A former chef, Joe McNamee is Senior Food Writer at the Irish Examiner. Holding a BA in Culinary Arts, he writes about food and reviews restaurants for Weekend.
A missive comes from HQ urging me to check out Cork’s latest fried chicken outlet in the Marina Market.
As No 2 Son, La Daughter, and I pile into the car, I can’t help thinking AI’s threat to humanity is being over-exaggerated — it is surely obvious that fried chicken is our new overlord. The thing is, fried chicken is highly addictive, resistance futile, so I propose pre-arming with salad from newly opened Bowld, also at the Marina Market. A baffled No 2 and LD debate whether to put me down.
Bowld certainly exists at the opposite end of the scale to fried chicken, specialising in gluten-free, bowls of fresh, mostly raw, salad vegetables and fruits, supplemented with cooked grains and ‘protein’.
Themes are global: ‘Vietnamese’ features noodles; ‘Umami’ is ‘Japanese’, with mushrooms; Buddha nods to Levantine with hummus, baba ganoush, and pomegranate; Mexican tropes freckle ‘Taco’, including corn, lime, coriander, and ‘nacho crunch’. Protein options are: Chicken (definitely not fried, €13.50), salmon (€14.50), and cauliflower (€12.50) — you’d need to eat at least 15 heads to approach the protein content of a single breast of chicken.
LD sanctions the purchase of a very generous ‘Poke’ bowl, with poached chicken. It contains citrus rice, avocado, mango, edamame beans, pickled shallots, cos lettuce leaves, spring onion and tahini dressing, pickled chilli, seaweed sesame crunch and toasty cashews, plus chicken — phew!
I eat raw produce every day but I found the whole ‘clean eating’ craze a tad wearisome, bland nutritional virtue often trumping real flavour. I’m pleasantly surprised as tahini-based dressing draws together disparate elements into a very pleasant eating experience, substantial, flavoursome, yet light and uplifting, with the bonus of my smug virtuousness. One thing — I’d very much like to see more fresh, seasonal Irish produce here.
Suitably cleansed, we seek out the latest fried chicken nirvana. This is when I realise I have misread the email: It is “opening soon”, yet to arrive. I turn to Delhi2Cork, another on my longlist. They also have fried chicken.
Delhi2Cork is the southern Indian street food outpost of award-winning Delhi2Dublin. There is a selection of dosas but we have other plans for main course so kick off with classic snacks.
Onion Bhaji (four pieces, €8.50), crisp fritters of onion with curry leaves lending pungency, would work sublimely well with creamy, lactic raita but a liquid roasted cumin and coriander chutney adds further oomph to a potent package. (Delhi2Cork chutneys are ‘thani’ chutney, ‘watery’ rather than thick, to make for easier dipping — awkward, however, with the minuscule plastic serving containers.)
Pani Puri (six pieces, €8) sees golf-ball-sized hollow globes of wafer-thin dough deep-fried to a gossamer light crisp, to be gently tapped open at the top and filled with spiced chickpeas, then dipped in sweet mango chutney and spicy water (teekha pani, a blend of fresh mint and coriander, and spices). The quantity of not-very-spicy chickpeas, five or six per shell, is most disappointing and the dip containers are too small for dipping, tricky for pouring.
Delhi2Cork's Pani Puri
Samosas (two pieces, €8), served with coriander mango chutney, are the pick of the bunch, good pastry filled with savoury, spiced chunks of potato and pea.
Delhi2Cork's Samossas
Delhi Chaat Bowl (€13) comprises samosa, aloo tikki (spiced potato and pea patties), puri, topped with yoghurt, sev (crispy fried noodles of chickpea flour), mango and coriander chutney, spiced chickpeas, and diced red onion. It starts well but the ‘wet stuff’ (yoghurt, chutney) soon turns it into a soggy and sweet mess — better served alongside.
Delhi2Cork's Chaat Bowl
It is then we encounter a collision of culinary worlds, ancient Indian, one of the world’s greatest cuisines, upended by contemporary Western fast food.
Loaded Naan Sandwich aka Naanwich (€16), ‘loaded’ being the operative word, is for those appetites for whom too much is never enough. Served with chicken (lamb, mixed kebabs are alternatives), topped with lettuce, onions, tikka mayo, garlic mayo, and melting cheese in toasted naan. I find its soggy appeal aimed at carb-crazed teens.
DelhiCork's Loaded Naanwhich
Butter Chicken Bomb Burger with Masala Fries (€16) goes further still, a restrained sprinkling of Indian accents on fried chicken. Crispy fillets are doused in butter chicken gravy, with lettuce, onions, tikka masala garlic mayo, sandwiched in a brioche bun. None of the nuance of Indian cuisine.
Delhi2Cork's Butter chicken bomb burger
It has fans but I’m not one of them. Mind you, I’d do time for the gorgeous masala fries. It will be dosas next time I return to Delhi2Cork. I will, as what they do well, they do very well indeed.
