Driving to Kinsale

by gypsygrub

BREAKFAST

In the morning, it was breakfast again at the lovely Queen of Tarts. This time I was not as impressed by them. I ordered a fresh orange juice, a tea, and a blueberry scone with preserves and clotted cream.

The juice was fresh, and the tea was excellent. The preserves also tasted handmade, and the clotted cream. Sadly, the star of the show- the scone- was bland. You would think that because a scone is 90% butter, it would always be good. This was not. It was rather hard and dry, and there were hardly any blueberries in it.

SNACK

On the way to Kinsale, we stopped off to see the Powerscourt gardens. They reminded me a lot of Versailles, and were vast and beautiful. The best part for me though, was the small miniature doll house museum which was being shown upstairs. In the Powerscourt area there is a small food market, that sells home baked and healthful packaged foods. I got a snack of prunes, and some local handmade yoghurt. I was very impressed by the prunes. Usually in America the prunes are hard, dry and remind you of an old persons behind. These however were soft, plump and pleasant to eat. Best prunes ever.

This local yoghurt was amazing. They say when ever you go to a new country you are suppose to eat some of their yoghurt so your body can adjust to the new bacteria. This yogurt did taste different from the one in the States. It was rich and perfectly sour, with no sweetener whatsoever. At the bottom was a generous layer of sweet stewed rhubarb. Together the mix was a delight to my palate. If your ever in Ireland, you must try the Glenilen Farm yoghurt.

While driving on the left side of the road (I know, its terrifying) I spotted an organic strawberry stand, and decided to get a carton and try them. The woman selling them told me they were special Wexford strawberries. I didn’t think anything of it, and tried one. They taste nothing like any strawberry I have ever had. In fact, its rather hard to explain how they tasted without having one yourself. So get on the plane, now! I’m only kidding, I will do my best to try and explain their taste. The strawberries were sweeter than the ones in America, and also more subtle. It was like what an Asian pear is to a regular pear. It was sweeter, more watery, and juicy, but equally if not more delicious.

Any time I’m on the road in a new place, I always stop at the stands on the side of the road. I have met many amazing people by simply stopping at a small stand, and talking to the locals.

DINNER

We decided to dine a little more elegantly, and go to Max’s Wine Bar in Kinsale. We had been told by our B&B The Old Presbytery that it was the spot to eat. The French chef their is supposedly one of Ireland’s best, so I went with my expectations very high.

As a side not I would like to say that the Old Presbytery is an enchanting place to stay. My room was very beautiful and homey, with a huge bathtub! I highly recommend it if your ever in Kinsale.

I must say, after driving all day, I was quite moody, so I pumped some tea in me, and had some of the bread basket. It was homemade brown bread with hummus, which tasted like it was made from pine nuts. The bread was nothing special, it was the worst bread I have had so far in Ireland. I liked the pine nut hummus, it was creative and new, and the sweetness from the different nut really zipped on your tongue.

For starters I got a crab cake with avocado salad on the bottom. It was adorned with fresh tomatoes, and a few leaves of arugula. I enjoyed it, and especially thought the arugula played well with the crab. Unfortunately, overall it was not extraordinary. I could have made it at home equally as good.

For dinner I also had a starter. On this trip, I have been so excited about the food, I have been eating ten times more than I usually eat and so I decided to order something small this time.

This is my Langosta with courgette and risotto. I’ll start with the bad. The risotto was very dissapointing. It was in fact not a risotto at all, but just plane rice. The Langosta was superb. It was cooked to perfection, and the butter lemon sauce complimented it with grace. When you took a bite, every part of your mouth new it was right. When I bit into the Langosta, it literally melted on my tongue. Absolute perfection.

I love going to a restaurant with a friend, so I can taste two dishes instead of one. That happened this time and I also got to try the Fennel Hake.

Unfortunately, this dish was very un-extraordinary. The hake is a bland fish, and needs some surprise to liven it up a bit. This had a simple wine sauce, that was also bland.

For dessert I got the special – Passion Fruit Crème Brulee, my companion got a Chocolate Ganache with Kumquat Coulis and Vanilla Ice Cream.

I absolutely love everything about passion fruit –  but only when its done correctly. The sweetness and tartness of a passion fruit tickles my palate, and floods my brain with endorphins. This Brulee was disappointing. The passion fruit taste was there, but only in the sweet aspect – there was no tartness. It could have easily been made better.

 

Three butter biscuits came on the side, which were much better than the Brulee itself.

 

The chocolate ganache was also disappointing. It was a simple chocolate cake, with a molten filling, ice cream, and whipped cream. The only thing that I thought was worth eating was the Kumquat Coulis which was perfect and fresh. Next time, I’ll just have a plate of coulis thank you very much.

Unfortunately, I would have to say the meal at Max’s Wine Bar was forgettable. I don’t highly recommend it as a spot to eat in Kinsale. I have heard The Stolen Pizza restaurant was amazing Salmon Lasagna, and next time I plan to go there for dinner.

Tomorrow we head out for Dingle! Happy eating to all of my readers from around the world!