A last minute decision to pop down here for Sunday lunch turned out to be a total success. Fantastic seafood in a relaxed atmosphere with serene views of Clonakilty Bay. If they could just do something about parking, it would be perfect.

I’ve eaten in Deasy’s once before and thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason they popped into my head this morning and I hopped into the car with four of the five monsters to see if they were still doing Sunday Lunch. The usual crawl to Clon ensued followed by the twisty road to Ring.

I knew the parking had been bad but time had dulled my memory. It’s brutal. Four spaces in front of the pub and then you have to travel a few hundred yards to find a roadside spot. Fine as an adult, a total pain (and dangerous) if you have kids. I had to circle three times before parking. Just in case, I ran down and discovered that they didn’t open for lunch until 1. So we headed over to the newly revamped playground in Clon. This looks great but now seems much more oriented towards older kids. My middle-uns were scared to climb the ladders to the slides.

Back we trotted to Ring and luckily one of the four spaces was free and we parked right at the door. It was still pretty quiet at 1pm but people arrived bit by bit over the following hour. We were seated towards the back which made sense from a safety perspective. The staff and owner were very friendly throughout. The lack of a baby-seat was a bit of a pain but not the end of the world. After seeing the usual stroppiness of our four demons, they gave us some crayons and colouring sheets which calmed everyone down.

The menu is a big step above what you’d expect from a rural Irish pub. The three course lunch menu is €30 and looks great value to me. However, as our family meals are all about speed, I went straight to the main courses. Initially I was concerned that there was nothing very child-friendly on the menu but then I copped myself on and realised they should be eating the same stuff as me.

So I ordered three half portions of Monkfish and Fennel Risotto with puttanesca salsa for them and a Hake with Lemon Butter and Swiss Chard for me. They arrived reasonably quickly on adult stopwatches but an eternity in kid-time. I tried to explain “cooking on demand” to the kids but failed.

Of course all them said “yeuch, I’m not eating that” as soon as the plates were put on the table. Rather than get hassled, I let them be and started on my hake. Never ones to miss an opportunity to annoy me, two of them asked to taste the hake and both decided they loved it, the little sods. I split mine between them and then took over their plates of risotto. Dishes of lovely baby spuds and one of the best selections of vegetables I’ve ever seen in an Irish restaurant appeared too.

Myself and the two middlers had a bit of everything. Baby would eat nothing. 2 year old wouldn’t touch anything until near the end, at which point he let me feed him a mix of fish, risotto, carrots and spuds.

Oh, I nearly forgot to say, the food was fantastic. The fish perfectly cooked, the flavours subtle and not overpowering, the vegetables beautiful. Apologies for the lack of pics and menu details but I really had my hands full.

The two boys began messing too loudly so it was time to go. The bill for the food plus three 7-ups and a Ballygowan came to a refreshingly low €53. We’ll be back very soon avec wife and fifth child so I can sample more and have both hands available to eat with.

We’ve been looking forward to this for months and it did not disappoint. An overwhelming success for the organisers and the exhibitors. We had a fantastic few hours last night, sampling and chatting. Go!

Whilst the reports on this year’s Dublin Event varied, we had a strong belief that Cork would be good simply due to the smaller scale. Auntie Fi babysat the kiddies and we drove in to County Hall for 5.30 on the Friday evening. There was some confusion over buses but we got there quite quickly (you could just as easily walk to be honest).

I’ve never been in the City Gaol. Amazing! What a fantastic site and building. We’re definitely going to be back for a tour with the kids soon. The place was hopping even at 5.45 and we immediately took a quick recce to see where everything was.

Our first port of call was Bubble Brothers and we chatted with Austin and Christopher. They had the LouderVoice review wine collars in prime position which was fantastic. We kicked off with a Brightwater Sauvignon and I think I had a sparkling Rose which was top notch.

Right next door was Kay O’Connell’s fish and we got a small pack of their sushi which was fabulous. They were all part of a large stand containing all the English Market vendors. The legendary olive stand was there too. Yummmm.

We then just bounced from stall to stall trying samples of this and that, sipping on wine and just relaxing. The crowds did start to build and some things, particularly the demo tents and wine tasting became too full so we avoided them.

We ran into the wonderful Debz and Mr Debz of Spicendipity fame and had a fun time wandering around with them. Debz recommended some sausages and satay that she had tried.

