Anyone who is familiar with Maynooth will
agree that for a relatively small town, it has an abundance of amazing
restaurants. There seems to be something on offer to suit everyone's
taste and pocket. Situated in its own little corner just off the main street,
The Gatehouse opened its doors a couple of years ago, and is the first solo
venture for its owner Alan O'Regan.
The Gatehouse is
small but does have the benefit of having an enclosed courtyard outside for
those elusive Irish summer days. The tables are tightly packed inside,
meaning on a busy evening you won't have much room for privacy. The decor
is bright, clean and simple with white wooden chairs to match the wall
panelling, and dark wood tables to complement their dark wood floors.
The philosophy of the restaurant promises
quality, locally sourced ingredients at affordable prices, and the menu
reflects this. They offer everything
from pizzas and pastas to teriyaki salmon, chicken cassoulet and burgers. Unfortunately for me, but not surprisingly,
they don’t include any vegan options in their menu.
I had the pleasure of dining here both for
dinner and a subsequent lunch, and was not disappointed with the food on either
occasion. As their evening menu didn’t
include any vegan options, I asked the waitress to check with the kitchen to
see what they could offer. Fortunately I’m
not a fussy eater, as I wasn’t even informed what that offering would be, but
was presented with a large bowl of broccoli and green lentils, cooked in
garlic. If anything else was included, I
couldn’t tell. The dish was simple and
tasty, and it was certainly a very generous portion, but I did feel that after
a few mouthfuls, it became a little monotonous.
Regardless, I did appreciate that the chef had prepared the dish
specifically to suit me, but as the restaurant wasn’t busy (there were only
three other tables occupied), I can’t vouch for whether they would be as
accommodating on a very busy Saturday night.
I can only assume that they would.
When I asked for the bill, I was very
pleasantly surprised to only be charged €9.95 for my meal. For a main course in any restaurant, this was
extremely affordable, and given it was at my request, it was a very fair
price. They certainly lived up to their
philosophy of affordability on that occasion.
My return visit I found to be just as
pleasant. It was a beautiful summer’s
day so I decided to pop down to see what their lunch offering was like and
decided to bring along my 5 year old. We
sat in the courtyard, and drank copious amounts of water. Their children’s menu could easily be
described as standard. Chicken goujons,
sausages, pasta and more pasta. As we
were just out for lunch, and I knew I would be cooking a dinner later in the
evening I just asked for some soup for my son instead. I asked the waitress could I just have a
green salad with some vegetables, and dressing on the side and she said she
would check with the kitchen. Again, it
was no problem to them to do this for me.
The salad that arrived was fresh, crisp
and included a decent selection of vegetables – lettuce, cucumber, olives, broccoli,
red pepper and cucumber, and it came, as requested, with a little dish of
balsamic vinegar on the side. The soup
that came for my little diner was an adult portion, served with one side of
what appeared to be homemade brown bread.
We both tucked in gratefully, and neither one of us could finish what we
were given.
The bill for the meal came to €15.45,
which was €4.50 for the soup and €10.95 for my ‘chicken salad’. Whilst I had no problem paying this price for
what was given to me, knowing that I was charged a euro less for a dinner and
knowing that chicken is significantly more expensive than fresh veg, it did
seem a little unfair. The majority of their lunch options cost significantly
less than €10, including a regular Caesar salad, but if that’s the price I have
to pay for diverging from the menu, then I don’t really mind.
All in all, the restaurant deliver what
they promise. Affordable quality
food. It’s well worth a visit,
especially if the sun is shining.
www.thegatehouse.ie
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