Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Oranmore

  • Ireland – Oranmore – Porterhouse

    This restaurant and pub had a welcoming feel to it and so it seemed a shame not to pop in during our little tour of the town’s pubs….

    Any pub with a display of books meets with my approval. Although I’m not sure about how they’re stacked, but nonetheless, it does look impressive.

    The spirit room, one of a few quieter areas of the pub (although to be fair it wasn’t quiet when some members of Hike Norfolk were in there).

    The Guinness looked beautiful….. And it tasted just as I’d want it to as well. Unfortunately we weren’t eating food in the pub, it was just for drinks, but the menu did look quite interesting with curries, burgers, fish, steaks and so on. The reviews are also excellent, although a quick trip to TripAdvisor finds this review:

    “Walked into this kip after it had been recommended by a local thinking back now he probably owned this dive was put into the darkest part of the hovel and before our bums touched the seats was told we had to be gone by 7 o’clock this was about 5.30 we Will never ever enter this so called establishment again”

    Full credit to the owner for the below reply…..

    “Thank you hank for your insightful review..I can see from your sentence construction and title choice you have a strong grasp of the English language! The title actually highlights your own ignorance, you are obviously a tourist to the area looking for a reccomondatin on where to eat from a “local” (who was not myself by the way) . I’m sure you could see we were busy and that’s for good reason..we have been open for nearly 3 years now and are busier than ever which is pretty good going for a “dive”! Usually locals who eat here regulary phone ahead to reserve a table because of this! But you were ignorant to that fact also..furthermore the table where you were seated is one of the most popular in the “hovel” and was booked for 7pm! My staff always inform unbooked guests of bookings on tables so everyone is on the same page!! I do apologise for this communication as it seems to have really bothered you..anyway the next time you get behind your keyboard or smart phone to slate a successful local business on a whim, which employs 25 staff, some of which have families to support and others trying to put them selves through college to educate themselves( you should try this!!) Look at the bigger picture..and maybe a dictionary.
    Best regards”

    All the staff who we encountered in the pub seemed cheery and helpful, and if I ever come back to Oranmore I might pop in for food. After visiting the two Indian restaurants that I’ve already mentioned I’ll go to as well…..

  • Ireland – Oranmore – Oran Tandoori

    For our final evening meal of the week we decided that we’d opt for an Indian meal, the first time I’ve had this cuisine in Ireland. There were nine of us so we were a little concerned about getting a table, especially as there was no-one there when Susanna rang during the day. I don’t like calling people, but Susanna seems to be fearless and so she was making the calls. However, we walked by the restaurant when we arrived in Oranmore and by good fortune there was a staff member going in and he kindly took the booking outside of the restaurant.

    Our table was set out when we arrived and we were welcomed promptly. For some reason the staff thought that Dave must be in charge of this booking, I’m not sure why they felt that he looked the most important….

    The staff pro-actively brought over poppadoms, although the waiter missed that we wanted even more (some of us are quite greedy), but we made do with what we had. Half of them are visible in the above photo, with the dips being as expected and the lime pickle having some bite to it.

    This is the chicken pakora starter. Firstly, I love that they presented the lemon in a squeezer like this, it’s very rarely done and the last time I was given one of these was in Australia some years ago. The chicken was tender and full of flavour and the salad was crisp and fresh. A nicely refreshing little starter option.

    A Peshwari naan to the left and pilau rice on the right, with the naan having a pleasant flavour but it didn’t have the slightly crisp base that I really like. Behind is my chicken dopiaza on the left which again had tender chicken, a rich sauce and plenty of onions, which is inevitably important since it’s a component part of the dish. Perhaps there wasn’t the depth of flavour that there could have been, but the curry had a pleasant aftertaste and was entirely acceptable. The other two dishes are Susanna’s and she was complimentary about them, as indeed were all the other diners (I mean about their own dishes, not Susanna’s).

    The service was attentive throughout the evening and we were given a couple of free bottles of Cobra when leaving. The staff had a pleasant and helpful attitude, being willing to make slight amendments to the cuisine where required. We seem to have made a tradition of going to an Indian on these Hike Norfolk trips, there was an excellent one on the Hadrian’s Wall walk and another slightly less impressive one in Goring.

    For the price paid, this was a very lovely evening and I’d be very tempted to come again if I return to Oranmore. The only slight doubt I might have is that there is another Indian restaurant a few hundreds metres away which is nearly as well reviewed, and I’d be tempted to try that. However, knowing me, I’d just go to both anyway.

  • Ireland – Cats of Oranmore

    There was a little congregation of cats in the centre of Oranmore, all looking like they were most relaxed….

  • Ireland – Oranmore Former Catholic Church and Library

    This church in Oranmore was built in 1803 for the local Roman Catholic congregation and the bellcote was added later in 1885. There had been a strong catholic community in the area for some centuries, even during the Penal Laws.

    By the late twentieth century, the building was though too small for the congregation and it was also proving to be an expensive structure to maintain. A new Roman Catholic church was constructed between 1972 and 1974 and the font from this church was moved to the new building when it opened.

    The old church was deconsecrated and fell out of use until the Church Restoration Committee offered to lease the building to Galway County Council. Renovations took place and the former church opened up as a library in 2001.

    Photos of inside the library, which has been tastefully converted and which has retained numerous features from the original building. There are books on the balcony area, although this section was closed off to the public when we were there.

    Buildings inevitably fall out of use, and this former church now has a new lease of life as a library and community centre. The graveyard has also been left intact and there are numerous graves around the exterior of the library building.