I celebrated a landmark birthday at the weekend. Rather than have a party I had voiced my wish to try out a restaurant that I had heard about a few years back but had never got around to visiting. This restaurant was "saved" for the special occasion because one can't just pop in on spec here and making the voyage to this eatery needs planning in advance. I'm talking about The Island Cottage Restaurant on Heir Island off the coast of west Cork. John Desmond and Ellmary Fenton have been running this restaurant in their home on the island for the past 20 years. I had heard about the restaurant first when spending a few days in west cork about four years ago and I then read John Desmond's interview in The Sunday Times' magazine a short time after. Now with a bakery school after opening on the island, Heir Island is being marketed as a culinary haven, it was time to pay a visit.
Having got the ferry out just in time for dinner we bee lined straight for the Cottage Restaurant and were the last to arrive. Greeted by Ellmary, the formidable front of house manager, at the door, we were given a quick run through the evening's menu (there is no choice but one set menu every evening) before choosing our wine and removing ourselves to the back conservatory where we joined the other diners and awaited further instruction. All pews already taken, we stood awkwardly, sipping our drinks, wishing for a bit of background music. John Desmond then appeared at the door and handed over plates of hors d'oeuvres (crab meat on toast) from the threshold (they are not allowed serve food outside of the dining room but the guests are allowed help themselves - no doubt some ridiculous health and safety clause they are obliged to adhere to). The crab meat was good, fresh and simple and gone in a second. Ellmary then began summoning the party, one and two at a time, to be seated in the exact spots she had earmarked for us. We were seated at a table with seven others and set about exchanging names and pleasantries while nibbling on the good homemade brown bread and butter that was on the table.
The starter of mushroom risotto was the first real disappointment. Served on a pool of oil there was obviously too much butter added and the excess had flowed off. The risotto had neither the creamy consistency I expected nor the pungent flavour of a mushroom. Next course, a fillet of Brill with a sweet red pepper sauce and roast potatoes. This was fine. Nothing more, nothing less. A few "less than Brill" comments later and we were onto the cheese course, the oddest course of the evening. A wedge of Durrus cheese with salad leaves from the mainland and "the dressing underneath the leaves". I don't know the reasoning behind not dressing the leaves before plating but the D.I.Y. dress didn't add any extra flavour in my opinion. As for the wedge of Durrus, I absolutely love this cheese but I don't care for eating a wedge of it neat. It was crying out for some crackers and something sweet, such as grapes or quince. Ellmary voluntarily declared that she didn't know whether the leaves were organic or not but that they were grown on the mainland. When a menu is so small there really is no excuse for not knowing everything about the food being served.
For desert there were crepe souffles with a raspberry coulis, two per person. These were void of flavour but full of technical skill with puffed up souffles and thin crepes. I had one. I'm not one to shy away from desert when dining out but I do feel that an extra inch on the waistline should be for something delicious and decadent. Lastly we were given a plate of homemade truffles for the table and a coffee before a dramatic mass exodus to catch the last ferry back.
This restaurant has been kept going over the years as a "unique dining experience" and Ellmary's strict demeanor as garnered her the reputation of an eccentric who adds to this experience. I don't think that a novelty location should be enough to run a business on. From talking to people who have dined here before and from reading the online menus it is clear that the menu rarely changes, with the same few dishes cropping up regularly. I didn't feel like there was much care or interest put into the food and Ellmary's rules and stipulations seemed over dramatic and unnecessary. I won't be making a return voyage.
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