiences and great value for money, we reckoned that it’s our duty to tell everyone about it.

So this is the first chapter of our ‘How to Eat Your Way Around Ireland’ adventures. I'm actually splitting it into three separate posts (as it was turning into the War & Peace of blog posts), so what follows is our two days in Inishowen. We had four foodies, one car, three and a half days, a boot full of tuck, and one sat nav (which was surprisingly helpful in even the most remote locations).

SUNDAY: Head for Inishowen, Co Donegal.

As I had the Dublin City Soul Festival to attend to (judging the Soul Food Restaurant Trail) we didn’t take off until late afternoon, which is probably a bit late. Consequently, by the time we’d dropped off our bags and gotten the house in Dunree sorted, we didn’t make it into Harry’s in Bridgend until circa 9.40pm! A scandalously late hour to be swanning into any establishment on a Sunday evening, but being the lovely people that they are in Harry’s, we were welcomed in (literally with open arms) and treated to a royal feast without a word of complaint.

Inishowen rare breed porkers from Hamiltons Farm

A selection of starters were chosen and prepared for us in advance of our arrival (as we were disgracefully late): Perfectly pan-fried John Dory from Greencastle, Co Donegal, with an apple pureé, mandarin orange segments, and sweet organic pea shoots from Harry’s own walled garden were devoured with gusto; as well as some decadent pâté and hearty terrine served with a nicely spiced house-made relish. We drank a decent prosecco and then some ripe fruity Greenstone Pinot Noir from Marlborough, New Zealand, both reasonably priced around the mid twenties. For what they were, the starters were also astoundingly good value.

...and here's a delicious loin

For mains we chose platters of local Inishowen organic saddleback pork (succulent slow roast shoulder in a lightly spiced glaze) and roast rib of Donegal aged beef (aged in Harry’s own hanging room), to share between the four of us. With the meat we ate tasty rich dauphinois potatoes and good, proper chips as served in Donal’s parents’ café just a few doors up (famed locally for their chicken fillet burger), and some organic purple bok choy from the garden, tastily prepared with ample seasoning and flavour. Conversation was limited as we feasted – we left nothing. In spite of us being rather full, we ordered a rich but not too heavy dark chocolate and whiskey cake, and a Carrageen moss pudding on a ginger biscuit base. Both were delicious. To give you an idea of the value for money, a three course dinner at Harry's is €24 at weekends and €20 during the week. I’m not given to endless flowery summations in my reviews but suffice to say, our trip to Harry’s left us all (critic and chefs) still thinking and talking about what we’d eaten for some days afterward. It’s a very special and unique restaurant, as much due to the people involved (from supplier to front of house) as to the quality local produce it serves to showcase. Harry’s is THE foodie attraction of Inishowen, if not all Donegal. No trip up north is complete without a visit.

Fed and happy, Donal O’D showed us to the nautically themed Drift Inn in Buncrana for a G&T before we rolled home to bed.

the best way to burn calories

MONDAY: Dunree Fort, Malin Head, and Linsfort Castle

We woke to sunshine – a rare commodity – and immediately set off to take advantage while it lasted. Given the indulgence of the night before, we also felt a bit of exercise was in order. Not two kilometres from the house is the fabulous Fort Dunree (approx 7 miles from Buncrana), located on the top of Dunree Head and which affords some stunning views of the region, including Lough Swilly and the facing peninsula with beautiful Portsalon beach to the west, and the Urris Hills and other north Donegal mountains and surrounding hinterland to the east. The fort has a museum and interpretive centre but my favourite attraction is the walk around the head, which allows you to amble through the old barracks buildings and get up close and personal with the massive guns (actually in use in the last century). As a word of warning, there is quite a lot of uphill, however the views are so rewarding it’s well worth the effort – and if you’ve been to Harry’s the night before then a good uphill walk is what you need! For directions and details click here.

After a morning hiking and taking in the scenery, we headed for the farmhouse, just in time to dodge the rain. The great thing about travelling with foodies is that they always come prepared, so we were well equipped to kill an hour or so waiting for the weather to pick up again. Our Galway Girl treated us to some buttery Glebe Brethan (comte-style cheese from unpasteurised Montbeliarde cows’ milk made by David Tiernan in Co Louth), some lovely toffee-scented Coolea (semi hard cow’s milk cheese made by Dick and Sinéad Willems in Co Cork) and some salty Cashel Blue (un-homogenised cow’s milk blue made by Jane and Louis Grubb and their daughter Sarah Furno in Co Tipperary), which we nibbled along with her very own rhubarb and ginger relish. Our Clonakilty Lass provided a ripe Languedoc red to quaff with the cheese, and afterwards we had light little blueberry and lime sponge cakes (baked by Galway Girl) and good dark chocolate brought by our Wexford Lad. I can't stress how much of an asset it is to include chefs among your travelling companions...


When the sun finally broke through the clouds once again, we hopped in the car and made for Malin Head – Ireland’s most northerly point. Heading east from Dunree across a wild Donegal blanket bog and past the Mamore Gap, the scenery is once again quite stunning. We passed through the little towns of Clonmany, Ballyliffin, Carndonagh and eventually Malin, from where we headed north to the point past Five Finger Strand. When we reached it – by some miracle – the sun was shining and the day was fresh. Galway Girl, Wexford Lad and Clonakilty Lass were all blown away by the view, and I was very proud to have family ties with the county. Like a bunch of big kids we ran down the side of the hill and over the fence, all the way to the water’s edge, which was a bit rough but still made you want to jump in. It was breathtakingly beautiful – I was a bit giddy afterward. Then we scrambled back up the hill and went for coffee at the lone vendor’s van parked up in this remote, often windblown spot.

