Restaurant review: The Puffin Cafe, Co Cork

Should we get a heatwave, I’ll become a permanent fixture in The Puffin Cafe, says Joe McNamee.

WHEN mention was first made of The Puffin Café last year, some online snooping revealed a most appealing prospect, a breeze-block ‘hut’ painted entirely matt black on a grassy verge beside Long Strand beach, exuding that random, pop-up feel, the class of perfectly casual/casually perfect establishment frequented by bright young things who surf all day and still have the energy and domestic freedom to party all night.

My own days of luminosity and youth are long departed and any return to a long-redundant wetsuit would have concerned beachgoers dousing me with seawater and bellowing for WhaleWatch but I can still eat like a young ’un and a highly innovative menu of Pizzas, Toasties (Goat’s Cheese, Honey, Walnuts) and Bagels (salt beef, strong mustard, gherkins) is a strong lure.