Restaurant Reviews

John McKenna enjoys the great things to eat in Carmel Somers Good Things Café, West Cork.

Carmel Somers will be familiar to regular Megabyters as our resident cook over the last several issues. In between rustling up classics such as this month's Lamb and Aubergine Stew, Ms Somers has been quickly creating the Good Things Café, in Durrus, West Cork.

Housed in a white building, originally conceived as a butterfly farm, the room is simple and logical, and has a touch of Wolfgang Puck's Spago about it; it's classy and it's comfortable. There is an open-plan kitchen, a small counter with four stools, and the room is ringed by shelves filled with the most delicious food products: Good Things may be primarily a place to eat lunch and dinner, but in the meantime Ms Somers has also created a mighty fine deli, and there is also splendid food in the freezer to take away.

The cooking echoes the design. Elegance and simplicity, with a mature restraint, are the culinary diktats here, and what is most reassuring is the way in which the menu reads like a road map of the region: salad leaves are local; salmon is wild and served with sorrel; salami and ploughman's plates have West Cork cured meats and farmhouse cheeses; the beers are from the splendid Carlow Brewing Company; the pizza has local spinach with Durrus cheese; the pork is from West Cork. In a culinary age when too many chefs cook according to what they are sold by a supplier, this is mightily reassuring.

And using local foods gives the food and immediacy and a succulence that is utterly winning; that West Cork pork, served with small slivers of pear and a sweetly delicious tumble of cabbage, is knock-out; the Spanish-style chicken with peppers and West Cork chorizo is colourful and tactile, accompanied by a golden saffron rice. The accompanying details of dinner - beautiful wheaten and sourdough breads; a perfect slice of pommes anna, the freshest, most lightly dressed salad leaves - show such confidence that they serve to remind you that Ms Somers has worked with some of the best contemporary cooks - Simon Hopkinson, Colin White, Sally Clarke, Stephen Markwick. Mr Markwick, by the by, is in fact moonlighting in Good Things for the summer, having recently sold his much respected Bristol restaurant.

From our starters of Good Things salad - roasted peppers, feta and Puy lentils with leaves - and spiced aubergine with raita, through to fantabulous desserts of gooseberry and elderflower crème brûlée, and poached cherries with cherry ice cream, every single detail was pitch perfect. Good Things is already a don't-miss! address, and here, to conclude, are two vinous tips: the bubbly is Henri Goutourbe, and is one of the best champagnes you can drink, and don't miss the R.L. Buller tokai to sip with dessert; it's glorious, wickedly fine stuff.

Good Things Café, Ahakista Road, Durrus, West Cork Tel: (027) 61426 Open daily and for dinner

Claire Goodwille enjoys Michael Mee's fine cooking in Kilkenny's Fleva Restaurant.

Fleva wins hands down for location straight away. Situated on the first floor of a building in Kilkenny's High Street, it's window seats are great for people watching. There are three linked rooms with wooden floors, all with walls painted different primary colours which could have been garish but this is avoided by using lots of candles and lamps instead of direct light. Big gilt-framed mirrors added a warm touch of opulence. The walls are covered in prints (all for sale), which change every couple of weeks. The warm atmosphere is helped by a moody '50s soundtrack.

At first glance the a la carte menu appeared very ordinary (lots of meat and one 'design your own noodle dish' which felt a bit like a pizzeria type option) but it brightens up considerably with the daily specials (eg. wild goose, terrine of smoked and fresh salmon, potato and lentil gratin with pineapple jus).

I began with warm pigeon breast on salad leaves with mango pieces. The meat was as tender as you could wish for and was garnished with strawberries which were a suprisingly good addition. However this was the better of the two starters as the Crab Caesar salad was low on crab and high on dressing.

Wild Canadian goose (a daily special) was served with slices of potato and leeks. This dish was a real feast, the slices of meat nice and gamey, the sauce rich and fruity. This went very well with a fine bottle of Fleurie. The monkfish arrived with black olive tapenade, avocado cream, herb mash and 'Mediterranean vegetables' (mainly onions and courgette). The different flavours worked together and the dish had great presentation.

We had to take a breath before desserts but managed to find room for a kebab with big juicy sweet chunks of pineapple and mango, with rum and raisin ice cream which metled into hot butterscotch sauce. Truly delicious! Berry pavlova was satisfyingly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, garnished with selection of fruits (mainly strawberries, some raspberries) and streaks of dark chocolate.

Service was slick and professional and with a little more consistency Fleva wouldn't be that far from the top notch.

Fleva Restaurant, 84 High Street, Kilkenny Tel: (056) 70021 Open 12.15-3pm, 6pm-9.30 (10.30 Fri) Tue-Sun. Visa, Access, Diners, Amex.

Leslie William's is taken aback by Zerxes Ginwalla's Dublin take-away.

Zerxes Ginwalla's new Indian Takeaway is a prime example of the way our food culture is maturing. Most Irish consumers are now delighted to see dishes they have never heard of on ethnic menus and find a lack of kormas, jalfrezis and tikka masalas on a menu to be a positive thing.

A note on the back of the Ginwalla menu says 'although we would encourage our customers to try our dishes, we would be more than willing to prepare any dishes off the menu,' and although many people do order off the menu, more usually they are seeking variations of the dishes on offer rather than looking for chicken tikka masala.

Ginwalla used to be Maitre 'd at Poppadom (one of the most consistent and creative Indian restaurants in the country) in Rathgar, and his own takeaway at Sundrive Crossroads in Kimmage is presenting a similarly creative style of Indian food.

Along with things you will recognise such as onion bhajee and vegetable samosa are more creative dishes such as deep fried prawns coated in semolina crumbs, mashed potato, pea and gram flour dumplings (Aloo Tikki) and Lamb cooked with coconut cream, curry leaves and mustard seeds (Lamb Kovalam).

I ordered the full works safe in the knowledge that it could be snacked on the following day (in fact we managed to get three meals out of it thanks to some frozen naan bread I found in the freezer).

Chicken Tikka (tikka simply implies a yoghurt sauce - it is tikka masala that has become the cliché!) was mildly spicy with excellent lingering creaminess. The Semolina Prawns were the star of the whole show and were clean and fresh flavoured with a little heat but a lovely texture given by the semolina crumbs.

For mains we ordered a Dal Trio, Lamb Kovalam and Tandoori Chicken Mekhani. The chicken was thin strips of chicken breast cooked with tomatoes, butter and herbs and was wonderfully creamy and rich if perhaps a little sweet for some people's taste (I loved it!). The Lamb Kovalam was rich flavoured and quite spicy but with a pleasing hint of nuttiness from the coconut and the Dal was a happy sloppy counter balance to the chicken and lamb.

My GOC (garlic onion and coriander) naan was a little soggy (due to the car journey I reckon) but still tasted great.

Starters are from €3.50 to €5.95 (for the prawns) and mains from €9.95-€11.50 and while my bill for the above came to over €40 bear in mind that I squeezed three meals out of it! One starter, a main, a dal and a naan would have cost under €25 and we would probably still have had some left overs.

So down with Jalfrezi and Korma and long live Mekhani and Kovalam.

Ginwalla Indian Takeaway, 183 Lr. Kimmage Road, Dublin 6W, Tel: 01 4055475.
5pm-Midnight 7 days. Delivery Times 6-11pm.
Min. Delivery Charge €1.30