Restaurant review: The Oyster Tavern, Market Lane, Cork
There was some trepidation amongst certain ‘silverbacks’ of my acquaintance on foot of last year’s revamp of The Oyster Tavern, a public house since 1792.
This cohort, drawn from the Merchant Prince/South Mall set, could recall its heyday, back when boozy business luncheons — invariably steaks, cut from meat hanging in the bar — could stretch as far as the evening Angelus and beyond and a fellow was only considered to have a bit of a ‘problem’ if his first G&T was consumed before midday. Though any survivors of that particular era are now only fit for the Ovaltine Club, the fear was any impending modernisation would inevitably obliterate the last fading memories of their glorious prime.
Even my own fossilised memories of the place don’t quite stretch back that far, commencing in my youth, when I nursed pints of porter and ostentatiously brandished some suitably intellectual tome, for its location, down a dark alleyway off bright bustling Patrick’s Street, mere feet from a side entrance to the English Market, was a doorway into another world, sheer Dickensian magic to a young fella with a penchant for the louche side of life.
Taken over by the Dublin-based Clancy bar group, it has been treated to a zingy and expensive makeover, formerly darkened corners now apparently illuminated by bright young things slurping cocktails, kicking up heels. The initial food offering stumbled and several months later Kate Lawlor, formerly chef-proprietor of Fenn’s Quay, was brought in to remedy the situation.
The Oyster was always a cosy ‘winter’ pub so, having swallowed the last of a very enjoyable al fresco beer in balmy evening sunshine of our recent ‘heatwave’, Bad Bill and I are understandably deflated by the wide open prairies of a near empty bar. I trudge upstairs under the yoke of rapidly wilting professional obligation until I enter the first floor room and am quite blown away, unable to remember when I last was so taken with a dining space.
The bar is in the centre, a shimmering altar of glass and light; around the room, a series of wall booths with upholstered leather banquettes. Lighting is low, warm, generous and mirrored walls, parquet flooring, flock wallpaper and exotic plants cement the impression of a glamourous speakeasy in prohibition-era New York.
Kicking off with fine sharp Tojo American Pale Ales (Clonakilty Brewing Co) and imbued with this spirit of wry nostalgia, we opt for a trio of ‘old school’ starters. Prawn Cocktail has surprisingly bland prawns while promised ‘Asian-style’ treatment is curiously absent from the red cabbage slaw accompanying unremarkable Golden Fried Scampi. Meat in spiced beef carpaccio tastes solely of sugar and cloves, rocket lacks the pepper to compensate.
Normal service resumes with my very tasty, perfectly-cooked Baked Lemon Sole even if Chive Mash founders on the tired remnants of last year’s potato harvest. BB has an appreciation for fine dining finesse but his strapping frame takes some filling so he plumps for excellent 10oz Ribeye on the Bone, delivered precisely as ordered: savoury meat with decent ‘chew’, served with crispy chips, juicy mushrooms and a hefty Jameson Caskmates Stout Jus. Though I’m done, he also manages an overly-sweet rhubarb crumble. A Piedra Del Mar Albarino (2016) is pleasant, citric and crisp, though the cheaper end of the wine list could use more imagination.
It is no surprise to learn Lawlor is away on holidays. Certainly, any good kitchen should equally deliver when the chief is absent but these are not normal times for a hospitality sector deeply stricken by the current cheffing shortage. But more importantly still, you’d wonder at the kitchen’s place in the grand scheme of things, quite obviously second in line after the bar/beverages side of the operation. The kitchen itself is an extremely tight little spot, tough to work, and much of the menu reads as if assembled by committee, unlike Lawlor’s more usual wholesome, tasty dishes made from excellent produce. As it stands, it is like asking an electrical engineer to wire up a plug and I would love to see her given free rein to serve up a truncated menu of good bistro-style grub, brimming with the idiosyncratic personality this wonderful room deserves. After all, I quite fancy the idea of having one or two ‘business lunches’ myself!
€141 (including pre-dinner drinks and an Irish coffee)
Breakfast/lunch, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm; Brunch, Saturday/Sunday, 12pm to 5pm; Evening menu, Monday to Saturday, 5pm to 9pm
Food: 7
Service: 9.5
Value: 7.5
Atmosphere: 9 (Probably 11 when full!)