Now this was a real surprise. Caffe Banba (Ireland’s most northerly coffee and cakes) is actually pretty good. In fact, it’s very good, and all the way up there in the middle of nowhere. Proprietor (and lovely fella) Dominic McDermott previously brewed Java Republic’s Blue Earth Organic coffee, but has now switched to Bailies (a Belfast roaster), and tasty brew it is. We couldn’t resist nabbing a couple of slices of his lemon and ginger cakes while we were at it (home-baked by Dominic’s wife Andrea), and they were super too - moist and light. With refreshments in hand, we sought shelter behind a wall and looked out over the Atlanitc, smug with the success of our foodie road trip so far.

If you're lucky enough to find this part of the world, do stop at Caffe Banba - it makes Malin Head even more worth the journey.

The afternoon was drawing to a close and Harry’s Donal O’D had organised for us to spend the evening having homemade wood fire-baked pizzas at the home of a lovely couple who just happen to be foodies and who have a stone oven in their garden. They had been the centre of much buzz during the Inishfood Festival earlier in the year, when Mr Pizza (aka Darren Bradley) stoked up his oven and fed over 50 foodies in attendance just for the craic. However, his is not a commercial enterprise, only one of personal passion and big heartedness, so it was a real privilege to be invited (or at the very least, accommodated at the behest of Inishowen’s most persistent foodie, Donal O’D). That said, we weren’t exactly shy about barrelling in and making ourselves at home, cracking open the wine and sharing it around like we were all old friends. And what happened next was as unprecedented and fantastic a food experience as any I’ve had in Ireland to date.

Also at the wee pizza party were Alan Rooks and Brigeen Clafferty from stunning neighbouring B&B Linsfort Castle - armed with wine and apple butter and plum jam made from fruit grown in their own garden. They’re a warm couple that we liked instantly, and it wasn’t long before interesting conversation and good spirits were flowing. Then the pizzas started to appear. First a simple, wafer thin crispy base topped with a little rosemary and sea salt and a splash of olive oil. Delicious! The olive oil, we learned, was from our host’s parents’ olive grove in Umbria, so the simply topped pizza created the perfect conduit for tasting it. Next came a simple tomato sauce with rocket and parmesan, then some caramelised onion and goat log, then some spicy salami and mozzarella, then an utterly moreish butternut squash and soft goat cheese, then a couple of rounds of thinly sliced tender potato with rosemary and salt (which he referred to as ‘chip pizza’), then more salami. It was a gourmet pizza feast, served up by a big friendly guy who’d never seen us before in his life, amid interesting and friendly company, as we watched the sun go down over the Swilly.

After the embers began to die, we took a stroll down to the little beach behind the house to see the end of the sunset. Linsfort beach is without doubt one of my favourite beaches in all of Donegal (which is saying a lot considering the beaches in this part of the world). After thanking our host profusely for his incredibly generous hospitality, we were then invited to Linsfort Castle for some coffee and a look around. At this point, readers, I’m happy to say that all are welcome to visit this guesthouse and, personal bias aside, I reckon it’s possibly the best base for a holiday in Inishowen. As for Darren's amazing pizzas, come to the Inishfood Festival at the end of May and you might get lucky!

Brigeen’s gardens, while not only beautiful to walk through, produce fruit, vegetables, free range eggs (from a clutch of Blackrock hens) and honey, all of which are served up to guests in the B&B. Inside the house, her talented eye is evident in every room, each individually and tastefully decorated, as is every nook of the house. In the old kitchen where breakfast is served every morning, an old fireplace replete with traditional hob and pots, and an old still-working wireless give a certain country elegance. As does the vintage china from which we drank proper coffee after our tour of the house and gardens. In spite of their both being vegetarian, Alan had a stove purpose-built in the guest quarters for cooking bacon and sausages for breakfast each morning (sourced from Crowe’s Farm in Co Tipperary), although, true to form, there’s ample veggie options to choose from too. At the end of our terrific evening in Linsfort, Brigeen insisted on driving us home.

And that concluded our fab one and a half days in Inishowen. Between the people and the food, on leaving we felt as though we'd just been to the best place in the world. In Part II I'll fill you in on our foodie adventures in Sligo, Galway, Athlone and - la pièce de résistance - Viewmount House in Longford.

Food for the Soul Part 2

The Dublin City Soul Festival is almost upon us again, which means I and my foodie spies will be combing the Restaurant Trail looking for this year's winner for best 'Soul Food.' There are 17 nosh spots on the trail and I get the distinct impression the bar has been raised for Soul Fest 2011 - get a loada the gospel brunch planned for the Gallery restaurant at the Church (http://www.dublincitysoulfestival.ie/category/events/music-whats-on/brunch).

I've also heard some other places will be hosting impromptu sessions with singer-songwriters from the Rising Stars camp...more on that later!

However, last year's winner, Seagrass in Portbello, has set the bar high enough already, with their inspiring platter that really captured the meaning of 'soul food.' Here's what the judges had to say about Seagrass:


'The seagrass special soul food menu fitted all parameters of the soul food brief - the food of peasant people, made with whatever they had, and lots of soul! Four dishes from four continents: Coddle (Ireland), Matata soup from Mozambique, southern fried chicken with grits pancake, and soy/sesame slamon with coconut and pea rice cake with wasabi yoghurt.

