Razor Clams and Ireland

Today was day one in Ireland. We flew in from Tampa after a delay in Newark. We actually had quite a full day eating at Avoca, which has surprisingly handsome waiters (ours looked like a young David Bowie. He was so handsome I was initially struck mute. Not something that has often happened to me.). But Avoca, while having a good fish pie,

ultimately failed the restaurant test as their sticky toffee pudding had secret nuts in it. By that I mean that the cook had put pecans or walnuts in the dessert and had not bothered to tell anyone. I am allergic to them. It ruined the dessert for me.

But The Winding Stair was wonderful for dinner. We had an excellent 3-course dinner that included my first experience with razor clams. The dish came with organic leaves and a pansy and some brown toast (delightful). The clams were amazing.

I had the Jacob's Ladder short ribs (melt in your mouth). Fred had the skate, which I thought was a little oily, but he liked. For dessert, I had the bread pudding with whiskey sauce and Fred had a plum and apple crumble. Most excellent.

All in all, a fine culinary day. And we visited Christ Church Cathedral and made an attempt at St. Pat's cathedral, but they were closing in 15 minutes. We also got in to see the Chester Beatty Library, which has been voted as the best museum in Europe. It was a treasure trove of papyrus, illuminated manuscripts, Qur'ans and decorative arts.

Tomorrow, the book of Kells!