(30 Jan 2009)
The World on a Plate
I have nothing but good memories of Kilkenny. As a child there were weekends spent in Thomastown and regular forays into the Marble City, visits to the Castle, the Kilkenny Bookshop and the Design Centre. It’s a collection of happy memories that was only enhanced during my recent visit to Zuni in Kilkenny city centre. I was made aware of this modern, modernist hotel and restaurant by a local resident and had heard many good things about it. I was not disappointed.
We dined on a beautiful summer’s evening, arriving into town as the sun was setting and the day was cooling, and we were happy to see the French doors thrown wide open onto the street, revealing a chic lounge featuring chocolate leather furniture and large mirrors. We settled into a comfy sofa and had a drink – the first of a few glasses of the excellent house red from Languedoc (see Wine, pages 38-39) and a mineral water – while we took a look at the menu.
The range of dishes is quite extensive and mixes Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian classics, with everything from Greek mezze to a chicken and king prawn chow mein.
The main course selection offers a separate carnivore’s grill section as well as dishes such as the vegetarian-friendly Irish cheese spring roll with “squashed” black olives and “squashed” cherry tomatoes. I sometimes find it a little worrying when a restaurant tries its hand at dishes from virtually every corner of the globe, but in this case there was little cause for concern; almost everything that we tried was of a high standard. After we ordered, we were led to the bright dining room at the back of the hotel, which features a large open-plan kitchen on one side and large windows looking out onto a court-yard and even though it was a pleasant summer’s evening, it gave new meaning to the phrase “well ventilated”. We asked to move to the neighbouring table and were immediately accommodated.
I was in the mood for a Caesar salad so, as a starter, I opted for one of the blackened chicken variety, which had a generous portion of tasty chicken breast pieces, fresh from the pan, cooked in Cajun-style seasoning.
It was topped with a thin, crostini type affair – a Mediterranean Melba toast – topped with black olive tapenade and toasted Parmesan, but was let down somewhat by its dressing, which had way too much lemon juice for my taste. Anne’s Ardsallagh goats’ cheese tartlet was a big hit, with its rich, crumbly pastry, unctuous red onion marmalade and bed of rocket.
Both of our main courses featured fish and both were of a more-than-ample size. Anne’s blackened salmon came in a huge tranche, accompanied by what was billed as a salad of green beans, chorizo and new potatoes. It was more a gathering than a genuine mingling of said ingredients, but they were all first-rate with especially crisp green beans. My cod was given a surprisingly successful tandoori treatment and the large, milky spicy coating and sauce, as well as a cucumber and tomato riata. It was served on a massive portion of rich, creamy spinach risotto which, even as a big risotto fan, I could only finish half of.
Desserts were of a similarly high standard; my chocolate truffle and orange torte was intense but surprisingly light, and came with curls of candied orange zest and a rich cream subtly infused with orange. Anne’s summer fruits crumb pudding arrived as two slices of moist fruitcake topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries, a little different to what she had expected, but excellent. Two proper expressos with some tiny, tell-tale froth rounded off a highly successful meal.
At 9.30pm exactly, the lights were substantially dimmed with a skilful display of dimmer switch action (this was a lighting showroom in its previous incarnation), and a large group of people arrived at the table immediately behind us. This place is clearly popular with locals, and with good reason. It’s friendly atmosphere and very good food. Highly recommended.