All photos by Joleen Cronin
We’ve just spent a hectic week criss-crossing the country in search of a winner for the second SOUPerb Award, organised by Cully & Sully.
Some of the places we visited were selected by readers, others by the judges. The buzzing places we visited made us wonder, is seafood chowder the secret passport to worldly success?
The evidence that chowder = success seemed to come at us from every angle, in every single place.
Here are our six finalists:
The Moorings Dungarvan, Co Wexford
Dungarvan’s The Moorings seashore pub makes a great seafood chowder and, on an average day, will serve food to 500 happy punters. Five Hundred!
Marie Quinn, the Restaurant Manager, was a chef herself and, back in the day, worked alongside Myrtle Allen in Ballymaloe House. Helen Aherne is The Moorings’ Head Chef, in a role she has enjoyed for 20 years. The Moorings Chowder is a classic bowl – “old school” as they like to describe it. The smoked haddock chowder is made in small batches and every single bowl is overseen by Helen, ensuring chowder consistency when cooking for so many people.
Peggy’s Bar & Restaurant, Claregalway, Co Galway
In County Galway, Aidan Leonard and his crack team make a fine chowder in Peggy’s Bar, close to Claregalway. Turning the theory upside down that there is no future in rural pubs, Peggy’s is just one of a set of five pubs that Leonard and his team have resurrected from the dead and rebirthed into successful, thriving, remote attractions. Five rural pubs, thriving! Peggy’s also topped the poll in the readers’ recommendations for the Cully & Sully SOUPerb Awards, proving customer loyalty is strong.
Peggy’s Head chef is Caroline McNamara, and her chowder is a beautifully presented, generous bowl topped with trout, smoked and plain salmon, smoked coley, whiting and haddock.
Pat Cohan Public Bar and Dining Room, Cong, Co Mayo
In pretty Cong village in County Mayo, Jason Henning from County Down and Yashraj Joree from Mauritius have hit the ground running in Pat Cohan’s Pub, having taken over this celebrated bar earlier in the year. Chowder is a mainstay of the menu, delivering the archetypal food experience to visitors enjoying the archetypal Irish village made famous by the archetypal Holywood Oirish movie, The Quiet Man. John Wayne lives!
This was a chowder that celebrated the sweetness of mussels and shellfish, as well as one of the best accompanying soda breads and Connacht Butter. Eating in Pat Cohan’s is an experience that no visitor to this storied part of the West of Ireland should miss.
Savoir Fare, Westport, Co Mayo
Next the Wild Card: in an award that celebrates seafood chowder in Ireland, Alain Morice, the critically acclaimed chef of Savoir Fare, caught our imagination by seizing the opportunity to reinvent the dish from the ground up, offering his riff on the classic in the form of a Chicken and Ham Chowder. Saints above!
The judges were charmed by this unique wine bar where produce is key: Carlow chicken, Andarl Farm gammon, carrots from Glasrai Farm, potatoes from Tommy Conroy, onions from Aghagower. Everything, apart from the black pepper in the chowder was Irish. We tasted it with a glass of Aligoté from Mayo’s own Queen of Burgundy, Roisin Curley. All agreed: Heaven.
Feast, Rostrevor, Co Down, Northern Ireland
Next to Rostrevor, a pretty and far flung getaway on the County Down isthmus, Roisin and Melissa are celebrating a year of success in Feast, and their best-selling dish during the year has been Melissa’s unique version of seafood chowder. Many will travel all the way to remote Rostrevor for the good thing.
The Feast chowder is a most gorgeous bowl, uniquely topped with Burren Balsamic Pearls, giving a translucence as well as a tang of acidic flavour. The heart shaped slices of soda bread were a delightful accompaniment to a very special chowder.
O’Connell’s Fish Market, Dunnes Stores Patrick Street, Cork
In Cork city, Emma O’Connell has reinvented the concept of department store dining with the radical O’Connell’s Seafood Café, in the basement of the flagship Dunnes Stores department store on Patrick Street, as well as at their fish stall in the English Market. Just take the down elevator to come up tops with a lush bowl of seafood chowder, all overseen by renowned Cork chef Kate Lawlor.
The O’Connell’s at Dunnes chowder begins with a stock made with roasted bones, made in store by Kate, using the abundance of fish from the market. Then, it is cooked on a small induction plate in-store, and finished by Kate, using spankingly fresh fish. Grab a bowl, sit in the department store basement and have one of the best experiences Cork city has to offer.
The awards will be anounced on Friday 3rd October. Watch out for chowder photos on Instagram and don’t miss Joleen Cronin’s wonderful video stories of our journey on the Cully & Sully gram.
