Sally's blog

Martin Shanahan has shared some of his recipes from best-selling Martin's Fishy Fishy Cookbook, with a plea to everyone to keep eating fish and support our fishing industry.

Here are three of our favourite Fishy Fishy Recipes

Fisherman's Pie

Is it something in the water? Is it an instruction carried by the west coast winds?
We’re not sure what causes it, but what we do know is this: no one sells Galway better than Galway’s food people.
At every point where you eat, drink and interact with foodie folk in Galway, they are not just selling you what you are buying, they are also selling you what is, in fact, the secret of the city: to get to the heart of Galway, start by eating, drinking, shopping.

You would be hard pushed to find another restaurant that offers such a diverse and distinctive palette of ingredients as those you will find in the West Cork Burger Company, on Cork city’s Washington Street.
Wait?! A burger restaurant? With a fabulous trove of foods, from Iberico chorizo to Manchego cheese, to kim chi, superb halloumi, West Cork Garlic - smoked (with real smoke), shiitake mushrooms, proper cheeses, butcher's meat, and that is before we get to the burgers themselves, which offer West Cork Wagyu no less.

The simple things are the hardest to get right. Val Lynam knows this, which is why he invests so much effort into getting the burgers in Wholly Cow, on Galway’s Newcastle Road, just right.
Mr Lynam is a pretty obsessive dude: he worries about the provenance of his beef, his buns, his pickles. He fusses over his kimchi and his barbecue sauce. He agonises over the dry matter of the spuds he uses to make his fries. He frets over his environmental footprint.

When the wind comes roaring down the 850 metres from the summit of Slieve Donard and pummels the trippery town of Newcastle in south County Down, you start to worry that it is going to pick up The Hatch, Colin and Bronagh Johnson’s handsome food truck, and toss it casually into the nearby cedar trees.

The Roast House is a delightful part of Tralee’s hospitality culture, a destination where Ronan and Linda Hurley have combined a smart modern coffee and restaurant culture with friendly Kerry-style hospitality.
The room is the veritable definition of what you might call a 'friendly' place to eat. A quiet relaxed room instantly puts you at ease, should you choose to sit down and eat, rather than just stop for a coffee at the smart, modern coffee bar whose in-house roastery is the only example of its kind in Kerry.

How does Louis Mulcahy’s Caifé na Caolóige manage to seem so vibrant?  

Is there any good news to be taken from Athlone’s recent plight at the hands of the flood waters of the River Shannon? Yes, there is. The town has loads of good places whose food gives you just the comfort you need after a brush with the elements. Athlone is a vibrant and happening food destination. Here are some highlights from a recent tour.

Forget Batman vs Superman. Forget Marvel. Forget The Avengers.
If you are searching for something that zings like Thor’s hammer and connects like Hulk’s left fist, then you have just one destination in 2016.
Come with us to Rory Gallagher Place in Cork city, and get ready to meet the girl with the punchiest style since Violet Parr in The Incredibles.
Yup, that’s Ali Honour, firing out the food in her smart, open-plan space, Ali’s Kitchen, and knocking you for six with the best breakfast the city can muster.

Number One Pery Square in Limerick’s Georgian Quarter has featured in Megabites before, for the elegance of its surroundings and the quality of the welcome from Patricia Roberts and the rest of the team. And, of course, for their spa and their food and wine offering. The reason Pery Square are featuring today can be summed up in one word – choucroute.