Goldie is the latest restaurant from Conrad Howard's Market Lane Group in Cork city - which, in itself, is enough to create a ripple of excitement. Their other excellent restaurants - Market Lane, Castle Café, Elbow Lane and Orso - while distinctive, all offer "great food, an amazing atmosphere and fantastic service at a reasonable price", and respect for locally produced foods and artisan products is key to their success. This is at the heart of everything they do, and it would be hard to think of anywhere with a stronger commitment to their distinguished suppliers, from Cork and elsewhere in Ireland - notably the wonderful Blasket Island lamb from Kerry.
'Fish & Ale' is the mantra at Goldie, which is the first fish restaurant in the Market Lane Group - and, true to form, it's making a splash. The duo at the helm of this small but very exciting destination are Aishling Moore, the talented young former head chef of Elbow Lane, and Stephen Kehoe, executive chef of the Market Lane Group - and their USP is a courageous and adventurous new approach to sustainability.
Their fish comes almost exclusively from small day boats fishing out of Ballycotton, and they operate a 'whole catch policy' which means that they accept whatever is in the catch of the day - and then apply a 'gill to tail' approach, which involves using as much of the fish as possible. So you'll find all kinds of lesser known fish and innovative dishes here that are unlikely to be seen on other menus.
There aren't too many places in Ireland where you'll find the likes of crunchy fish spines served with house Japanes spice blend togarashi, made with hops from Elbow Lane’s brewery, for example, or even a snack of Pollock collar teriyaki. But that could be the future for fish cookery, in professional kitchens at least. Abroad, Australian chef Joss Niland is leading the posse with his 'fin to tail' cooking - and, as anyone lucky enough to hear his inspiring address at Galway's Food On the Edge in October 2019 will know, it's a convincing way to go.
Prawn cocktail crisps, cultured cream and Goatsbridge trout caviar may sound more familiar though - and vegetarians might choose from nibbles like Chickpea wafer, butternut squash and smoked Hegarty’s Cheddar or Panko Caperberries, soy cured egg yolk. Small plates / starters could include Harty's Oysters from Dungarvan with Mealagulla cider vinegar, or Steamed mussels or cockles with cider and creamed watercress and the tempting vegetarian option of Beetroot with gherkin ketchup, Velvet Cloud sheeps yoghurt and horseradish.
When it comes to the main dishes, everything depends on the day's catch but it won’t all be unusual fish. There could be Steamed plaice with leeks, fennel and taramasalata, for example, and, in addition to a creative vegetarian choice, determined meat-eaters are given a chicken option - Roast Ross Chicken with greens, lemon and anchovy sauce, perhaps - and, while there's no fish and chips as such, Sea salt & malt vinegar shoestring chips feature among a tempting quartert of unusual sides.
On the drinks side, the wine list favours whites and offers some classics for fish including Picpoul de Pinet and Vinho Verde, all available by the glass, pichet or bottle. But they also serve four of their own beers (from the Elbow Lane micro brewery just across the street) and they are terrific. The Jawbone Pale Lager (5%) in particular, sold by the pint or half, is superb with the fish.
Goldie has attracted well-deserved attention for its environmental policy, exciting cooking and the move to encourage pairing fish with beer - but the warm and engaged service from well-informed staff is outstanding too, and it's just a very relaxing place to enjoy a meal.
And, if you're visiting Cork and wondering about the name Goldie, take a stroll over to St Anne’s church in Shandon, just north of the city centre, and look up at the famous Shandon Bells. Above them you'll see the much loved ‘Goldie’ fish-shaped weathervane, symbolising the historical importance of fishing to Cork. What an inspired name for this special little restaurant.
