Cronin's Pub & Mad Fish Restaurant

Pub, Restaurant & Craft Shop

 
Food lovers should flock in droves to Cronin’s in Crosshaven. This landmark building, built in 1892 and once a grand old hotel and now home to the Cronin family for 40 years, is sited in perfect spot on the pedestrianised area in the heart of the village, and right on the waterfront. Since it’s very near to the sailing club, this pub attracts a huge boating following, especially during summer regattas and the bi-annual Cork Week. Cronin’s has a traditional feel, and lots of original features, including working fireplaces and polished wooden bar. Its walls are crammed with photographs and memorabilia to please the sailing contingent, and with a special corner for boxing fans, which has pictures of the greats and various boxing souvenirs to admire. 

Sean Cronin is the second generation of the family to run the pub with his wife Thecla since the 70’s. Between them, they have steadily built a regular clientele, due in no small way to Thecla’s fantastic cooking skills. Nowadays though, the culinary genius is left mostly to son Denis, a trained chef who has been at the helm of the kitchen here for three years.  He’s continuing his mother’s tradition for good home cooking using local produce – and you can be sure she’ll step right in if he puts a foot out of place! 

Bar food here highlights the best of local seafood, in keeping with its seaside location Lunch is served from midday. The menu is seasonal, with lots of seafood to be enjoyed outside during summer, and in winter, doorstep sandwiches and comforting hot soups and stews eaten in the lounge by a roaring fire. One favourite always available is Thecla’s own recipe Seafood Chowder, not the usual creamy version, but a light and flavoursome broth packed with fresh fish according to availability – a dish so popular a war would probably start if it was removed from the menu!  Oysters from nearby Oysterhaven make an appearance, served au naturel with home made soda bread, and local mussels are served stuffed with garlic crumbs. There’s Smoked fish from West Cork, and in the height of the summer, a special of Ballycotton whole crab claws, served with garlic butter and crab picks, so you can really get stuck in! 

New to Cronin’s in the last couple of years is the Mad Fish restaurant, set in an annexed room to the rear of the pub. This little eaterie has a funky feel, due to the interior design skills of Sean and Thecla’s daughter Joleen, a graphic design graduate who’s also well travelled, a competent sailor, and creator of two published photographic books which feature her dramatic shots of the coastlines of Cork and Kerry. Her interior style for Mad Fish is a mix of trad and modern, coupling painted tongue and groove walls, original exposed stonework and old fireplace with light colours and an atrium ceiling which lets in lots of lights on long evenings. Crammed shelves and cabinets house some of her grandmother’s collections of vases, mugs and other objects, her mother’s collection of Illy coffee cups and saucers, and some of her own bits and pieces picked up while travelling, and walls display a variety of work from local artists. Art exhibitions here change monthly, and Joleen also organises other special events and film nights throughout the year. 

Denis’s menu for Mad Fish is just as the name suggests, a fish mad frenzy presented in up beat style, and with the very best of everything local. Start with that famous chowder, or a platter of fresh oysters or steamed mussels, or the deep fried Irish farmhouse cheeses served with Tomato Salsa. We enjoyed the specials of fresh Razor Clams, steamed in the shell, and served with curry and garlic butter crumbs, a platter of stuffed mussels on the half shell, and fresh griddled scallops with garlic and chilli sauce. These were rapidly followed by Denis’s signature dish of Mad Fish,  - succulent chunks of fresh salmon, monkfish, whiting, mussels and whole Dublin Bay prawns in a light wine and cream sauce topped with golden crumbs. Other dishes include Blacked Monk, where fresh monkfish fillet is cooked with Cajun spices and served in stirfried greens, and traditional Fish and Chips – fresh cod in a light golden batter with home cut chips. Veggies will enjoy the fresh Veggie Burger or Creamy Leek and Wicklow Blue Cheese Quiche. And if you are a beef lover, meat comes from Cork’s English Market craft butcher Tom Durcan, whose ten or twelve ounce striploin steak is cut from the whole side of beef, dry aged in the traditional way for at least 48 days. Denis cooks it preference and serves with onion rings, fried mushrooms and a choice of accompanying sauce. Or try this chef’s Special Cheeseburger made from Tom’s tender minced beef, and topped with strong or mild cheese to taste, and served in a bun with, as Denis puts it ‘lots of good things’.

We can vouch for dessert too – though we probably shouldn’t be admitting we ate so much! You won’t resist the Tiramisu, a boozy offering made in individual glasses, or Adult Chocolate Brownies served with some of Thecla’s delicious homemade ice cream, again laced with tipple and definitely for grown ups only! Sunday Lunch here is a real treat, with classics like Irish Stew or Tom Durcan’s Pepper Sausages served with Red Cabbage, Creamy Mash and Gravy, alongside seasonal fish dishes, and a special kids choice with home made Chicken Goujons, Durcan’s sausages, or Denis’s Junior Burger, all served with home made chips.

And you won't go thirsty either there’s the full bar service in the lounge, and a substantial wine list in the restaurant. It travels through France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and Oz, and has a selection of well priced champagnes and other bubbles too. They also carry a full range of beer, wines and spirits, including a large selection of deluxe, blended and single malt Irish whiskeys. A choice of Cofessa coffees, Cork’s Barry’s Tea and Herb Teas are also on offer. All in all, we think Cronin’s has it covered. We love it and you will too. Thecla's Gallery and Craft Shop just along the road has a lovely selection of handcrafted gifts, and will soon be stocking Denis' home made pickles, pates and relishes, in time for this year's summer season.

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Contact Details

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

1 Point Road
Crosshaven
Co Cork
+353 (0) 21 4831829
Email: info@croninspub.com
Web: www.croninspub.com

 

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