The coddle was a large garlicky sausage floating in an ultra umami stock - vegetable we were told - but almost beef like in intensity. Lots of tasty lardons and onions with rosemary and other herbs - utterly soulful. Next was the spicy mussel soup with peanuts, capers, and a refreshing sour flavour that acted as a cleanser as much as a pick me up for the palate (and soul). The southern fried chicken with grits pancake was tender breast in a tasty batter (textured rather than crunchy due to the lack of white flour used in the kitchen, but still adhering fairly well), topped with a sweet home-made catsup. Horseradish yoghurt sauce was also present to cut through the sweetness and fried flavours. Finally, salmon with a sweet soy and sesame coating with wasabi and peanut sauce was damn tasty.

Strongly recommend Seagrass - it was full of happy diners enjoying themselves.'

So there you have it, not one but FOUR soul dishes, and a very imaginative and delicious interpretation of soul it was too. This year's eateries will have to work hard to top that, and I for one am looking forward to the contest!

In the spirit of the Soul Festival, I have another recipe to contribute. Now, I know I did barbecue last time and I know it's a bit of a cliché, but the good weather of April gave me lots of opportunities for experimenting with the Weber and, well, these ribs are just too good not to share. It's an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe, tweaked for my fondness of salt and spice (especially cinnamon and aniseed) and a bit less fruity and sweet. Hope you enjoy - this is definitely one for eating with a napkin close at hand.

Caroline's sticky barbecued baby back ribs

I never know how much of anything I'm putting in so beware of any quantities I give!

Rack of baby back (loin) ribs (with the membrane taken off)
250ml balsamic vinegar
few good glugs of soy sauce
ketchup (enough to make the mixture gloopy)
big bunch of thyme, picked
juice/zest of half an orange
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, crushed
2 cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds, cruched
2 star anise, crushed
1 heaped tbsp smoked paprika
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
some ground black pepper
pinch chili flakes (if you like)

Put the ribs in a large bowl or basin and cover completely in the marinade. The longer you can leave it the better - no less than half a day.

Light the coals and wait for them to reach the right temperature (white with no flame) - if you can get hickory then use that. Put the ribs on the grill with the lid on, vents fully open for the first five minutes. Then close the vents so only a small amount of air gets in to slow the roasting process.

Depending on the weight, you should have juicy sticky ribs in about 40 minutes. I closed the vents 10 minutes before the end just to make sure they'd be juicy enough.

Rest the meat for 10 minutes under foil before carving and serving. Drink good fruity pinot noir, such as Bogle from California or Waipara Springs from New Zealand, or a fruity full-bodied beer like Dungarvan Brewing Co's Copper Coast Red Ale or Curim Gold from the Carlow Brewing Company.

The GOOP detox: Five days of cleansing

Okay, I know I said it was a seven-day cleansing detox but given the lack of calories in this diet, I'd say managing five days wasn't bad going - for a normal person who has to function on a daily basis, that is. No doubt about it, this - like most detoxes - is a crash diet in disguise. Now before I get all critical, I gotta admit that by the fourth day I was feeling absolutely terrific, better than I'd felt in a long time, and my skin is practically glowing. However, I'd made a few calorie enhancements by this stage, so I reckon I would probably have been feeling rather a little too low in energy to appreciate the benefits had I stuck to the original menu.

To recap, the GOOP detox (named after Gwyneth Paltrow's blog) is a diet that cuts out alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, processed foods, red meat, shellfish, and nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines...due to their digestion-disrupting alkanoids). I can see the logic in all of those omissions, so at the beginning of the detox I was actually looking forward to doing it and seeing the results.

In my frenzy for trying out all the new expensive health shop products, I hadn't noticed how lacking in substance it all was - perhaps somewhere between 600-800 Kcals per day, depending on how liberal you are with the olive oil. So I decided by day two to make a few adjustments. Another rule I broke was the one about only having one solid meal a day (the rest have to be blended). This I just couldn't do. I'm sure it's something about having a flat stomach or some such vital thing if you're Gwyneth Paltrow, but for me, nothing was worth enduring dinner as mulch for no excellent reason. And finally, I added condiments that may have broken rules (I didn't check) but I kept them to only a teaspoon per day, so that hardly counts - I just can't do punitive eating, it's against my religion.

Otherwise I did keep to the rules and didn't add anything on the banned list. Having gone through a whole week, I'm actually really pleased with the results, and it's even made me want to continue my healthy ways. In fact, I'm in no rush to ruin my good work. Below is the diet I actually followed - I can honestly recommend this to anyone who wants to feel better or sleep better, or generally improve their health. To make it more sustaining, just add more carbohydrate and have bigger portions.

Here's how it went...

Day 1:

Start with the shake that looks and feels like frog spawn..

small punnet of blueberries
1-2 heaped tbsp of whey protein powder
1-2 heaped tsp Organic Super Greens
Approx 250ml almond milk (or more to taste)
*Blend well so you don't get lumpy bits - that completely grosses me out!

For lunch I had the green mulch aka Broccoli and Rocket soup (I added the spinach and sprouts because I had them)

1/2 onion + 1 garlic clove (chopped) and cooked in 1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 head broccoli, added to pan and cooked in 2.5 cups of water
Add pan contents to bunch of baby spinach, bunch of rocket, handful of alfalfa sprouts, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, tbsp pumpkin seeds, touch more olive oil and some lemon juice.
Blend until it becomes mulch.
*The flavour is quite nice, you can practically taste the health benefits...the texture makes you squirm, especially as it cools.

For dinner I had a steamed fillet of salmon with steamed spinach, with a salad of rocket in lemon and olive oil on the side. To this I added the illicit horseradish sauce (1 tsp) which made the meal so much more enjoyable (the accumulative affects of three bland meals were getting to me at this stage).

