Review: Cava Bodega

Cava Bodega

Middle St, Galway City

Cava Bodega is an intimate and rustic restaurant on Middle Street in Galway's city centre. The venue is instantly welcoming with bright walls and friendly staff. Our host led us down to the basement where we were greeted with a lively atmosphere and walls adorned with wine bottles and pictures of pigs!

Ambiance: 9/10

I had been looking forward to visiting Cava Bodega for quite some time. Ever since Ali and I had attended a talk by its owner, JP McMahon, at the Ballymaloe Litfest back in May. There is something about his attitude to food that really appeals to me. He spoke passionately about food and Cava in particular, about the ingredients, the preparation and the enjoyment people have while eating there. I was dying to visit.

We were handed menus immediately and the host talked us through any alterations to the menu. I like to see this, I like a restaurant that isn't afraid to change depending on what's available. It was recommended to order five tapas between the two of us but we couldn't choose just five, we went for six instead! The tapas arrived as they were ready with the patatas bravas coming out first. The kick from the smoked paprika coupled with the delicious sauce made this an unexpected highlight. These were quickly followed by the rest of our dishes. A beautiful catalan ratatouille, squid with garlic, parsley and lemon, meatball in tomato sauce, duck in plum sauce and finally, black pudding with chickpeas, raisins and pine nuts. All of the dishes were exceptional. The squid was well seasoned and served with a creamy, pungent aioli. The large meatball was well flavoured and somehow perfectly moist. The plum sauce with the duck was spectacular while I would have quite happily eaten the chickpeas for the night.

Tapas: 9/10

For dessert I settled on the Santiago Tart, a moist almond tart served with mint ice-cream while Ali went for the churros, which were quite easily the best I have tried and were served with a rich chocolate sauce. The strong double espresso was the perfect end to the perfect meal.

Dessert: 9/10

The service in Cava Bodega is exceptional. We found all of the staff to be friendly, approachable and knowledgeable and it seemed as if they all enjoyed being there. As for the price, we paid €78 for 6 tapas, 2 desserts, tea, double espresso and 2 glasses of wine. I would consider this excellent value for the food on offer and was actually quite surprised when the bill came to the table!

Service: 9/10

Value: 9/10

Overall: 9/10 Highly Recommended

Cava Bodega, 

Unit 1 Middle Street Mews, 

Middle Street, 

Galway City, 

091 539 884

Salamander Supper Club - Italian Night

"How bloody difficult can it be to cut pork??!"

Last Saturday night was exciting and terrifying. I teamed up with Joe from Salamander Coffee House for the first "Salamander Supper Club." Joe approached me with the idea a month previously and after some thinking and chatting we decided that our first night should be Italian with a change of cuisine each month. Doing Italian first was the obvious choice for me, it is the cuisine I'm most familiar and comfortable with and as I was cooking for more than 10 people for the first time, it was important for it to be as comfortable as possible.

From the start I knew what I wanted the main dish to be. Porchetta is a wonderful dish from the Lazio region. Originally it was made with a whole suckling pig (gutted and stuffed) but in recent years this has been replaced with pork belly. Stuffed with liver, almonds and oregano and slow roasted, it is the perfect mix of succulent flesh with crispy crackling. This was to be sitting on a bed a peperonata, a Piedmontese pepper, tomato and onion stew, and joined by potatoes with olive oil, onion and tomato. After our trial night we decided to switch the potatoes to a garlic gratin as the dishes were too tomato heavy, it may veer more towards a French style but it suited the dish perfectly, creative license and all that jazz. The dish was finished with a simple salsa verde to bring extra freshness to proceedings.

For starter we decided on a tasting plate of Italian dishes. Again I was keen to go with options that aren't seen too often in Ireland. Stuffed mussels (with capers, anchovies and chilli) were joined by a roasted tomato and basil bruschetta and an arancino with lamb ragu sauce. Arancini are a magnificent Sicilian snack food made from leftover risotto. The rice ball is sometimes stuffed with ragu but I prefer to have it with a good flavoured tomato sauce for dipping. The stuffed mussels were my favourite part of the menu. The capers, anchovies and chilli give them a tangy, salty and spicy hit and are the perfect way to elevate the humble shell fish.

For dessert there was only ever one choice. Tiramisu has always been my favourite dessert and Joe did a great job on it. I always find it interesting how different people judge the amount of booze in the biscuit and I think he got just enough in to keep the carousers happy while not so much to anger the nephalists.

The night itself was a serious learning curve for me. Having Ali, my brother Shane and Joe's brother Jeff in the kitchen was life saving. Surprisingly the cooking wasn't really the issue, it was the cutting! The Porchetta was the bane of my life. The crackling was nigh on impossible to cut and when I eventually got through it I had applied so much pressure that the flesh and stuffing fell apart. Luckily the diners were more interested in the taste than the look and everybody seemed happy with their meal. Although the pressure was on we managed to get 28 starters and 28 mains out of the kitchen in an hour. A success by any standards. The night was finished off with one of Salamander's delicious coffees or teas. Joe takes his coffee seriously and to my surprise, freshly grinds just enough coffee for each cup just before making, it shows.

