All posts tagged: review

Restaurant crush: Harry’s, Donegal

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There are meals to forget, to fight over, to break up over, to douse with salt, and soothe with wine. And there are meals in Harry’s. My parents excitedly told me about Harry’s in Bridgend, County Donegal, before Christmas. This place had fresh Donegal fish. They had locally sourced produce and reasonable prices. I was keen. We made a trip in that deliciously frustrating lull after Christmas when you’re bored, stuffed full of cranberry sauce and on the constant verge of a row, or having one, with a loved one. Awkward meals and box set escapism. Fish was a good compromise. We set out with lunch on our mind to Bridgend. It is over an hour’s drive from my home in North West Donegal, towards Greencastle and Derry. Starving and cranky, we were welcomed by Donal Doherty who runs it with Kevin. The chef at the helm of the humming open kitchen is Raymond Moran. Friendly smiles and presentation of wine lists resulted in a long exhale. And then the menu. It sang out like …

Farewell at Fumbally

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I’m fed up with goodbyes. In the last year I’ve had some very dear friends move to a country or continent that ends with the letter ‘A’, has seven star hotels in aggressive heat or somewhere you can’t get ‘proper Tayto.’ The destination was London for the latest parting friend. His talent hasn’t had the chance to be rewarded here, so he has made the brave and, in his mind, necessary decision to leave. The day before he left we decided to meet for lunch. Lunch is easy for goodbyes. You can’t cry over soup and sandwiches. He suggested a new cafe called ‘The Fumbally’ in Dublin 8. Dublin 8 has always fascinated me. Since moving to Dublin from Donegal 10 years ago, it’s still a postcode that seems to go on forever with places within that are equally hip and horrific. Perhaps that’s the trick of it, and I always get lost there, even when I lived there. The Fumbally, just off New Street, is a place I knew I would get lost trying …

Restaurant Crush : Terra Madre, Dublin 1

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It was the taste of that first tomato that did it. We hadn’t seen the sun set and I was already smitten with Italy. On my first holiday there, on the glorious Amalfi coast last year, my friend and I were being baked in an uncomfortably hot Sorrento. In a tiny, dusty restaurant, we cooled off and ordered Insalata Caprese. That was the first time I actually tasted sun in a tomato, and what the word ripe meant. The mozzarella was young and pillowy and fantastic. A soft white on the lip smacking red of tomato and cracks of black pepper, glugs of olive oil and sweetly picked basil. The owner allowed us to stay and we sat happily for the afternoon and ordered another Caprese, and then pasta and local wine. We solved the problems of the world that day. I kept wondering why the owner wasn’t rushing us and soon realised why. He’s Italian. When I first went to Terra Madre, on Bachelor’s Walk, I was reminded of all of those things I …

Birthday at ‘The Greenhouse,’ Dublin 2.

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Oh, I do love birthdays. I’ll cheekily stretch it into a week. And this year, into a month, between my beloved Donegal home and Dublin. It’s a day for you. Your candles, your cake and your presents. If you’re lucky. As mine falls in June, it’s a nice comma halfway through the year to take stock of my annual sentence. Undoubtedly, there will be the inevitable assessment of how many more grey hairs have appeared, how I still haven’t bought the dream house on Shrewsbury, passed my driving test or learned Italian. But after a few splashes in that paddling pool of self loathing, the realisation of the positives of the year far outweigh nipping to Boots for a box of Nice N’Easy. My favourite part about my birthday is lunch. I love to flirt with the decision on the destination for a few weeks before hand. This year, I settled on a date with’ The Greenhouse.’ By the time my birthday came around at the end of June, the restaurant had already been open …