• About
    • About Us
    • Assessment Process
    • Contact Us
    • Quotes & Testimonials
    • Award Winners »
      • Awards Presented
      • Awards Received
    • Info for Owners »
      • Info for Owners
      • Industry Register/Login
  • Awards
  • Eat
  • Drink
  • Stay
  • Buy
  • Learn
  • Producers
  • Articles
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • By Georgina Campbell
  • Special Offers
  • Competitions
  • Shop
    • Recipe Cards
    • Buy Guidebooks
    • Buy Cookbooks
    • GPS POIs for Garmin
    • « Ireland Apps
      • iPhone App
      • Blackberry App
      • Samsung App
      • Nokia App
      • Ireland for Food Lovers App
    • « Cooking Apps
      • iCook - Recipes & Cooking with Neven
      • APPetiser - Recipes & Cooking with Derry Clarke
      • For the Love of Food – Kevin Dundon
  • More+
    • Gardens
    • Golf
    • Self Catering
    • What's On
    • Tourist Attractions
    • Wedding Venues
Ireland Guide
Ireland Guide

- ireland -

Graphics Version | 
Ireland’s Leading Independent Food & Hospitality Guide
  • LOGIN/SIGNUP
    • My Ireland Guide
    • Industry
Home > Drink & Eat > The Glass Curtain

Drink & Eat

Comments(0) Add Comment

The Glass Curtain

Dislike Like
7 votes (93%)
Print page Send to a friend

The Glass Curtain

One of Cork city's most interesting recent arrivals, The Glass Curtain hit the ground running when it opened in the old Thompsons Bakery building on MacCurtain Street in December 2019. Seasonal local produce 'cooked with love and a little fire' is the promise, and it’s one that Chef Brian Murray and his team have been delivering on - to the great delight of their growing fan base.
Seats about 36. D Tue-Thu from 5.30pm, Fri & Sat from 5pm. L Sat only, 12.30-2.45pm (last orders). Closed Sun & Mon. A la carte. Reservations accepted, walk-ins welcome when there is room. Bar. MasterCard, Visa abbreviations

One of Cork city's most interesting new restaurants,The Glass Curtain hit the ground running  when it opened in the old Thompsons Bakery building on MacCurtain Street in December 2019. Seasonal local produce 'cooked with love and a little fire' is the promise, and it’s one that Chef Brian Murray and his team have been delivering on to the delight of their growing fan base.


Until recently a street that most visitors only saw fleetingly when heading out to the motorway, or to Kent railway station just up road, the arrival of The Glass Curtain has confirmed the 'Victorian Quarter' - and especially MacCurtain Street - as the city's hottest food destination. Which seems very appropriate, as for generations Thompsons Bakery (est. 1826)  was the place where the city’s bread, and much else besides, was baked. There was even a dedicated swiss roll factory within it, which reputedly turned out a mile of swiss roll every day. So lots of associations here, including the inspiration for the evocative name - which, so the story goes, was a 1960s nickname for the bakery due to its extensive use of glass in that modernist era.


Declaring that “flavour is our holy grail”, Brian Murray takes pride in showcasing the best of local produce, including some of the more unusual cuts, and enhancing their natural flavour by cooking over fire - and bringing into play his wide-ranging experience in leading restaurants in Ireland and abroad.


While it isn't a large restaurant, it packs quite a punch with its industrial chic - high ceilings with ducting, open kitchen, well-designed lighting, an evocative big photo of employees at work in the old bakery - and a good bar. The well chosen wine-list might well tempt you to linger here, but don't overlook the cocktail menu - the Low Fashioned (Kinsale “Wild Red” Mead, angostura, Demerara, orange) for example, is a delicious locally-focused aperitif, and there's an interesting choice of non-alcoholic drinks too.


Designed to encourage sharing, the menu offers about six choices on each course, starting with unusual Snacks (crispy beef tendons with salt and vinegar piri piri; salt fish croquettes with black garlic aoili...), and Small Plates (Beef bone marrow, grilled onions and parsley crust maybe, or Cuttlefiush ragu with white beans, fennel and milk bun toast).  Large Plates / mains include a Grilled fish of the day (butterflied mackerel cooked on the bone perhaps) and hearty dishes like Dry aged ribeye, with roast onion and bone marrow jus, or a  36 day dry-aged Beef Chop (3 to 4” high, for sharing). If you have a view of the kitchen, you could take a peek as it is grilled, the smoke rising into the funnel.


And you don't have to be vegetarian to be tempted by meat-free dishes either - starters of Grilled flatbread, with smoked gouda and honey butter, or a Beetroot tartar, horseradish tofu cream and toasted nori for example - and who could resists a Large Plate of Jerusalem artichoke with barley risotto and grilled king oyster mushroom?


Sweets feature retro flavours like Toffee apple, with vanilla cream and caramelised walnuts, or ‘Bounty’ dark chocolate, lime and coconut - and, of course, what else but swiss roll baked Alaska, with lemon curd, frozen yoghurt and Grand Marnier? But if you don't have a sweet tooth, the excellent cheese options (Durrus, Young Buck and Mature Ballinrostig Gouda among them) are bound to find favour - and, to round it all off, one of those Osbourne ports should fit the bill nicely.


The ambience, cooking and informed, friendly service are terrific - and it's good value too, so what's not to love about The Glass Curtain.

