Penne Arrabiata

Strolling through the streets of Killarney, we take the opportunity to check out a few restaurants to see where we might dine this evening.  We check out the Flesk Restaurant where we dined on our previous trip.  Peering through the window and from the weather-worn menu in the restaurant window, it reminded too much of a group-type place and on a Saturday night it could be a bit rowdy and noisy. We next check out the menus at Gaby and Foley’s and they are as expensive as they were many years ago.

We finally decided to give Robertino’s a go.  We don’t remember seeing this restaurant before, but the waiter assures us that they’ve been in business for 18 years.

We order a spread of dishes to try out the food here - insalata capresse, vongole al pommodoro, gamberoni, pizza quatro formaggi and penne arrabiata.

From the outside, Robertino’s looks like a small restaurant, but it is actually quite a large place, taking 100 covers at a time.  The front section of the restaurant is noisier as groups are seated there.  If you want a quieter dinner experience, ask to go to the back room.  Just before you get to the back section, there is a small section to the right, on a little platform.  This is the most private section and where we dined.

Robertino’s has a nice range of traditional Italian dishes, seafood mains and meats.  I notice that the people around us are mostly having pastas which look appetising.  The prices at Robertino’s are reasonable, but the wine is on the expensive side.  Our Corvo is 30 Euros, and this is the most expensive item on the bill.

Robertino’s is on High street in Killarney, not too far from our Killarney Towers Hotel in College street.

Irish Coffee at the Red Fox Inn

If you’re doing a coach tour of the Ring of Kerry, you will no doubt be making an early morning stop at the Red Fox Inn, midway between Killorglin and the scenic village of Glenbeigh.

Most visitors touring the Ring of Kerry usually start from Killarney and coaches travel the Ring of Kerry in an anti-clockwise direction.  Depending on your time of departure from Killarney, you’ll probably arrive at the Fox Inn at about 10:00 a.m.

Not everyone has the constitution to absorb alcohol in the morning, but the Red Fox Inn has a reputation for its Irish coffee and that’s why we’ve stopped here.

The Red Fox Inn is an old traditional road house situated next to Kerry Bog Village Museum. Their website says that they cater for coach tours and when we entered the pub, rows of glasses were already filled with generous serves of whisky, ready for the coffee and cream to be added.

The Red Fox Inn have their own method of making this delightful Irish drink and if you want to find out their method, you can buy tea towels and cards which lets you in on their Irish coffee recipe secret.

The Mulvihill family have been running the Red Fox Inn for over 17 years and it’s renowned for its good food as well. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to try the food or visit the Kerry Bog Village Museum on our whistle stop at Glenbeigh.

Getting there:

On the Killorglin to Glenbeigh Road, 4.5km outside Killorglin on the main Ring of Kerry Route, the N70.

Red Fox Inn
Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry
Republic Of Ireland

Galway Oyster Festival

My greatest disappointment with my two trips to Ireland is that I’ve never made it to the Galway International Oyster Festival, usually held in September to celebrate the start of the oyster season.

I love oysters and Tony loves oysters and Guinness so this festival is really ideal for us, but we’ve missed it!

Origin of the Festival

The Galway International Oyster Festival didn’t originate out of any Irish tradition or medieval cultural belief, but because of one ingenious Irish man’s idea to boost business for his hotel. It’s 1953 and in the first week of September, Brian Collins, the dismayed manager of the Great Southern Hotel, looked around at his near empty hotel and wondered how could he extend the tourist season into September?

Later that day, whilst discussing menus with his head chef, it was suggested that oysters should be on the menu as they had just come into season. The light bulb went on in Brian Collins’ head and he thought “why not celebrate the opening of the oyster season with a festival?”

With the help from local businessmen and Guinness, the first festival took place in September 1954 with a modest 34 guests attending.  From then on, everything else is history and today the Galway International Oyster is regarded as one of the most celebrated and longest running oyster festivals in the world.

The festival is four fun-filled days and nights of oyster shucking championship, oyster tasting, parties, parades, food and drinks and, no doubt, lots of Irish humour.   You needn’t worry if oysters is not your kind of food as there will be other gourmet and culinary delights for all.  But, if you do love creamy Guinness and fresh oysters, you’ll be in seventh heaven here.

Tickets for the various events can be booked in advance from the Festival office.

Galway International Oyster Festival
Galway tours

The quaint looking Blue Door Restaurant

Traditionally, the Irish start the day with a calorie-loaded Irish breakfast. This cooked breakfast can contain fried bacon, sausages, eggs (or boiled eggs), black and white pudding and tomatoes. It’s served with a couple of slices of home made soda bread. Dinner was the main meal and this was served at midday, with a ‘lighter tea‘ in the evening.

These days, eating patterns have changed a little, with people settling for a salad or soup with sandwich at midday, reserving the main meal for the evening.  It is a shame as we all know that the lighter meal in the evening is the healthier option.

What do the Irish eat?

We’ve all heard of Irish Stew and have most probably eaten this thick casserole at some point in our lives. I can personally confess to having been fed a diet of this when I was a younger. Growing up in Singapore, there’s definitely no Irish blood in my Chinese family but for some reason my mother thought that Irish Stew was a tasty dish to feed the kids and we were fed this most famous of Irish dishes on a regular basis.  Irish Stew is supposed to be full of goodness as the meat and vegetables are slowly boiled in their juices and then you eat the meat, vegetable, juice and stock.  Our Irish Stew however came out of a can!

So apart from the Irish Stew, what else do the Irish eat? Irish cuisine has mainly been traditional and wholesome home cooked foods. The focus in Irish cooking was always to use fresh, locally sourced ingredients and to cook enough to feed everyone as Irish families were traditionally quite large.

Irish dinners consist of simple meat dishes and boiled root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, and parsnips. The meal may be accompanied by a sauce or gravy. Classic examples of traditional Irish cooking are the Irish Stew or Bacon and Cabbage, served with plain boiled potatoes. Coddle is a traditional Dublin dish made from pork sausages, rashers, cooked in stock with sliced onions and potatoes. It’s normally consumed with a good pint of Ireland’s favorite drink!

Seafood option

Whilst meat stews are the basis of traditional Irish food, Ireland does have quality seafood as well. With more than 3,200 kms of coastline, seafood is plentiful and smoked salmon, oysters, and mussels are all favorites. Smoked salmon with brown bread is a popular seafood choice!

For travellers to the Emerald Isles who don’t eat meat or prefer more spicy food, the good news is that Ireland is going through a gourmet revolution. A new breed of young chefs have come on the scene and are turning their high-quality, homegrown ingredients into sophisticated and unique meals, and new restaurants are popping up all over the place.

For a real taste of Ireland

However, to get the real taste of Ireland, having meals in one of their many pubs accompanied of course by a creamy pint of stout or two is a experience to have. Irish pub food have improved in standard and you can now get good hot meals.  Pub carveries are particularly good value.  Whilst I’ve never had a bowl of steaming mussels in an Irish pub, I believe it’s just as available as a dish of hearty Irish stew. You don’t have to travel too far to look for a pub.  Dublin alone has some 750 pubs, each with its own special character.