The Woodford and Bourne wine tasting seemed to be of Torres which seemed a bit pointless as surely your local Esso garage has the full set? There were also a few stands which were just there for the sake of it rather than it providing much benefit to them or us e.g. SuperValu, Denny(!), Tropicana, Lindt. I was initially excited that Innocent Smoothies were there but it was just the usual dolly-birds handing out samples.

Some of the other highlights for me were Glenilen Farm and their mousse/cheesecake, Urru with their amazing cakes, Jane Russell’s sausages, Arbutus duck rillettes and fois gras and many of the wine stands.

We realised we hadn’t really had anything substantial to eat and headed over to the “meal” area. Earlier we’d had the Fenn Quay souffle and beetroot which didn’t look great but tasted wonderful. Unfortunately when we arrived back, there were massive queues for them, Ivory Tower and Ballymaloe House. We gave up and headed back to O’Connell’s for more sushi expecting it to be quite. Boy were we wrong. Totally mobbed! I queued for what felt like half an hour and got more fab sushi and some beautiful oysters.

We got to 9.20 and they were no longer selling the florin vouchers you use to buy all the nibbles, so off we trotted home.

My guess is that there are still plenty of tickets available for today and tomorrow due to people’s concern about the weather. You’ll meet some lovely exhibitors, eat some great food and have a few drinks. Not the cheapest few hours you’ll spend, but worth it once a year.

I’ve got some videos here on Qik (pretty low quality)

And all my pics here on Flickr.

I did a last-minute race down to The Fish Shop in Union Hall this morning to check it out. It’s as good as they say! Great selection of fish, shellfish, gourmet seafood products and wine. Well worth travelling to.

So my lazy ass didn’t get up early enough and I left Bandon at 12 knowing they shut at 1pm on a Saturday. I made it to Union Hall by 12:45 after spending the journey as far as Rosscarbery behind someone who averaged 35 MPH. The three younger squirts came with me and were just as impressed by the foggy views in Glandore as I was. The whole area is just lovely.

The shop was hopping when I arrived and lots of empty trays told me I’d left it too late. The guy serving confirmed that it had been a really busy morning. Given the horrible weather I decided to do a fish pie and I bought hake, smoked haddock, prawns (frozen since they were sold-out of fresh) and mussels. Add 6 scallops for tomorrows dinner and the total came to a very reasonable €38.

You just know you are getting ultra fresh produce in a fishing village and there is something for everyone. I particularly liked the look of the John Dory, Sea Bream and Sea Bass. They have a lots of live crab, lobster and oysters too. The display cabinet had some very interesting products like smoked tuna and they also have lots of the ususal frozen shellfish. I didn’t get a chance to check out the wine but I will on the next visit.

The perfect fish shop?

Christine and Dermot Gannon have created a flawless hideaway experience in the Tipperary countryside. Our short one night stay turned out to be one of my most enjoyable travel experiences ever.

My lovely mother-in-law Mary got myself and Catherine a night away in The Old Convent as a present last Christmas. It came very highly recommended by her sister-in-law Marie whose standards are very high. We headed off from Bandon mid-afternoon on a Friday and arrived little more than an hour later in Clogheen. On the way we finally passed through the legendary Ballyporeen with its Ronald Regan Visitor Centre.

The Convent itself is a gorgeous old tall building on the edge of Clogheen village in a beautiful garden. For some reason I was expecting a stern no-nonsense farmer’s wife to greet us. I couldn’t have been further off the mark. Christine is an absolutely lovely young American who knows exactly how to put you are your ease.

The whole setup of the operation is just perfect; we both kept saying “isn’t that just brilliant” as we’d discover another little touch in the room or restaurant. In particular I love the way they make it possible for you to be sociable with the lounge etc but they don’t push it on you. As two totally anti-social people when we are taking a break, we chose not to mingle.

The room was fantastic. I can’t really say much else about it. Comfy, massive bathroom, big settee and bravely, no TV. I applaud them for doing that. They have a TV in the lounge if you are desperate to see Nationwide.

The room was compelemented by a completely genius idea. They have a kitchen on the first floor too. It’s stuffed with lots of teas, coffees, chocolates, various bits and bobs you might run out of and loads of cookery books. C’mon, this is one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen in a B&B.

We headed down for dinner at 8pm and the place was soon hopping. Remember, this is basically in the middle of nowhere but can fill its dining room on a Saturday night. By our estimate, there were 3-4 other couples staying so the rest had travelled for the food. Compare that to a certain place in Ranelagh! They have a very striking white and purple motif running through the entire place which we both loved. Some nod to its religious background? The high ceilings and downstairs windows remind you of its previous function.

