seafood

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O’Grady’s, Barna Pier

December 8, 2012 in Food, Travel by traveleatlove | 3 comments

Every visit to Ireland brings a new-to-us discovery. We have our favorite haunts and things, like the Saturday farmers market and piles of late night garlic and cheese chips at Supermac’s, but we do our best to try at least one new restaurant.

On this visit, we drove along the coast to the village of Barna to wander along Barna Pier and to check out a renowned restaurant, O’Grady’s at the end of the pier.

The below sign alerts drivers to the fact that the road is ending. Point taken.

The views from Barna are gorgeous, and the ever-changing weather makes them even more spectacular.When we arrived it was bright and sunny, but during the course of our meal all of that changed into lashing rain, clouds, and wind.

Luckily, there’s no place better than a cozy seafood restaurant in the West of Ireland to wait out the storm with a pint of Guinness.

Irish prawn salads are one of my favorites, so I decided to go with that, served with fresh brown bread and Irish butter, for my lunch. I love the tangy Marie Rose sauce on the top, and the prawns were amazing, more like lobster than prawns, really. The portion was heaping and had a good amount of salad greens, onions, and tomatoes underneath. I could definitely eat this for lunch daily.

As the weather got worse, we talked over the crackle of a roaring fire and stared out at the boats and windsurfer braving the chilly downpour.

We continued our wait with a couple of strong, sweet, and creamy Irish coffees. When in Ireland. . .

As the saying goes, Ireland experiences four seasons in a day, and by the time we were paying for our leisurely lunch, the sun was out, and getting ready to set. The one big downside of visiting Ireland in the winter is how early the darkness sets in and how late the sun comes up. There were days I woke up at eight, and it was pitch dark out.

The upside of all of that rain? Rainbows, double and triple rainbows that make me squeal with delight every single time. Like so many other things in Ireland, rainbows just add a little more magic.

Our afternoon spent at O’Grady’s was one of our favorites of our entire trip. The restaurant has won many awards for its fresh, creative cuisine, and they are well-deserved. The service was warm and welcoming; we never felt rushed and really enjoyed being on holiday there. If you find yourself in Ireland, definitely spend a few days in Galway and make Barna Pier a stop along your journey.

Tags: Barna, Food, Galway, Guinness, Ireland, Restaurants, seafood, Travel

I love Blue Sea and Red’s Best

August 28, 2012 in Food by traveleatlove | 7 comments

I’m always disappointed when I get to the fish counter or frozen fish section of the grocery store and only find fish and shrimp from a world away. Thailand, Singapore , and Chile often dominate, and I always wonder, with so much ocean right outside our doors, why there isn’t much Massachusetts seafood available.

As a result, I was really excited to receive an invitation to the Boston launch of i love blue sea at Red’s Best on Boston’s fish pier. Have you heard of i love blue sea yet? Before I received the email I had not, but once I started reading, I was interested in learning more.

Here’s what their website has to say:

i love blue sea is a company formed by fishermen, surfers, dreamers, foodies and entrepreneurs.

We believe that businesses based on the ocean should first do no harm to it. We have developed relationships with oyster farmers, crabbers, and fishermen and women who run their own boats and are braving the waterways to bring you the freshest, most responsibly sourced seafood available.

You will know when your seafood was caught, where it comes from, and if you’re so curious, you can find out the name of the ship and how the harvest is going. When the ships come to shore, you’ll receive seafood straight from the boat.

i love blue sea is working with Red’s Best, a seafood distributor with product from networked fishermen. Red’s Best gathers together fish and shellfish from fishermen in the New England area and then processes it and gets it out to restaurants and i love blue sea. Because Red’s Best works directly with the fishermen, they develop trust and relationships that work for both parties. These relationships ensure that fishermen are paid good wages and that fish is coming from reliable and reputable sources This also allows for traceability of your seafood. QR codes on the packaging allow you to find out when the fish was caught and where, along with information the fisherman who caught it.

The event with i love blue sea was held right inside Red’s Best fish storage and processing area. While we took in a ton of great information, we snacked on fresh oysters, clams, and a delightful, lemony lobster salad.

Red’s Best has fish coming in every evening, and the night of the event was no different. A truck with a variety of different species arrived and was unloaded before our eyes. It was definitely like no other party I have attended, and all of the bloggers there agreed that it was one of the most interesting events ever.

After we watched all of the fish get unloaded from the truck, we got to go into the cooler to see where they would be stored for the night.

Throughout the evening we learned about some of the fish and shellfish that come in to Red’s Best, including conch, lobsters, flounder, fluke, monkfish and scup. Scup, we learned, is a delicious, sustainable fish that is sometimes referred to as sea bream. This fish is not common in the market, yet it’s plentiful, easy to prepare, and would be cheaper than a lot of other options. It’s all about the marketing!

i love blue sea makes it easier for all of us to have access to these smaller fishing operations. Their website features all sorts of delicious-looking sustainable specialties that you can order online and receive in an eco-friendly package the very next day. I’m already planning on ordering a gift from the site this week. I love that i love blue sea allows me to support sustainable practices, local fishermen, and a healthy, delicious food option.

Tags: blogger events, Boston, events, Food, seafood

Gramma Dot’s

July 5, 2012 in Food, Restaurants, Travel by traveleatlove | 6 comments

Our family trip to Sanibel Island brought us to some great local restaurants. Even before we landed, I knew I would be all about the seafood and the rum, and for each dinner we had out, I sought out the two.

After our morning on the Sanibel Thriller, lunch at The Bubble Room, and hours and hours on the beach in the hot sun, we were hungry. The little ones were also very tired, so my mom offered to stay at the condo with them while my sister, brother-in-law, husband and I got dinner out. We decided to make the short drive back to the marina where the Thriller is docked to check out a little seafood place, Gramma Dot’s Seaside Saloon.

Gramma Dot’s is a down-home kind of place, not at all fancy, just comfortable with good food and amazing views. I know the below is blurry, but I kind of think it looks cool like that.

We decided to share a pitcher of a local-ish beer, Key West Sunset Ale.

We also shared a delightful sampler of crab meatballs, fried oysters, and coconut shrimp. There’s something about fried seafood after a day at the beach. . .

The menu was pretty extensive and offered lots of seafood options. My husband went with the curried lobster salad, a cool and refreshing mix of sweet, tender lobster, celery, onion, curry, and mayo. It was incredible.

Grouper is a pretty popular option at Sanibel restaurants, and I definitely wanted to have some. I ordered the blackened grouper Caesar salad. It was great to have some crunchy salad, and the grouper was fantastic. The spices gave it a tiny kick, and the salad and dressing cooled it off. The fish itself was meaty, flaky, perfectly cooked. I am a grouper fan!

We really enjoyed our meals as well as the friendly, relaxed vibe at Gramma Dot’s. It’s definitely not a bad thing when you can see dolphins out the window while you eat!