Late last year McGrath butchers in Plunkett Avenue, Mervue was destroyed by fire and as it was near Christmas they knuckled down to get it refurbished and ready for the big Christmas trade, a good plan you might say. However all the good work was destroyed when another fire broke out and gutted the shop once more.
It takes mighty stamina to move on from that kind of nightmare, but move on they did and the new shop is completely revamped, hence my heading on this article and congratulations are well and truly deserved. John McGrath is nearly 20 years in Mervue and hopefully will be at least another 20. John’s father was a butcher and now his son is continuing on the tradition working in the shop in Mervue. His brother Kenneth also works there. John says that his is a local butcher in the true sense of the word, ie, providing whatever the customer wants to a mainly local customer base. At the moment (at least as I write this ), requests for barbecue packs are the most popular items. You can call (091 ) 757790 and order whatever selection of items you want and John and his staff will have it ready for you in an hour. I recommend the chicken kebabs for €1 covered with whatever sauce you like, eg, garlic and herb, Tex Mex, or Greek passion to name a few. I weighed one of their kebabs and it is a full portion for one of good quality chicken, onions, and peppers.
All the lamb in the shop now is spring lamb, so you will not go wrong with any of that. Speaking of Irish spring lamb, this is something that we here in Ireland do not promote or appreciate enough. It is one of the very best meat products in the world and in other countries it is much more expensive. I spoke to a chef recently who worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe and his star was attributed to the Irish spring lamb dishes that he created each year.
If you are a black pudding fan and hanker after that old fashioned, full-on taste of black puddings of years ago, then you should try the limited availability Kelly’s Potóg black pudding. I am a big fan of Kelly’s black pudding and this is a big, oversized one that he makes by hand and with all the ingredients that homemade pudding had 30 or 40 years ago. This pudding is not available in supermarkets as it is only made a few times a year. The minute you slice it you can smell the puddings of 30 or 40 years ago.
Staying that side of town, I called in at a very unusually named café called Bethlehem in Ballybrit on the recommendation of a friend. It is hard enough to find, it is situated at a housing estate entrance on the same road where Windsor Motors is located. The address is The Meadows, Ballybrit, telephone (091 ) 766497. It may be hard to find, but it appears to be crowded with hungry diners every day, and what a cross section of people; men in suits, women in suits, builders, tradesmen, office workers, and factory workers, all sitting down at pretty unremarkable tables in a fairly plain restaurant. So what is the attraction? Price and quality. They serve a large selection of pastas, most main course are €8, I had the Fiorentini pasta and it was excellent, in fact I had so much that I brought what was left over home with me. Pizzas are from €5.50 for a nine-inch margherita, to a whopping €9 for a 12-inch in whatever style you like. They also serve other types of main courses like steak, lamb, and chicken dishes. They are open from 12 noon to 10pm every day. It just goes to show if the price and quality are right, with easy parking, people will flock to your door.
Finally, my apologies to both the owners of Sam Bailey’s Restaurant and the Galway Advertiser readers. In my article last week, April 15, I neglected to say exactly where Sam Bailey’s is located, and several readers emailed me and some accosted me in the street to tell me so. Sam Bailey’s is in Eglinton Street, Galway, between the Cellar Bar and Eddie Rocket’s. Their telephone number is (091 ) 507123.
Thank you and as always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please email me on [email protected]
