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.
Holly xoxo
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