Overall a decent place for a meal out in Ballina, worth checking out, affordable too. Pub or restaurant available for dining.

A recent weekend away from Kilkenny brought me over the west of Ireland and in search of food on a Saturday evening (6:30pm-ish) I wound up in Crockets (On The Quay) in Ballina.

This pub / restaurant certainly has a lot going for it - masses of space, large screen projector for sports, multiple TVs around the bar, pool room, separate smoking room - but it was the food I was after.

Having ordered a round of drinks, the four of us seated at the table all opted for different dishes - one traditional fish and chips with a mushy pea puree, one 8oz sirloin steak, one starter combo of buffalo mozzarella potato skins and a warm Thai chicken salad while I opted for the “Roast Loin of Pork with a Smoked Bacon and Herb Rosti, Roast Stuffed Vegetables and a Cherish Relish & Herb Jus”, priced at €16.95.

It took around 20 minutes for the food to arrive, likely because of the steak, which had come with a 20-30 minute cook time warning, but in that 20 minutes you get a good feel for the atmosphere. If pub grub is your thing then you’ll be quite happy here. The bar area where we were seated was quiet enough upon entry but within a half hour or so had filled reasonably to the point of being noisy.

The workaround here is that there is a separate restaurant located off the bar (reservations) which serves the same menu so if returning I reckon I’ll be hitting the restaurant part.

When the food arrived, presentation was excellent. The pork served in two good sized portions, sitting on a large squared rosti with the cherry relish in a small dish. The roast stuffed vegetables were half peppers, packed with stuffing.

While it looked fantastic on the outset and tasted great as well I was a little let down by the pork dish. The meat - despite the sauce - was a tad on the dry on side, as was the stuffing - something remedied by the presence of the cherry relish. The smoked bacon rosti showed no sign or smell of bacon at all, no matter how hard I looked and was certainly more oily that I would care for.

A quick round table revealed that the traditional fish - ling - was also on the dry side (receiving a 3/5 overall), the Thai chicken salad was a lot more salad than it was chicken with the words “there isn’t much” heard at one point, while the steak seemed to take the better remarks, the ‘medium’ cooking looking at tasting well, peppered sauce served off on the side and a large helping of fried onions seemed to go down well.

On a value-for-money note, the round of drinks along with the meal (no starters, no desserts), clocked in at just under €100 which I would consider reasonable when dining for four.

Having sampled the Thai chicken salad I will say that it is an extremely tasty dish (the chicken marinated in roast chili and coriander while the salad is served with a coconut and lemongrass dressing) and both starters were coeliac friendly.

On an average I reckon the food could score 4/5, my own a 3/5, with the overall experience taking a 3/5. Next time around I’ll be booking the restaurant and taking the more peaceful atmosphere.

Rated 3/5 on Sep 02 2007 by Ken McGuire
Review Tags: ballina, crockets, restaurant
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