Merry’s Gastropub, Dungarvan
Does anything sound quite as nice as a big helping of “Merry’s Mash?”
That’s what Emilene and her team will cook up for you in Merry’s, teaming the blessed MM with some roast beef and a red wine jus, or maybe with a pastry-topped venison pie.
But get this: maybe the best way to enjoy the Merry’s Mash is with a slow-cooked lamb’s heart which has been stuffed with black pudding, from Joe O’Rielly’s iconic butchers’ shop in Kilmacthomas.
That’s a death row dinner, right there.
It’s also the sort of dinner that might have been cooked for you in Merry’s Gastropub in Dungarvan, back when they got the doors open, in 1868. Lamb’s heart, stuffed with black pudding and served with a hape of mashed potato, is the kind of food you would want after a hard day threshing and winnowing in the fields, or snedding turnips, or maybe cycling the length of the Waterford Greenway. Food for body and soul.
The magic of Merry’s is not just the mash, however. It’s also the fact that the pub seems miraculously preserved, so you step in the doors and step back a century or more. It’s a paradigm of a pub, an archetype of Irishness that has miraculously held back the years.
David Burke, who runs The Hat Maker’s Hotel just down the street from the pub, told us this rather lovely story about a guest who asked if he knew of a traditional pub in Dungarvan where she might get dinner on her upcoming trip.
“I do.” replied David.
“And would the pub have a fireplace in the dining room?” she asked.
“It would.” said David.
“And would the fire be lit?” she asked
“It would.” said David
“And would there be a table beside the fireplace in the dining room?” she asked.
“There would.” said David
“And could you book it for me?” she asked.
“I can do my best.” said David, and he did.
The pub is Merry’s, of course, and there are a pair of tables proximate to the fireplace, and of course they are the tables we are drawn to, like moths to the flame.
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If you are a carnivore of that particular type who goes weak-kneed at the prospect of brawn or pig’s trotters and all the fifth-quarter magnificence that kitchens often overlook, then Merry’s has your number. Emilene has a particularly close relationship with Joe O’Rielly’s Butchers in Kilmacthomas, hence the chance to enjoy stuffed lamb’s heart, or pig’s head terrine, or a good loin of bacon, or a really fine butcher’s burger for those who don’t want to go all in.
Emilene actually worked with Joe during lockdown. “I called him up and said ‘Here I am, free labour, give me a job!’” Joe is a 4th-generation butcher, with his own abattoir and farm, and supplies Merry’s with beef, pork, lamb, burgers, sausages, and all that lovely offal.
An awful lot of food lovers will know Merry’s not as a fifth-quarter food specialist, but as the destination where the world and his wife hang out during and – especially – after the Waterford Food Festival. Merry’s is home-from-home for one and all, the place that spells Fungarvan.
Even on a relatively quiet weekday evening, there is a buzz about the place as people settle into the snugs and the bar and the restaurant tables fill up. We started with that fine pig’s head terrine, ringed by apple slices and some top-notch focaccia from Dun Bakery, and with the pub’s seafood soup, an atypical riff on an Irish chowder, but with a welter of fresh fish, garnished with sprigs of dill and with brown bread and butter on the side.
And here comes the Merry’s Mash, a big spoonful of herb-flecked potato served alongside the slow-cooked venison pie, with a tousle of blanched greens to finish the dish. It’s a manifesto of comfort food, a big warm hug of a dish that defines what gastropub cooking is all about: soulful, hearty, generous, friendly eating, and with a big helping of Merry’s Monster Mash.
As there was no stuffed lamb’s heart on the blackboard menu of Specials, we honoured Merry’s butcher, Joe, by ordering the Fungarvan Burger, which comes in a variety of iterations depending on how Emilene feels. Tonight it was dressed with curry mayo, tomato relish, red onion, smoked streaky bacon and smoked Knockanore cheddar. It’s a beast of a feast, the salad ingredients spilling out the sides onto the plate, and with a big enamelware mug of good chips, all anchored by the richly umami burger at the centre of the production.
Throughout their long history, Merry’s has been a name synonymous with high quality and wise discrimination when it comes to food and drinks. Emilene flies the flag today for those same standards, cooking soulful dishes from scratch, using the treasures of her locality, and serving them in one of the most charismatic pubs in the country. What a charmer.
The Waterford Festival of Food, Dungarvan starts tomorrow, 24th-26th April
