Restaurant review: Cork's Nosh 19 is a treat for fans of authentic Chinese fare
Nosh 19, Princes Street, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
8/10
The sudden unannounced closure of Cork City restaurant Nash 19, in January 2024, was a shock that reverberated even beyond the Irish hospitality ecosystem, but the hospitality sector is not for the sentimental and it was soon yesterday’s news.
That was until last autumn, when it once more became part of the local conversation in Cork, with news that a new restaurant had opened in its stead. And it was called ‘Nosh’ 19.
Some felt the new name was disrespectful, others chuckled at the perceived chutzpah. I even wondered if it was canny fiscal pragmatism, signage costs reduced to the price of a single 'O'.
Recently, passing by and needing to refuel a famished La Daughter, we popped inside.
I gave up hope long ago of finding anything around these parts resembling authentic Chinese cooking to be found in London’s Chinatown where I learned decades ago of the true wonders of one of the world’s oldest and most sophisticated cuisines.
Presuming Nosh 19 was just another iteration of the Westernised menu modified for conservative Irish palates 40 or 50 years ago, never really updated since, I ordered water.
Then LD’s dish arrived, succulent pillows of fried tofu, nutty al dente noodles, in a spicy, savoury broth. This was the real deal. I vowed to return, bringing a serious appetite with me.
As it turns out, I bring five, three with long-time hospitality experience, two of whom have real knowledge of Asian cooking, recovering chef Mark, who lived in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, for nine years and Sunshine P, formerly resident in Saigon, Vietnam, for 10.
Granted, neither city is in China, but my dynamic duo are voracious in their appetites for all Asian foods and, in addition, head chef/co-proprietor Ben Wong is delivering a multi-pronged approach.
There are ‘safe’ options for fans of ‘Irish Chinese’, and other Asian cuisines are touched on (including a Thai mini-menu) but the heart of the menu is authentic Hong Kong-style Chinese cooking.
Hong Kong itself is a cultural and culinary crossroads; traditionally, Cantonese-style held sway but over time other regional Chinese cuisines were added to the ‘pot’, in particular, the fiery spices of Szechuan.
There are even European influences and tropes, especially in the Hong Kong cafe-style menu.
Decor is sleek, contemporary and unobtrusive, with few clues to suggest it is a Chinese restaurant.
A standalone menu board in Chinese is one such clue and most striking is the high number of Chinese diners on the night we arrive, a reassuring sight and a fine recommendation for what lies ahead.
Hunan beef stir fry (€18.90) is a cracker. Thinly sliced meat is crispy-fried yet tender, spring onions adding gentle allium crunch, coriander adding bright, uplifting notes to a tangy five-spice sauce riding a nice chilli burn.
Mapo tofu (€16.90) brings the fire, Szechuan-style, a gorgeous, mélange of soft silken tofu and minced pork with a chilli hit that never lets up.
Wontons in chilli oil (€11) are large, languid bolsters of chopped prawn, leavened with pork fat, and served with chewy wood ear mushrooms. Fiercely addictive, I could eat them forever and then for some time after that.
Loh sui/beef stomach (€18.90) is beef tripe, boiled for hours in a stock of Chinese spices, soy, oyster sauce, spring onions and chilli oil, to the point where chewy becomes tender.
I’m usually in a minority in declaring a soft spot for tripe (especially, sheep tripe as in tripe and drisheen) but this version could earn its own share of converts.
Hundred Flowers Duck (€32) is a showpiece dish, fashionable in Hong Kong over recent decades.
A forcemeat of mince prawn and crab is melded to roasted duck, that combo then fried and dressed at the table with the ‘hundred flowers’, a viscous, runny egg-white and crab sauce that is not the most visually appealing but overall impact yields a good dish, the twin-umami combo of seafood and fowl pairing like long lost friends.
Earlier, I had encountered an old friend departing who raved about her Amber Fire sliced beef (€18.90). It is perfectly fine but too reminiscent of the old school Irish Chinese and we lose interest after an initial tasting.
The dessert menu is token so we go old school, sharing battered deep fried banana fritter and vanilla ice cream, one mouthful apiece, a tongue-in-cheek closer to a super meal.
Ben Wong’s cooking is rock solid.
Assured and versatile, he moves easily between various takes on Chinese and Asian fusion cuisines, balanced flavours and textures the common denominator to bring coherency to it all.
Currently, a multiplicity of menus (daytime Hong Kong cafe-style; traditional ‘Irish Chinese’; Thai/Asian fusion; authentic Chinese) are tricky to navigate without a bit of hand holding.
A streamlined menu with greater clarity is essential. I’m also left wondering if the authentic Chinese menu was run through an online translation tool: while I find the squeamishness of certain carnivores around offal to be a tad hypocritical, I can picture more than a few hearty meat eaters balking at the prospect of ‘stir-fried pig’s guts and intestines’ or ‘stir fried beef aorta’, and other similarly visceral descriptors.
To be honest, I’d love to see Nosh 19 focus entirely on authentic Chinese, guts and all, the first in Cork to do so.
Until then, I’ll be working my way through that section of the menu hosting the best authentically Chinese food in the city, as good as pretty much any I’ve come across in Ireland.
- Nosh 19
- 19 Princes Street, Cork
- nosh19.ie
- Cost of meal per head, including tip: €50
