Galway

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I have not yet visited India, but I have eaten in many Indian restaurants and was lucky to spend my high school years running track and cross country with friends whose parents were from India and spoiled us with multi course homemade meals.

Aside from those incredible at home meals, the best Indian food I have ever eaten is at Kashmir in Galway, Ireland. When I was a student studying in Galway, they offered a daily buffet lunch for about 6 pounds, which for my roommates and I who were broke, vegetarian foodies, was miraculous!

When the hubs and I started dating, and we returned to Galway together, I was so happy to see that Kashmir was not only still open, but moved to a bigger location right on the water. Over the years, we have always made it a point to visit Kashmir on each trip to Ireland. We even ate here after we got engaged 🙂

On this past trip to Galway, we ate at Kashmir twice, once for a family dinner after my 13 mile run and once for a Sunday buffet lunch. Both times were amazing and left me wanting more. There is nothing better than spicy, filling, satisfying Indian food after a long run on a cold and blustery Irish winter day!

We always start with poppadums served with yogurt raita, mango chutney, and those spicy, pickled onions that I am addicted to.

 

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Blurry, yet delicious and extra spicy Vegetable Boona with coriander, cloves, cumin seeds, bay leaves, garlic and ginger. This dish was a flavorful dinner and delightfully filling paired with naan bread.

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The Sunday buffet offers a fairly large variety of both vegetarian and meat options including Dal Makhni, Vegetable Balti, Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati rice, and Kheer, that creamy coconut rice pudding that I always seem to find room for.

Now that I am writing this, I have a major craving for Indian food! We may have to work a lunch buffet into our weekend plans 🙂

 

Do you like Indian food? What is your favorite dish? Restaurant? Or do you make it at home?

 

imageJust felt like sharing this cool photo of the hubs walking down by the Spanish Arch in Galway. We couldn’t see much due to the fog, and it was very cool/eerie!

Tags: Dining out, ethnic food, Food, Galway, Indian Food, Ireland

TGI almost Friday. I had another post planned for tonight, but after a bad day, all I want to do is write about a place that makes me happy. My day started off with a little (a LOT) of disappointment over the faux snowstorm that we had. Promised 14 inches and the hope of a much needed work from home day, we got maybe 2, and it was business as usual. My foot has been bothering me, my knees ache, and I am overall exhausted. A day working in PJ’s would have been nice.

Once up, I lost a contact. I went to the gym for an upper body strength workout and finished only to realize that I didn’t have a shirt to wear to work. And the gym was so crowded that I couldn’t dry my hair. While I was waiting outside Filene’s for it to open so I could buy a shirt, my hair froze. Really, big chunks of frozen hair. And I had hoped to hear from a couple of people I spoke with last week regarding some things (cryptic, yes :)) and have come to the conclusion that there won’t be any follow up, at least for me, so that threw a little more frustration in the pot.

The day did get better. Westport Rivers Winery offered a 10 person private tour and tasting for my ALLY Foundation raffle. How amazing is that? I am beyond humbled and grateful by the generous support companies are providing for this raffle. You can enter by visiting my fundraising site:

http://firstgiving.com/meghanmalloyteamally

And here I am. Thursday night, tiring day, and I want to relive vacation moments.

When I lived in Galway, I lived literally about 20 feet above the Saturday market. Have I showed you a photo of my old apartment? Probably, but here it is again.

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The Saturday market is a little bit scant in winter, but it still rivals anything we have in Boston. There is fresh produce, oysters and other seafood, crepes, arts and crafts, and my favorite, a cart that was among the missing this time, Govinda, a Hare Krishna vegetarian vendor with kitchiri and matter panneer, two dishes I could eat forever and ever. I missed him this time around! Govinda, where are you?

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Fresh oysters and fish, courtesy of Galway Bay

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Farm fresh eggs

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French lavender

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Are you drooling yet? Pesto, olives, hummus, harissa, tapenade, plus bread. YUM.

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When I lived in Galway, a whole, giant bucket of potatoes was 1 pound. My vegetarian roommates and I did very well with the market and all of the cheap veggies available. Best part? They were fresh and local!

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Broccoli and cauliflower, just some more of the amazing produce available

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One of the things I loved about the market was that the carrots were still covered in mud. I learned that this adds to the weight of the purchase, therefore costing more money, but at the time I thought it was so charming. At any rate, the carrots were sweet and fresh and like nothing I have ever tasted. I loved living so close to my food.

