The Goat Street Cafe
Dingle
THE KERRYMAN
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I DINED alone in the Goat Street Cafe in Dingle. I lunch
there often but this is the first time I have opted for an evening meal. It’s
small — very small — and seats only 20 to 22 people. When I called in, there
was no free table so I slipped into McCarthy’s Bar next door and, after about
15 minutes, the waitress popped in to tell me a table was ready. I’m loath to call them waitresses. Like most of the clientele, I regard them as good friends. They are a talented bunch too. On the walls is a display of seriously good art photography — good enough to grace a decent gallery. The photographs are the work of the waitresses. It has two good chefs who send out food that is distinctly their own. the Goat Street Cafe. I started with a crostini with goat’s cheese and slices of a good chorizo sausage, served with a salad laced with pear and a decent homemade dressing. For a main course I had a duo of pollack and smoked haddock. It’s easy to serve up a good dish made of the more noble fishes. Sole, turbot and monkfish need little attention to turn them into a wonderful meal but the test for a chef is to take the more mundane pollack and haddock and create a dish that will stay in the memory alongside its more illustrious fishy cousins. If you want to see how it can be done, go along to |
Goat Street. The fish was cooked just so. With fish like this, overcooking for as little as half a minute can make a significant difference. The sauce, I would imagine, is based on the kitchen’s own fish stock and I cleaned my plate with bread from the bread bowl, not wanting to leave any behind me. Often when I write these columns, I refer, always anonymously, to friends who join me to eat. I said at the beginning of these scribblings that I dined alone, which is only partly true. I had just come from the funeral parlour where I had said my own private goodbye to a close friend, someone who had often been the ‘anonymous friend’ who shared my table. If there is such a thing as ‘cafe society’ in Dingle, then this man must have been its president for life. He would take lunch daily in one of the town’s restaurants, holding court with his many friends and taking phone calls from who knows where. The many friends who knew him will know who I’m talking about. Goat Street Cafe would have been his favourite cafe and it seemed fitting that I should dine here on this evening. The chair opposite me was empty but, in my mind’s eye, he was sitting there. I’m going to miss him. |
Inventive dishes on Goat StreetGoat Street. Now there’s a name you could get your teeth into.None of your namby-pamby Acacia Avenues or wishy-washy Cherry Blossom Drives. You know that Goat Street is for real, and there’s a story there somewhere for anyone who cares to delve into Dingle’s local history. The people who run the small café on the said street had the good sense to call it ‘The Goat Street Café’. No messing. You know what it is and where it is. My Mother-in-Law, a font of wisdom, had been telling me about this café for weeks, so when my daughter offered to take us out to lunch, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to give the place a try. The first thing that strikes you is the size of the place. It’s small. Very small. Only six or seven tables squeezed into a room about the size of your living room. For some reason I had a preconception of a menu of toasted sandwiches, BLTs, that sort of thing, so I was pleasantly surprised to find some very inventive dishes on offer. I went for a duo of fresh and smoked haddock on a garlic mash with a herb cream sauce, which, I think you will agree is a long way from a BLT. It was beautifully presented, a disc of mash with two pieces of fish on top, the lot surrounded |
by the sauce. This is not a dish for the faint hearted. It’s packed with strong flavours and the mash is heavy on the garlic. If it’s true what they say about garlic, I’m not going to need a flue jab. The mother-in-law had gone for a goats (what else?) cheese tart, and it looked very tasty indeed as it sat beside a healthy salad. I’ve a feeling I’ll be back to give it a try. My heart sank when I saw the waitress take a cloth and remove ‘Coffee and baileys cheese cake with caramel sauce and fresh cream’, from the blackboard. I had to settle for the ‘Vanilla and chocolate bread and butter pudding served with ice-cream’. Life can be so cruel. The Goat Street Café has no airs or graces. It’s the sort of place your average shopper or worker would drop in for lunch. I think my haddock was the dearest thing on the menu at €11.95. Most of the others were less than €10.00. It will come as no surprise to you to hear that The Goat Street Café, is run by a couple of young people. They do this sort of thing so well, and there is no better than the populace of Dingle to make the most of it. |
THE IRISH TIMES Friday, August 19th, 2005August DaysWhere to eat in An DaingeanOn the weekend of the Regatta, Arminta Wallace suggests things to do in the town formerly known as Dingle.Goat street Café is great for a spot of cappucino-drinking, but you’ll find it hard to resist the lunch menu - how about warm salad with chorizo, roast pear and goat’s cheese crostini? Open Mon to Sat 10.30am to 5pm-ish. On Fri, Sat and sun, it’s now open from 6pm as well. (066 9152770) |
THE KERRYMAN
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| Sir - On Friday evening,
August 5th, my husband, myself, my daughter Caroline, her
husband Gary and our four grandsons - aged between 11 and 14
- went to The Goat Street Café in Dingle, to celebrate our
golden wedding anniversary. The food was delicious as usual. The boys really enjoyed their huge sirloin steaks and beautifully cooked fresh vegetables. We ourselves enjoyed everything and at reasonable prices - no rip-off here. The other diners chatted to us before they left, most were friendly local people, who were very happy with everything. At about 9.30pm a young couple came in looking for accommodation. The proprietor said she was holding a room for another couple and made several calls to try and help them, but everywhere was full (Dingle race weekend). The couple left and almost immediately the phone rang and she had a cancellation of the room. She went outside, but couldn’t find them. A few minutes later, we heard her thanking one of our grandsons, Bob, who thoughtfully had gone looking for the couple and, having found them, brought them back. Beaming, smiling faces on everyone in the Goat Street Café. Sweet golden memories… Sincerely Shelia Birmingham, Dingle |