Archive for August, 2006
Tis Blogday 2006
Posted on August 31, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Blogging.
So we’re all supposed to post links to 5 blogs we haven’t mentioned before. Here are my blogtastic links:
Fabulous photos, lots of Cork goodness.
Ditto is totally understating his awesome pictures.
An Irish Craftworkers Good Life
Superb new blog from from Rebecca. Downshifting never looked so good!
Needs no intro from me. What freaks me out is that he hasn’t even started college yet.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
Effing brilliant spoof.
tags: Blogday, Blogday+2006
4 Comments
Quick Vodafone Fax tip
Posted on August 28, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Technology.
Every once in a while I still need to receive a fax. I continue to be surprised by the number of people who don’t know that you don’t need a fax machine to do this.
If you are on Vodafone, make sure you have set up a Vodafone email account and then just give out your mobile number preceded with a 5 as your fax number i.e. +353-87-5NNNNNNN. The fax is then sent to a special folder on Vodafone email and you get an SMS to say it is there. You can then logon and download the fax as a picture which you can print out.
If memory serves, the alternative is that you call your voicemail and it gives you the option to forward the fax to another fax machine of your choosing.
3 Comments
A Toast
Posted on August 28, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Food, Friends.
To Blueberry Jam
Made by Teresa’s and Craig’s fair hands from blueberries picked on a berry farm in the midlands.
Yumm.
tags: Jam, Blueberries
4 Comments
Maps in Blogs
Posted on August 25, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket, Blogging, Technology.
If you want to try out the world of blogging, I highly recommend the new free Windows Live Writer tool for creating your content. It works with almost any blogging site. Check out Wordpress.com to get an actual blog (also free). One of the main developers is from Cork you know!
Just to show one of the neat things that Live Writer can do, I was able to insert this map of Bandon with a few simple clicks.
tags: Windows+Live+Writer, Wordpress.com
No Comments
Farmer’s market on tomorrow
Posted on August 25, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket.
Do make it down if you haven’t been before or haven’t been in a while. There are a bunch of new great stalls.
Julian from Bubble Brothers also pointed out in a comment on the Ummera Blog that there will be wine tasting in Urru on Saturday too. So maybe wander down there after the market and check it out.
tags: Bandon+Farmer’s+Market, Ummera, Urru, Bubble+Brothers
No Comments
Yayyy Nokia, Boooo Vodafone
Posted on August 22, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Gadgets, Technology.
I was all excited for 20 minutes today. Nokia have released a free tool to enable you to upgrade your own phone firmware.
I grabbed the one for the N70, backed up the phone, installed the software and waited for it to analyse my phone. Result? I have the latest available Vodafone branded firmware so no upgrade is possible.
The Voda numbnuts haven’t released an upgrade since last September! Meanwhile I have a good phone which would be far far better with the improved firmware. And they all wonder why they have no customer loyalty.
Anyone know the name of a good dodgy phone unlocker in Munster?
tags: Nokia, Vodafone, Vodafone+Ireland, Firmware, N70
6 Comments
I only want more
Posted on August 21, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Family, Food.
We took a day trip to Killarney for some ice-cream yesterday. The drive down is always longer than the distance would indicate. Is there any hope the Cork to Killarney road will ever move from being of third-world quality from Ovens to Ballyvourney?
It took a bit of circling but we found the fabulous playground mentioned by Kieran and all had a fantastic time. That climbing web is awesome and the zip-line was very tempting. Even babba Fionn had a blast.
A wee bit more circling and we found Murphy’s Ice Cream. I think it is the first time in years that all of the family were silent. “Can’t talk, eating”. Oisín was hugely impressed by the mad music being played and bopped while eating his scoop. Fionn nicked mouthfuls from whoever was offering.
Caramel Sundaes are the work of the devil and having them with the best lattes we’ve tasted this year made it totally sacreligious. When asked what he thought, Oscar replied “I only want more”.
The power of viral marketing was confirmed when they all came back from the loo and Osc announced that when we got home, he was going on the internet to check out www.icecreamireland.com. Seriously.
Is it pricey? It sure is. Is it worth it? Even penny plus the tip.
tags: Murphy’s+Ice+Cream, Killarney, IceCreamIreland
5 Comments
It took me a second to get this
Posted on August 21, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Humour.
But when I did, I laughed out loud. Courtesy of marketing guru Seth Godin.
