Tom Doorley visits a family-run Kerry restaurant which offers gloriously simple cooking
The better class of restaurant critic is a shy and retiring creature, not inclined to ask questions. This is not because of any lack of interest. It springs, instead, from the painful duty which must be exercised from time to time, to say hard things. You don't want to become too matey, just in case. I'm grateful, then, that I fell into conversation with Kate Cooke only after I had been seduced by the gloriously simple cooking at QC's in Cahirciveen, which she runs with her husband Andrew. Had I not done so, I would not have known that the spanking fresh salad I saw arriving at a neighbouring table (complete with roast peppers and specially imported Serrano ham) is produced locally by an organic grower. Mind you, the menu does mention that the steaks are from James Curran in the Main Street, which is reassuring if, like me, you like to avoid the beef barons.
Now, I realise that this is not an unerring rule of thumb, but I had a shrewd notion I was somewhere special when, sitting in the bar, I realised that it stocks manzanilla sherry - and not just any old manzanilla, but Antonio Barbadillo's scrummy Solear. You can eat in the small pub-like bar at the front, or in the dining room, where the lights are very low, the red walls are hung with nautical pictures and the table cloths are colourful. I did the latter, despite the fact that I was eating solo.
Baby squid were the size of my thumb - 10 or a dozen of them fanned out in a star shape, well salted and peppered, rapidly seared and tender almost beyond belief. They came with a sharp, citrus-based dressing spiked with finely snipped chives and they were one of the best things I've eaten in yonks. A large dollop of onion marmalade was as incongruous as a hippo attempting the steps from Riverdance. It did absolutely nothing for the delicate squid, and I pretended that it wasn't there.
Half-a-dozen small hake fillets in a very light batter, not crisp but sufficient to hold in the moistness of the fish, were served with a ramekin of melted butter and olive oil generously sharpened with lemon juice. The simplicity and honesty of this dish more than compensated for the fact that the hake was just a shade overdone for my taste but this may be the strong Basque influence that informs the cooking here. It's a very tiny quibble and I have to say that it didn't detract a jot from the pleasure.
Vegetables were the usual suspects: good, floury new spuds, broccoli, sugar snap peas and carrots, all properly cooked and not murdered as they usually are. Had I been thinking straight (I was trying to read a book in the low light) I would have ordered a simple salad of those leaves that turned out to be local and organic.
Having heard much about the quality of QC's wild Irish smoked salmon which, like all seafood here, comes from Kate's family company, Kerry Fish at Renard Point, I asked for a taste. It was first rate, firm-fleshed, pleasantly dry and robustly smoked. Blanc mange was a kind of rich, silky panna cotta spiced with vanilla and served with a clear lemon syrup with a hint of saffron. This was a splendid dessert, as simple as the rest of the food, refreshing and comforting at the same time.
With a good, strong Bewley's espresso, wine (much of it enjoyed later as a doggy-bottle) and a dry sherry, the bill came to €62.45 including delightful service. I calculate that a similar meal for two would come out at about €100. If you confined yourself, without any hardship, to the hake, the "blanc mange", the generous glass of manzanilla and an espresso, the bill would be €32.30.
QC's Seafood Bar & Restaurant, 3 Main Street, Cahirciveen, Co Kerry, 066-9472244, www.qcbar.com
WINE CHOICE: A short list, mainly from Cassidy's, Findlater's and Baachus, but with some interesting direct imports including the Basque white that goes under the name of Txakoli Getteriako Aialle. I had Valtea Albarinho Rias Baixas (€22), peach scented, fresh and great with seafood. Château La Perriere Muscadet (€21.50) Jean-Max Roger (€34.95) Sancerre and Chablis Domaine la Verger (€31.50) would equally hit the spot. Inoffensive Chilean house wine weighs in at €17.50, while Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva at €26 would complement those chargrilled steaks from Mr Curran. Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne (less bland that it used to be) is €59.