Throughout the day I drank coconut water, aloe vera juice blended with water, warm water with lemon, herbal tea and approx two litres of water.

Day 2:

Today I added fresh mint to the frog spawn shake to improve it a little - it was a slight improvement.

You're supposed to snack on pumpkin seeds if you get hungry, between meals (while having all you're hydrating/digestive assisting liquids) but I decided to snack on some good quality sugar-free dark chocolate. It's much more filling and is, after all, full of antioxidants!

For lunch I baked some lemon sole on a bed of fennel (to hell with all this steaming) and served with a rocket salad as above, with a handful of pea shoots added in.

In the afternoon I did have the pumpkin seeds (blurgh!)

For dinner I steamed broccoli and spinach and served with more rocket and pea sprouts, with a dressing made from 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp olive oil. I did not blend this!

Day 3:

Once again I woke up absolutely starving! This morning (well, actually the day before, since I already had the stuff in) I decided to change the menu.

For breakfast I had toasted spelt bread (at least 200Kcal worth) with Benecol olive spread and some Dalfour sugar-free marmalade.

Once again I had my mid-morning dark chocolate - one of my favourite snacks anyway.

Then for lunch I made a new shake, and this is DELICIOUS! Will definitely be keeping this one.
1 whole fresh mango, chopped without the skin
Bunch fresh mint leaves
1-2 heaped tbsp whey protein
1-2 heaped tsp Organic Super Greens
250-300ml almond milk
*Blend well so all the mango gets blitzed.

The shake for lunch was actually very filling so I didn't need a snack before dinner, even though I was cycling and being very active.

For dinner I baked a seabass fillet with lime and dried coriander on a bed of fennel, served with a salad of baby gem lettuce, fresh coriander, alfalfa sprouts and half an avacado, with a dressing of 1 tsp wholegrain mustard, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp olive oil.
*For more calories in any of the mains you could add any kind of rice.

Day 4:

Today I woke up feeling absolutely terrific. I'd had the best quality sleep for a very long time, and I was generally feeling great.

I just repeated Day 3's menu, since it was all pretty good. Only difference was that I used lentil and mung bean sprouts in the salad instead of alfalfa sprouts (they actually worked better, as they had more crunch and were less spongy, so didn't soak up too much dressing).

By now I've also realised just how refreshing and efficient at hydrating coconut water is. As with all the fancy health products, it ain't cheap - but I think it'll become a constant in my fridge throughout the summer.

Day 5:

Well that's today, and tonight is a Friday night. I wouldn't have thought it at the start of the week, but a big part of me doesn't want to stop now - even though there's entertaining to be done tonight. Funny how even a week off the bad stuff makes you suddenly all precious about yourself!

GOOP had a load of other recipes I could have doctored - using cress and miso and ginger, for example - but as I pointed out throughout this week, I'm a normal person without the aid of an assistant, or chef, so I wasn't shopping every day for new fresh ingredients.

I'm sticking to my spelt toast and mango shake for breakfast and lunch today, then tonight I have a big head of pak choi and some organic chicken to work with.

By now I'd say you get the idea about how this works. Ultimately, I think the original GOOP detox just isn't practical for most people, but I do think the principle behind it has great benefits - especially if, like me, you're prone to over-indulging. It takes some organisation, it's not cheap, and the first couple of days require a bit of effort. Other than that, I recommend having a go at it. Once you've created some menus that work for you, it proves that healthy eating can actually be more enjoyable than you might have thought...and it always makes you feel better than the bad stuff!

SHOPPING LIST

Almond milk (Nourish stocks a good selection of alternatives, including rice/hazelnut milk)
Coconut water (Vita Coco is available in most health shops and specialty grocers)
Whey protein powder
Organic Super Greens (contains chlorella, spirulina, barley grass and wheat grass)
Herbal teas (chamomile, nettle, dandelion especially)
Aloe Vera juice (Nourish stocks one with digestive aids, caraway, fennel, papaya)
Alfalfa/pea/lentil/mung bean sprouts (mine were from Happy Pear, available at health shops and specialty grocers)
Pumpkin seeds
Good olive oil and lemons
Copious quantities of green leafy veg and brassica (spinach, kale, lettuces, herbs, pak choi, broccoli etc)
Fresh oily and white fish
Lean chicken/turkey meat

For more recipes for shakes, juices, soups and whatnot see GOOP! http://goop.com/newsletter/15/

The GOOP detox: Day 1 of the 7-day cleanse

The official title of this post should be: "Why the [bleep] am I doing this to myself?!" However, some of you will get that just from the given title and, no doubt, will shudder at the notion of seven days so ill-spent. Well, I too used to be like you, spending my mornings enjoying full-fat yoghurt with honey and fruit, while happily already pondering dinner. But after a few weeks recently spent just so - outdoing myself week on week in gastronomic largess - I succumbed to guilt over consuming mountainous belly-expanding pork belly (of course with the crackling), and stuffed loins of lamb, and black pudding fatter than John Candy, and giant t-bone steaks, and endless cheeseboards groaning under shamefully over-generous servings of assorted vacherins, blues and cheddars, and, of course, copious good bottles from every wine-producing region you can think of...

You get the picture. After weeks of 'having a whale of a time,' as they like to say in those trashy magazines where they draw circles around celebrity love handles, I decided it might be a good idea to give myself a detox, and maybe even consider living a little more healthily than a French aristocrat who measures status by the number of body parts affected by gout.