 

Less
Read More
Last Updated: 31-01-2021
Author: Georgina Campbell
Click here if you are the owner or marketing manager

Might also like

Drink & Eat & Stay

Hotel Isaacs & Greenes Restaurant

Cork City, Co. Cork

Hotel / Restaurant
For Cooking & Service Well Above Average Denotes genuine Irish food culture, ie special Irish food products/companies/producers, and highlights the best places to shop for regional and artisan foods; the selection excludes obvious 'non-Irish' elements regardless of quality, eg ethnic restaurants and specialists in coffee, wine and other drinks, unless relevant to local production or history. Eat & Stay establishments are chosen for their commitment to showcasing local produce and Irish hospitality. Outstanding Location, building or atmosphere Serious About Seafood The "Best of the Best" - Only the very best establishments across various categories have been chosen for this accolade

Opposite the Everyman Palace Theatre and with an intriguing approach through a cobbled courtyard, this attractive Cork hotels got comfortable and spacious rooms at a fairly reasonable price. The hotel is a former bonded warehouse on a very busy street in the 'Victorian ...

Read more
Drink & Eat

The White Horse

Ballincollig, Co. Cork

Pub

Easy to find, on the main Cork-Macroom route, Joe and Maura Carey's popular pub presents an attractive face towards the road and there's plenty of parking in the shopping area alongside it. Very much the heart of the community, this friendly big pub serves lunch and din ...

Read more
Drink & Eat

Blairs Inn

Blarney, Co. Cork

Character Pub / Restaurant
Denotes genuine Irish food culture, ie special Irish food products/companies/producers, and highlights the best places to shop for regional and artisan foods; the selection excludes obvious 'non-Irish' elements regardless of quality, eg ethnic restaurants and specialists in coffee, wine and other drinks, unless relevant to local production or history. Eat & Stay establishments are chosen for their commitment to showcasing local produce and Irish hospitality. Pub with good food and atmosphere Previous Georgina Campbell Guides Award Winner The "Best of the Best" - Only the very best establishments across various categories have been chosen for this accolade

In a quiet, wooded setting just a few minutes’ drive from Blarney, this pretty riverside pub is run by John and Anne Blair and their sons Duncan and Richie, a warmly hospitable family who take real pride in welcoming visitors. This is the real McCoy, a great Irish ...

Read more
Drink & Eat

Roberts Cove Inn

Carrigaline, Co. Cork

Character Pub / Restaurant
Outstanding Location, building or atmosphere

Scenically located in located in a bay that looks out towards the famous Daunt Rock beacon, Roberts Cove Inn is built on the site of an old mill, where a community of monks once milled corn. This warm and friendly place has character in spades – and a reputation f ...

Read more
Drink & Eat & Producer & Stay

The Blue Haven Hotel

Kinsale, Co. Cork

Hotel / Restaurant
Denotes genuine Irish food culture, ie special Irish food products/companies/producers, and highlights the best places to shop for regional and artisan foods; the selection excludes obvious 'non-Irish' elements regardless of quality, eg ethnic restaurants and specialists in coffee, wine and other drinks, unless relevant to local production or history. Eat & Stay establishments are chosen for their commitment to showcasing local produce and Irish hospitality. The "Best of the Best" - Only the very best establishments across various categories have been chosen for this accolade

This famous hotel has an attractive exterior, with its name emblazoned in blue and white stained glass above the entrance and flags hanging from poles, giving it a cosmopolitan look. Since 2004 this landmark hotel has been in the caring ownership of the proprietor, Ciara ...

Read more
Drink & Eat

The Supper Club

Kinsale, Co. Cork

Restaurant / Wine Bar
2 euro Serious About Seafood

One of the most popular Kinsale restaurants, Tom Kay's evening venue,The Supper Club opened on Cork Street in 2016 and then moved around the corner to Main Street a couple of years later. You should be able to look forward to good food and good company in equal measure ...

Read more

Contact details

+353 21 451 8659
PLEASE MENTION IRELANDGUIDE.COM WHEN ENQUIRING

Address

The Glass Curtain
Thompson Building, MacCurtain Street , Cork Co Cork
Show me where this establishment is on the map.
About Trip Planning Tools
  • Add to my Favourites +
  • View my Favourites
  • Local Recommendations
  • Hospitality
  • By Distance
    • All
      • Eat
        • Drink
          • Stay
            • Buy
              • Learn
                • Producer
                • By Category
                  • Comments

                  There are currently no comments

                  Leave a comment

                  You must be logged in to leave a comment
                  Not a member? Register for your free membership now!
                  Or leave a comment by logging in with:
                  Sign up with Twitter
                  Georgina Campbell's ireland-guide.com
                  Tweets by @IrelandGuide
                  © Copyright Georgina Campbell Guides 2021
                  • Disclaimer
                  • T & C
                  • Privacy Policy
                  • Site Map
                  • Links
                  • Advertise
                  • Ireland Hotels |
                  • Northern Ireland Hotels |
                  • B&B Ireland |
                  • Accommodation Ireland |
                  • Dublin Airport Hotels |
                  • Dublin Hotels |
                  • Dublin Restaurants |
                  • Belfast Hotels |
                  • Belfast Restaurants |
                  • Cork Hotels |
                  • Cork Restaurants |
                  • Galway Hotels |
                  • Galway Restaurants |
                  • Killarney Hotels |
                  • Killarney Restaurants |
                  • Kilkenny Hotels |
                  • Kilkenny Restaurants |
                  • Limerick Hotels |
                  • Limerick Restaurants |
                  • Sligo Hotels |
                  • Waterford Hotels |
                  • Westport Hotels
                  • My Ireland Guide - Log in
                  • My Favourites
                  • My Itineraries
                  • My Comments
                  • Special Offers
                  • Hire Cars
                  • Ferry Tickets
                  • Competition
                  This website uses cookies to help provide you with a better online experience. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Cookie Policy