Street Scenes and Dinner in Killarney Ireland

After wandering around exploring, shopping and taking photos in Killarney’s town center, it was time to decide on a restaurant for dinner…

With all the tourists that visit Killarney, it’s no surprise that the town is home to a number of street entertainers, also known as “Buskers”.  FYI, Busker is a British term for a person who entertains in a public place for donations.  

The term’s first known use was in 1851.  Originally with Germanic roots, it was a nautical term (cruise about, tack), the term later meant ‘go about selling things, and subsequently ‘go about performing’ in the mid-19^th century.  Some buskers are quite talented, others are funny or controversial, some have no talent and a few others, like this fellow with his automatons, are a little spooky! Love his Border Collie though!

With at least 30 well-rated restaurants in the center of Killarney, making a choice for our evening meal was no easy feat!  I’d left it up to our wives to make the choice but they abdicated that responsibility, reverting to the first restaurant that I’d come across when doing my research.  This is the pub entrance to The Laurels…

The Laurel’s Restaurant entrance is just to the left of the pub shown in the previous photo.  This was the early evening crowd enjoying a pint or two just outside the restaurant.  The Laurels has been operated by the O’Leary family for almost 100 years… 

The interior of The Laurel Pub and Restaurant reflects its age.  While well maintained, it has the look of an old time pub…with low ceilings, nooks and crannies, beamed ceilings, tiled floors and dimly lit corners.  I can only imagine how tough it would be to gain entry in-season without a reservation!  That’s one big advantage of visiting Killarney in September…

On to the food!  As the driver, I was limited to a half-pint of Smithwick’s Red.  For my entrée, I ordered the Lamb Shank. (18.20E/$21.85 US) It was served with champ potato, red cabbage, carrot and turnip puree and topped with red wind jus.   

FYI, champ potato is an Irish dish made by combining mashed potatoes with chopped scallion, butter, milk and cheese.  The sides were OK and the lamb shank was very nice indeed!

After a big lunch…and her pint of Killarney Brewing Company’s Casey Brother's Extra Stout, (5.50E/$6.60 US), Laurie wasn’t ready for a big meal.  So she just ordered a big bowl of The Laurels’ Creamy Seafood Chowder. 

(8.60E/$10.30 US) 

The chowder was scented with saffron and it was served with treacle and Guinness bread.  The chowder was loaded with good things and it was not only filling, it was also very good. 

Notes:

·         To learn more about the Killarney Brewing Company and its beers, go to https://www.killarneybrewing.com/.

·         The treacle was served for use with the Guinness bread.  It is defined as a non-crystallized syrup made during the refining of sugar.  The most common forms are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker type known black treacle.

   

Bonnie also ordered a light meal.  She actually just ordered an appetizer. This was her order of Fresh Crab Claws tossed in garlic butter accompanied by a small tossed salad. (10.55E/$12.65 US) She thought that the crab claws were just average but the garlic butter sauce was excellent.  She accompanied her light meal with a pint of Smithwick’s Red Ale, (5.50E/$6.60 US), which was consistently one of our favorite brews while visiting Ireland.   

Bill and I both opted for an entrée instead of an appetizer.  In addition to his pink of Smithwick’s Red, he ordered the Pan Fried Monkfish. (21.50E/$25.00) The monkfish was served in a Thai red curry sauce with vegetables plus basmati and wild rice and accompanied by a couple of pieces of naan bread.  Bill really didn’t like his meal.  He thought that the fish was mushy and that it really didn’t taste like monkfish. 

To sum it up, while we loved the atmosphere at The Laurels Restaurant, the food was just average when compared to most of the cuisine that we enjoyed during our adventures in Scotland and Ireland.  Perhaps it was a bad day or we just didn’t order the ‘right’ dishes… A quick check on TripAdvisor showed that 91% of the 71 reviews rated this restaurant as being Excellent or Very Good, 8% felt it was average and only 1% rated it poor or terrible. 

The Laurels Restaurant and Pub is located in Killarney’s town center on Main Street.  To learn more and to look at their menu, just go to http://thelaurelspub.com/.  

After dinner, we noticed a nearby crowd so we joined them to see what had attracted their attention.  Of course, it was another busker at work! 

Can you guess what he was singing about?  What little ditties had drawn in such a large crowd!  His hair (a bad wig) should provide a clue… This busker was singing little songs slamming our President and he was getting lots of laughs and applause.  As I mentioned once before, folks in Ireland (and Scotland) either revile President Trump or they consider him to be a huge joke unworthy of leading the USA.  They don’t credit him with any redeeming qualities…

Agree with a negative view of our President or not, it was too bad that we ended our day with a ‘downer’ impression of the government of the USA…but such is life.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave