Pat and Ali’s Cinnamon Cottage puts John McKenna in the birthday mood.

I walked into Cinnamon Cottage and immediately felt as if it was my birthday. It was October 28th.
The thing is: my birthday actually falls on March 29th.
Don’t confuse me with the facts. Whatever day it is when I walk into Cinnamon Cottage, it feels like my birthday.
Patrick and Ali put together such an assemblage of good things, delicious things, tempting things, and make them all look as handsome as the day is long. When you walk into Cinnamon Cottage, you have to wake up to a reality: resistance is futile.
You might have only nipped in for a coffee and one of their signature chocolate and raspberry tartlets. But, once your eyes scan the riches on the tables and shelves and in the cabinets, you quickly realise that you actually need all these things. Living the good life requires all these things.
So you grab a few sausage rolls as well, and a Dundee cake, and a bottle of wine, and some biscuits, and maybe something from the cooked food section for your dinner.
Resistance is futile. And, anyhow, it’s your birthday, remember? Even if it isn’t.
Patrick and Ali have brought a pair of dynamic new energies to this great Rochestown institution, and one of the great local secrets is something we just have to share: if you are already quaking at the thought of having to perform miracles with the big Xmas dinner, quake no more. Patrick and Ali will do all the heavy lifting for you, as they do for so many Cork citizens. Don’t worry about the starter: they do that. Don’t worry about pudding: they do that too. And whatever else you need, from stuffing to the ham to that good Xmas bottle of wine, can all be sorted out in Cinnamon Cottage.
Looks like Xmas just came early. And on your birthday, too!
Cinnanmon Cottage, Monastery Road, Rochestown, Cork 021 489 4922 cinnamoncottage.ie