The ferry between the fishing port of Greencastle and Magilligan Point in Northern Ireland brings many new visitors to an area that used to seem quite remote - and those in the know plan their journeys around a meal at Kealys excellent seafood restaurant.
It’s a low-key little place where simplicity has always been valued and, even if it’s just to pop in for a daytime bowl of Tricia Kealy’s Greencastle chowder and some home-baked brown bread, don’t miss the opportunity of a visit to Kealys - if we did an award for seafood chowder, Kealys would take the prize!
The approach to seafood is creative and balanced, seen in dishes which are modern in tone but also echo traditional Irish themes, and in which delicious local organic vegetables are used with fish to make the most of both precious resources.
A typical menu would include classic seafood dishes simply executed, such as lobster thermidor or whole sole on the bone and also dishes with a definite Kealys slant such as baked fillet of hake on braised fennel with a tomato & saffron butter sauce and, perhaps, a classic Irish partnership of baked salmon with a wholegrain mustard crust served on Irish spring cabbage and bacon.
There will be at least one meat or poultry dish offered every day and there’s always an imaginative vegetarian dish too - Gubbeen cheese & almond fritters, on a seasonal salad with honey & mustard dressing, for example. Breads are a speciality - perfect partners for the range of Irish farmhouse cheeses, as well as the famous chowder.
Service is smart and friendly - and a compact but appealing wine list offers good value, and includes a small selection of half and quarter bottles.
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