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Druid Lane Restaurant & Wine Bar

An attractive limestone building with pretty hanging baskets, Camilla Cutlar's cottagey restaurant has a little downstairs bar counter - with seating for about a dozen guests to relax with a glass of wine and starters or tapas - and stairs leading up to the main dining area on the first floor. A large stone fireplace, rusty coloured walls, bare-topped pine tables and chairs and a wooden dresser all emphasise the cottage atmosphere, and there's no pretension about the table settings, which are quite simple and appropriate - stainless steel cutlery, plain glasses and paper serviettes. Menus offer a range of middle of the road dishes - tried and trusted favourites appear, perhaps slightly updated: home-made chicken liver paté is served with red onion marmalade & toast, for example, and a house speciality creamy mussel chowder has a hint of lemongrass and coconut cream. Main courses lead off with a vegetarian dish - a chick pea and lentil curry, with basmati rice and poppadums, perhaps - and include several safe options (rack of lamb, sirloin steak) although Malaysian spiced breast of duck is a speciality - tender and tasty, it comes on braised red cabbage, with a berry & port jus. Desserts are all home-made (rare enough now to merit comment, alas). Quality ingredients are used - all meats, fish and chicken are Irish, salads and vegetables organic where possible - and cooking is generally good, although menu descriptions may not always quite match food on the plate. Welcoming staff are very charming and there's a sense of generosity which should ensure an enjoyable meal. An eclectic list of about two dozen wines holds one or two unexpected treats.

Seats 40. (Outdoor dining, 10.) L & D daily in summer: L 12.30-6, D 6-10.30 (Sun to 10). A la carte. House wine EUR19. Closed Sun in winter, 2 weeks mid Jan.

Directions:

Centre of town, corner of Quay Street and Druid Lane, just off Shop Street.