The meal was very impressive in every way. Not Michelin level but better for it. Fantastic flavours, interesting combinations and not a clunker in the set. The way they do it is unusual too. Everyone gets the tasting menu and they roll out the food to lots of tables at the same time. I know that sounds odd but it works and the food didn’t suffer.

A big room of diners was serviced by three staff and somehow it worked marvellously. At no point were we left waiting for anything. The staff were friendly, confident and fun.

The meal was as follows:

• Lobster Martini - This had sushi rice, wasabi, lobster, pineapple pickle, Ardsallagh whip and candied pistachios. All the flavours worked beautifully together, but I think I’d have preferred it to be smaller with less of the rice.



• Cherry Tomato Veloute - Oh god, I’d have licked the cup clean given half a chance



• Pastis Steamed Halibut in sweet and sour duck broth with duck wonton - For some reason this didn’t read well on the page but wow it delivered on the plate. Who knew halibut and duck go so well together? I think this was the highlight for Catherine.



• Blackcurrant Sorbet with passionfruit jelly - Yum yum yum.



• Seared veal fillet with braised shoulder, mushroom & pea fricassee, pecan and raisin gnocchi. Another beautiful medley of flavours that just hangs together so well. Only tiny criticism was that I expected the veal to be a bit pinker.
• Raspberry and White Chocolate Tiramisu - Not much to say except there was none left when I was done
• Chocolate Fondue - Stroke of genius. A bowl of melting chocolate, fondue prongs and lots of fruit to dip. We couldn’t stop eating this despite being totally full.
• Cupcakes and Coffee - I was honestly so full I could only fit the coffee but the mini-cupcakes looked lovely

And now for the clincher - guess how much the meal was per head? €60! If you live anywhere within an hour’s drive of there, book a meal now. This is amazing value for such high-end cooking. My only overall criticism of the meal was that it was too big. They could wind-back some of the portion sizes.

We had two wines with the meal; a Sancerre and a Reisling. Both lovely, both great value.

Off to bed we went and obeyed the stern rules on the room door which insisted on us sleeping-in and not having breakfast until 9am at the earliest! Oh, in keeping with the emphasis on relaxing there is sod all mobile signal (and no 3G).

And the breakfast, oh my god. I won’t go through the detail, I’ll just paste a photo of the menu below. I had the skillet eggs. A perfect plate of food, just perfect.

We left shortly afterwards on a beautiful Saturday morning.

I cannot come up with enough superlatives to describe The Old Convent. They have clearly thought through every single detail of their offering and I’m just in awe of them. They are the gold standard to which every other similar operation should aspire.

Pick up the phone and book yourself a night away now. You’ll leave feeling like a million dollars.

I think I’ve pretty much seen every TV programme that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has made. The quality/interest has varied over the years but I’m really digging (pun intended) this new series.

The show has the same premise as things like Jamie at Home where the focus is on growing and cooking seasonally. Obviously this is all about Spring and early summer and the first episode focused on lettuce, spinach etc.

You won’t see a huge number of recipes but you will see different approaches to vegetables and produce so that they go centre stage. BBQing Little Gems is something I’m definitely going to try.

Two other aspects of the show are a bit shoe-horned in but still welcome. He’s reprising the smallholding idea from his chicken series and following/helping a group of families in Bristol create an allotment with a few animals (initially pigs). I liked the fact that the kids were far more down to earth about the fact that pigs are lovely animals but they are also meat. Some of the more flighty adults should listen to them!

The “get a vegetarian to eat meat” section was odd but one of my favourite bits. The woman wasn’t a proper vegetarian in the sense that she just decided meat was “icky” when she was younger and stopped eating it rather than having any philosophical issues with it. She was taught how to break down a lamb carcass by Hugh’s butcher which reminded me of him doing the same thing on a pig in Ballymaloe several years ago. They then had lamb burgers which she liked and lamb neck which she didn’t.

Hugh also made dandylion and burdock beer from the local hedgerows. The guy helping him had previously had a bad pint of same many years previously and was very dubious. However, three weeks of brewing and Hugh had a winner on his hands. I’m almost tempted to try.

The honey face-off with the kid from Hackney was great fun and the fact that you can move bees 3 feet or 3 miles but nothing in between was news to me. To move them a few hundred yards, you have to move them a few miles first and then bring them back or they get confused by the landmarks. So bee brains can store landmark information? That’s better than many people

So an odd mish-mash of ideas and snippets but it all hangs together well. If you are interested in food gardening and cooking, as I am, you should watch it.