I have been aware of Sheridan’s on the Docks since it opened; however my impression was that it was a bar that served bar food and most likely lots of cheeses from Sheridan’s cheesemongers. It is difficult to spot as you whizz past in a car, indeed the signage can only be spotted if you are directly in front of it. However this is a premises worth finding as some pretty exciting things are happening in the kitchen upstairs.
The dining room upstairs has some really great views of the Galway Docks, so if booking request a window seat if possible. As we all know the Galway Docks is the unsung gem in Galway and this is, I think, the only restaurant with a full-on view. The menu is instantly appealing when you see dishes like ham hock and parsley terrine with egg and cress, €9.50, ray wing with celeriac, local cockles, and seashore vegetables, €24.50, and Connemara lamb with chanterelles, summer herbs, and beetroot puree, €25.50.
We asked about the source of the various ingredients and were told that it is the policy of the restaurant to use the very best organic where possible and to source all the ingredients in County Galway. So if you believe in supporting your county this is the ultimate menu to allow you to do so.
There is a really good value pre-theatre menu available from 6pm to 7pm ish, so if it’s a little after 7pm don’t worry, they will be flexible. It costs €25 for three courses, and has three starters, three main courses, and three desserts taken from the normal á la carte menu. That menu is available every night from Tuesday to Saturday inclusive as they are closed on Sunday and Monday.
We were presented with some excellent amuse bouche — monkfish roe with apple and beetroot juice, accompanied by really good Sheridan’s bread. For starters my fellow foodie ordered Aran scallops with leek, capers, and crubeens, €10.50, and I was convinced by the description to go for the same — the result: superb scallops, cooked perfectly, are one of the very best shellfish dishes you can taste. Tiny pieces of crubeen with a chunky serving of leeks worked perfectly with the sweet scallops.
For mains I choose the guinea fowl with butternut purée, toasted barley, and pickled apple. My companion choose the wild brill with clams, pork belly, lettuce heart, and verjus. We were also served a generous portion of boiled baby spuds and organic leaves. The ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from across the table were followed by a comment that the brill tasted the way fish is supposed to taste, cooked just to the point and melting away in the mouth. A generous helping of clams in the shell was quickly demolished. My guinea fowl was a generous helping and served very elegantly — tender, moist, full of flavour, and quite filling. This was a main course I would re-order any time, particularly on a winter’s night. We asked our waiter to pick a wine by the glass that would work and he suggested an excellent Montipulciano from his own village in Italy. It was quite above average and cost €7 for a generous glass.
All during the meal I had been considering desserts as the selection was unique. I choose greengage and meadowsweet parfait, €7.50;
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my friend choose dark chocolate delice with a salted caramel sauce and malted barley ice cream, also €7.50. Another interesting option would have been the Woodruff pana cotta with rhubarb syrup, or of course a plate of five different artisan cheeses — Cooleney (Tipperary ), Mount Callan (Clare ), Knockdrivan, Ardrahan, and Crozier Blue (the cheese selection is the only exception to the local sourcing policy ). My vote has to go to my companion’s dessert; the caramel sauce with the ice cream was a great combination while my greengage parfait had a much more clean and crisp taste at the other end of the sweetness scale.
A nice touch is that all wine glasses, and indeed the water glasses, are Riedel. The menu changes each month, but I am sure the popular dishes will carry through so bon appétit and check out this excellent, if slightly hidden, gem of Galway.
Diary note: There will be an Italian food and film evening in NUI Galway on Wednesday September 30 at 7pm. Admission is free and for details contact [email protected]. All the local Italian purveyors of food will be there as indeed will Sheridan’s. The venue is the Orbsen building in NUI Galway and it promises to be a great evening.