Human beings have short memories: German appliance maker Bosch introduces the Axxis™ washer.
On the topic of marketing, we spotted a sign for a restaurant on the way back from Killarney yesterday. It said “Muesli Restaurant, Vegetarian Italian”.
I can’t think of a better way to ensure you get zero customers than to include the word muesli in your ad.
An alternative might be ”Warm gravel, Italian with all the good bits taken out”
tags: Bosch, Seth+Godin
No Comments
I think I know why the ambush went badly
Posted on August 21, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Humour.
Forewarned is forearmed eh?
Top tip for future signs like this - maybe give two hints on the sign:
[1] Which ambush
[2] Which war
I was sure we were heading towards Béal na mBláth. We got there and it was Kilmichael.
Obviously put up by the same guys who did the signage in Killarney. Every single junction there has signs for City Centre for all of the directions in and out. We also discovered that via Kilmichael is not a shortcut from Bandon to Killarney.
tags: Signage, Kilmichael+Ambush, War+of+Independence, Beal+na+mBlath
No Comments
Bandon Farmer’s Market quiet last week
Posted on August 20, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket.
I finally made it down to the market last week after missing three in a row. A lot of the usual stalls were missing presumably due to holidays etc and it was a quick dash and grab by Fionn, Sibéal and I.
More stunning steaks from Aherns, some interesting and tasty Portuguese salt from Ummera, some veg from the veg man and some brot from the Baking Emporium in Dunmanway and I was done.
It struck me that it may be worthwhile for the organisers to do a few surveys at the market. I’d love to know some facts like:
- Are you very local, local, passing through or a tourist?
- Is this your first visit?
- How many times have you been here?
- Are you regular?
- Will you be back?
- What do you buy?
- What are you favourite aspects of the market?
- What are your least favourite aspects?
- What is it missing?
- How often would you like to see the market happen?
For me, I think the market is superb but there is a definite tendency to the high end of things. I would love to see more basic produce suppliers there like the veg man but selling at supermarket cost or below (due to the lack of a middleman).
I’ll post the next set of dates for the market when I find them out. I didn’t know a few of the recent ones were happening until the day before. All in all it has been a great few months for the market and I see it getting better and better.
tags: Bandon+Farmers+Market
6 Comments
Gleeson’s back on top form
Posted on August 20, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Restaurants, Reviews.
Gleeson’s
Food style/ethnicity: Modern Irish
Price: 32 - 60 (Euro)
Location:
3 Connolly Street
Clonakilty, Co Cork
Ireland
Gleeson’s has been one of our favourite places to eat since we moved to Cork. Not only was the food always excellent but you were always made to feel extremely welcome. However, our last meal there late last year was not fantastic. It wasn’t bad, just not great. They also had hired some new waiting staff who were nowhere near as good as the owners themselves.
But when Granny Mary and Auntie Fiona offered to babysit on Friday we figured we’d give it another go. It was also likely to be our last or second last meal out before number five arrives as Catherine is starting to feel very uncomfortable.
We went for a 6.30 start and were the first ones in. All new waiting staff greeted us and they were superb for the entire night. I think the main guy was French and he had that attentive but not obsequious approach that they do so well.
We were overjoyed to see that the food is also back to brilliant. I had a simple Smoked Haddock with Welsh Rarebit, Warm Tomato Tart and Basil Pesto to start which was jam-packed with flavour and had beautiful fish. Catherine had Crab, Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Black Olive Crostini & Saffron Dressing which she totally loved.
I went with Roast Breast of Skeaganore Duck with Red Cabbage, Garlic Potatoes & Port Wine Sauce for main and Catherine had one of the fish of the day (monkfish) with a bearnaise sauce and green beans. Both were fabulous and some plate licking might have gone on in less proper surroundings.
Desserts were equally top notch with Crème Brûlée with a Chocolate Brandy Snap Basket and
Raspberry Sorbet for wifey and a soft meringue with pistachio nut creation for me. Great coffees.
I also have to mention the wine list which is one of the most intelligent i have ever seen. It starts with some good value house wines and then has their special recommendation for the month. We went with the Portuguese red at only €20 which was lovely and light. I have never heard of any of the grapes in it but I’ll be keeping an eye out in future. The rest of the list is done by style so you can decide whether you are in the mood for a bone dry white or a heavy red, go to the correct section and then hit your price point. Fantastic idea if, like us, your wine knowledge starts and ends with Sauvignon Blanc.
