Restaurant Review: The Snail Box, Ashbourne, Co Meath

They hang down from the ceiling — over 3,000 of them — in neat rows, looking for all the world like multi-coloured bats. Hats from the locality, hats from around Ireland, hats from across the globe. Each one has been donated by customers, who have heard of this strange but compelling gathering — a gathering of hats that aims to, one day, win a Guinness World Record gong for the most hats in a public place.
But enough about hats. If you’re not from Louth, Meath or north County Dublin, it’s unlikely that the Snail Box will mean anything to you. It is, after all, just another roadside bar/restaurant off a main road (in this instance between Ashbourne and Slane), isn’t it? And, as you know, roadside bar/restaurant places don’t have much going for them, do they?