Restaurant review: Wilde’s at The Lodge at Ashford

Wilde’s at The Lodge at Ashford, Cong, County Mayo. Telephone: [phone]; www.thelodgeac.com

I DON’T understand conservatism as a political concept or as a guiding philosophy. I am baffled by right-wing activists and politicians and their fear of change and by people that always order the same flavour of ice-cream. I relish being challenged and confronted with the new and the different.

What to make then of the décor in the Lodge at Ashford which mixes pop art and kitsch with the homely and old fashioned and throws in more than a few touches of Kardashian-esque faux-glamour. I confess I rather hated it, but by the end of our weekend at the Lodge (we had a two-day B&B voucher) we were loath to leave — I still disliked some bits but the eccentricity of the décor had become strangely comforting.