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Spring comes to Galway early. By the time my March 20 birthday rolls around, there are brand new baby lambs and daffodils. A mild climate means that green, green grass and flowers start arriving in February. One of the many reasons that I love it. Honestly, for a foodie like me, the market really sold Galway to me. We ate what we bought, and we only bought what we ate. And almost everything was in season and from farmers who had worked the earth for generations. It was old fashioned but felt so right and is the way of shopping and eating that is thankfully becoming popular again.

I still have lots of Ireland and Czech Republic posts left and am excited to share those with you. I will also have some more information on the case of wine up for the raffle later this weekend.

Do you have a favorite farmer or farmer’s market? What is your dream place to live and why?

Tags: Farmer's Markets, Food, foodies, Galway, Ireland, Market, oysters

Galway with evening setting in- 11 pm in summer

Galway with evening setting in- 11 pm in summer

 

Spanish Arch Galway

Spanish Arch Galway

 

 

Hello again! I hope that you are all having a fab Sunday and looking forward to a short work week! I know the next few weeks will be intense, but even if I work from home on Friday, it will be nice to mix things up a bit. A Bin Ends Fine Wine Flea Market post will follow tomorrow – because it was an awesome event from which we purchased 12 bottles!

 

Tonight’s review is of one of my Galway, Ireland favorites. As I have posted in the past, I have spent quite a bit of time in Ireland and especially in Galway, and I definitely have the places I go to again and again. There are so many Galway eateries and drinkeries that I crave, but tonight is devoted to McSwiggan’s. My first experience with McSwiggan’s was 8 years ago, when my roommates and I would drink there and occasionally steal rolls of toilet paper from the closet in the restroom so we wouldn’t have to buy it ourselves. Illegal yes, classy no. I apologize for this behavior, but it was what it was, and I admit to it.:( Young and stoopid.
Anyway, I am going to go past McSwiggans as a drinking establishment for now. It is one of my fave date night spots in Galway and boasts some amazing food, including THE BEST VEGGIE CURRY EVER.

The last time we ate at McSwiggan’s was about a month ago on a trip to Ireland for the hub’s Masters program. It was relaxing for me, because while he was meeting with advisers, I was spa-ing. On our final night, we took the fam out to dinner to one of our favorite spots. The interior has been revamped a few times in the years I have been going, and now it is pretty swank while maintaining a lot of the old Irish charm, including the tree that goes up through the building.

courtesy of mcswiggans.com

courtesy of mcswiggans.com

Deciding on what to order at McSwiggan’s is difficult for most, but for me, the decision to order the veg curry is easy. I crave it every time I am home in the states and plan to eat it every time we visit Ireland.
We ordered a bottle of Clare Valley Aussie red for the table when we arrived, and our lovely server also brought a big glass of the white for us to try. My sister in law couldn’t make up her mind on a starter, and when she chose the Thai Salmon Cakes, the server brought the Pate Maison for her to try as well. Such great service!

I of course ordered the veg curry, but tried the salmon cakes, and they were delicious! One thing I love about new Irish cuisine is that there are all sorts of flavor influences, and the sweet and spicy chili of these cakes, matched with the freshness of local Irish salmon, was perfect.

We were given several baskets of bread for our table of 6, and I had one piece while waiting for my beloved entrée. When it finally did arrive, I once again marveled in its mix of veggie goodness, accompanied by a yogurt sauce and naan bread. This dish is huge, and I probably brought about ¾ of it home. It is so full of veg that it just makes me full after a few bites. The yogurt sauce is to die for.
The hub always splurges here and gets a steak with the cream cheese garlic potatoes. I have tried to make these at home, and while the outcome has been yummy, nothing compares to the garlicky-cheesiness of these potatoes. They are really in a class by themselves, and I would recommend going all the way to Galway for them 🙂

Favorite city ever (photo courtesy of mcswiggans.com)

Favorite city ever (photo courtesy of mcswiggans.com)

Needless to say, we NEVER make it to dessert at McSwiggan’s but I bet it would be amazing. We normally end up at a nearby pub for a pint and some music, only to return a few hours later to veggie curry leftovers – genius!

I have SO many more Galway photos and recommendations, and I plan on sharing all of them in the future. For now I will be uploading my shots from the Bin Ends Flea Market today and look forward to writing more tomorrow!

Buenas noches 🙂

Tags: Dining out, Food, foodie, Galway, Ireland, McSwiggans, Vegetarian, wine

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