My Weekend (2)

As already mentioned, we started the Sunday morning with scrambled eggs and roasted peppers. It was actually a morning where you would love to cuddle up with a blanket and a good book but Marjorie got other ideas and so we went to the sea side - not difficult when living in Clonakilty. We went to Glandore, a lovely little village at the sea - quiet and sleepy on a Sunday morning (but I don't want to be there with hundreds of tourists swarming in). We found a charming old church and walked up to it. Unfortunately it was closed and it was only used for service during the months of July and August (I bet we were too early for mass). So we wandered around a bit and Marjorie told me how she used to spend time up there when she was a kid...(and that wasn't too long ago). By the time we were finished with the walk and the mist got through the cloths - hunger started to kick in and so we headed back to Clonakilty and went to Richy's Bar and Bistro in Wolfetone Street.

It was a lovely restaurant with stylish interior. And it seems to be family friendly....too family friendly. We were greeted by the waitress with 'hi guys, how you doin' and pointed to a free table next to a family with one child in a kiddy chair. I don't go into the discussion if kids should be in restaurants or not.....this particular one shouldn't have been (or the parents shouldn't have been) and after 10 minutes we asked for a new table further away.

The walls of the restaurant are filled with magazine articles of Richy's (the restaurant was opened by no other than Bertie Ahern) and Richy even published a cookbook. The lunch menu didn't look impressive but the a la carte one showed some promise. Unlucky for us, it was only available after 5pm. We weren't that hungry so Gordon and I ordered goats' cheese tart with buttered leeks and Steve went for the seafood chowder. My tart came crumbled with a big fat slice of goats' cheese. Underneath the cheese were some sad looking leeks whose original colour could only be assumed. The side salad was simply just a slice of tomato, slice of cucumber, a bit of diced onion and I think I saw a drop of balsamic. Steve liked his chowder. Gordon and Steve chose fish and chips as the main, while went for the chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms wrapped in bacon and mash. The side vegetables were kohlrabi, cauliflower and carrots with no seasoning and the few carrots being the only colour in the whole dish. Gordon's fish was dry and the side salad seems to be standard. I tried the baked potato.....lucky me that I wasn't hungry as it was the smallest potato I have seen in a long time. At least they were generous with the sour cream. I wanted to see if the desserts at least are something to write home about so I asked for the banoffi pie which came in a pastry case, warmed and topped with ice cream. It was actually nice although it was the first banoffi pie I had warm. Who ever is responsible for the pastry in this restaurant should go back to catering college as they leave a lot to wish for. Marjorie loves sticky toffee pudding and she loved her portion.

Will I go again - maybe in the evening. Does this restaurant got potential?? It could. The chef is definitely ambitious but not quite there yet. His staff needs to be trained properly as they couldn't cope with all the little people around them, cleaning up was very slow (tables were wiped but food that was on the floor was left there so I had the pleasure of stumbling on some rice cakes) and some of the waitresses didn't even know what they were serving. I bet Richy wants to be up-market.....way to go in my humble opinion.

After coming back to Marjorie's lovely home, we had a nice cup of tea and got back on the road to Cork. I could have stayed on another month or so.....one thing is sure, I will be back for more.