Dinner or lunch at the Western Hotel, and details of the upcoming Galway Food Festival

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

The Western Hotel is in Prospect Hill, pretty close to County Hall and TK Maxx. It is a place favoured by locals but I would reckon that many of you have never eaten there. I called in for dinner one evening and was quite surprised at both the price and the quality. I also asked if they did any special deals at lunch time and was told that they have a loyalty card scheme which entitles you to what must be the very best value main course in the city. The normal main course costs €7.50 or €8.50; however if you have a loyalty card you will get a €2 discount off one special each day. That means you can have something like chicken kiev or a roast of the day for €5.50, surely this is as low as you are ever going to see in Galway? If it is half as good as the dinner I had it is worth seeking out, especially if you work in the area.

The Galway Food Festival

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

This will be celebrated over the Easter weekend, April 6 to 9. It is a pretty ambitious project and involves cooking demos in the festival tent, foodie talks at the Galway City Museum, and food tastings all over town. Even if you have only the tiniest interest in food you really need to visit www.galwayfoodfestival.com

Artisan named best restaurant in Galway

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Artisan Restaurant on Quay Street has been awarded the ‘Best Restaurant in Galway’ at the regional finals of the Santa Rita/Sunday Independent Life magazine Irish Restaurant Awards, which took place in Galway last week.

Something for everyone at Kinvara Farmers’ Market

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Kinvara Farmers’ Market will reopen its gates on Friday April 6 in the charming walled garden behind Johnston's Hall on the main street of the village.

Galway Modern Homes and Building Exhibitions returns to Leisureland this weekend

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

The Galway Modern Homes and Building Exhibition was launched recently by Mayor Hildegarde Naughton.

Enjoy your afternoon tea with Kilkenny

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Tea and cake has never been so stylish! The new Shannonbridge range at the Kilkenny store, home to Ireland’s largest collection of Irish designers, has a fabulous range of dishes and teapots to help you host you the ultimate tea party. Available in Kilkenny’s 10 stores nationwide, this vintage-inspired collection has an array of quirky and pretty prints sure to brighten up your kitchen.

The Shannonbridge floral range has a retro summer feel and the dainty floral print gives a look reminiscent of “the good china”! The Shannonbridge Ivy Rose White, €39.95 and the Shannonbridge Sugar Bowl Ivy Rose White, €14.95 are a must have tableware combo. The Shannonbridge Two Tier Cake Stand Ivy Rose White, €29.95 is sure to inspire you in the kitchen – a great way to showcase your baking skills.

Get ready for great outdoors with Green Tree Designs

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Green Tree Designs has a great special offer to get you in the mood for summer — purchase any product over €500 until July 1 and be entered in a draw to win a see-saw.

First self-help programme for persistent fatigue in cancer survivors now available in Galway

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

A home-based intervention developed by St James’s Hospital and the Regional Oncology Programme Office, Dublin to help cancer survivors manage fatigue, one of the most common, distressing, and disabling difficulties people face after cancer treatment, has now been made available to patients by Roche Products (Ireland) Ltd in UHG, the Galway Clinic, and Portiuncula.

Dr Sonya Collier and Dr Anne-Marie O Dwyer from the St James’s Hospital psychological medicine service have developed the first known self-help programme for persistent cancer-related fatigue, a severe condition that remains for longer than six months following the end of cancer treatment and can affect approximately 25 per cent of cancer survivors.

Follow a weight loss programme that really works

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

We all know dieting just does not work. In fact dieting causes our bodies to go into starvation mode and work to store fat, not burn it. So not only are you hungry, fatigued, and irritated but your body is working harder to hang on to and store those pounds.

Replacement meals and diet shakes are not the solution either. When it comes to weight loss there are so many experts telling us about the next big thing, but the only way to lose weight is to take a healthy, consistent, approach, to start to get your metabolism back on track, get your body working properly and burning unwanted and unneeded fat. This is where SureSlim at Therapie Clinic comes in.

Renowned yoga expert to hold workshop in Galway

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Dave and Laragh Cunningham of the Yoga Shala are bringing renowned teacher, speaker, and author Max Strom to Ireland to do two weekend workshops, one in Dublin from May 4 to 6, and one in Galway from May 11 to 13.

