Just a few short miles outside Blarney, you’ll find Blairs Inn. It’s immediately recognisable due to the whitewashed walls and the many hanging baskets outside. When in full bloom, these flowers are not just an attraction, but a definite invitation to stop and explore. Inside, the bar area is to the right and the restaurant, The Snug, is just down a step to the left. If you’re lucky enough to be here in summer, you’re likely to find Duncan heading up the barbecue out the back, where there’s a lovely outdoor patio, with a canopy in case of a shower – or perhaps if the sun is too hot! There are also picnic tables on the grass, which leads down to the river, the Owenageara. Translated back into the original Irish, this is Sheep River and you could well see some trout rising here.
In winter, the coal fires add warmth and cosiness inside. Where better to partake of a hot toddy than sitting snug and warm beside the blaze? The bar itself is welcoming with wooden tables and chairs, with some comfortable seating against the wall. Inside The Snug, the polished tables reflect the light and the shining glassware.
And what of the food here? Well, with much of the produce sourced within a 20-mile radius, it can’t really get much more local. There’s an almost even division of meat and fish, though many of the recipes have a bit of a twist. You might try a very traditional silverside of corned beef served on champ with cabbage and parsley sauce at lunchtime. The evening menu offers a starter of a tian of corned beef and cabbage served with a creamy parsley dressing – same ingredients in a new style.
Cork is an area that seems to specialise in delicious black puddings and Duncan uses both Clonakilty (in a potato bake) and Jack McCarthy’s in a warm salad. Meat lovers have local Hereford fillet or ribeye steaks, rack of lamb, honey roast duck served with a Grand Marnier and orange sauce. Much of the fish is sourced in Kenmare and there may be a choice of Cajun spiced salmon or pan-fried sole on the bar menu while monkfish or sea trout is offered in the evenings. Of course, there are daily specials to take account of what’s in season.
Very few of us can resist dessert and why would you want to in Blairs Inn when you have scrumptious treats such as bread-and-butter pudding with cinnamon custard or pear and apple cobbler?
Wines are mainly European with an interesting Austrian white and how could you go wrong with a David O’Brien sourced red – Espirit de Nijinsky? There’s also a selection of locally produced beers from the Eight Degrees Brewing Company and Dungarvan Brewing Company and locally made cider from Stonewell Cider, to whet the appetite...need we say more?
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