Tom Doorley EATING OUTFota is one of the loveliest places in Ireland. This ancient estate, to which the Barry family retreated after Castle Lyons was burned in the early 18th century, makes up the larger part of an island you have to drive through if you want to go to Cobh. It is densely wooded, with a picturesque zoo and wildlife park, plus a lovingly restored Georgian mansion.
In addition, it now has a golf course and a Sheraton hotel. Golf courses, with their manicured greens, are environmental abominations, and the hotel, in this instance, is hideous. It doesn't sit in the landscape so much as behave like a livid scar. With its vast bulk and small windows, it looks like the kind of very private hospital where odd medical experiments take place.
But the food at the Fota Sheraton is not at all bad. It's expensive and far from perfect, but, as hotel food goes, it's a pleasant surprise.
We ate in the "informal" restaurant for lunch; "fine dining" is done, apparently, in the Cove Restaurant, which currently opens only for dinner.
Given the architectural nightmare that makes up most of the hotel, this restaurant occupies quite an attractive room with lots of space between the tables and with a general air of calm. There is also an uninterrupted view of the overflow car-park - a view that one hopes will get better as the shrubs mature.
The elements in a starter tart were generally fine. There was good, buttery pastry, slightly caramelised onions, roasted cherry tomatoes and bullets of mozzarella. Mozzarella is not a forgiving cheese, but treat it appropriately and it won't let you down. Cook it once and it will be fine. Cook it twice and it will resemble Blu Tack. But less yielding. I think, at €10, we had a right to expect that this little tart would be cooked from scratch. Reheating it made a tasty and simple starter seem cheap. Except in price.
"Local" crab risotto with shellfish bisque was, at €12.50, an expensive morsel. It was good but not a risotto in any sense of the word that would be recognised in the Veneto. It was a rather liquid combination of crab (possibly including the lovely, usually-discarded brown meat), bisque (which, in its intense fishiness, may have involved overextracted stock) and an occasional grain of rice.
Breast of corn-fed chicken with rose harissa was lovely. It was chargrilled to the point of attractive smokiness, moist and well textured (commercial chicken, as you may have noticed, has no fibres), and it had plenty of flavour. The accompanying smooth hummus was as good as it gets, and a combination of al-dente cucumber and chickpeas was excellent. A very punchy, flavoursome dish.
My "fisherman's pie" was not bad, but you have to remember that the exquisite fish pie at Cafe La Serre, from last week, was fresh in my memory. The spud topping was enriched with Cashel Blue and fronds of what appeared to be fresh dill, but not too much, and the filling seemed to consist of plump, tasty mussels, bits of salmon and the odd chunk of swordfish. These concoctions are often rather glutinous, but that wasn't the case here.
A shared plate of cheese was in
ideal condition. Impeccable, buttery Ardrahan, properly blue Cashel Blue, slightly oozing St Killian and young
but moist Milleens were fine ambassadors for relatively local cheeses. Pickled figs and a slice of membrillo quince paste were more than decorative accompaniments.
With a bottle of mineral water, a bottle of Provencale rosé and two ordinary and rather tepid espressos, the bill came to €109 before service.
Fota Restaurant, Sheraton Fota Island Golf Resort & Spa, Co Cork, 021-4673000
This expensive and unremarkable list features a commendably large selection of wines by the glass, including an unascribed Mâcon-Lugny (€10.50), an unascribed Bourgogne Pinot Noir (€9.50) and Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet (€10). This rather sets the financial tone. The most unusual wine appears to be Sogrape's rather sanitised Vinho Verde (€29). Enate Crianza is a pleasantly oaky, ripe red from Somontano, but it's not worth €37.50. Domaine Vacheron Sancerre is wildly overpriced at €58. Muscat de Beaumes de Venise at €13 a glass is a joke, a misprint or a misjudgment.