When discussing the supper club, we were keen to involve as many local suppliers as possible. Pigs on the Green supplied the free range pork belly and liver, Nick's Fish supplied the mussels, Nolan's of Kilcullen supplied the lamb for the Arancini sauce while Winelab supplied the magnificent wine on tap.

Typically I forgot my camera on the night so the pictures are from the trial night.

We will be announcing details of our next Supper Club night very soon so keep an eye on the facebook page.

Fish Stew all Porta Palazzo

Fish Stew all Porta Palazzo

The Porta Palazzo Market is a vibrant, loud almost scary place. Located in the centre of the northern Italian city of Turin there is an heir of madness about it. Even in August, when most city dwellers take to the coast, the market still thrives six mornings a week, with a massive clean up operation taking place every afternoon. I wanted to cook in Turin. When your apartment is just 500 metres from so many great ingredients it is an understandable urge. We went to the fish house first. It being August there were only two sellers there but the produce was magnificent! I went for the big, loud and jolly looking fella with crooked black teeth. He gleefully tolerated my limited Italian and we came away with some of the freshest octopus, prawns and mussels I have seen. The fruit and vegetable market is just outside and this is where the fun really begins. Everybody wants rid of their produce, nobody wants to have to pack it away again so the prices are extraordinarily low. I bought a kilo of beef tomatoes for €1 before realising I could have gotten two kilos at the next stall for the same price. I didn't mind. 

The most interesting part of my market visit was the bread truck. When all bread, no matter what type, is being sold at €1.70 per kilo you know the "queue" will be big, especially in Italy. The problem in Italy, of course, is that they don't have our passion for queuing, it's a free for all. I stand there for ten minutes before a rather cool looking guy in sunglasses and a shirt shouts something along the lines of "ah come on, this foreign lad here has no idea what's going on, serve him next will you!" I'm grateful, very grateful. After picking up a couple more ingredients it's back to the apartment for our fish stew.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter

4tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1Kg Beef Tomatoes (chopped)
2 Medium Octopus (ask your fishmonger to clean them or see video link below)
1Kg Mussels (soaked and beards removed)
400g Prawns (shells removed)
2tbsp freshly chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
Lemon Juice
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
2 or 4 slices of Crusty Bread

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes to allow the tomatoes to release their juice. Don't season yet.

2. Add the two whole octopus. Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Remove the octopus and add the mussels, prawns and parsley. Cover and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes, shaking the pot every now and again. Meanwhile cut the octopus into bite size pieces.

4. Add the octopus back to the pot and season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Lay a slice of bread onto the bottom of each bowl and pour in the stew. 

Notes: Add some chilli with the onion and garlic if you want to add a little kick to the stew. The beef tomatoes should have enough juice. If they are not ripe and aren't releasing alot of juice then add some water. Here is a good video explaining how to clean out an octopus, if your fish monger hasn't done it already. Leave it whole instead of chopping up though!

Review: Kai Cafe + Restaurant, Galway

Kai Cafe + Restaurant

Galway City

It's only happened twice before that I've walked around a city and thought "this could be my home." The first, somewhat surprisingly, was while walking around Cork City a few years ago, to be fair this could have had more to do with the company, a new love can sometimes have that effect on a man but the city still retains a special place in my heart. The second time, somewhat unsurprisingly, was while walking around the streets of beautiful Florence. Everything about the city appealed to me and Ali and myself had actually planned on moving there until reality kicked in and stomped all over our romantic dream. Unexpectedly Galway had a similar effect on me. The narrow, pedestrianised streets instantly appealed while the seemingly liberal nature of the city re-enforced the point but it was of course the food that really swung it. The city has a great food scene and Kai plays a big part in it.

"Where good food lives," never was a tagline more apt. Kai is a bright and airy cafe located on Sea Road in Galway's city centre. Ali and I met our good friend Finn there for lunch on a bright August day. The large sky light along with the plethora of concrete give the impression of dining outside, a nice touch in a country where actually eating outside could become a nightmare very quickly. There are no printed menus, a good squint at the blackboard above the kitchen hatch is required to see what today's produce has inspired Jessica Murphy to create. I went for the Connemarra wild smoked mackerel, green bean mimosa, steves greens, brown soda and mint with cucumber. It was magnificent. Everything on the plate was perfectly seasoned and complimented each other perfectly. The mackerel was warm and just smokey enough without overpowering everything else.

After the main, a trip to the dessert table is necessary. There you will find a great choice of homemade tarts and cakes, all triggering an insuppressible drool. I decided on the Pecan Pie. I'm often left disappointed by pecan pies. Too much caramel not enough nut is my usual complaint but I had no such problems here. It was delicious, the perfect pecan. We finished our lunch with an excellent coffee before heading into the city, happy and full.

Kai is one of the many food gems in Galway's crown. It's bright and airy with friendly staff and great food. You may be able to find cheaper options but I guarantee they won't taste as good. 

Lunch Ratings:

Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Selection: 9/10
Value for Money: 8/10

Overall: 9/10 Highly Recommended


Kai Cafe + Restaurant
Sea Road,
Galway City.
091 526003