Poachers Inn (The)

Seafood Bar & Restaurant

If you want to bag yourself a delicious fishy lunch or supper – Bandon’s Poacher’s Inn is the place to do it! This lovely Seafood Bar and Restaurant opened in 2006, is owned and run by husband and wife team Barry and Catherine McLaughlin. Barry came later than most to his cheffing career, inspired by a Saturday job he had in his youth, and a few years ago, seized an opportunity to do what he ‘always really wanted to’ by undertaking the three month intensive training course at Ballymaloe. This provided not just a solid culinary grounding, but fuelled Barry’s passion for sourcing produce locally and making the most of seasonal availability of ingredients to enhance the menu. A five year stint cooking with fellow Good Food Ireland member and fish specialist Martin Shanahan, in the kitchens of Fishy Fishy Café Kinsale, (an experience Barry describes as ‘amazing’), instilled a love of fresh fish and the confidence to cook it in the simplest of manners. Essentially, this chef prefers to cut through gourmet gimmickery and best quality local fish speak for itself on the plate.

Most of the fish here comes from Shellfish de la Mer, a company based in the fishing port of Castletownbere, West Cork. This fish landing and processing company located on the quay has its own five boats, which land fish daily. From this, Barry gets the pick from local waters, delivered to his door, then plans the menu, written on the blackboard in the bar at lunchtime, or printed in a formal format in the restaurant upstairs.

Catherine provides the personal touch front of house. This charming lady greets her customers with a smile and has a lovely laid back approach, which makes you feel right at home. During the day, the bar attracts a good crowd of local business people on weekdays and makes for a pleasant place to enjoy some seriously lovely barfood at weekends too. Poacher’s Inn is converted from one of the old houses of Bandon, a town with a 400 year history, and it’s interior has been sensitively designed in keeping. Old wooden floors, shuttered windows, a plethora of artwork on the wall, and a cosy working fire place all add their own charm to the interior. 

Daytime fish dishes include Dinish Island Crab and Prawn Cakes with salad, and a Mango and Plum Salsa - our starter choice - which really set the mood thermometer to good! We followed with the famous Poachers Seafood Pie, a combo of local haddock with salmon, and prawns in a creamy white wine sauce, topped with creamy mash and a savoury crust of garlic breadcrumbs. You might prefer the Castletownbere Haddock with Homemade Chips and Tartare Sauce, or Bantry Bay Mussels in a Chilli, Basil Ginger and Coriander Sauce, two dishes that swept by our table heading for someone else’s – and which made us wish we’d had them as well - we’re nothing if not greedy at Good Food Ireland! There’s always a homemade soup of the day here, and a West Cork Seafood Chowder and a lighter salad like Crispy Goat’s Cheese with Roast Red Pepper Coulis and Avocado Puree.

There is a choice of meat dishes too – all meat is Irish and local. Beef, lamb, pork and chicken comes from CL Meats in Kinsale Road, Cork and will be featured and cooked according to the season. Always a favourite is the 10oz Striploin with mash, mushrooms and garlic butter or pepper sauce. Chicken comes stuffed with Basil and local Bandon Vale Cheddar, served with Provençale style vegetables. Kids are catered for too, and welcomed as long as they remain seated and well behaved! They have their own menu of Seafood Pie, Deep Fried Haddock, Cottage Pie or Real Chicken Gluons, all served with homemade chips. 

If you fancy a pud to round it all off – classics include Sticky Toffee Pud, Apple Walnut and Cinnamon Crumble and Bread and Butter Pudding, all made here, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, made by the girls at Diva, a bakery in Ballinspittle just down the road. While we were there, David Bushby of Bushby’s Strawberries Rosscarbery was delivering a trayfull of summer’s first scarlet berries, just handpicked and ready to be served with Irish cream or some rich vanilla ice cream. There’s a full bar service downstairs and no less than a dozen wines served by the glass, so you’ll always find something to match what you’re eating. Poacher’s also serves Kinsale Lager, made in the microbrewery in the port town of Kinsale.    

Upstairs, the restaurant has a contemporary but characterful feel. Situated in the upper floor of what was once the old house, it has kept its cute cottage windows, but combines these with high ceilings, white walls, modern artwork, mahogany furniture and sparkling crystal. Its menu is altogether a smarter affair, a good balance between casual elegance and fine dining. Start with some West Cork Tapas with Crab Crumble, Mussels, Goat’s Cheese, Haddock, and Ummera Smoked Pork, or Warm Tiger Prawn Salad. Follow with Roast Local Hake, Staunton’s Black Pudding, Colcannon and Spiced Apple and Lemon Sauce, or Seared Bere Island Scallops, Goat’s Cheese Tinted Cauliflower Puree, Tomato and Coriander Salsa with Curry Oil. Grilled Monkfish Fillets are served on Mangetout Risotto, Light Lemon Cream and Sundried Tomato Pesto. Wines are suitably complimentary for fish and Barry features a number of the ‘Irish Wine Geese’ wines on the list. Poacher’s also runs a number of cookery classes and there are music sessions at the weekends.

To whet your appetite please click here to view our Evening Menu our Bar Menu and our Wine List

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Contact Details

To Contact a Member Directly, please click on the email or website below

Clonakilty Road
Bandon
Co Cork
+353 (0) 23 41159
Email: mclaughlinbc@hotmail.com

 

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