Dromahair is an attractive small town in Co Leitrim, about 12 miles from Sligo town, beyond Lough Gill. It is not on any of the main roads out of Sligo, and does not have a large passing trade.
It is all the more surprising, therefore, to find an ambitious French restaurant in such a town. Yet that is what the Cuisto Perigord, open just five months, is.
The restaurant, recently built, is set among trees in its own grounds off the main road, by the River Bonet. Diners are first ushered into the bar called, oddly, The Ambush, where they are offered drinks and their orders are taken. Both bar and restaurant are decorated with African panels and hangings, which look a little incongruous. However, according to the restaurant manager, Nathalie Lassus, the owner is from the former French African colony of Gabon.
All the staff is French, as is the working language, and two of the staff, including the chef, are from the Perigord region of France. You'd expect a heavy emphasis on fowl, especially goose, and on dishes cooked a long time, preferably in goose fat: foie gras, terrines, pastry and confits.
The menu seems to have been modified for local tastes and produce. There are not that many geese around the north-west any more, and Irish taste - and medical advice - does not favour food cooked for a long time in animal fat. However, there was chicken and duck, including gizzard, and, inevitably, foie gras. There was also a lot of game on the menu, including venison, pigeon, woodcock and hare, and salmon appeared in various guises. We were assured it was wild. The main course prices range from £8.50 to £28.50.
The wine list was short and well-chosen with only two non-French wines on offer, a Californian and an Australian. However, there was a big price gap between the house wine and varietals on offer, which cost between u11 £11 and u15, £15, and the handful of good French wines, which were more expensive - the list could do with more wines in the mid-price range. Among the reds on offer there was only one Bordeaux and one Burgundy, respectively u45 £45 and u39 £39 a bottle. After dithering for a while over the varietals, we chose the Burgundy, a 1992 Nuits St George at u39.£39.
The bar serves spirits and beer as well as wine, and Harry had a gin and tonic while I chose a kir, a drink which can be very refreshing if it is not too sweet. (This had a little too much creme de cassis in it for my taste.)
Our order was taken in the bar and we had a 45-minute wait before being brought to our table, which we interpreted as a sign that the food was being freshly cooked. Indeed, we received our first courses without any bread, which we were told was still in the oven. In due course two crispy white rolls arrived.
Harry had chosen the pork pate en croute with mushroom cream (£8.50), and I ordered the salmon quiche (£4.50). Both were enormous, and accompanied by a superfluous garnish of two lettuce leaves and a sliver of tomato. The starters ranged from £4.24 to £14 (for the foie gras).
The quiche, in fact, was of smoked, rather than fresh, salmon, but was good, though it would have been even better if it contained a higher proportion of egg yolk to white. Harry said the pork pate en croute was very good - just the right taste and texture, in a well-flavoured mushroom sauce. The only quibble was that the quantities were really too much for a first course.
We both chose main courses from the list entitled Specialites du Chef, which was mainly game: boned and stuffed woodcock with chatelaine sauce (£28.50), and fricassee of venison cooked in white wine (£12.50).
Both arrived accompanied by five unusual and imaginative vegetable garnishes. There was a little mound of cabbage with what tasted like fennel, a half tomato stuffed with chopped pepper and courgette, a tiny onion quiche, a baked potato with sour cream, and a mysterious greenish-brown bundle which, on inquiry, turned out to be mushrooms and shallots wrapped in a lettuce leaf. All were delicious, though the flavours of some of them might have proved a little overwhelming with certain of the dishes on offer, especially the fish.
Not with ours, however, as both the woodcock and the venison had their own distinctive strong flavours. The boned woodcock, stuffed with duck liver and pork, was quite delicious, and Harry said he was well-satisfied with the venison, which was cooked perfectly.
The wine, which had been opened well in advance, lived up to its reputation and was well worth the money. Lassus explained that it was imported directly from France, and that they had to pay heavy taxes on it.
A pause was necessary before any dessert could be considered, but it was hard to resist sampling the classic French dessert, the tarte tatin. Other possibilities - all between £3.15 and £3.40 - were a bourdalou (a tart with almond cream and pear), the rather unFrench black forest gateau, profiteroles, and a dessert of the day. This turned out to be strawberry tart, which we ordered, along with the tarte tatin.
Both arrived accompanied by a scoop of home-made vanilla ice-cream in a chocolate-flavoured wafer basket. Harry was delighted with the warm tarte tatin, which contained firm apples, properly caramelised but not too sweet. The individual strawberry tarte had a base of almond, topped with fresh sliced strawberries and a light, unobtrusive glaze. The pastry in both was excellent. We were also brought a complimentary glass of the house dessert wine from the Bergerac area. We declined coffee.
The bill, including drinks, came to £104. This could have been reduced by about £30 if we had opted for the house wine and avoided the chef's specialities, though this would have involved staying in the more familiar territory of leg of duck a l'orange, or fillet of pork with lemon . They would probably have been good, but would not have shown off the extent of the chef's capabilities. This restaurant is, given its location, unlikely to get much casual trade, and this was reflected in the fact that only four tables were taken on the Wednesday night we were there. A visit would require a special trip; but for any residents of, or visitors to, the area, it will be well worth it.
Cuisto Perigord, Dromahair, Co Leitrim. Tel 071-64934/64103. Open for dinner Tues-Sat, lunch Sundays. All major credit cards accepted.
Orna Mulcahy is on leave.