Restaurant review: Bastion, Kinsale, Co Cork
Some of us love the way one word can mean many things if used in different contexts, like a herb or a spice having an entirely different influence when it is used with different ingredients or cooked using different methods.
So calling a relatively new restaurant Bastion in a resort town where there’s an enticing menu on almost every third doorway is a little statement of intent, challengers announcing their arrival as it were.
It may not be on the same level of the defiance and real heroism shown at the infamous Château d’Hougoumont 200 years ago next Thursday when an absolute refusal to yield despite overwhelming odds was central to the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo but, in foodie terms at least, it does seem a little bit of gauntlet throwing.
A little you-chop-I’ll-dice frisson and why not? After all the meek inherit very little indeed.
Helen Noonan and chef patron Paul McDonald have established themselves at the corner of Market and Main streets in Kinsale so the building more or less qualifies as one with “a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification” but then that’s just bricks and mortar.
The real challenge is to satisfy another definition: “anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.”
And they do, with plenty of leeway to spare. There is an edge, a little layer of spikeyness to their menu that, even in a cut-throat market, sets them enough apart to at least raise a hand in the madding crowd. One of the ways Bastion does this is by offering a choice of how to enjoy your evening.
You can sit at a bar and enjoy a series of bar bites or bigger small plates or you can sit at a table and enjoy a small plate as a starter followed by a main course.
We, DW as ever, chose the latter without even thinking about it which betrays our conservatism and gives us a very good and welcome excuse to return.
The room is snug and like most restaurants in Kinsale it dosen’t expolit the views — bastions don’t usually have bay windows I suppose.
The space is comfortable without being contrived or glossy magazine fussy.
At first the menu may seem a cheese paring or two too contrived but as our meal was to joyfully confirm the food marked one of those rare, reassuring occasions when achievement matched ambition.
DW opened with a plate that was every bit as luxurious as it read: Cannon of foie gras, poached rhubarb, purée, recioto syrup, pain d’épice crumb and brioche. The star billing was justified, it was, if this is not too violent a metaphor, as calming as a stun gun.
I began with mackerel, gin and tonic foam — basically soused and roasted fish with sweet cucumbers. It was wonderfully presented and the tastes were as they should be with mackerel, hearty and resolute.
DW’s main course was if not the star of the evening certainly a contender for the top gong.
Described as sea bream fillet, apricot and hazelnut quinoa, lemon purée, dhukka, swede and local yoghurt curd it sang with confidence and the kind of mix-and-match creativity that marks out a really good kitchen.
It was wonderfully presented too, one piece of fish rolled as a sausage using the fish skin as a casing.
Tragically, typically I could not resist the fillet steak, jam and doughnuts — could you? — with sage and Dijon dauphine, balsamic onions, velvet cauliflower and sprout cups. And how lucky I am to have so very little resistance.
It was as neat and lovely dish of fillet beef as I’ve had, all set off by the lovely balsamic onions, a simple addition that brought the whole affair to a new level and showed how imagination constantly opens new doors.
Desserts — another mouthwatering description here — toasted apple, burnt caramel mousse, pain d’épice, apple and ginger custard and a plate of local cheeses were excellent.
The wine Gouguenheim Malbec 2014 (€29) was lovely too.
This was a very lovely meal in a restaurant that is a fine addition to Kinsale, one that will hopefully stand the test ot time.
8.5/10
8/10
8/10
8.5/10
An excellent dinner for two with wine and an apéritif — a blueberry bellini — and coffee came to €134.50, tip extra.
Open Wednesday to Sunday. Wednesday and Thursday dinner, 5pm-10pm; Friday and Saturday lunch 12pm-3pm, dinner 5pm-11pmm; Sunday noon until 9pm.
Lovely, well-imagined food showing international influences that gave a new life to some standard dishes.
Bastion Restaurant, corner of Market and Main streets, Kinsale, Co Cork, 021 4709696
