Good homemade food is the hallmark of Sandra Earl’s eponymous café in Navan, which will come as no surprise to visitors who may have experienced her cooking before – in Co Limerick, for example, where she was responsible for the creative cooking served at the excellent Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare and The Inn Between for some years.
Situated in the Old Cornmarket, a stone’s throw from Navan’s Market Square, Sandra’s new venture is a busy little café that has become a favourite for locals.
Menus, including daily specials, are written on large blackboards, and a display counter offers appealing savoury dishes and salads to one side and Sandra’s glorious desserts on the other.
Main dishes could include Thai Green curry and lasagne, while a daily special might be salmon and spinach en croûte. All are accompanied by a couple of salads and, true to form, you may expect something more than the usual offerings - glazed jellied beetroot, red cabbage and a spicy couscous are just some examples of the range available.
But Sandra’s special talent is creating luscious desserts – a slice makes the perfect accompaniment to a good coffee, and they are available to buy whole as well.
A lemon meringue with a good two inches of melt-in-the-mouth meringue is a popular choice from a selection that includes banoffi, lemon drizzle, carrot cake, apple tart. Main dishes and salads are also for sale and can be ordered in advance.
Presentation is excellent, everything looks as delicious as it tastes, and the frendly well-informed staff do a great job.
A cut above the rest and no mistake, Earl's Kitchen is a little gem.
Seats 21, open Mon-Sat 9-5.30pm. Children welcome (high chair). Closed Sun, Bank Hols, Christmas, New Year. No credit cards.
