Restaurant Review: crispy chips and juicy scampi at Russell's Fish Shop, Clare
Russell's Fish Shop retail, the newest addition to the Fiddle + Bow Collection and Doolin's newest take-out eatery. Leslie Williams
Russell’s Fish Shop, Fiddle + Bow Hotel, Teergonean, Doolin, County Clare.
Tel: 065 670 0200. https://www.fiddleandbow.ie/russells-fish-shop.html
Ah, Clare — the name of the girl next door when I was growing up, and the name of one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland. Myself and the Engineer have a long history here and we have fond memories of picnics beside the rapids behind the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon feasting on pastries bought in Unglert’s bakery.
Unglert's Bakery still thrives but Ennistymon has a few extra spots for the food-obsessed, including The Cheese Press run by Sinéad Ní Gháirbhith, sister of Siobháin, creator of the wondrous St Tola Goat’s cheese. Here you can get proper coffee, salads and, of course, their famous toasties made with some of Ireland's best cheeses — not just St Tola but also Toonsbridge Scamorza and others.
Sadly, Little Fox Restaurant just opposite the Cheese Press closed during lockdown but it has been replaced by ‘This Is It’ from the people behind First Draft Coffee in Dublin 8. As you might expect there was an impressive range of ‘natural’ wines including El Bandito and Gut Oggau, and while my Lemon Chicken with Wholegrain Mustard Grilled sandwich was good, they will need to work harder to knock the crown from Sinéad who, for me, is still the Queen of Toasties in County Clare.
Down the road in Lisdoonvarna, we had to visit the Roadside Tavern for a pint of Euphoria wild yeast beer and pints of Burren Black — quite probably the best pint of stout in Ireland. Burren Black is a perfect match for their Gleninagh Lamb Stew or their proper Bacon and Cabbage and, maybe best of all, with a Lobster Roll on Brioche — the sweet fresh lobster spilling onto the plate to be scooped up with a pitch-perfect salad made from leaves sourced locally from Celtic Salads in Bellharbour.
Next, it was off to Doolin to visit Russells’ Fish Shop run by Viv Kelly who was once the chef in the Roadside Tavern and whose food has been praised on this page at least three times before. The fish shop at the Fiddle and Bow Hotel is a new venture in Doolin, surely one of Ireland's prettiest coastal villages. Originally there were plans for a fine dining restaurant but, with our new reality, Viv’s new job was to keep as many punters as possible as happy as possible: hotel guests looking for a bit of refinement with a bouillabaisse and a bottle of Chablis; locals looking for takeaway after a busy day of Zoom meetings; and the endless day-trippers looking for a feed of fish and chips to eat with their feet dangling over the pier as they watch the Aran Island ferries.
As expected, Viv has risen to the challenge easily without any shortcuts — locally sourcing potatoes, fish and leaves — and his delicious crispy chips were double fried in beef dripping. There were six of us booked in and I ordered online earlier in the day — €110 fed us all. Wisely, there is lots of outdoor seating but we chose to eat indoors in the bright airy room with the soft light from the setting sun coming through the picture windows.
The menu is full of crowd-pleasers: fat, impossibly crispy and tasty onion rings that might be the best I’ve ever tasted; fat juicy scampi in a light Panko crumb with a bright, clean, lime mayonnaise; a half a lobster in a brioche roll served warm with a lobster bisque mayonnaise; and proper crunchy haddock and chips with authentic mushy marrowfat peas (none of your namby-pamby mashed frozen peas here!).
Goan Fish Curry had a lovely lightness of touch — the coconut singing through the tomato-based curry and the Bouillabaisse (€14) was packed with Atlantic fish in a pleasingly pungent tomato, saffron, and garlic broth. For the nitpicker, yes this was closer to a Basque Marmitako than a Marseille Bouillabaisse but you and I both know which word is easier to sell.
At the front of Russell's is a small Deli where we picked up wine, cider, and beer from the small but carefully chosen selection as well as some Chip Mate Malt Vinegar from Killybegs and a jar of Achill Sea Salt with seaweed to sprinkle on our chips. For dessert, we gorged on (Tuamgraney Co. Clare-made) Wilde 70% Dark Chocolate with Dillisk and Lime oil and a version made with Crystallised Mint leaves and Mint oil.
Russell's is an excellent addition to Doolin and County Clare and I know Viv has much bigger plans: get there if you can.
