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"Vibrant dishes dazzle in no-notions Kilkenny spot"

NÓINÍN, 3 John's Bridge, Kilkenny

Katy McGuinness Restaurant review
Irish Independent Weekend Magazine – July 22, 2023 (Page 20)


Sisters Sinéad and Maeve Moclair at their Kilkenny restaurant, Nóinín

A soft summer's day and I’m queuing in the drizzle outside the cheerful-looking Nóinín by the river in the heart of Kilkenny city waiting for it to open. I love its red and pale-blue livery. I’ve heard so many good things about this no-bookings little restaurant over the past few months that, when I finally get to visit, I have an expectation that I’ll be dealing with Assassination Custard levels of demand and that, unless I’m in a good position well before it opens, I could find myself waiting outside in the rain for hours. Worse still, I may never make it across the threshold. As it happens, I’m the only person there when Maeve Moclair pulls up the blinds just before noon. I summon my lunch companion from the shelter of the car and am grateful for the warning that the local parking attendant, who we’ve seen scuttling past, is dedicated to their work.

Soon every table is taken, by mix of locals and savvy tourists. A woman who arrives looking for soup is politely redirected – Nóinín is a restaurant rather than a café, the dishes on offer substantial. It’s open for lunch from Tuesday to Saturday each week and for dinner (for which you can book) from Thursday to Saturday.

In the kitchen is Sinéad Moclair, Maeve’s Ballymaloe-trained sister, who cooked for three years at The Fumbally in Dublin, which recently celebrated its 11th Birthday. It’s hard to overstate the importance of The Fumbally in the canon of modern Irish cuisine and quite how radical and different it seemed when it opened in 2012. I recall an excited friend telling me how he felt as if he could have been anywhere in Europe when he first visited; I knew exactly what he meant.

The Fumbally goes from strength to strength, consistent yet always evolving, never standing still, and its alumni, including Katie Sanderson, Jasper O'Connor, Keith Coleman and Harry Colley, can always be relied upon to do interesting things with food, whether in their own restaurants or pop-ups or working as private chefs or developing food products such as White Mausu and Harry's Nut Butter, staples of the contemporary Irish pantry. Its DNA – the focus on top-quality Irish ingredients coupled with global flavours and the sharing of ideas between talented chefs – is now firmly embedded in the food culture of Ireland.

After her stint at The Fumbally, Sinéad took over the Clifden Boat for her Báidín pop-up during the summer of 2021, persuading Maeve, a primary school teacher, to come and help for a weekend. She ended up staying for the summer and was bitten by the hospitality bug, so the sisters. originally from Fethard, Tipperary, began the hunt for permanent premises for a restaurant of their own. They settled on Kilkenny as their preferred location because it was busy year-round rather than seasonal.

The lunch menu is short, offering just four main courses and two desserts. A fish finger sambo may sound pedestrian, but when it comes as generous pieces of pollock in a light tempura batter with caper aioli cucumber pickle and fennel slaw bursting out from between two slices of toasted sourdough from Sarah Richards' Seagull Bakery with a heaping of Riversfield organic leaves on the side, it is elevated into something quite special. Each individual element is delicious, the whole perfection.

Cauliflower pakoras come as spiced cauliflower fritters, each one a single floret, with date and tamarind chutney, curry leaf raita, aubergine chutney, pickled red onions and toasted almonds, with warm, freshly made garlic naan and more of those good leaves. This is a truly vibrant plate, piled with dazzling flavours and textures. Both dishes are properly hearty, and we don't really need the side dish of crisp fried 'spuddies' with rosemary salt and confit garlic aioli, but could you resist that description? Me neither.

We share a simple, damp Tunisian orange cake with Greek yoghurt, which is everything it should be, and with two glasses of wine from a well-chosen list offering notable value by both glass and bottle (Judith Beck Ink, for instance, is just €30), our bill comes to €62.50 before service.

Of all the places I’ve eaten in this year, Nóinín is one of my favourites. I love the confidence of its short and simple menu, delivered impeccably with ingredients from local organic growers such as Vincent Grace of Riversfield and Shane Hatton of Bosco’s Garden, both in Callan, and O'Brien Butchers in Market Yard down the street, and I love its low-key, friendly service, no-notions ambience and exceptional value.

Budget
The cauliflower pakoras are €14 at lunchtime.

Blowout
Dinner for two - main courses, a shared side and desserts - could cost €65 before drinks or service.

The rating:
9/10 food;
9/10 ambience;
10/10 value;
28/30 Overall.


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