Situated in an old corner building on the main street and with cheerful bright yellow paintwork drawing your eye to the café, Little Fox is not a place that's likely to be passed by unnoticed - and it fits in well in this increasingly vibrant County Clare town.
Inside, it's a stylishly homely one room space, that is warm, relaxed and comfortable. With bare wooden handmade tables and cutlery served with the food, this friendly place simple and very informal, yet its arrival attracted interest well beyond the county.
With the cost of living and running a business in the main Irish cities rising disproportionally each year, chefs are moving to less crowded locations - which makes for some great additions to smaller Irish towns. Little Fox is a perfect illustration of this creative migration, having been set up in 2018 by the well known chef Niamh Fox - a Ballymaloe graduate who who previously worked at some outstanding restaurants including The Fumbally in Dublin and Ard Bia in Galway - and her husband, the furniture designer and knife maker Sam Gleeson.
The cooking is ingredients-led and the short menu is written on the blackboard each day, with the provenance of all of the ingredient explained and the producers given top billing. Local is important here and some seasonal foods are produced by the couple themselves.
An excellent mixture of dishes is offered that highlight the quality of ingredients and the consideration the four chefs (all female) give in creating them.
There might be a choice of local fish (pollock, mussels), salads, a Gubbeen sandwich on flatbread, and a wholesome soup such as red lentil and turmeric with masala yoghurt and toasted seeds...Meat is included on the menu, but as a flavouring or an addition rather than the main ingredient in a dish - the focus is mainly on vegetables
The open-plan kitchen and warm decor make Little Fox an equally pleasant place for a meal (weekend brunches are especially popular - anyone for stuffed French toast with mascarpone and rhubarb with an almond crunch?) or just to sit and enjoy a well-made coffee with a freshly baked bun.
The Cliffs of Moher, the beach at Lahinch, and walking routes on the Burren are all nearby, making a visit to Little Fox an even more inviting prospect.
