Situated just minutes from Malin Head, on the wild western edge of Europe, and with seaweed the not-so-secret ingredient in all of their food, Wild Strands Caife could hardly be better named.
Here in the Malin Community Centre, an impressive white building at the top of a small hill, William aka The Seaweed Man McElhinney runs an unusual and very focused operation that is indeed the centre of the community but has also earned a dedicated fan base well beyond the area.
It's a simple enough space but welcoming, with its sturdy wooden tables, well worn chairs, loads of photos on the walls and a friendly greeting from one of the family - in English or as Gaeilge, as preferred.
Sustainability is king here - the café is HQ of the marine food eco-tourism company Wild Strands Ltd, and they offer Slow adventure experiences,wild cooking demonstrations, educational programmes, talks and foraging tours as well as a one-off food experience that's unlike anything else in Ireland.
William McElhinney is mad about seaweed and it's the constant theme in everything they do. You may not taste it, or even see it, in every dish but seaweed is used in all the cooking here, including sauces and dressings. It's subtle but it makes a big difference to the flavours - and of course there are health benefits too.
Another constant is the beautiful Ineuran flatbreads that they make in their big wood-fired oven. It's a cosy presence and the delicious flatbreads provide a versatile base for many of the dishes served here. McElhinney believes that our Irish ancestors used to bake on stone and hence the oven and its stone “floor”.
As to the food, the range is not huge but it's unusual - and seriously delicious. There's always a soup of the day (vegetable, perhaps) served with wheaten bread, and main courses are mostly served on flatbread - with goats’ cheese and beetroot hummus, perhaps, or Abernethy smoked butter, crab, and tomato glaze, and there will be a vegan dish such as swede hummus and herb pesto.
Boggs lamb with smoked carrot purée and herb pesto, or Boggs beef with swede hummus and blue cheese may feature too; in any case, the food is local and seasonal, or organic - and all cooked with seaweed. And that includes their delicious cakes.
And there's a great sense of inclusive Irishness here - so if you have a few words of gaelic you are encouraged to use them in this friendly place.
Well worth a detour.