Any time I have overheard conversations about good restaurants in the area, Gleeson’s almost always gets a mention. They deserve it. I didn’t notice a 2006 Bridgestone plaque on the wall. I hope that’s just because they haven’t got around to putting it up. If they don’t have one and Forde’s do, then I despair.
[tags]Gleeson’s, Clonakilty[/tags]
2 Comments
The Swarm
Posted on August 14, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
What in the name of god is this yoke?
And no, it isn’t a wasp, just look at the size of it compared to the ivy leaves.
[tags]Killer Bee, Flying Killer Insects[/tags]
13 Comments
Forde’s somehow manages to get worse
Posted on August 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Restaurants, Reviews.
Forde’s
Food style/ethnicity: Modern Irish
Price: 35 - 45 (Euro)
Location:
Crescent Quay
Wexford, Co Wexford
Ireland
I completely slated Forde’s last year after the utterly mediocre overpriced meal we had there. It was on my permanent blacklist until today. My parents stepped once more into the breech and babysat the recovering nutters so that myself and Catherine could go out for a bite.
I had done a search on Georgina Campbell’s site and came up with a shortlist of The Lobster Pot in Carne, Le Colosseo in Rosslare, La Dolce Vida in Wexford, La Riva in Wexford, Mange 2 in Wexford and
Forde’s. The Lobster Pot has a reputation for horribly arrogant service and overpriced food (and you can’t book) so that was a no-no. We weren’t in a real Italian mood so that just left Mange 2 and Forde’s. It looked like Mange 2 would be the winner but then I was told about the poaching of the Heaven’s Above chef by Forde’s. The consistent bad stories we had all heard about them last year (by real diners as opposed to professional critics) had been replaced by very positive
ones since the new chef’s arrival. So Forde’s it was.
And oh jesus what a mistake that was.
Without a doubt the worst service I have had in a restaurant in five years. From the second we sat down, the clear aim was to get us the hell out of there. And well done to them, they beat our record. Three courses plus coffee in less than an hour and it was all completely mediocre except the coffee.
I don’t know what sort of crack John McKenna, Tom Doorley and Georgina Campbell are smoking but they are so far off the mark on this place, it isn’t funny.
The waiting staff never smiled once. They sat us beside the toilets in an almost empty restaurant. The bread came out with rock hard butter (Cert Training Day 1??). When we ordered the house tempranillo, the waitress said “great choice” and threw her eyes up to heaven as she walked off. The tone of “are you enjoying your meal” was such that you knew full well they did not give a shite either way. When we ordered our dessert, the waitress left so fast we had to shout our coffee order at her.
As for the food, no improvement on last year. Do they really have the old chef from Heaven’s above? The same stupid spud in a spring roll was on the menu - the restaurant equivalent of a chip butty. The same five beef dishes (four types of steak) out of a meat menu of eight. In fact, has the menu changed one iota from last year? The concept of “fish of the day” seems to escape them as all the fish is listed in the permanent menu. I must send them a map to Kilmore Quay.
Anyway, Catherine’s prawn salad on a bed of chinese leaves was missing its bed entirely. My confit of duck leg came with burnt rosti and was swimming in a pool of sauce. My brill was totally overcooked and Catherine’s lamb tasted ok but was very fatty and overcooked. Did they really cook a saddle of lamb in the time we were there or was it zapped? My pannacotta had the texture of butter rather than cream but Catherine’s desert was ok. Coffee was fine.
I’ve just re-read my review from last year to realise that I ordered exactly the same food this year as last! I know that shows me to be utterly predictable but it also says a lot about their static menu. Going by my comments last year, it really does look like the place has amazingly managed to get worse in twelve months.
How the hell are these people getting awards? Seriously, there is something utterly broken in mainstream restaurant reviewing that we can encounter service and food like this TWICE from a place with a 2006 Bridgestone plaque on the wall. To give Forde’s their due, I don’t think I have giggled that much since I was a teenager - a highly enjoyable night out with my wife.
For what I think is the second time ever in a restaurant, I left zero tip.
[tags]Forde’s, Wexford, Bridgestone[/tags]
14 Comments
Heavens Above stuck in Limbo
Posted on August 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Restaurants, Reviews.
