In Douglas, Cork, Citrus leaves a sweet taste in Tom Doorley's mouth
Long before we had the ladies who lunch, we were aware, thanks to Hall's Pictorial Weekly, of the Cork Mothers of Seven. It was clear, though never stated, that they were socially ambitious residents of Rochestown, Blackrock and Douglas, the sort who could be depended on to yell for help by announcing "my son, the doctor, is drowning." Their polar opposites on the social scale were Cha and Miah.
I suppose the Cork Mothers of Seven must all be in their dotage now, and if you go shopping in Douglas you're more likely to meet their daughters. Lots of them lunch at Citrus, in the heart of the very smart "east village". And they know a good thing when they see it.
We had set off for Lovett's in Blackrock, only to find that this great old Cork institution hads stopped serving lunch. And so, armed with the sketchiest knowledge of the city's suburbs, we headed off for Douglas via the South Ring. Cork readers will know that this is the scenic route.
Scanning the menus of various eating houses in Douglas, we concluded that the big seller around here was cajun chicken, something to which I have a bit of an aversion. Doubtless it can be quite edible in New Orleans, but it doesn't seem to travel well. The very words "cajun chicken" on an Irish menu make my heart sink.
And so it was that we sought refuge in Citrus. Not only was the menu encouragingly short, it was also entirely devoid of cajun chicken. Citrus adjoins a boutique called Beth, and Beth herself owns and runs both facilities. There seems to be a considerable cross-over in the customer base.
Chargrilled brill - a whole one, with tender, scored skin - was impeccable. Mildly smoky, it was cooked perfectly à point. This was fish worth travelling for, even if the accompanying ratatouille was average. Only people who understand that ratatouille is emphatically not mushy courgettes in tomato sauce should be licenced to cook this Provençale dish. Sugar snap peas were nice and snappy, but would have been less troublesome had they been de-stringed.
A fragrant, creamy chicken curry was served in a little bowl with a twin container of fluffy rice. And there was a crisp, dry poppadum, and little ramekins containing two kinds of chutney and some thick yoghurt. It was an exceptionally pleasant dish: mild, and vibrantly coloured with tumeric. There was a suggestion of coconut, cumin and chilli. Chunks of sweet potato seemed a little out of place, but the chicken pieces were plentiful and tender.
A rich, almost melting chocolate roulade was intense and not too sweet, lubricated with rum-infused cream and very thick, dark chocolate sauce. But the pièce de resistance was an individual baked Alaska, something that was a first for me in a restaurant setting. A scoop of rich, velvety ice cream, frozen to something like zero degrees kelvin, sat on a little square of sponge, and was coated in the kind of soft meringue that you get, if you're lucky, on a good queen of puddings. Bloody marvellous!
A single and a double espresso were memorable only for the way in which they underlined Irish restaurateurs' generosity with the water. Espressos should be short and breathtakingly concentrated. Almost every restaurant and cafe in the land serves Americano when you want espresso.
However, we loved our lunch and the room, and the sense that Citrus is a confident and rather cool restaurant that does a lot of things very well indeed. The bill, with a half-bottle of Gewürztraminer, came to €62.55, to which we added a fiver for service, having been assured that it would go to the waiting staff.
WINE CHOICE Like many Cork wine lists, this one includes the excellent Aotea Sauvignon Blanc (€28.95) from New Zealand. Our half-bottle of Hugel Gewürztraminer (€16.50) was superb: soft, spicy and golden. Martin Codax Albariñho (€29.50) is now virtually ubiquitous, but none the worse for that, and Villa Maria Riesling is almost a bargain at €26.50. Good old Raimat Abadia, all oak and red fruits, is €22.50, while the more austere Peppoli Chianti Classico is €29.50. Chapoutier's biodynamically produced Châteauneuf-du-Pape is fairly priced at €44. Good beer is available in the form of Spaten Munchen (€5.80 for 50cl).
Citrus, Barrycourt House, East Douglas Village, Cork (021-4361613)