Our last two nights were in Galway City and we had scheduled a full day of
touring, but wanted to include lunch at the well known Ard Bia at Nimmo's. I
learned that Ard Bia is Gaelic for good food, so that made sense, and this place
was as quirky as it gets in a building on the river in the old part of town that
looked centuries old. We waited for a table and then were ushered into a corner
where a window overlooked the beautiful flowing river (through cobwebs) and the
chairs were extremely uncomfortable. Samuel & I had a bench on either side
that was hard as a rock but muffled by some (also centuries old?) very useless
cushions. The table was right next to a pair of stools and counter and the guys
sitting there gave us a look of extreme disdain as we sat down, but we didn't
budge, I had heard great things about the food and would persevere.
Samuel ordered a fruit drink, Will a Galway Hooker Ale and I had a Roots
& Greens' Liver Cleanser of beetroot, carrot, orange, lemon and ginger that
was quite nice.
Samuel was not thrilled with the menu and settled on MEZZE which was a
plate of a medium arugula salad with pomegranate seeds, Spiced Toasted Pita
bread and three superb dips:Muhammara (red pepper), Hummus and Butter Bean. He
needed extra pita and this seemed to be a big deal, but it eventually arrived
after a lot of asking (and we were charged as well). Our tourguide said the
Irish were simple eaters and ordered the simplest item on the menu, Panfried
Haddock, saying it was delicious.
Will ordered Shakshuka which is basically baked eggs in a crock with spicy
herbs, feta and brown soda BREAD. You will sense a Middle Eastern hint to the
menu, which surprised me as I was hoping for scallops or lobster, but apparently
lunch is a whole different thing here. I chose the Avocado & Egg, which is a
name that the dish did not deserve. It was a superb warm salad of avocado with
poached eggs on top, organic spinach, basil pesto and a rye bread crisp with
seeds; I loved it.
I would love to come back for dinner, but doubt my rearend could take
sitting in these seats or chairs for a long meal!
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