Food In Glasson

An attractive stone building (once a R.I.C. barracks) in the pretty village Glasson off the main road in Goldsmith country. The atmosphere is friendly and the place really bustles at Sunday lunch time. Owner-chef Michael Brooks is something of a seafood specialist - choose lobster or oysters fresh from the tank or, from the dinner menu, perhaps smoked bacon-wrapped monkfish with a leek and lithe sauce, a saffron-flavoured seafood ragout, hot terrine of salmon and hake with a sweet red pepper sauce, seafood soup or the fresh fish dish of the day.

This delightful waterside restaurant, just outside Glasson on Lough Rea shore, continues to charm on all fronts - the location is idyllic, Ray Byrne and Jane English are outstanding hosts and they head up all excellent team

Then restaurant is quite informal, yet somehow manages to create a sense of occasion; the view alone would do this, perhaps, but Ray and Jane have put a

lot of their personalities as well as hard work into the place, making it both cosy - reading the papers in front of the fire before and after Sunday lunch is a real treat - and characterful, with lots of nautical memorabilia in the decor balanced by Jane's growing 'cat' Collection.

Good local ingredients are used in an enticing repertoire of dishes that combine simplicity and imagination. Lively first courses might include choices as varied as home-made soup based on a vegetarian stock, carpaccio of local Westmeath beef marinated in balsamic vinegar, and lobster and ripe melon cocktail, served with a light coconut cream

Well-balanced main courses might range from duck with orange and autumn fruit chutney through grilled scallops in lemon pepper and basil butter with steamed clams and cockles to a vegetarian dish such as citrus-flavoured egg noodles with stuffed courgettes and a fresh herb dressing. Seasonal desserts are always unusual and tempting. Innovative ideas include Game Tasting Menu , in season (quail, pigeon, eel, smoked pike, pheasant etc. as available), a wine selection in three price bands (guests choose their bottles from the rack or from the wine menu).

'Nannie Murph's Seafood & Steak Bar', providing a good choice of bar food that encompasses seafood chowder, traditional Irish strew fresh fish and chips, toasted sandwiches and a hot chicken baguette with chilli and basil mayonnaise. More substantial meals

could range from bacon-wrapped chicken breast with a honey mustard and orange sauce to a seafood symphony with mussels, oysters, tiger prawns, crab claws, salmon, sole and scallops cooked in white wine, cream and dill. Leave room for meringues and cream with Baileys Irish cream sauce or a strawberry coulis, or chocolate truffle cake.

Other choices could include a Greek salad, sautéed breast of guinea fowl with a mousseline of its legs and a toasted cashew and honey sauce, Chateaubriand and roast loin of lamb on minted bulgar wheat. Particularly good value four-course table d'hôte includes a choice of soups.