The Menu: Cork burgermeisters Smash'D serve up diner-quality fast-food
One of The Menu’s most pleasurable dining experiences to date this summer was an evening spent at Ophelia Keane’s Carpa Diem, at the sublimely gorgeous Inish Beg estate, near Baltimore, in West Cork.
Ophelia is now teaming up with Dublin’s award-winning Note Bistro & Wine Bar for a special dinner (Aug 20) with Note Head Chef Essa Fakhry crafting a special menu of local produce including Inish Beg reared lamb, fruits from the walled garden, and unique ingredients such as mulberries and kaffir lime.
The evening begins at 6pm with snacks, followed by the meal, with splendid wines from Brian’s Wines also available to purchase, and diners seeking a post-prandial pillow can also avail of Inish Beg’s extensive accommodation portfolio. And, while in the neighbourhood, The Menu also advises checking out Levi’s in Ballydehob, where the very wonderful Caitlin Ruth returns with her Food Truck, cooking up her usual eclectic and inspired dishes, to be served in the covered garden to the rear of The Menu’s most favourite pub of all.
- inishbeg.com
Terra Ignis, the English Market-based producers of highly innovative and supremely delicious seasonal fermented foods, lead the third of four special seasonal events as part of the ‘Taste The Wild’ workshop series in the brand new Woodland Kitchen on Esk Mountain foraging trail, brought to you by the Two Green Shoots team in Glengarriff.
Two Green Shoots is a sublime back to nature hospitality experience in the ancient rainforests of West Cork where Glengarriff’s micro-climate does magical things to the natural world and Two Green Shoots supplement that with superb food experiences, including the above and their Botanical Bell Tent remains open for bookings until Sept 30, accommodating two people for stays of between two to five nights, it is set in a forest clearing and furnished with feather cushions, cosy coir flooring, a wood burning stove and solar lights twinkling in the surrounding trees.
Stays include a breakfast hamper of local and homegrown treats, private bathroom with shower, wood burning stove and fuel, and access to Esk Mountain Foraging Trail and free entry to The Garden of Re-Imagination.
- twogreenshoots.com
On foot of yet another splendid outing in West Waterford for Grub Circus at the All Together Now music festival, The Menu is once more reminded of both the beauty and bounty of the region and highly recommends Mountain Splendour Tours (Aug 23 and Sept 27), a unique insight into the folklore, foodstuffs and mountain life of the Comeragh and Knockmealdown Mountains, with tour guide Johnny Landers and foraging expert Andrew Malcolm.
It includes a visit to Clotilde Kiely of sustainable Comeragh Mountain Farm, where you’ll hear about sustainable farming and at the stunning Mahon Falls, meet sheep farmer Willie Drohan, whose exquisite Scottish Black Face lamb is a Menu favourite, and lunch at his Cooney’s Yard café, with a strong possibility of sampling the aforementioned lamb.
- tastewaterford.ie/experience/tours/mountain-splendour-taste-tour/
This was the fifth outing for Grub Circus at All Together Now and for the fifth time, The Menu was delighted to welcome back Justin Green, of Bertha’s Revenge Gin and Ballyvollane House, and fancies he may well pay a return courtesy call to Ballyvolane House for National Heritage Week (Aug 17-25) for their Open Garden, including pop-up café, food trucks and guided tours of the house and grounds on Sunday, August 18, with Justin giving tours at 1pm and 3pm.
Food trucks include the ever excellent Volcano Pizza and Chris Braganza’s Spice Genie with local craft beers, ciders and spirits to wash it all down. Dogs on a lead also welcome.
- Open 12pm-4pm; €7pp/€18 per family (up to two adults, two children), cash only
Over the years, The Menu has had many a reason to call into Ballintemple Foodstore, including one of the best selections of artisan baked breads to be found in any non-dedicated retail outlet in the city.
There’s a tidy selection of speciality food items and local craft beers, in an independent food store that is constantly seeking to evolve. So it probably should have come as no great surprise when they decided to soup up their ad hoc burger stall, to be spotted outside on big match days or when concerts are on in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, quite literally around the corner.
But what he did not expect was the substantial leap in quality as the operation has been brought in-house and is now trading as Smash’D Burger, with a greatly enlarged menu.
Options include a special with chorizo, jalapeños and double patties, a bacon cheeseburger, again double patty, and a fried chicken burger.
But the only way for The Menu to run the rule over the offering was to get back to basics, with a Classic, the succulent meat patty, browned to a near crisp but still oozing juices, smothered in-house burger sauce, sweet caramelised onions and bracing dill pickle shearing across the
palate with refreshing vigour.
Add in very decent fries on the side and it’s just like bringing the diner booth back to your own home.
- smashdburgercork.ie