Lose two stone in ten weeks with diet, exercise, and metabolism correction

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

There are three keys to a genuine weight loss (real fat loss) plan — diet, exercise and metabolism correction. All three keys interconnect; one will not work without the other. Your metabolism is the most powerful of the three keys, it is the ‘switch’ that controls everything else. In most people this switch is off.

Travelling light -

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

A week on a sun drenched beach or discovering the charms of an exotic far flung paradise? Most of us would like to spend our Easter break this way enjoying a change in routine away from the demands of work or home.

Let’s keep it casual…

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

Despite our internal craving for all things glam, there comes a time when we just want to keep it casual. Our style that is. But there is equilibrium where sparkly meets tracksuit and I call it “smart”. Typically at the weekends, we like to brush off the week, send the suit to the dry cleaners and don our Saturday finest, the most popular being jeans and a top. The definition of casual clothes has evolved over the last number of years as Ireland is now the home to some of the most renowned retailers, both indigenous and international. We can, without fail, style ourselves comfortably and affordably. I had the pleasure of interviewing British fashion legend, Gok Wan last week and we talked of Irish style in general and he thinks we got it sorted. So if Gok thinks we have style, how do we balance the chic with the comfy?

Annual spring sale at Aibheil of Adare

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

The annual spring sale at Aibheil of Adare bridal boutique is the bridal sale not to miss if you are a bride-to-be looking for a stunning wedding dress for less.

Notes for the season

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

Lisa Lane
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Combining comfort and style

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

Shoes are our guilty pleasure. They can finish off an outfit and flatter your shape. The rights shoes are as important as the right outfit. But above all they have to be comfortable. I have never met a woman that didn’t have a dilemma with her shoes at some point — sometimes you can’t walk in them, they hurt your feet, you don’t know what to wear them with, or they are not stylish enough. I spend a lot of my time on my feet, and after experimenting and looking around I was pleased to find shoes that suit me, are comfortable, and look great with my clothes. This week I want to focus on day shoes that combine style and comfort.

Great spring summer looks at Colette Latchford

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

A visit to Colette Latchford is a shopping experience customers like to repeat.

Cool Pizza Dozzina at the Twelve Bearna

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

When Fergus at the Twelve does anything he tends to go all out and go one better than everybody else, especially if it is something that he really likes, and I reckon he is a secret pizza addict. Most people who want to add a pizza section to an already established restaurant would simply ring up the catering equipment suppliers and get three or four quotes, call the sparks, and job done. Not Fergus, he headed off to Napoli in Italy and met the manufacturers of several pizza ovens. You might wonder how the oven could make a big difference, well in the world of cooking things perfectly, authenticity is everything, from the ingredients to the tools of the trade. This oven is made from material that came from Mount Vesuvius and can be fired by either gas or timber. That makes it pretty authentic in my book.

As you can see in the picture it is a pretty substantial affair and can cook seven or eight 12-inch pizzas at a time. This brings me to what I think is a pretty clever piece of marketing, all pizzas are 12 inches and all cost €12 — even the word Dozzina in the name means 12. However the best part of the whole project for me is that they are using only the finest gourmet ingredients for the pizza. When have you ever seen another pizza maker stating who supplies all the raw material? Turf smoked Connemara ham, gubeen cheese, superb parma ham, buffalo mozzarella from Macroom, the biggest and juiciest olives from a small producer in Italy, artisan braesola, mortadella, and salamis — this is what will make this one of the most popular pizzas in the west, at least in my humble opinion.

Delicious new developments in catering from Green Olive

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

It is often said that when one door closes, another one opens, and this certainly rings true for Jacinta and Val Lynam. After the couple were both made redundant by their former employer, they decided it was time to make the leap and start their own business. With Jacinta Lynam’s years of experience in the catering and hospitality industry as a general manager and Val’s passion and enthusiasm for food as a renowned head chef, they decided to merge their business and creative talents and launch an event catering company.

New fitness classes at The Coast Club

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

There is no better time to get active with The Coast Club’s exciting new fitness classes and attractive new rates. If the gym is not for you and you find it hard to motivate yourself on your own then signing up for one of these fitness classes is a super way to have fun, get fit and feel fantastic.

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