Vasco on the Wild Atlantic Way - Review by John McKenna

Vasco is the Aleph of the Wild Atlantic Way, the one that contains all, the point from which you can see everything.
For a start, it's a smashing, coastside room that is filled with light: just walking through the door energises you. All the things you hope to find on the WAW – space; light; time; discovery; informality; the promising stop whilst on the road – all seem to be here in a space where Karen runs front of house and Ross cooks.
Part of the lure for WAW travellers that you encounter at Vasco surely lies in the fact that Ross and Karen are themselves travellers. They have hiked and backpacked to beat the band, and the summation of their travels lies in the style of the room, and the style of the food, which is sustaining, but wonderfully light and positive, energising and dynamic, local yet international. A dish such as Doonbeg crab with sea spinach and wild garlic tart not only brings together what is on Vasco's own doorstep, but brings together the nous and generosity learnt through travel, through a hunger for knowledge as much as a hunger for food.
You look at the blackboard in Vasco and say to yourself: this is wise food – locally caught plaice with lemon and olive oil; Lebanese-style Burren lamb flatbread with cumin and mint; slow-cooked organic goat with rosemary and bean hotpot (wow! that's a critic's dish if ever we saw one); very berry bakewell with ice cream.
The food refuels you, the food banishes the fatigue of the road in an instant, helped by a sup or two of craft beer or Irish cider. As you happily work your way through that chicken, Gubbeen chorizo and roasted red pepper pie you find that you are thanking your lucky stars, for you have found the Aleph, the point from which the WAW makes complete sense, the point at which your hopes and wishes are not just satisfied, but are exceeded in every way. Ross and Karen do the magic in Vasco.
www.vasco.ie

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