The Castle cafe|restaurant|bar | Blackrock, Cork

It was well overdue a catch up with my friend Maeve I used to work with and dearly miss.She had left me for the 'big smoke' to follow her dreams. We badly needed a catch up after spending endless hours in a restaurant working together to barely any time together at all. So after working from 4am til 1pm, I went straight home and got ready in a hurry! We were meeting Gemma who was another work friend. Tired with exhaustion, good friends and good food were the only thing to pick me up! 

The Castle is a well known cafe that is linked to the popular restaurants Market Lane and Orso that are found in Cork City. It is located in a spacious area on the banks of the River Lee. It is extraordinary in a unique way as it is found in a castle which is also an observatory space for science. There are many different menus throughout the day which also includes a coeliac friendly menu. It can often be difficult to find tasty gluten free food but there is a lovely option here (including my favourite dessert!!)

I have heard a lot about The Castle's sandwiches and after not much convincing I had ordered one in a heartbeat . The bread was fresh and was full of brightly coloured ingredients. The combination of flavours was perfect in every way. The mashed sweet potato was very impressive as I had never encountered or thought it would fit so well in a sandwich before. I was more than pleased with what I ordered !

 Lemon, rosemary & thyme marinated chicken with roast peppers, goats cheese,sweet potato and rocket

Dessert Time

Staring at the menu for about ten minutes, none of us could decide. They all looked so amazing so we had to settle by choosing three and shared. There was three spoons for each dessert which made us laugh having nine spoons between us! The desserts were scrumptious but strawberry glory was my favourite. I am a sucker for anything with strawberries and the vanilla creme anglais just topped the whole thing off. I couldn't get enough so hands down I will admit I devoured most of it!. My second favourite would have to be the coffee custard creme layered with bananas. This was rich and had a creamy texture that melted in your mouth. Bananas,coffee and nuts together are to die for together so I was in my element. Lastly, the half baked brownie was very inventive. The presentation was superb and had a small cute rectangular shape. It tasted amazing with the added touch of cream and pistachio.. The desserts are carefully constructed in a way to suit the different needs of customers. I'm far from a picky eater so I thoroughly enjoyed the adventurous desserts.

 Strawberry glory with crushed meringue, vanilla creme anglais and ice cream

Coffee custard cream, layered with bananas and almond florentine crunch

This Castle is definitely one of my favourite places to lunch in Cork. It is only 2km from the city which is very close to the centre but far enough to escape the busy atmosphere.

Find out more on there FB page and website ! :)

Holly xoxo

14A | French Church Street, Cork

Recently, I was catching up with an old college friend who I hadn't seen in awhile. We decided to re live the memories of our college days by visiting this little cafe on French Church Street. The location of this cafe is down a little street which is always full of mouthwatering sights of food and smells. We were regulars, often found guilty for spending hours upon hours here chatting when college deadlines were approaching. It often led to last minute decisions to hit the town dancing for the night. The funny thing is about this cafe is we never sat inside for a meal in the three years we were going there. We always sat outside where the waiters would turn on the heaters if needed. Even in Winter, we ate outside. It was our 'thing' , nevertheless  the inside has a beautiful decor full of mirrors everywhere. The menu is full of carefully put together dishes which include gluten free and dairy free etc to suit various different diets. 14A is a gem in the heart of cork city which is definitely worth a visit.

I thought this quote would be very fitting here and I'm sure nearly every tight knit college gang would understand...

" Life's too short to drink crappy coffee and cry about boys who don't care"- 

Matty Healy (The 1975)

Some of the amazing food...

Starters:

House baked breads with dips

Main course:

Tiger prawns and sliced chorizo cooked in Cajun spices and garlic on mixed leaf salad.

Bread and dips is a very simple but palatable entree which is rich in flavours including balsamic, sun dried tomato pesto and green basil pesto. They were accompanied by a wide variety of freshly baked breads. This dish is suitable for sharing and is extra yummy with a glass of wine!

The prawn and chorizo salad is a must have here! It will always be a favourite for me to order . It is a light but filling dish which is suitable for people who get really tired (aka food coma!) after too much carbs like myself. I'm usually very skeptical about ordering chorizo and prawn when dining out as they can often be poor quality. 14A sets a good standard to meet this quality and freshness. Being a big fan of spicy food, this little bit of heat can be found in the salad dressing which is made of Cajun spices and garlic.

This blog post wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention the lovely desserts found in this restaurant.The girls and I would often come here for a coffee and a sweet treat. Good day or bad day, it always made us feel a bit better eating warm chocolate fudge cake in each others company.

A little personal message to 14A...

14A, Thank you for the long night memories with such amazing people. But most importantly, Thank you for such the incredible food which got us through the college years. 

Visit there FB page or website to find out more! :)