The Irish Times Restaurant Review, October 2001

Still Razor Sharp
Chris Heaney

It was a slightly strange experience. As I walked into the dining room I spied a framed Irish times review of the 'newly opened' Red Bank restaurant in Skerries, dating from 1984. It was not until leaving that I quickly read the article and was struck by how key elements of this restaurant have remained largely unchanged in the intervening 17 years. Crudités with dip still accompany your aperitif in a comfortable, country-house style reception area, and there is a welcome emphasis on a wide range of local seafood.

The total then was something like Fifty pounds for dinner for three. These days it would be around three times that amount, Sunday lunch at the Red Bank, however is a different kettle of fish, literally and metaphorically, and this extensive, seafood-biased set menu is one of the best value meals I've had in a long time. This menu is also commendable for it's enthusiasm for, and championing of, local produce. My experience here makes me wonder why many others can't follow suit.

The Red Bank occupies a former bank premises and the main dining area, which still retains the original frosted glass windows, is reminiscent of an old style hotel dining room. Red carpet, landscape canvases, modest candelabra and red velvet upholstered chairs abound. There's a pleasant unfaddy feel to the place in terms of food and décor- it's clearly a popular spot and has it's fair share of regulars, many of whom were greeted by Terry McCoy, the head chef/proprietor, as he passed through the room.

Jim and I both begun with a bowl of cream of asparagus soup, which was a little lumpy but perfectly acceptable and provided a good excuse to use the substantial homemade brown bread as an accompaniment. An unremarkable start, but things got much better with the following courses.

Jim's starter of razor fish represented something of a rarity on an Irish menu; apparently the majority of them are exported to Japan, an island nation that really does eat fish. But some are kept in the country and it is to Red Banks credit that they offer the dining public a chance to get acquainted with these sharped-edged bivalves. They are treated simply here, quickly cooked and doused with melted butter. The simple treatment is perfect, allowing the light, meaty flesh-of which there was plenty-to take center stage.

My squid was advertised as cooked Chinese style with ginger and garlic, but arrived in a more substantial almost creamy sauce that contained green peppers and spring onion, as well as matchsticks of ginger. Ultimately the sauce impeded rather than enhanced the tender squid rings. Squid contain a certain amount of ammonia gas for buoyancy, but its presence can also be an indicator of quality, so my last mouthful, which had an unpleasant ammonia taste, gave momentary cause for concern. Happily, there was no side-affects.

Main courses, both excellent, were prepared with the minimum of fuss, allowing the seafood to speak for itself. Jim's black sole was once again treated simply and worked brilliantly. The "slip sole" was perfectly cooked, tender but firm, and arrived with a beurre noisette and a wedge of lemon. My Dublin bay prawns arrived as an imposing mountain of fully intact crustaceans, ranging in length from eight to fifteen centimeters, served with half a lemon and a dish of melted garlic butter. It was a gargantuan portion, enough for two people, and my guest was happy to help me out. The hands-on breaking of shells is half the fun of eating prawns and by the time we'd finished, two side-plates contained teetering mounds of shells. The three pounds fifty supplement for this dish seemed fair, to say the least.

Vegetables were hardly necessary but arrived anyway, and the selection was a little more imaginative than usual: dauphinoise potatoes, broccoli, beetroot and courgette, as well as boiled new potatoes. Accompanying all this was a solid if unremarkable bottle of Hartenberg Semillion Chein Blanc, chosen from a wine list that is reasonable in price and length.

Desserts were definitely old school, bellybuster standards like chocolate cake, lemon meringue and chocolate mocha cake, as well as fresh strawberries and fruit salad. All that was missing was trifle.

Characteristically generous portions of a bailey cheesecake and chocolate and strawberry torte were the final indulgence which finished us off, in the very best sense. A Sunday siesta suddenly seemed a distinct possibility; as it turns out, the Red Bank has a small number of guestrooms available next door. Now that is an idea.

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