So after a short surf on the interwebs, I came upon a detox that seemed both the kind of drastic measure I was seeking to reverse my recent indulgence, and also one not quite so punitive as those that seem to involve nothing more than lemon and/or cabbage water and a cocktail of natural laxatives. Gwyneth Paltrow was the suitably lean source of this wonder cure (on her blog 'GOOP'), it being the cleansing 7-day detox diet designed by some cardiologist named Dr Alejandro Junger.

You can find the details of its ethos and so forth on Gwynnie's blog - I was merely concerned with the fact that it seemed effective yet still let me eat foods with names I recognised as being from the natural world. In a nutshell, you cut out alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, red meat, shellfish, processed foods, and nightshade veg (tomatoes, peppers and aubergines), and possibly more but my eyes wouldn't let me see the words.

Now readers, I too was horrified at the notion of no dairy and no gluten - two staples of my diet - however, many healthy peoples from faraway Oriental lands survive every day without such foods (as well as poor sods from bread and cheese country afflicted with various allergies and intolerance), so I knew I too could manage it. Wine, I love and hate you! In a way I was glad to say adios to this vice, which has become all too quotidian. The rest bothered me only a little. So with steely determination, I was resolved to GOOP myself for seven days.

And here we are on Day 1 (actually that was yesterday but I'm only finishing the post this morning). Having spent the princely sum of €77 in a health shop buying assorted vittles, followed by a similar amount buying organic fruit and veg at the grocery shop, I started the day feeling optimistic about the whole experience.

Breakfast consisted of a 'shake' of blueberries, almond milk, whey powder and some organic 'Super Greens' powder (chlorella, spirulina, barley grass and wheat grass). Once you get past the frog spawn appearance, it tastes okay. Although after the first few sips you start noticing the taste a bit more, as well as the slightly unpleasant consistency. Mine had the odd lump - I'm not sure which ingredient is the one that keeps coagulating but in the interest of keeping this shake down, I'll have to work that out by the end of the week.

Did I mention that only one meal of the day can be solid? Usually this should be lunch, but as today required me to eat dinner with my family, I decided I'd opt for a liquid lunch - this detox has taken all the fun out of that expression. I blitzed half a head of cooked broccoli with some garlic, spinach, rocket, alfalfa sprouts, olive oil, lemon juice, two and a half cups of water, a spoonful of pumpkin seeds, and a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt. Again, on first acquaintance I was thinking, 'this isn't bad! Nice, even.' However, that quickly subsided as I noticed the tepid green mulch felt like, well, tepid green mulch to eat. Like some squelchy greens that had been chewed and regurgitated. I struggled with this one - now dreading future soup courses.

Dinner, as I said, could be solid, generally consisting of steamed something with steamed green veg. I had salmon with steamed spinach and a side of rocket dressed in lemon juice and a half tablespoon of olive oil. It was okay... in truth, I cracked and had a teaspoon of horseradish sauce. It was just so bland.. I was weak!!!

In between 'meals' you can have coconut water, warm water with lemon, aloe vera juice, herbal tea, and maybe the odd seed if you're peckish. After day one, in spite of some minor instances of revulsion, I have to admit that my skin is already visibly improved - even eliciting some comments to that effect - and I'm not starving. One down, six to go... this better be worth it!

Ed note: to see a post on all my 'GOOP' recipes and a brief account of how I got on click here. 

Hello boys!

So I’m sitting around on a boring Wednesday, itching to go out and have some fun and hopefully get into some kind of trouble, definitely wearing the new ridiculously high Kurt Geiger heels, and definitely with the recently acquired fabulous girlfriends on the masters, and I think to myself: where can all of the above be beautifully achieved? Not that I even need to ask myself that question, since I’ve poised my fabulousness on the bar stools and sofa cushions of my destination of choice many a time before, as the need arose. The Exchequer is always willing and able to oblige my moments of inner super model. Such a thoughtful bar, providing charming attractive owners to flirt with while we enjoy our blissfully calorific cocktails!

This night in question I decided we should eat too – eating is so in right now – so we tucked ourselves into a table too big for us in the gastropub’s rear dining room, without a word of complaint from the good looking owner at attendance. Then, sipping a delicious martini with three olives (Tanqueray, naturally…although Hendrick’s was another option, probably for another kind of night) we took nearly an hour to order, as we gabbed about all our important news, again without a word of complaint, despite the fact we’d taken the big table at 7.30pm. Finally we decided on starters of oven-baked cod with a tomato, fennel and spring onion shellfish soup and chargrilled toast (€9.50), and (the utterly fantastic man that is) Jack McCarthy’s own Irish haggis with brown onion purée, roasted garlic and Bushmills sauce and wild mushrooms (€8.95).

In the two dishes there was more than enough for three people, and even the non-meat-eater couldn’t help swiping a bite of the haggis, enveloped in that wonderfully rich sauce. In a way it’s not surprising that the soup failed to impress quite so much next to Jack McCarthy’s scrumptious handy work, but apart from a slight lack of seasoning and/or some spice (one of the chef friends offered), it was nicely redolent of crustacean, and the cod and ubiquitous sea molluscs were juicy and good.

