Restaurant Reviews

Coast

Tramore is one of those south coast sea-side resorts that seem to specialize in dreariness and rain but, once you are ensconced in the svelte and super-groovy comfort of Coast, the sadness of the sea-side resort outside seems a zillion miles away.
Coast is pure gorgeous, one of the smartest, most comfortable restaurant spaces you will find anywhere in Ireland. And if Turlough McNamara and his team, with fiancé Jenny McNally calling the shots in the kitchen, over-deliver on the décor in their pair of dining rooms and smart, hip bar, it's just the beginning, for they over-deliver with the food as well.
Jenny McNally's smart take on prawn cocktail - the lettuce and shellfish sandwiched between thin slices of piquillo pepper, with more prawns resting on top - is one of the best contemporary strokes you can eat, but savoury mains such as perfect barbary duck with cassis sauce are just as confidently and handsomely delivered. Stir-fried vegetables could do with some more consideration, but this is the only cavil about an operation of exquisite polish, brought to a rousing climax by gorgeous desserts such as caramel meringues that are right on the money. Only several months old, Coast is set to be a major player in the pulsing culinary culture of County Waterford, and reason alone to go to dismal Tramore. This restaurant is rockin'.
Coast, Upper Branch Road, Tramore, County Waterford Tel: (051) 393646 www.coast.ie

Grapefruit Moon

Ballycotton Bay, in south east Cork, is Allen territory. Home to Ballymaloe House, run by the legendary Myrtle Allen, home to the Ballymaloe Cookery School, run by Darina Allen, and home now to the newest generation of Allens to set out their culinary stall.
So, step forward Ivan Whelan -- son of Wendy Allen who runs the magnificent Ballymaloe shop and Jim Whelan - and his partner Jean Manning, cook and f-o-h respectively of Grapefuit Moon, an elegant, subtle room smack in the centre of Ballycotton village, and the Allen clan's latest food lover's adventure.
The Allen characteristics of understatement, and an almost intuitive understanding of good food, must come with the genes, for this pair belie their youth with food that is winningly professional and winningly delicious. The watermelon salsa served with fillets of john dory is clever, but it is the superlative freshness of the fish itself that is beyond argument. And to show he can move beyond the classics that adorn the menu - lambs kidneys flamed in brandy; slow-cooked lamb shanks; black sole on the bone; fillet of beef with French fried onions - Mr Whelan cooks a fine dish of Cantonese noodles with duck and red peppers. Desserts are a comfort zone of bread and butter pudding, crème brulee, Irish coffee meringue roulade, all as beautifully achieved as every other detail in this vital newcomer.
Main Street, Ballycotton, east Cork Tel: (021) 464 6646

Castle Leslie

Castle Leslie, ancestral home of the strange and celebrated Leslie family in County Monaghan, close to the border, is gargantuan. Big is not in it: you need the thesaurus for this pile: Brobdingnagian; Titanic; immense. As I was walking by the (vast) lake in the (colossal) grounds, about 10,000 rooks and crows flew overhead, heading to nest in the (monstrous) woods. Everything about CL is oversize: the baths are big enough for small orgies; the bedrooms slightly-faded theatres for living.
And oversize is the word for Castle Leslie's reputation these days, ever since Fab Macca (that's Sir Paul McCartney to you pre-Beatle generation out there) had his wedding reception here, and the word about this behemoth of a country house went all around the world.
The man carrying that reputation is chef Noel McMeel, and the reputation is in good hands. McMeel is one of Ireland's most original cooks, and his food is simple and utterly lovely: a little gateau of crab cakes with pickled beetroot and spiced couscous is an intricate weave of flavours, something solid like County Monaghan fillet of beef with spring onion mash is sublime.. For all the Fab Maccas of the world, McMeel cooks a most imaginative vegetarian menu, with signature dishes such as spinach bavarois with woodland mushrooms, or aubergine gateau with black pepper tuile delivered as convincingly as it gets. Beautiful cooking, and if you have a yen for the curious and surreal, then the rooms are likely to appeal as well.
Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co Monaghan Tel: (047) 88109 www.castleleslie.com