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Being back in Dublin has me curious to try out more cafe’s and restaurants that have cropped up in the last year or so. My time is a bit restricted at the moment but when I’m free to be out and about there is nothing better than a coffee, a cake and a chat in a lovely cafe.
I’ve made it to two in the last month; The Giddy Goose in Dun Laoghaire (138/139 George’s Street) and nelly’s in Portobello (12 South Circular Rd), both of which were a lovely surprise, but nelly’s stole the show.
Interior of The Giddy Goose
The Giddy Goose is at the quieter, Monkstown end of Dun Laoghaire – near Argos and the Library and at the opposite end from itsabagel; Dun Laoghaire’s stalwart cafe. I went there with a friend one sunny mid week afternoon and it’s a lovely sunny room with a nice fresh colour scheme and hints of ikea charm dotted about. Judging by the customers the day we were there it does a fine line in yummy mummies and treats for kids. There’s a nicely stocked kids area with drawing pencils and crayons and newspapers and mags for mums. Brilliantly there’s also free wifi – very important – and a great selection of buns and cakes.
Raspberry scone at The Giddy Goose
My friend had a killer toasted sandwich of chicken and stuffing with a side salad, I had a huge raspberry scone which looked and sounded divine, but fell a little short as the few raspberries in evidence were at the bottom and not scattered throughout. Tempted by the sweet things we shared a GIANT slice of chocolate cake which was gorgeous; lots of frosting and not too chocolatey, but the size of it defeating two of us sharing, no idea how you’d eat it on your own! I’ll definitely be back to the goose as a nice alternative to the pier/itsabagel route, and it would be a good place to while away some time if you were early for the Ferry.
nelly's on South Circular Rd, Dublin. Pic taken from The Urbane Nibbler Blog
A few days later, early afternoon on an even sunnier weekday , I headed with another friend to nelly’s on South Circular Rd. What a delightful spot! There were a ton of yummy sounding sandwiches on offer and I went for a falafel wrap which was excellent. My friend had the soup of the day which was also great, and we shared (do you see a pattern emerging?) what can only be described as the very best chocolate brownies I have ever tasted. Crispy on the outside, moist and chocolatey on the inside, home cooked american style goodness. The coffee was excellent and there was a host of other treats on offer, including some sumptuous looking carrot cake that comes highly recommended and will have to be tried on my next visit.
The little chairs outside are perfect in the sunshine, and the tea is served in charming china teacups – with saucers of course. The cafe doubles as a food shop with a lovely selection of hand picked cooking ingredients, pretty bun cases and specialist products. Nelly’s hosts a contemporary textile workshop which looks terrific, and on the whole is somewhere that the brilliant Lilly Higgins (check out her fantastic blog) would love, and that is the best praise I can give!
Amazing weekend was had in Kilkenny at the Cat Laughs Festival this year which I have been meaning to blog about for weeks but the volume of work ever since has put paid to that notion. However, a round up is needed for posterity and for a great critical round up with some ace writing head to Peter Crawleys review in the Irish Times – sounds like we were very much at the same festival -even though I got to about a third of the gigs he did, but then he is on the freebie press ticket.
I’ve been going to Kilkenny for 5 years now- from when I started programming comedy for the model- and usually run around to as many shows as my pocket can handle and my head can take. For the fits few years it was about genning up on the best irish comics and the newbies coming up so I could gen up for the comedy club, then it became about international acts as I knew what the irish ones were all about, and this year was a gloriously calmer affair as I wasn’t technically programming at all and could do it at a holiday pace.
Kilkenny has always been a girls weekend for me – all that laughing and drinking and great food and nice hotel rooms seems seems a good fit- and this year was no different as three of us bunked in one fab room and made a great weekend of it – here are the highlights
- Weather. OMG it was outstanding. In my memory it always is for Cat Laughs of course but this one was like being in another country. A weekend like this a year will definitely see me right.
- Foodage. As always Kilkenny does not disappoint on the culinary front. Outstanding meal and service at Zuni, and more of the same with the great late night supper menu that Fleva do for the festival. The people that run that place could not do better, chatty, great service, happy to accommodate late eating and menu re-arranging. Go there. Oh and new kid on the block- Grapevine. Excellent tapas, great wine, brilliant owner.