The pre-dinner cocktails were replaced by a bottle of zingy Graf Joseph Grüner Veltliner 2009, and after a quick stop-out for some lippy retouching and another flirt with one half of the handsome duo, mains were served. Whole Irish baked seabass with peppery fresh rocket, oven dried tomatoes, black olives and a great big mound of the most finely shredded matchstick chips you ever saw in your life (€33.95), all served up on a board for two people to share. In case you didn’t cop that we’re dealing with proper ladies’ men in The Exchequer, this dish can leave you in no doubt. The fish was baked to perfection and slipped down beautifully with a little squeeze of lime – a great dish, not surprisingly fast becoming one of the most popular since the appearance of the new menu. We also nibbled the crispy pork belly, which very cleverly was paired with perfectly fried curls of crispy squid, with a fish caramel sauce and a carrot and chilli purée (€16.95). The cute waiter advised us that we might want a carb on the side so we went for the champ (€3.25) and weren’t sorry that we did. The pork was meltingly tender and worked well with the squid (which being lighter than crackling but equally satisfying was another winner with the ladies) and all in all we were very happy bunnies by the time we’d daintily munched our way through it all.

Two hours after we’d first sat down, the cute waiter was happy to leave us with the dessert menu and treated us to a new cocktail the bar was trying out: a pretty orange-coloured concoction involving mandarin vodka, cointreau and fresh mandarin. With a second mojito and a twisted lime and clove daiquari (one of the many special recipes from the hot barman/cocktail genius Darren), we decided to share a round of warm cinnamon and brown sugar doughnuts with blueberry jam and custard, and toasted sesame ice cream (€5.95). Not every part of the dish worked to our liking – we could have lived without the sesame ice cream – but we could each have demolished a pot of the blueberries and custard, which featured tart little berries perfectly off-set by the creamy vanilla custard. Once again the course was as well turned out as ourselves, and provided a more than suitable end to our girly dinner.

Unfortunately, time had come go home, and as I air-kissed handsome one last time for the night amid profuse thanks and flattery, I remembered why The Exchequer ticks every single box on this girl’s wish list. Now why instead of going home we found ourselves draining a second bottle of prosecco in the new club of Dublin’s original ladies’ man, is another story!



Peter Rock and Ian Tucker. 3-5 Exchequer St. Ph: 01 6706787, email: info@theexchequer.ie, web: www.theexchequer.ie. Accepts cards. Booking required for Sunday roast. Open 12pm-11.30pm Mon-Thurs, 12pm-2.30am Fri-Sat, 12p-11pm Sun

How to do Dublin

Recently I got a message from an American couple who were coming to Dublin and wanted some advice on what places to visit to experience the city in little bites. Personally, I think this is the perfect way to see a city - you really appreciate how food connects everything we do in life, and it's such a good way to get the feel of a new place and people. As I set to work writing my reply, it occurred to me I should post it on the blog, so it can be a resource for any foodie out there looking for an inside track to Dublin's best bits. Also, my message to Misty (that's the lady's name) turned out to be the War & Peace of messages, so making a blog post out of it almost counts as work - so I don't feel so bad about spending all that time on it instead of writing reviews!

So here's my message to Misty:

Hi Misty,

Sure that's no problem- that's exactly how I like to do it!

The city centre is divided by the river into north and south side and has districts at its four corners: Smithfield (north-west) and IFSC/North docklands (north-east) and these are connected by tram. Then there's south docklands/Grand Canal basin (south east) and Kilmainham/James' Gate (south west). The middle bit includes O'Connell St and surrounding shopping streets (north) and Dame St, Christchurch, St Stephen's Green and Grafton St (south).

There's loads to see and do all over so I'll list good places to look out for in the different areas, and things you might be doing in those places.

North Side

Delish fish cake at Juno's

Smithfield has the Jameson Distillery and Chief O'Neill's tower, where you get a good view of the city. Walking further eastwards along the quays you'll come to the Parkgate St entrance to the Phoenix Park, where Dublin Zoo is. The Luas (tram) goes to both Smithfield and almost to Parkgate St - I love the zoo and the park so if there's time I'd visit there - you'll also find Juno's Café on Parkgate St which is terrific.

If you walk (or cycle using a city bike) back along the quays towards O'Connell St, you'll pass Capel St, which has interesting little ethnic food shops and bakeries, and just off it on Little Mary St is a good Chinese restaurant called Jade. The top of Capel St meets Parnell St, the entire length of which is like our Chinatown. There's loads of restaurants but the best are Sichuan House, Charming Noodles (cheap n' cheerful) and a Korean/Japanese restaurant called Kimchi at a pub called the Hop House. On Cathedral St, off O'Connell St, is another very good Chinese place called M&L. You'll also find the decent inexpensive sushi places Musashi (Capel St) and Mitsuba (Parnell St), and a nice new café Brother Hubbard (on Capel St) serving excellent coffee, homemade soft drinks and freshly baked goodies. 

Moving further along the quays towards O'Connell St you'll pass the 'Italian Quarter' or Bloom's Lane, off Ormond Quay. You'll see some nice Italian cafés and restaurants here, my favourite of which is Enoteca delle Langhe (for nice Italian cheeses and a glass of wine). Close to this on Millennium Walkway you'll find Koh, which does nice cocktails and Thai food, and also Boojum the Mexican place which does lovely fresh burritos and great house made chilli sauce. New to the area, on Great Strand Street, is Foam Café and Gallery - a quirky place that's fun to hang out in, with some nice artisanal organic lemonades and baked treats worthy of note.

Taste of Emilia

Continuing along the quays, you'll find Liffey St, which has one of my favourite wine bar/delis, Taste of Emilia - great bruschetta and boards of Italian DOP meats and cheeses, and decent wine. And also on this street is a Japanese restaurant called Ten Thousand (take-away called Kokoro beside it) which has some of the best value sushi in the city. You'll also find the Epicurean Food Hall between Liffey St and Abbey St, inside which are loads of cool food stalls - my favourite of which is Taco Taco (one of our best for Mexican street food).

