Street food for thought

IF an army marches on its stomach, and an economy on its retail and restaurant expansion, then things are clearly picking up in Cork - with knives, forks and chopsticks at the ready in the ‘Asian Street Feud’ moves.

Yesterday, Cork’s Ballincollig commuter town saw the opening of a new, very large McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurant, while just 200 yards away at the very heart of the new/redeveloped Ballincollig Town Centre, fast-growing Ramen Asian Street Food opened its third Irish/Cork outlet, seemingly on a way to world domination, and at a time when Asian-inspired eateries are proliferating across Cork city and suburbs.

Other Asian Street Food-oriented openings by other proprietors/chefs include Careys Lane, Douglas Street, South Main Street next to Wagamamas, Ballincollig (2) and Oliver Plunkett Street – now likely to be dubbed Oliver Phuket Street by the same wags who came up with ‘Ramencollig.’

Ramen opened its first outlet on Anglesea Street last December, and swiftly opened a far larger 160-seat unit at Orchard Gardens, Dennehys Cross, near UCC, with basement seating in July. Yesterday, it opened a two-storey restaurant in the former O’Briens Sandwich Bar, next to a Nosh and Coffee, in a high profile Square location.

O’Briens have opened up to the new Tesco store 300 metres to the west, and Ballincollig has well over a dozen fast food restaurants, now crowned by a sizeable McDonalds near the new Aldi on the Old Fort Road. Between yesterday’s two new local openings. there’s 100-plus new jobs, with 60 at McDonalds alone and with 70-car parking spaces, and it describes it as the country’s first ‘Spirit of Family’ McDonalds with iPads, interactive TX, self-ordering cubicles and more.

Ramen currently employs 85, and that’s now swelling to 120 by January, with even further openings planned for later next year, say Street-Food savvy principal directors, Ballymaloe-trained John Downey and Dave Dwyer. The latter, who’s also a property developer, seems to be reprising the rapid growth of his 1990s Hot Stuff fast-food chain.

Meanwhile, former Ramen chef, Malaysian-born Zul Basir who designed Ramen’s initial menus and who previously worked with Lemongrass, has also now opened an Asian street food restaurant, Chilli Padi Asian Hawker Street Food in Ballincollig’s West End shopping centre: he’s understood to have a city site in his sights also.

Back in the city centre, a duo who’d worked at the Glucksman UCC Gallery cafe Fresco, Brian Casey and Malaysian chef Prakash Sivakumar, have opened an east-Asian street food and bar venue at 12/13 Douglas Street, called Pho, in the former Capwell Sports Bar near Coughlans live music venue and bar.

Joining longer-established noodle and sushi bars like Dashi on Cook Street, and Sakura on McCurtain Street, is Asian-insipred Wabisabi Sushi and Noodle Bar, at a first floor spot at 89 / 90 Oliver Plunkett Street, while over on Careys Lane is the widely favoured Aroi, operated by Eddie Ong. Mr Ong joins other new arrivals in the city’s Huguenot Quarter, such as Coqbull, on French Church Street/Academy Street, and French Bistro & Wine Bar, Careys Lane.

“The hospitality sector has really benefited from the lift in consumer confidence,” says letting agent for a number of those latter city deals, Cearbhall Behan of Behan Irwin Gosling.

“Demand for units within the city centre is high, with limited units available, and with many existing operators witnessing considerable pick up in the food sector,” he adds.