Renowned for its lovely fresh fish, delicious home baking and friendly atmosphere, Joan Boland's gem of a café-restaurant is well worth the short walk up from the harbour at . Dunmore East
Joan already had a following for her Lemon Tree Catering company when she opened this roadside café in 2008 and it has since been a consistently popular destination for regulars, who appreciate the tasty homemade food - and, especially, its focus on showcasing the best of a wide range of local produce in season.
New arrivals are greeted by a tempting display of home bakes and desserts just inside the door - and, just in case you might be in any doubt about the importance of local provenance here, a large blackboard proudly details the current suppliers.
Many of them are also listed on the website. ‘Succulent hand harvested oysters with a sweet and salty flavour conveyed by the waters of Woodstown Bay’, for example, are supplied by Woodstown Bay Shellfish (WBS) who process and package their fresh oysters at Dunmore East Harbour - and there is Aeron James’s Portally lamb, which is reared ‘overlooking Portally Cove, where the close proximity to the sea gives it a distinctive flavour’.
Other meat suppliers listed on the website and/or blackboard include Willie Drohan for his unique Comeragh Mountain Lamb); Country Style, Waterford (gammon, bacon); Quinlans of Waterford for their Irish chicken; Wild Irish Game, Wicklow; Ballymooney Meats, Kildare (beef and game); Lisduggan Farm Foods, Kilkenny (beef, pork, smoked meats) and the famed Inch House Black Pudding from Thurles, Co Tipperary. The sheer range of meat suppliers alone demonstrates the thinking in this kitchen - the all too common quick call to a ‘one supplier fits all’ company is definitely not the way for Joan and her team.
And it’s the same with fish and seafood, which will vary with the seasons but could come from half a dozen different suppliers in addition to WBS, including Flanagans Fish Wholesalers, Waterford; fishermen Mick Fitzgerald and Richard Power, who fish for crab and lobster in Dunmore East Bay and sell to the Lemon Tree kitchen straight off the boat; and Ballyhack Smokehouse near Arthurstown Co Wexford, renowned for their naturally smoked salmon.
They do breakfast and afternoon tea, and at lunchtime spanking fresh fish, salads and soups feature, together with a snack menu of fresh sandwiches terrines and pates etc.The tasty eggs that star in so many of the breakfast dishes at The Lemon Tree come from the excellent Bord Bia Quality Assured producer Rathmoylan Free Range Eggs in Waterford - and vegetables and herbs are equally carefully sourced, from Grantstown Nurseries, Waterford and Tom Cleary Vegetables, Wexford.
And, even if you just pop in for a coffee and cake it will be outstanding - their baking is renowned and many regulars would come here fore the locally Barista Bay Handroasted Coffee alone.
As well as being open all day for breakfast, snacks and lovely lunches, The Lemon Tree Seafood Restaurant is an especially upbeat destination at weekends when they’re open for dinner. All round it’s a super spot - and it’s all about their great suppliers.
