Gorgeous Gort is what they call the town these days and, since it was lucky enough to be by-passed in 2010, that’s just what it is - and it is well worth leaving the M18 for a bite at Sarah Harty’s famously funky all day café.
It’s actually been going since 2005 but relocated to the current premises in the square recently, bringing with it all the same quirky style - as they say themselves, “Since the beginning the café is all about the colourful people of Gort, simple fresh food, art and music.”
All first time customers should make a point of visiting the toilets; on the way, you’ll be surprised by an underfloor fish-tank. The fish come and go - and if you ask where do they go, don’t expect a straight answer!
And, once you’ve had time to take in the originality of this entertaining place, you’ll find that the food is all about Gort and the locality too. Head chef Pawel Karnafel (formerly of several notable Galway restaurants including The Twelve and Ballynahinch Castle) is well rooted in the Slow Food ethos of sustainability and seasonality, and you’ll find a supplier list and menus generously sprinkled with the names of the region’s great food producers - McCarthy’s breakfast meats, St Tola goat’s cheese, Burren Smokehouse fish, Mount Callan Cheddar and Cratloe Hills cheep cheese - and local foraged foods whenever they’re available. But, while the produce is proudly local, the menu is also sprinkled with exotic words that give you a good idea of what to expect: Caribbean, Green Junkie, Middle Eastern...
They’re famed for great pizzas (a dozen to choose from), which go down a treat with families, but for something more grown up how about a Super salad with roasted beetroot, squash, kale, pear, apples, pumpkin seeds, red cabbage, carrot and pomegranate slaw, chickpea and lemon hummus and beetroot and walnut hummus with spelt garlic flat bread and spirulina dressing?
The dinner menu is more expensive of course but it’s also distinctly adventurous and may feature edible seaweeds as well as foods foraged from the land. Maybe start with a sharing Greek Platter - roasted Mediterranean vegetables and marinated halloumi skewers with tzatziki, roast red pepper hummus, baked Feta, olives, stuffed vine leaves and flat Parmesan and oregano bread followed by linguine with Doonbeg clams, mussels and prawns with basil pesto, heirloom tomatoes and chilli sauce.
Vegetarians do very well here and, like all the best vegetarian food, vegetable dishes are not a token add-on but an equally appealing part of the menu - a growing trend, and very welcome.
Delicious desserts (cakes, tarts, cupcakes...) are displayed on the counter and may include fruity treats such as blackcurrant parfait with Italian meringue, pistachio and honeycomb, or cheesecake mousse with macerated raspberries and granola - and perhaps some gorgeous Linalla farm ice cream, made up the road at New Quay on the edge of the Burren.
To accompany you’ll find Badger & Dodo coffee on the drinks list and, almost uniquely, the short but well selected, carefully sourced and informative wine list includes nine well-priced wines in five sizes ranging from small glass (125ml) to bottle (750ml) - and local craft beers, of course. On a sunny day, you might like to start with their Strawberry and Prosecco Aperitif. Full marks. And don’t forget the events (details on website.)
A great place to eat and chill out - well worth a detour.
