July 05 2012 75LIFE STYLELIFE STYLE

FOOD winewww.advertiser.ieRECIPES I WINE I REVIEWS

Last Thursday I was invited toattend a tasting of therenowned Kopi Luwak coffee atMr Waffle, located on ScholarsWalk, Newcastle. For thoseunfamiliar with Kopi Luwak, it isone of the world's most rareand expensive coffees, atalmost ¤50 per cup. Not to puttoo fine a point on it, it is madefrom the beans of coffeeberries which have been eatenby the Asian palm civet. Yesindeed folks, this unique coffeehas the dubious distinction ofbeing consumed before thecustomer has even taken a sip.I will take mine with milk, sugar,and a good dose of scepticism.

A wondrous wee beastie, thecivet cat. This nocturnal, furry,long-tailed, animal that prowlssoutheast Asia's coffee-growinglands is responsible for all thehype. This barista of the animalkingdom, more properly knownas the palm civet‚ is not really acat at all, rather a distant cousinof the mongoose. Native tosoutheast Asia and Indonesia,the palm civet, known there as aluwak, subsists entirely on fruit,in particular the fleshy redcherry of the coffee tree andthen only the ripest, reddest,coffee cherries, which growabundantly in these parts of theworld.

Then the unusualfermentation process isdeployed. The stomach acidsand enzymatic action producesthe beans for the world’s rarestcoffee beverage. Unable todigest the coffee beans, theLuwak graciously 'deposits'them on the jungle floor wherethey are eagerly collected bythe locals.

I had, of course, heard allabout this coffee, renowned allover the world for its incrediblydelicious, subtle, lingeringflavour and exceptionalsmoothness, so naturally, andnot being of a squeamishdisposition, I had to give it a go.The other eager coffee loversand I were served our cup ofexorbitantly priced coffee to try.Scepticism aside however, itreally is good coffee,remarkably smooth with nobitter aftertaste. I certainlywould not drink it every day, butit would make a really great giftfor any coffee lover.

So, if you just want to trysomething special, this uniquecoffee is available to buy fromMr Waffle. The staff will tell youhow to store and prepare yourKopi Luwak coffee for the bestresults at home. Alternativelyyou can contact Galway BayCoffee, david@galwaybaycoffee.com, for a list ofstockists.

Guests on the evening madea donation to Cystic FibrosisGalway, Mr Waffle's chosencharity partner, and raised¤400 for cystic fibrosis.

Creole, anothergreat West Enddiningdestination

Not so very long ago thedining options in Galway's WestEnd were limited to say theleast. Having lived on DominickStreet for a number of years,during the glory days of thenewly-opened Blue Note andafternoons in Taylor's beergarden, it was sad to see thearea so down in the dumps fora while. Fast forward a fewyears and the change infortunes is significant. They mayhave been down, but they werenever out.

The West has always beensaturated in culture, a strongIrish speaking contingent and afantastic arts scene. Now, onceagain, some of the best pubsare here, both trendy and trad.The arty, bohemian, typestraditionally hang out in this endof town. Best of all, there is sucha choice of eclectic places toeat you would hardly knowwhere to start. Kai, Oscars,Kashmir, Aniar, and Rouge(which seems to be spreadingacross the road to a secondpremises) are all excellent intheir own way. The newesteatery to open its doors isCreole. And even though it issituated right next door to Cava,its culinary inspiration isthousands of miles away.

I had heard a lot of good

things about this place before Iwent along for an early meal onSaturday evening. I thoughtbeing so early it would be quiet.But nope — it was buzzing witha great atmosphere and aconstant flow of customers tothe door which was great tosee. There were four of us thatevening, one in training for atriathlon had the Paulander(non-alcoholic) beer and thewoman with the hangover stuckto water. Myself and 'the chef'had a beer, they were out of myfirst choice of DungarvanBrewing Company, but in myexperience this is usually asupply issue of the producerand it is commendable that therestaurant is willing to stock afew artisan Irish beers. Otherthan the usual soft drinks, thereare five wines available at ¤4.95a glass, the rest by the bottle.

We were given some deepfried chicken skewers with anastonishingly weird andwonderful banana ketchup totry as we looked over the menu.We also tried the deep-friedokra, one of my least favouritefoods. This usually objectionableand slimy vegetable wastransformed into a tasty morselby the deep frying, I could growto love it like this.

It has to be said straight offthat the portions are reallygenerous, there is no otherword for it. The pricing seemedfair to start with, but when thefood arrived it seemedincredibly good value for thesheer amount of food includinga range of sides, sweetcorn,home-baked beans, fries orbaked potato, all served up onyour platter. If you cannot makeyour mind up what to have, andit is difficult, there is a half andhalf option where you can havea bit of both, maybe some

sirloin and shrimp, somechicken and ribs, a carnivore'sparadise!

Chargrilled shrimp skewersdusted with dried garlic andbrushed with melted butter with'dirty rice' was an excellent dish;the rice was perfectly seasonedand spiced and full of interestingtreasure, tomato, spring onion,and peppers. The chargrilled10oz sirloin steak was perfectlycooked, as good as any andbetter than most in town, andwore its flame-grilled stripeswith pride.

My low and slow roastedbeef ribs were the fall-off-the-bone kind of barbecue ribs. Theportion was Man V Food sized,but the waitress did offer towrap up the rest for me to takehome when I threw in the towelwith more than half the portionleft. The chips and sweet potatochips were both excellent, butthe homemade baked beanswere the stars of the sidedishes.

The Louisiana catfish — friedfillet of catfish in corn batterserved with hand cut chips anda fresh caper and dillremoulade sauce — caused thefirst upset of the evening. Thechef forked open the yellowcorn batter casing and mused,“I don't think it's catfish.” He wasboth right and wrong as itturned out. It was not catfish asthis southern gent would knowit; this bottom feeder is oftengrey and a bit muddy from itsnatural habitat. Thesustainability-focused folks atCreole have sourced a farmedcatfish from closer to homewhich is bright white and fleshy,perfect for standing up to therigours of a barbecue and holdsits own against the spices.

The desserts are the ‘coulddo better’ part of Creole. Theyneed a little bit more thought tocatch up with the rest of what isa great menu. The Mississippimud pie that passed me on itsway to another table lookedsuspiciously like a chocolatefondant. We ordered the keylime pie and while that was nice,it was not very limey. The pecanpraline cheesecake had onepecan on top, and after thatwas unmistakably filled withwalnut pieces. Having said that,I really cannot imagine too manypeople ordering dessert here— not many people would haveroom after such a gargantuanfeed. Even so, we four gluttonsfound ourselves discussing ourplans for what we were havingnext time we came, having nottried the jambalaya or gumbo,the homemade corn bread, orthe Kentucky chicken wings.Hopefully we will get back theresoon as we had a sneak peek atthe new terrace to the rear ofthe building — high walled andairy, it looks like a perfect

summer lunch spot. Thisrestaurant is only open a matterof weeks, but it is quickly findingits feet, and with this kind ofvalue and quality of food it isgoing to be around for a longtime yet, another win for theWest End dining scene.

Such has been the demandfor Creole that it has decided toopen for a limited period atlunchtime with a tailored menufrom 11.30am to 2.30pm. Dinnertime at Creole runs from 5pm to10pm, Tuesday to Thursday andSundays, extending to 11pm onFriday and Saturday. Check outits Facebook page for updateson plans for a jazz supper club,Sunday brunch, and live jazzsessions. For more informationview www.creole.ie ortelephone 091 895926 forreservations.

Galwayfood news With Anne Marie Carroll

THE GALWAY APPETISER&

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