If you have the time and/or inclination I do recommend The Winding Stair on Ormond Quay - you have to book and it's not nibbles (more a serious feed), but it's Irish food at it's best and one of my fav restaurants in the country. I wouldn't miss it, if possible. 

The Luas goes through the IFSC to the Point Village

 
If you were to carry on down towards the IFSC (Irish Financial Services Centre) and the  docklands,  you'll find loads of places down here, and it's a district well worth visiting. Ely Bar & Brasserie wine bar at CHQ is good for food or even just a glass of vino, and Enowine (or La Cuvee) and another Bar Italia are in the actual IFSC. The Harbourmaster is a pub right on the water that's worth a go just for the picturesque setting alone. 


South Side



The north and south docklands are connected by a couple of bridges, the most spectacular of which is the Samuel Beckett bridge that went up in 2009. If you cross this bridge you can head over to the Grand Canal basin, where the fab Grand Canal theatre has just opened - it's a really cool new part of the city and you should definitely see it. Also there's nice little places on Hanover Quay and Ely HQ (the gastropub version of the wine bar in CHQ) has a heated terrace so you can sit outside and watch the swans on the water over a drink and some food - which includes burgers grilled outdoors in summer. Herbstreet beside it is also fab - I'd choose it over Ely just for the chicken wings, and you can still look at the water if you sit by the window. Across the way is a pretty good new Spanish-style café bar that does tapas, called Cafébar H, where you'll often see live tango dancing on the terrace at weekends.

Comfy couches at KC Peaches

Across the main road (Pearse Street) is KC Peaches - owned by a really nice American girl called Katie. It does terrific brunch (especially the Healthy Howth omlette or fried egg sandwich) and also really good muffins and baked goods. Just up the road The Art of Coffee does, just as you'd expect from that name, amazing coffee. And across from that is Il Valentino artisan bakery - just in case you need to buy some snacks for the road!

If you head up Pearse St back towards the centre, you'll see Trinity College (definitely go in for a look) and you'll come to the Dame St, Grafton St, Stephen's Green end of things. There's loads to do around here, especially shopping, but a visit to this area won't be complete unless you go to Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St. It's foodie Mecca in Dublin - with a fab wine bar in the cellar where you can order cheese and paté etc, a nice deli on the ground floor where you can get food and bring it to the wine bar below, and a restaurant on the first floor. Personally, the ground floor and basement are my favourite places, I never bother with the restaurant.

Dublin Castle

Also nice to visit around this area are: Dunne & Crescenzi on Sth Fredrick St (Italian café/wine bar); the Port House on Sth William St for decent tapas (stick to the more authentic dishes). Havana on George's St also does tapas, but its great atmosphere is its real selling point; in the Powerscourt Shopping Centre there's a gorgeous little café called the Pepper Pot, which has lovely food and a yummy citrus ice tea; 777 on George's St is doing superb cocktails and interesting cosmopolitan Mexican food; and Govinda's on Aungier St (also Merrion Row and Middle Abbey St) does some of the tastiest vegetarian food you'll find in Dublin, and very cheap too. KC Peaches has a second café on Nassau St with a wine bar in the basement - this does an especially good 'Cal-Ital' style tapas menu in the evening and live jazz on Saturday nights (booking required). Finally, if you go to Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library, the Silk Road café in the library is lovely. And Queen of Tarts across the road on Dame St is a venerable institution for breakfast, lunch or snacks - pastries, of course, are order of the day. And on Castle St nearby a little place called Toffoli does fantastic pizza, bruschetta and other Italian foods, with exceptionally good Italian ingredients, particularly the meats.

If you're visiting 'Georgian Dublin' i.e. around Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square, Pembroke Street

Beautiful food at Pearl

etc, look out for: Dax on Pembroke St (a French restaurant and café-bar), the restaurant's pricey but the café-bar does good nibbles and wines, and has live jazz on Thursday and Friday evenings; Ely wine bar on Ely Place (lovely wine bar with good atmosphere); Pearl Brasserie on Merrion Row (not so much for casual nibbles but it's a great restaurant); and Diep le Shaker on Pembroke Lane (fab Thai restaurant, also a bit fancy). If you're near Baggot St on a week-day and fancy lunch on the run, try Pablo Picante burrito bar (take-away only but great burritos)- they've recently opened a sit-down/take-away place on Clarendon Market close to Grafton Street (see my post 'Burrito Bonanza' for more details about these!) Also Mantraa is a great Indian restaurant on this street and does really good value lunch deals.

If you go for walk out near the new rugby stadium (The Aviva stadium), find Juniors café and pizza places, and the Chop House gastropub nearby on Bath Avenue does exceptionally good food.Two good places on the South Side for beer and food are the Bull & Castle beer hall at Christchurch (a must for beer fans) and Against the Grain on Wexford St, and both have on-street seating that's great for people watching. This second location is also a night spot - although Anseo is my favourite pub down here. Then I also love the Exchequer Bar on Exchequer St, beside Fallon & Byrne, for cocktails and night life, and it also does great gastropub food. While I'm on the subject of gastropubs, I must also mention L Mulligan Grocer over in Stoneybatter - this is one of the oldest original pubs in Dublin and also happens to be one of the finest. With over 200 whiskeys and over 150 craft beers (with regularly changing draught), and some damn good grub, it's latest owners have managed to create something very special indeed for modern tastes while hanging on to all the old world charm. 

