Quinlan's Seafood

Quinlan’s seafood, one of a small group of seafood restaurants in southern Ireland, is set on a pedestrianised street in the centre of Cork, with outside tables in good weather to supplement the large dining room. This had fairly closely packed tables and an open kitchen, with a tiled floor contributing to a quite noisy room. There was an extensive a la carte menu, with additional specials of the day. The seafood used is mostly from around the coast of Ireland.

Smoked salmon came with soda bread, which rather oddly was reckoned to be sourdough bread on the menu. This came with a salad of onion, tomato and capers with leaves and French dressing. Separately, there was a smear of mayonnaise next to the soda bread. The smoked salmon was good, with rich flavour and with consistent texture. A simple but enjoyable dish (13/20). Scallops were seared and were quite lightly cooked, served with cauliflower purée, crisp Parma ham and thyme butter. The scallops had some sweetness but were not in the same league as, say, the hand-dived Orkney scallops that appear on high end restaurants in London. The scallops were also not trimmed very precisely, so some of the skirt was still attached. Still, the purée was fine and the shellfish were decent enough (12/20).

Haddock and chips (you could also choose cod or hake) had a crisp, golden batter and properly cooked fish, served with decent chips as well as some tartare sauce and a little dish of mushy peas (13/20). The large dining room was packed out early on a Monday evening, and tables were being turned all around us, so this is clearly a very popular restaurant. Our waitress, from Haut Savoie in France, was very pleasant end efficient. The bill came to €58 (£50) per person before tip, and that was for two courses with one of the better bottles of wine on the list. A typical cost per person for three courses if you shared a modest bottle of wine, might be around €55 (£47). Quinlan’s is a pleasant, simple, bustling place for a reasonably priced dinner.