Heavens Above
Food style/ethnicity: Modern Irish
Price: 35 - 45 (Euro)
Location:
112 South Main Street
Wexford, Co Wexford
Ireland
UPDATE 2007/11/08: A comment below indicates that the restaurant is now under entirely new management etc, so please consider this review out of date.
My crazy parents decided to babysit all their grandchildren and sent the extended family out for a meal on the August Bank holiday Saturday. We’ve all had good meals over the years in Heavens Above in Wexford Town but unfortunately, for most of the group, this wasn’t one of those times.
The restaurant is above a fabulous old pub with the usual diddley-ay bric a brac on the walls. It is a look that was done to death in Dublin in the 80’s and 90’s but this feels like it might be real. It is a lovely airy pub with Erdinger on tap, which kept myself and Tony happy. We had booked for 8.30 but had to hang around downstairs until after 9. Even tho the place never looked completely full all night, the service was incredibly slow overall. OK, we were a group of eight, but that is hardly a stretch for a humming kitchen.
The table seemed to split pretty evenly between fish dishes at one end and steak at the other. Only the steak eaters left happy. The menu semed very limited in scope and unadventurous which was at odds with our previous experiences. I heard later that the chef who made the place famous had been poached by Forde’s along with a lot of the other staff (more of that in the next review). You could tell.
I enjoyed my toulouse sausage on lentils but Kevin thought it was bland and to be honest I could have rustled it up in 10 minutes at home with my eyes closed.
The fillet steaks with cafe de paris sauce were excellent and cooked just right.
The various types of fish that were ordered were all rated as very disappointing with a general feel that everything was missing simple touches like some butter or cream in the mashed spuds.
Desserts were skipped but the coffee was fine. The bill came to €380 with an automatic service charge of 10% due to the table size and we did not top that up. This included several pints for six of the diners and one bottle of white. Usual story with me - if it was far cheaper, I wouldn’t complain too much as the meal was fine. But at that price level, you can get far better food in other places in the town.
[tags]Heavens Above, Restaurant, Wexford, Ireland[/tags]
2 Comments
Rosslare in August
Posted on August 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Family.
Girl cousins getting along like a house on fire:
Samantha’s fabulous birds of prey. You don’t mess with these boyos:
[tags]Rosslare, Falcon, Falconry, Birds of Prey[/tags]
No Comments
Fab Fota Photos
Posted on August 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Entertainment, Family, Ireland.
Catherine took the darlings to Fota Wildlife Park two weeks ago. They loved every minute. Highly recommended for a day out.
You’d think this was the Serengeti:
The children at play:
Sibéal finds more “cows”:
[tags]Fota, Fota Wildlife Park[/tags]
No Comments
Yoplait has a customer for life
Posted on August 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Family, Food.
We got a call from Customer support in Yoplait last Friday week asking if we were in to take a delivery and to apologise for the mis-labelled yoghurt. Shortly afterwards a courier arrived with two boxes full of these:
and these
Osc was blown away, he could not believe that he got all this stuff for, as he put it, “some words on a bit of paper”. He wanted to keep everything in his room so his siblings would get none of it but we pointed out that he needed a fridge for that.
In the interest of disclosure, I should point out that my Da worked in Avonmore-Avongate/ Avonmore/ Avonmore-Waterford/ Glanbia from 1974 until he retired and he did forward the original blog post to someone in there. But I have a sneaking suspicion it was the letter that did the trick. Consumer Food companies have to be very sensitive to any issues regarding food labelling and my guess is that they jumped on this as soon as they found out about it. In any case, Osc doesn’t know that his Grandad worked there so he thinks they are the greatest company ever. Only 40 more probiotic drinks to get through……
[tags]Yoplait, Yoghurt, Glanbia[/tags]
4 Comments
My Poxy Children
Posted on August 2, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Family.
Is is possible to get psychosomatic Chicken Pox? I think I may have it, I’ve been scratching for days.
Shibs got the pox two weeks ago and right on schedule the three boys got it yesterday. The baby is crucified with spots on his eyelids, lips and all over his head. Ois has a bad patch on his foot but is ok, Osc was flattened. I hope my mother was right about me having it as a kid. Unshaven, sweaty and pox-ridden does not a good business impression make.
And now, back to your dinner.
[tags]Pox, Chicken Pox[/tags]
9 Comments
