On Friday June 27 this year, Galway saw the welcome return of one of its oldest bars in the form of the newly refurbished An Púcán, at 11 Forster Street just off Eyre Square. Keeping with tradition, it offers free music sessions every day, in addition to more than 150 remarkable whiskeys from Ireland and around the globe, craft beers, boutique wines, and now with a full extended food menu, An Púcán promises to be a very exciting addition to the east city dining scene.
At the helm of this menu is head chef Tom Joyce, who started in the business over 20 years ago, having studied professional cookery in Killybegs Catering College. He counts Newport House, Markree Castle Hotel, and more recently Moran’s of the Weir among his favourite places to have worked. With such varied experience comes admiration for his fellow chefs and the efforts sustained to continually produce the finest cuisine from the land and sea of Ireland. His food heroes include Myrtle Allen, ‘a leading light of modern day Irish cooking’, Rick Stein, Ross Lewis, and all those hard working men and women who make it their life’s work to grow and produce the amazing ingredients that we are so blessed to have available to us on our doorstep.
Tom Joyce believes that food should be kept simple, allowing the freshest ingredients speak for themselves, using, where possible, local suppliers and producers like McGrath’s Craft Butcher, Galway Bay Seafood, and Kelly’s of Kilcolgan oysters and mussels.
In compiling the menu it was very important to Mr Joyce to include traditional dishes like Irish stew, fish and chips, and garlic crab claws, as well as a good selection of fresh, healthy, salads and seafood and a wide range of daily specials and vegetarian options.
Given the location of An Púcán, Tom Joyce knows this will be a busy spot for visitors to Galway and he is keen to showcase the very best of what Galway has to offer but wants to ensure that the ‘Galwegians’ will be happy to make An Púcán their regular haunt as well.
