Restaurant review: Iyer’s samosas are the stuff of legend

And beef this good — from West Cork Burger Company — is only crying out to be grilled on the BBQ

Gautham Iyers outside his restaurant on Pope’s Quay, Cork. Picture: Eddie O’Hare

West Cork Burger Company has saved my life or at least filled my belly at several festivals over the years, so their WCB meal kit (great value at €40, serving eight, with all the trimmings) seems the perfect opportunity for a long overdue review. The USP is the beef: directly sourced from West Cork farms by splendid Macroom butcher/WCB partner Michael Twomey, Wagyu and Angus, a particular speciality.

While most Gaels believe BBQs only go with shorts and suncream, I’ve been defying the ongoing wintery monsoon, following the credo of an old Tennessee pitmaster of former acquaintance, who told me that the best BBQ is cooked just outside the kitchen door, year- round, through winter’s worst — even Christmas Day turkey.