The best fish & chips of my life...

My folks try to come to visit me in my new home town at least once a year. Every time they come I try to organise us a weekend away somewhere in Ireland. Somewhere we haven’t been before, somewhere that will satisfy my dads fishing and bird watching obsessions, somewhere that will satisfy my kids curiosity about the world (and keep them from moaning about the lack of Wii) and somewhere that I can spend some quality browsing time with my mom.

This year I decided that I needed my dad and the kids to see a puffin (and me too J) and that my mom and I needed to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.  I had planned to do a boat cruise around the base of the cliffs, but Hurricane Katia nixed that idea and so we just walked the visitor centre and took some gorgeous pics.

The place I really want to rave about is Waves Restaurant (O’Looneys Bar) on the beach in Lahinch. It was so good that we ate there both nights that we stayed in Clare.  It looks really swanky and posh inside, its small with a limited food menu and good wine list and the beer is good and cold. While the menu is small, they do it extremely well.

 Between us we had a kids Pizza (tomato and cheese), kids bangers and mash, Seafood chowder, beef lasagne and Fish and chips. All came to the table beautifully presented.

Oh Em Gee. It was all delicious. The portions were impressive. The kids had good size portions without them being too small. The pizza was super tasty but still kid friendly.  The mash was creamy and smooth although the sausages were a bit dry.  The seafood chowder was creamy and full of lovely yummy fish bits, without it being grossly fishy. The beef lasagne was tasty with enough sauce and the garlic bread that came with it was crusty and warm and garlicy.

The best of the whole fantastic meal though was the Fish and Chips. Oh my hat... the fish was cooked to perfection. The batter was crispy and you could taste the beer that they used in the batter. It was seasoned perfectly. They managed to get the batter golden while avoiding overcooking the fish. It was flakey and tasty and I ate it with my fingers it was that good. The chips were crispy and crunchy on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside. PERFECTION.

 And the next night that we ate there I ordered the fish and chips again to see if it would live up to my expectations.... it did.

The staff were especially fantastic. They really went out of their way to make the kids feel welcome in what is traditionally and adult environment. Colouring sheets and crayons were bought for the kids and their drinks and food arrived promptly to keep them satisfied.

A great experience. One that I am planning on re-visiting when I go back to explore The Burren more extensively. I can’t wait...