Search Results for 'Stephen Gould'

The Townhouse restaurant has a new expanded summer menu, which is pretty comprehensive; it has also just launched a much bigger and better wine list. Fair play to it as most restaurants are cutting back on wine lists and menus. It is also championing many local suppliers, and that is one of the really good movements that has taken off recently in the restaurant world, all the more important when there are scares such as the e coli outbreak, which now seems to be traced to beansprouts, and the disturbing RTE programme on large scale pig production.

For those who have not sampled the food here, it is a very easy place to find. Just drive along the Dock Road and it is the all glass-fronted building facing out to the boats. During the week when you look in there will be lots of couches to relax on and at the weekend you will see lots of dining tables and chairs. This does not mean that the food is only served at the weekend, the food is served seven days a week from 5pm, and during the week you can eat from the comfort of an easy chair.

The Malt House Restaurant has always had a great reputation for serving good food consistently over a great many years. Just over a year ago the restaurant transformed itself into a slightly different, less formal, dining room and focused on creating a menu using the very best of local ingredients. It even has very large pictures of some of its suppliers on the walls, which gives an indication of how seriously the company takes finding the best produce. I called in on a very wet Thursday at 7pm and there were quite a few tables filled with diners. It seems to attract a cross section of tourists, locals, and parties out for the night. While somewhat less formal than before, the service is as polished as ever, and throughout the night it was impressive to watch all the tables being looked after in an efficient, but not pushy, manner. Service is not something to be overlooked when choosing a restaurant for a night out. There is nothing worse than to have an otherwise good meal spoiled by poor service; however I think that recently the standard of service generally has improved in restaurants.

Salt Restaurant at the boutique hotel Lisloughrey Lodge in Cong has been awarded the Just Ask Restaurant of the Month Award for August.

Last week I asked restaurants to send me an e-mail about any special offers or particularly good value meals available. Coincidentally there were some offers advertised in the same issue and I will list below what is available.

I called to Oscar’s Bistro very early on a Saturday evening, at 6.15pm, and was surprised to find several diners there already. They open at 6pm. By 6.30pm the restaurant was filling up nicely and there was a good atmosphere. One of the most striking differences since my last visit was the new pictures on the walls. There are very large stunning images, and upon further enquiry I discovered that they were all taken by the owner/chef, Michael O’Meara. In fact on the reverse of Oscar’s business card are the details of Michael’s other passion, www.foodandwinephotography.com. I recommend that you have a look as some of the images are stunning.

Next door to The White Gables Restaurant in Moycullen is the newly opened Enjoy, where you can buy all sorts of goodies for young, old, and everybody in between. It is the brainchild of Ann and Kevin Dunne, who have been at the helm of The White Gables restaurant for more than 20 years. The popularity of the restaurant has obviously spilled over to the new delicatessen as on opening day there were queues to get in, and that was before any advertising. On my recent visit there was a constant stream of customers in the middle of a midweek day.