Trix4u Entertainment: Not your basic pub grub!!

I hadn’t given any particular thought as to what we would be eating on our vacation. I guess I assumed we would have the traditional pub fare of fish and chips, shepherd’s pies and variations served to us in the pubs. We were in for a surprise. From our first lunch to our last dinner were were treated to great meals. I decided to start snapping photos of our plates, because I didn’t think people would believe how well the food was prepared and served. We sampled everything from duck springrolls, goat cheese tarts, lobster, to fishy pie.

goat cheese tart

duck spring rolls

The sandwiches which we often enjoyed for lunch were constructed of big slices of fresh homemade breads with thick fillings.

Our favourite bowl of fish chowder was at Ladyswell in Cashel, County Tipperary. A creamy golden broth held spoon sized portions of salmon, white fish and mussels in the shell. This was accommpanied with warm slabs of brown bread. This feast inspired me to sample the chowder as we crossed the country. The bowls of chowder varied slightly in each county and every bowl was good to the last spoonful.

In Westport, we dined at The West, a pub famous for it’s award winning chowder. We decided to order the fishy pie which uses the chowder as its base. It wins the award for the best fishy pie. It had a toasted crust of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs and was smooth and creamy. One evening we dined on salmon that was so rich and buttery, it melted in your mouth.

According to our internet search, the fish at Leo Burdocks, Temple Bar, Dublin is the best you can get. Of course, we had to sample it. The fish platter arrived with a massive order of chippys. We also tasted the fish and chips at Ti Joe Watty’s on Inish Mohr. It was excellent and the chips are served in their own little metal fry basket - too cute.

Leo Burdock's fish & chips

Ti Joe Watty's fish & chips

I was really pleased with the amount of salads and vegetables that were available with our meals. In previous trips to Europe, fruits and vegetables were severely lacking. I remember after having been in London for 2 weeks, stumbling upon a Pizza Hut with an all you could eat salad bar. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. Another positive food note, was that the majority of the menus in Ireland listed items that catered to customers with gluten free dietary requirements.

We shared a few desserts along the way. Most notable was Irish ice cream, banoffee pie from the Harbour Inn, Portrush, and a hot fruit crumble served at The Smokehouse, in Dingle.