Finally, the Museum of Modern Art is in Kilmainham and the Guinness brewery is in James' Gate - a visit to the Store House at the brewery is worth a look, especially for the view over the city.

This is just a synopsis, I'm sure you'll have great fun discovering the rest! Hope you have a brilliant time! 

PS. My current fav restaurant is Michie Sushi. It's the best sushi in Dublin - the other's aren't at the races at all by comparison. It's outside the centre in a lovely village called Ranelagh - only a few stops on the Luas from St Stephen's Green, and down a tiny street called Chelmsford Lane. It's only a little nook but it's soooo worth the effort if you like good sushi, and it has that feel of a secret place. Ranelagh's also nice to see, and there's a lovely wine bar just under the Luas station called Pinocchio.

Burrito bonanza!

With a rake of new openings in the recent past, the Dubs are going Tex-Mex mad for filling cheap eats of all shapes, sizes and strength of chilli pepper hotness. Burritos are the new panini, it would seem, and with this taste-value ratio it's not hard to see why. From new takeaway bars such as Burritos & Blues and Pablo Picante to old stalwarts like Café Azteca and Taco Taco that are still doing their good hot stuff for now even keener prices, we’re loving the Dublin Mexican wave.

Burrito & Blues, 2 Wexford Street, Dublin 2
Literally just open, this funky little corner space couldn’t be more welcome in the young, happening end of town that is its new neighbourhood. Build your own burrito how you like it – with a choice of four strengths of hot sauce from mild to ‘blow-your-head-off’ salsa – or choose a house favourite such as the Silver Bullet ‘king of burritos’ with all the trimmings. Quick and tasty on the hoof or sitting in listening to some suitably delicious blues, this burrito bar won’t be long becoming a local favourite.

Pablo Picante, 131 Baggot Street, Dublin 2
Another burrito bar that opened to much aplomb last year, Pablo Picante is one part serious Tex-Mex street food, one part masked Mexican wrestler (we kid you not, check out his effigy on the walls of the establishment!) Perhaps the menacing figure represents the power of their house made chilli sauce, as demonstrated in the legendary heat of the ‘Super Picc,’ that’s reported to be hotter than most can handle. Whatever he means, the quality of the food – such as the Carnitas of slow roast pulled pork or the filling Victorio Verde veggie burrito replete with zingy house made guacamole – as well as great value prices, have people queuing out the door daily. Get there early for lunch.

Boojum, Millenium Walkway, Dublin 1
Inspired by the no-nonsense taquerias of Mexico, the young owners behind Boojum brought their take on the concept first to Belfast and now to Dublin. The idea is fast food based on fresh ingredients, great flavour and good value, and, in the words of Lady Gaga, hot like Mex-i-co! Burritos are built to order with a choice of salsas: mild tomato or corn, medium heat tangy salsa verde, or smoky hot salsa roja. The result is fresh, healthy and super tasty. Their well-known value extends to good student deals too.

Sabores de Mexico, Harcourt Street (Thursday), Temple Bar and Leopardstown Markets
“Muy Auténtico y muy bueuno! This is the first and only time I've found real Mexican food in Ireland in the last four years,” gushed one enthusiast for Gustavo and Theresa Hernandez’s authentic street food. Newly installed at the Harcourt Street food market, Sabores de Mexico has been on the Dublin market circuit for some time. Fancy a chorizo taco with frijoles refritos and homemade salsa? You’ll also find them at the Temple Bar Market on Saturdays, Leopardstown on Fridays, or further a field in Brooklodge in Wicklow on the first Sunday of every month.

Cactus Jacks, Millennium Walkway (Middle Abbey St), Dublin 1
A good value restaurant offering a range of Tex-Mex and steak dinners, including some nice coeliac and vegetarian options, Cactus Jacks is becoming a hit with Dubs and visitors alike. Possibly most striking on the menu are the prices. With an early bird offer of three courses for €19.95 including a glass of house wine or soft drink, daily from 4 to 7pm, or the three for €10 tapas deal, or the free meals for kids under 12 on Sundays, you get a lot of spicy bang for your buck.

Cortina’s, The Pembroke District , Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14
More delicious and filling Mexican food, this time as an oasis in the retail jungle that is the Dundrum Centre. This recently opened restaurante offers everything from Mexican style tapas and sandwiches to starters and mains. Salsas such as mango, lime and chilli and salsa de mole are made in house, and the smoky corn chowder entrada is a popular choice. These folks know their achote from their agave, just beware cocktail offers that may not be all that they seem.

Cafe Azteca, 19 - 21 Lord Edward Street, Dublin 2
This cheap and cheerful Mexican café has been pleasing the crowd for some time now, with its simple and great value snack food based on good ingredients – to which its evening cookery classes can attest. That’s right, Café Azteca not only serves up great tomales, pozole and taquitos, it also gives lessons on how to make them. Now open late from Thursday to Saturday, look out for its huevos rancheros wrap with fresh homemade salsa for breakfast.

Taco Taco, Epicurean Food Hall, Liffey Street Lower, Dublin 1
It’s hard to beat the value of a Taco Taco taco. When it comes to fast food, this is hard to beat all round. Service is friendly and the food is delicious, with more Mexican snack foods than you can shake a stick at, from tostada (corn tortilla fried in oil) to mollete (Mexican style crusty roll with refried beans and filling), sincronizada (filling between two tortillas) to grilled chicken torta (deep fried tortilla with chicken filling including fresh green tomatillo salsa), and all the usual suspects too. It’s no wonder regulars describe themselves as addicted to Taco Taco. With this kind of deliciousness available this cheaply and conveniently, it wouldn’t be hard.