A Day in Avoca Monkstown

So we took off to spend a day in Avoca Monkstown. The plan was to grab some lunch in Salt Cafe and pick up a few foodie treats in the food store after. 

We arrived at 12pm and immediately realised parking was going to be tricky. As this little gem has become so well known, we weren't the only ones looking. We found a space around the corner and skipped off to see the store.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by a bustling queue for Salt. Best word of advice is to book if you can. We were seated relatively quickly by the extremely friendly staff but there was an air of begrudgery from those around us who had reservations.

The restaurant itself is stunning. It carries a luxurious worn look which is carried out throughout the store, tables and even down to the menus.

Lunch Menu

So to get down to the really interesting bit. I ordered the duck liver parfait with pear & shallot chutney and toasted sourdough for starters and the venision, porcini & spinach cannelloni with a rocket, parmesan & fennel salad for main. While hubby ordered the white onion soup with aged parmesan & truffle oil for starters and free-range rotisserie half chicken with Caesar salad for main. No deserts this time :( 

Both my dishes tasted absolutely fabulous. The parfait was velvety smooth, however I did find with the cannelloni there was quite a shortage of venison. Hubby's dishes were exquisite. No complaints there whatsoever, in fact we probably had more than enough chicken to do both of us. Consistency with portions seems to be the only problem.

Duck Parfait

Cannelloni

Soup

Chicken for Caesar Salad

Caesar Salad

We ordered the sparkling home-made lemonade which was gorgeous and fresh however I did  find the price a little steep at €6.95. The presentation of both the lemonade and water somewhat distracts you from this.

Water 

Sparkling Lemonade

We asked for the bill and were kindly offered to take our leftovers home and finished with a nice bill of just under €60 overall not bad value.

Next was the food store. The store is full to the brim of foodie nuggets that will excite you when you see them. Such as the Romanesco which we purchased. We noticed part of the store had been filled with tables for the cafe, we were told by shop assistant this was a new feature. Honestly, it doesn't work. The last thing you want to do is squeeze in behind someone as they are eating to grab something of the shelf behind them. Not a pleasant experience for the eater either. But hopefully they will change this back with time.

Romanesco

We ventured into James Whelan's Butchers and were greeted by the gorgeous vision of the meat being hung. The shop is decked out beautifully with all the produce displayed perfectly and as always, the staff were extremely pleasant and helpful. We picked up these delicious 56 day aged Sirloin Steaks. 

Overall we enjoyed our day in Avoca Monkstown. However if we were to go again we would allow more time and certainly book ahead.

Will we eat there again? Probably.

Price? €60 for 2 starter, 2 main and lemonade