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Café Deli Food Producer

Cuisine

Traditional Irish

Food Prices

Lunch Main Course from €10.00
House Wine From €12.00

Food Serving Times

Monday – Saturday 10.00 – 17.00
Closed Sundays.

Member type

Producers & Markets
Jams, Chutneys, Vinegar & Relishes
Restaurants & Pubs
Cafes
Restaurants
Shops
Deli
Gourmet & Deli
Gourmet Food

Awards

Good food award 2009

Facilities

Car Parking
Children welcome
Wine

Interests

Food & Family
Food & Shopping

Setting

Town

Style

Atmospheric
Buzzy
Relaxing

Other Info

Art Gallery
Artisan Producer Events & Tutored Tastings on regular basis
Please see website for current exhibitions and events

 

Country Choice

Nenagh  |  Tipperary
 
 

Daytime Coffee Shop, Deli & Art Gallery

What can we say about Peter Ward’s Country Choice? Its reputation precedes it!  The man himself is a food icon – a mover and shaker who makes things happen on the Irish culinary scene. And it all started here, at his own vibrant and packed-to-the-rafters-with-good-things-to-eat shop in the heart of Nenagh, founded twenty odd years ago, when Irish food was barely heard of, let alone hip. Peter himself chose the location because of its connections with local food - there were butchers and grocers on the same street in those days, and it seemed an ideal place to start. Now his shop is a shrine for gourmets, and the pavement outside is well trodden by locals and visitors alike.
 
The first thing that catches the attention here is the beautifully presented deli counter just inside the door. It displays home made salads and cooked meats and hams alongside Irish and continental cheeses, homemade pates and quiches, tarts, terrines, you name it. The counter top is laden with freshly baked breads and house specialities, so much so it’s almost impossible to see the staff working very hard behind it. Shelves are stocked with home made chutneys, jams, marmalades, preserves and dressings all created by Peter’s wife Mary, from family recipes she’s been using since the shop opened. Find great European favourites too like olive pastes and Pestos, rare olive oils, and a huge selection of wines sourced by Peter from small producers and imported specially for his shop. A chill cabinet has traditional bacon joints, sausages, rashers and hams made with pork from the Ward family farm, and cured by local butcher TJ Crowe. The farm also supplies Hereford and Angus beef and lamb from Black Suffolk sheep, all of which often feature on the menu of the Country Choice Café. Organic salads and vegetables come from two growers, Joan O’Brien and Dermot O’Meara.  
 
Morning coffee in the café is accompanied by home made scones and house preserves, whilst in the afternoon you can refresh yourself with tea and a slice of a home baked cake or tart. At lunch, scan the blackboard for the day’s offerings, all made in house by Chef Helen Fahy. The choice always includes a Homemade Soup with Home Baked Bread, while mains feature the family farm’s beef in a Hereford Beefburger with Spicy Tomato Sauce, Beef & Guinness Casserole, Savoury Tart with Roasted Vegetables, or Cannelloni with Free Range Chicken and Organic Spinach. House specials like a Local Cheese Selection, Chicken Liver Pate using local livers, Jelly and Brown Bread Ice cream, or Free Range Chicken and Leek Gratin with Colcannon are also favourites.
 
The menu changes daily, so whatever is on, you can be sure it is absolutely fresh and relies on availability of seasonal ingredients. It reflects Peter’s commitment to providing an outlet for local growers and producers. If someone turns up in late summer with a box of freshly harvested plums from the garden, as they had the day we called in, you can be sure he will take them and make them into something wonderful. Or at least Mary will - her Plum Jam and Plum Compote are sensational! We also spotted the first of the new season’s Beauty of Bath apples from a local tree and a few precious punnets of late summer raspberries from a nearby grower on sale, and you can bet they were snapped up pronto. Some visiting Americans took the raspberries to enjoy on a picnic that afternoon, and were presented with them complete with cream poured over by one of Peter’s friendly staff.

Practical food workshops and gardening courses, producer events and gourmet evenings are held here regularly. If you want to meet an Irish food legend, and dine in a place like no other, look no further. 

Please click here to see what Peter and some of our other members have to say about being part of Good Food Ireland

Follow Country Choice on   Twitter  and  Facebook for their daily offers and updates.

To view Country Choices Pint Glass Bread mix recipe please click here


 
 

Reviews

No reviews at present

If you have had an enjoyable experience here and would like to share it with other friends of Good Food Ireland please click here to add your review
 
 
 

Contact Details

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

25 Kenyon Street
Nenagh
Co Tipperary
+353 (0) 67 32596
Email: info@countrychoice.ie
Web: www.countrychoice.ie
 
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Facilities


Car Parking Children welcome Wine
 
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Events

03 November 2008
Good Food Ireland feed the Green Dragon Team Volvo Ocean Race on arrival in Cape Town
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08 October 2008
Good Food Ireland Showcase at Tourism Ireland's
The Good Food Ireland network brings members together yet again form all over the country to showcas...

13 July 2008
Good Food Ireland Showcase Event
Good Food Ireland Showcase Event The Curragh Racecourse, July 13th

02 October 2008
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News

07 March 2009
Arlington Lodge's Maurice Keller smuggles cake onboard Volvo Ocean Race
Good Food Ireland has been relentlessly promoting Irish food at the Volvo Ocean Race

04 November 2008
Beef or Salmon for the Hungry Green Dragon troops
Ship to shore first port of call for Irish team and Good Food Ireland is there to feed them...

13 March 2010
Bia, glorious bia
The Irish Times - Saturday, March 13, 2010 Peter gets a great mention in The Irish Times followin...

14 February 2009
Green Dragon project strengthens Irish and Chinese Ties
Good Food Ireland provides a real flavour of Ireland at the Volvo Ocean Race in Qingdao, China

08 November 2008
Irish Hospitality - Country Choice Style
Proof is in the pudding - Peter Ward brings a taste of Irish hospitality to the Volvo Ocean Race...

Recipes

Pint Glass Bread
Pint glass coarse flour Pint glass white flour 3/4 pint buttermilk Enough salt to coat the bottom...

Special offers

Complimentary glass of wine for Friends of Good Food Ireland
...

 
 
 
 
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