Search Results for 'Martin O'Donnell'

I'm no stranger to Blackrock Cottage, It has been the delicious carrot dangled at the end of the stick to reward myself and my wife Marie at the end of our weekend walks. The promise of a superb coffee and delicious brunch is the reward for having our faces scalded by the Atlantic breeze as we step-it-out along Salthill promenade. This however is the first time we have been for the evening menu so we were interested to see how it transformed for a dinner venue.

So you want a Christmas party with an element of surprise — then the Blackrock Cottage at the end of the Prom in Salthill is the ideal location.

It has been a busy year for the team at Blackrock Cottage. Since the restaurant opened in late 2022 it has become a firm favourite in Galway. It has also proven itself nationally, winning both the regional and the all-Ireland Best Newcomer Award at the Restaurant Association of Ireland Food Awards. It is also been nominated in the upcoming Food and Wine awards.

It is fair to say, I think, that we have all learned to lower our expectations a little when dining in a hotel. Often we hear the phrase "the food was great", qualified by the appendage "for a wedding". After all, serving 120-plus plates of beef or salmon all at the same time is an entirely different prospect than cooking two or four plates to order.

Dulse is the re-invention of the old Mulberry’s in Barna Village Centre, now almost a suburb of ever growing Galway city. Mulberry's was a surf and turf sort of place. It did a good selection of fish — crab claws, sole on the bone, monkfish, and mussels all featured. You would find dishes such as slow roast pork belly with broad beans, pea puree, and calvados reduction and prettily plated McGeogh's Smoked Black Pudding, with sweet potato puree, asparagus, and caramelised apple. Ballyhoura mushroom risotto with aged parmesan and truffle oil or pan-fried fillet of sea bass would arrive on a bed of warm fennel and orange salad and lemon sorbet with prosecco with a selection of perfect little berries floating on the surface. The reception area and cosy wine bar also served a few tapas-style dishes — crab cakes, prawns pil pil, calamari, spicy meatballs, or chicken liver paté. There was a comfortable waiting area also to accommodate the busy takeout trade of pasta and bistro dishes.