I was saddened when the
Fatted Calf, previously located in Glasson, County Westmeath, closed its doors
early in the New Year and I have been eagerly waiting for it to re-open. I was
a great fan of Head Chef Feargal O’Donnell’s food and regularly dined there
as I only live a short distance away. I loved the easy informality of the Bar
and Restaurant and over the years must have tried most of the dishes on the
menu.
Now located on Church
Street in the centre of the busy midlands town of Athlone, the reincarnated
Fatted Calf is styled more as a formal restaurant rather than, as it was
previously, a gastropub. The restaurant is light and spacious with a modern,
contemporary feel which is welcoming even if it lacks the cosiness of a pub
setting. As seems to be the fashion these days, there is an open kitchen where
you can see your food being prepared and cooked.
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| Bread |
I was pleased to see that
there are many ‘old-favourites’ on the menu which is well-constructed and has
something to suit everyone but cleverly manages to avoid being overly long and
complicated. There is an obvious focus on the use of locally-sourced, seasonal
ingredients which are used in an inventive way throughout the menu. The menu
changes regularly to reflect the produce available and a ‘specials’ menu is
also available.
I was dining with two old
friends, so between us we were able to order a good cross-section of the food
on offer. As we examined the menu and contemplated which dishes to choose we
nibbled on the very tasty selection of breads that had been delivered to the
table. The sourdough was wonderfully aerated with an open texture and was
pleasantly chewy to eat whilst the soda bread was dark and damp and tasted
heavenly when liberally spread with butter. Last but not least was a curry-flavoured
bread which I absolutely loved and was something a little different. A
flavoursome tapenade was served alongside the butter to accompany the breads
and went particularly well with the sourdough.
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| Marrow Bones, Black Pudding |
To start I ordered the Baked
Beef Marrow Bones, Lisduff Black Pudding with Toasted Sourdough and Horseradish
Aioli. Now be warned… this is a sizeable and very filling starter but every
mouthful was pure joy. Rich and dark black pudding was crumbled and mixed with
bone marrow before being stuffed back into the bones, baked and then
served. A small splodge of a subtly flavoured horseradish aioli topped
each of the three stuffed marrow bones. The creaminess of the aioli was the
perfect counterfoil to the richly flavoured black pudding. I love food where
you can get stuck in and really enjoyed excavating the pudding out of the bones
with the small spoon provided before spreading it on the toast and eating it.
This was a top-notch dish.
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| Wontons |
The Dublin Bay Prawn
Wontons with Sweet Chilli and Ginger Jam which M chose were presented
attractively piled up on top of each other along with some mixed salad leaves
in a bowl. The wontons had been perfectly deep fried, without a hint of
greasiness, to a very tempting light golden brown colour. The soft and sweet
prawn filling was wonderful contrasted against the crispy exterior of the
wontons and tasted delicious eaten with the simply dressed salad leaves. I
particularly liked the Asian-inspired salad dressing which was sweet and
exotically fragrant with just the right amount of chilli heat.
For her starter, C chose
the Heir Island Scallops with Pulled Pork from the specials menu. Here
two fantastically plump pan-fried scallops were served with a carrot puree and
meltingly soft pulled pork. More unusually the dish also included warm,
balsamic vinegar-macerated strawberries. Now in the interests of
full-disclosure I should declare that I’m not really sure whether I’m a fan of
macerated strawberries which I have eaten paired with meat in a couple of
restaurants recently as I find their texture a little disconcerting. However,
here they worked, mainly because they were served slightly warm and had been
liberally seasoned with black pepper which cut through their acidity, giving
them a savoury edge and served to accentuate the meatiness of the pulled pork.
This was an unusual dish but we liked it.
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| Butter Roasted Chicken |
Moving on to the main
courses, I chose Butter Roasted Breast of Irish Farmhouse Chicken,
Ardsallagh Goat’s Cheese Gnocchi, Crisp Pancetta with Pecan & Spinach Pesto.
Chicken is something I rarely choose when dining out as, like many households
around Ireland, we eat a lot of it at home. However, I was tempted by the
gnocchi and also the pesto which sounded intriguing so decided to order it. I
was not disappointed. This dish was a perfect example of how wonderful chicken
can taste when a quality bird is cooked properly so that it retains its
succulence. The gnocchi were amongst the lightest I have ever eaten and were
perfect with the other elements of the dish. I loved the depth of flavour of
the pesto and the combination of pecans with spinach was a revelation.
The Pan-Fried Fillet
of Cod, Honey Mustard Parmentier Potatoes & Prawn and Chive Butter which
M chose was another outstanding dish, where all the elements and flavours
worked seamlessly together. The generous portion of cod was faultlessly cooked
with a wonderfully crisp skin and soft, milky white flesh which came away in
beautiful large flakes. The prawn and chive butter was a clever addition
because it added another flavour dimension without engulfing or detracting from
the flavour of the cod.
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| Cod |
C’s main of John Stone
Rib-Eye Steak was again chosen from the specials menu. The steak duly
arrived cooked just rare as she had asked and came with a generous portion of
hand-cut chips which were lovely and crisp on the outside and revealed a fluffy
potato interior when you bit into them. An onion jam and garlic aioli on the
side completed this dish. The onion jam was a little on the sharp side and with
my sweet tooth I would have preferred something a little less assertive, but this
did not detract from the overall dish and the delicious steak which had been lovingly
cooked to order.
Main courses come with a
choice of sides and the Summer Greens, and Baby New Potatoes we
ordered were lovely but in many ways unnecessary as the main course dishes were
generous and complete in themselves.
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| Steak |
For dessert I chose the Strawberry
& Salted Caramel Eton Mess, C chose the Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Oreo Tart with Boulabán Vanilla Ice-Cream whilst M decided to go for the Cheeseboard.
The Eton mess was everything that it should be and was a lovely concoction of broken
meringues, cloud-like whipped cream and strawberries whilst the chocolate tart with
its crushed Oreo crust encasing a layer of creamy peanut butter and topped with
a rich chocolate ganache was an indulgent treat.
The cheeseboard comprised
a quartet of Irish cheeses including Bellingham Blue, Cooleeney, Milleens
and Mossfield Organic and was accompanied by a good selection of crackers,
fresh fruit and a lovely fig chutney. At
€9.50, I thought it was great value for something that would have easily fed
the three of us even without the desserts that two of us had also chosen.
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| Chocolate & Peanut Butter Tart |
It’s worth noting that
all our food was cooked without recourse to sous vide water baths and the like.
Each dish was prepared with a real understanding of the particular requirements
of the seafood/meat used. Everything was seasoned perfectly and we really felt that
a lot of care had gone into the presentation and serving of each dish. I
thoroughly enjoyed my meal and will definitely return soon.
Our meal cost €179 for three courses for each of us which included a large bottle of sparkling water
and a very enjoyable organic Malbec reserve which was full of deep plum
and blackberry fruit flavours. We also had teas and coffee.
The Fatted Calf
Church Street
Athlone
County Westmeath
Telephone: 0906433371
