Restaurant review: Hooked on the food at Crookhaven
Croookhaven Inn. Picture: Grellan Lambert
- Crookhaven, Co Cork
- Tel: 028-35309
- facebook.com/thecrookhaveninn
- Open: Monday-Sunday: 12-10.30pm
- Dinner for three: €112
There is a wealth of excellent dining options in west Cork but I do have one ‘crossover’ with a recent food review: I can resolutely affirm Joe McNamee’s assertion of the exquisite quality of the grilled sandwiches and doughnuts in Ron D’s in Ballydehob of a Wednesday. The standard cheese toastie is hard to beat but the ‘Cubano’ with Mojo Roast Pork, Gubbeen Ham and Pickles was my favourite (yes we ordered them all).
The craft beers and homemade cakes in the Tom Crean Brewery in Kenmare [near west Cork] linger on too, particularly the Tunisian Orange Cake — as does that first pint of Murphys with the perfectly crisp squid rings in the Wild Atlantic Bar near Glengarriff.
I’ll definitely be back to Nickie’s Kitchen in Schull for her sweet treats and another go of the Falafel and Hummus wrap (€9) which managed to keep the salad, hummus and falafel in perfect proportional harmony, I licked my fingers clean.
Now it wasn’t all good, so can I ask those restaurants serving frozen chips to just stop it, there is no excuse these days. Not much better are the pre-cut chips with a bit of skin attached from a certain large catering company, there are far better options. Ideally invest in a chipping machine and double fry your chips or at the very least seek out another supplier for the pre-cut version — this is Ireland, chips should be an event, not an afterthought.
But back to the good. On a balmy evening near the end of our week we took one of my favourite drives to the most southwesterly village in Ireland, Crookhaven. I’ve made the drive a number of times over the years and there is something magical about the curve of Crookhaven harbour with the boats bobbing and the seagulls diving and the view of O’Sullivans and The Crookhaven Inn almost waving at you across the water. You can taste the seafood and Murphys long before you get to them.
O’Sullivans gets plenty of attention because of their location on the pier and it’s true that their open crab sandwich is hard to beat, but my best meal in west Cork over that week was easily in the Crookhaven Inn.
The menu is to the point with a choice of classic dishes such as braised Lamb Shank and Sweet Potato Korma and of course Fish of the Day options. And the chips? Well, pleasingly, there aren’t any.
The Engineer had a pint of Murphys to match her fine creamy chowder and the lad chose a Stonewell Cider over the Blacks of Kinsale Pale Ale which was his second choice, and I stuck to wine. Thought has clearly gone into the wine list with a choice of 20 bottles and good descriptions, a rare thing these days. A bottle of Tenuta Sant’ Antonio Soave cost a mere €25 and was a fine foil for all the fish dishes with textured, crisp citrus and almond flavours.
Pan-fried Plaice with a White Wine and Dill sauce (€22.90) came with fine quality baby potatoes cut on the bias and lightly crisped on the cut side. The plaice was immaculately cooked with the creamy, nutty, sweet flesh flaking away from the skin and the interior glistening in the evening sunlight. The saucing was also pitch-perfect with just enough wine and dill to make it tangy and complex, but not enough to overwhelm the delicate flavours of the fish. Perfection.
Mediterranean Fish Soup (€16.50) tasted of saffron and quality shellfish with a pleasing tang from the tomato and the aïoli (and thank you chef for not calling it Bouillabaisse, because as you and I know it can’t be Bouillabaisse if it doesn’t have Mediterranean fish in it). The aïoli could perhaps have coped with a touch more garlic (there can never be enough in my opinion), but this dish too worked well.
Malaysian Chicken Laksa (€14.90) was rich with coconut and cream flavours offset by crisp green vegetables, slippery noodles, judicious use of fresh coriander, and thoughtful spicing. Baileys Cheesecake that actually tasted of Baileys (they usually don’t), and a Bakewell Tart as good as my late mother’s rounded things off nicely.
Thank you West Cork, I’m counting the days.