- Gigs. Of course the gigs are the real reason for going. This year we just took in two and a movie so hard to pick highlights but Kathleen Madigan was great and the Hans Teeuwen gig was an experience like no other. Peter describes it far better than I but the great thing about it is the tension moment when you realise a) this is his act, it’s on purpose and it’s not getting any “better” and b) well over half the audience are hating it and not getting it and stressed and will either walk out, heckle or stew in their seat hating every minute but not having the balls to leave, or maybe hoping it will somehow get better. The tension of that moment, which gets replayed around the room every few minutes as people decide which camp they fall into, is a deliciously stressful and funny thing. In fairness- it is more performance art that comedy, and if you had paid your 30euro expecting to roll in the aisles you have every right to be angry, but if you want a whole chunk of post-modern comedy then there you have. I”m still not sure if I love it or hate it but I do know I’m going to check him out again in Edinburgh to find out.
- A Film with Me In It. Me being Mark Doherty and not Stranded of course. This was a brilliant way to spend a few hungover hours on saturday afternoon in the Parade Tower. Delightful slice of black comedy (if black humour can be delightful?) that made me laugh out loud and contemplate my moral compass and Dylan Moran’s brilliance.
- Kilkenny RiverCourt Hotel. A revelation (we usually stay at the Ormond). Great rooms, comfy beds, nice staff, great breakfast (crap carvery meals the rest of the time but) and acres of outdoor drinking and lounging space with a spiffy view of the castle. Oh- and 2e parking for guests all weekend. sweet.
Downsides? the 3.5 hour cross country drive back to Sligo through every little town known to man (there is a townplace called Swan in this country) and having to go back on the Sunday and miss the football match with stellar commentary by Karl Spain.
Magic weekend. Why more people don’t make it a regular calendar date I’ll never know.
Kilkenny Sunset
New Thai Restaurant in Sligo
Yes- a corny blog title but it is too heard to resist…Tom Yam is a new Thai restaurant in Sligo that @heather ha been giving major props to on twitter, and one of my work mates went last night and was so impressed she brought in a copy of their (delightfully designed) menu for all of desks today, and a little doggie bag of leftovers for her lunch. So it had to tried and tested.
Sligo has a great number of chinese and indian restaurants -of which everyone has their favourite and no two people seem to agree on – and last year gained a “contemporary asian” restaurant in Lemongrass but it’s never had a real proper thai place. One with fresh food and cheap prices, and now it does! Lemongrass is very nice, but high end in the land of thai – €18-22 mains, low lighting, fancy glasses and nice table settings. It was also closed for the month of April which is a little odd- but there you go.
In the meantime Tom Yam has opened up in the Quayside shopping centre, upstairs from Jane Norman of all places. The same room is the Cornerhouse during the day, and turns into Tom Yam from 5.30 or so.
So how was it? A total delight. Much like the packed Green 19 in Dublin it offers simple interiors, excellent service and great food done cheap. very cheap. I absolutely concur with Tom Doorley at the Irish Times who has been banging on about restaurants in Ireland needing to up the ante on cheap food done well for at least a year now. Finally some are listening.
The Food is great, unlike green 19 there are at least 30 things on the menu (including salads – yes) and I bet they are all as good as the Crispy Pork with Chili that I had. The Chef is an excellent, proper Thai chef, who came out to each table to check we were enjoying our main courses! Courses that cost €8! Can’t remember the last time I met a head chef. The staff were all lovely, the manager helpfully moving us to a different area when I got a bit chilly, and they let us sit over our tea for ages. Brilliant stuff.
It was pretty quiet being that it is new and a rainy thursday night in Sligo, but I urge you, dear reader, to go. Now do go expecting cheap and cheerful, these are cafe style tables and pretty basic set up, but it is bright and clean, and if you sit in the centre near the wooden screen things it’s lovely and warm. And the food is great. Yes, the coleslaw on the side of the Singapore noodles my friend had was odd – but charmingly irish- but the noodles were terrific. And Cheap. I mentioned cheap right?
We should applaud and encourage this sort of thing so do please support them, go eat before/after the movies, or get a take away for collection when you’re picking up your dvd at xtravision, or do the lazy thing and order delivery. Go go go. We need these things in Sligo, and anyone that has the nous to design a lovely logo and a great menu (food choices and the dinky size of the print) deserves the business.
Check the menu out here or just call them – 071-915 18 26
