weekend bites

THIS WEEK I’LL BE EATING...

... padron peppers, the little green ones that are often served as part of a tapas feast. I grow my own in what’s left of my polytunnel (which is being repaired next week, weather permitting). I simply stir them on a hot pan with a dash of olive oil until they blister a little and collapse slightly. I sprinkle on plenty of sea salt flakes and eat with a glass of dry fino sherry, like Tio Pepe. Some are very spicy!

SALTY BUOY IS TRUCKING ALONG

Niall Sabongi has teamed up with Roe & Co, the Diageo-owned distillery in the Liberties of Dublin, to bring his Salty Buoy Food truck to their cocktail village. Niall’s two restaurants, in Temple Bar, are too small to open during the current restrictions but many of the menu favourites, including the outstanding lobster rolls, are available when the truck is dispensing, on Thursday and Friday evenings. Booking is recommended and you can do that at roeandcowhiskey.com.

A LITTLE TASTE OF NEPAL

It’s a little known fact that one of the best wine lists in the country is to be found in Temple Bar at, of all places, Monty’s of Kathmandu on Eustace Street. Owner Shiva Gautam, right, has been obsessed with wine for decades and the restaurant’s cellar is a treasure trove. Prices are reasonable, too, for some rarities. Now, he has introduced a menu of small plates or ‘nepas’, ie

Nepalese tapas. Platters to share start at €16.50 and include Monty’s glorious momo dumplings. Beat a path! Visit montys.ie.

BREWING UP A GONG

My local brewery, Eight Degrees in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, has garnered a lot of gongs at the World’s Best Beer Awards against over 2,000 entries. The World’s Best Pale Amber Beer is now officially Eight Degrees’ Sunburnt Irish Red which should also get an award for the most descriptive name. My favourite, Citra Single Hop IPA, however ‘only’ managed a gold medal! See eightdegrees.ie and worldbeer awards.com.