Restaurant review: This new street food spot in Cork's English Market is a must-try
Head chef Darren Connolly with proprietor Emma O’Connell at Kay’s Kitchen in the English Market. Picture: Eddie O’Hare
An early breakfast that will live forever in memory was consumed before 9am on a weekday in Barcelona’s already heaving Boqueria market: A paper cone of battered, fried whitebait, wolfed down, eyes, head, tail, and washed down with a bottle of chilled Cava.
Fair enough, that class of breakfast requires the ‘stamina’ of a youth long passed, but the unique pleasure of dining in a covered market remains.
In Spain, which has the best market culture in Europe, I always seek out an opportunity to perch on a stool or even just stand at a counter, munching as I watch the world go by.
Emma O’Connell, of English Market stalwarts O’Connell’s fishmongers, opened the first outlet of Kay’s Kitchen (named after her grandmother) directly across from their own iconic fish and seafood stall, substantially shortening the supply chain.
It is just after noon on a weekday, tourists, shoppers, office and shop workers are funnelling through the old market’s passageways — though clearance is at a premium around Kay’s Kitchen, where chef Darren Connolly operates in the tiny little space behind the counter.
I can’t help notice the amount of office workers taking away a portion of the chowder (€7 takeaway, €8 hot) for lunch so I put in an order. This chowder is superb, no reinvention of the wheel but a fine rendition built on a classic foundation of onion, celery, carrot, leek, fennel, garlic, white wine, thickened with a roux, fish chunks, finished with cream and lemon juice.
On the side, a hefty doorstep of brown treacle soda bread with a becoming sweetness. Crispy Whitefish Taco (€9) sees Connolly prospecting for the flavour motherlode. On a soft chipotle corn tortilla smeared with a puree of red pepper, beautifully cooked fried fish is dressed with a classic salsa and sweet and sour mayo. Again, delicious, though the dish could be pared back a tad to allow individual elements more room to strut the stage.
‘Loaded’ Bombay fish pie (€7.50) sees Connolly’s own soft, crumbly and flavoursome shortcrust pastry housing an ethereal butter-rich yet impossibly light mash, studded with chunks of prawn and salmon, a light hand with curry spicing is the crowning grace note. If that is perfection, a ladle of hot chowder spooned over the top, is an inspired touch that sends the dish right over the edge.
The flavour of croquettes (€4 for one; €7 for two; €10 for three) changes daily; today, traditional fish, piri piri, and prawn, crab and chorizo. Again, all are founded on a base of that fine mashed potato and spring onion, Dijon mustard and chunks of fish. To keep the delicate mash mix from falling asunder in the deep fat fryer, Connolly opts for a finer, denser pinhead breadcrumbs. It may not present with the same allure as a golden pan fried croquette but flavours, enhanced by garlic and tarragon mayo, Marie rose sauce and tartare sauce don’t let the side down.
Fish and chips (€14) sees fresh battered haddock fried to a golden crisp alongside some of the finest chips I’ve had in a while. Just like the fish, they are golden and crunchy on the outside, snow white heart within, repaying the extra effort Connolly puts into their preparation.
It comes with sides, a piquant pickled carrot and cucumber salad refreshes the palate, but potato salad is surely entirely redundant alongside the aforementioned chips …? And yet it is such a potato salad, roasted baby potatoes, skin left on, dressed with lemon juice, crème fraîche, chives and seasoning, that it too is wolfed down. It may be overkill to have two potato carbs in such a hefty dish but dump the bathwater, treasure the baby, and find another more suitable ‘home’ for it, maybe even as a standalone salad with a little fishy element added.
The Fish Burger (€12) is a fabulous looking creation, a real showstopper, piled high and all housed in a brioche bun, from which a piece of the beautifully battered and fried haddock pokes out at a jaunty angle. Flavours again are immediately to the fore, as picalilli, garlic and tarragon mayo, and pickled fennel jostle for attention, so much so that Swiss cheese and lettuce slip under the radar almost unnoticed.
Connolly, most recently of Cafe Vega in his hometown of Cobh, is a chef of substantial experience though low of profile; I think that is set to change in a big way. Not only is he in his element, dishing out fine, funky and very dirty — in the best sense — street food flavours, but he owns the space like a true pro, taking orders, shouting out dishes and volleying banter back across the countertop like Federer in his prime, a market character in the making.
One tourist, possibly Spanish, gushes at me: “It’s like something you’d find in Boston!”
“Sure, Boston’s just another town in the very, very west of Ireland,” I josh back at her but, to be honest, Kay’s Kitchen in the English Market is uniquely of Cork — and the city is all the better for it.
Our Rating: 8.5/10
English Market, Grand Parade, Cork
Lunch for three: €50.50
