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10th June 2017
12:23pm BST
Strolling around Cork I found myself looking for brunch, but not knowing the local culinary landscape, I put the question to Twitter.
While many suggestions popped up one that I spotted most people mentioning was Ali's Kitchen so off I trotted with newspaper under my arm to the corner of Rory Gallagher Place.
It turns out that as the name suggests, Ali is the owner and chef and as you walk into the premises you are pretty much sitting in the kitchen. A big chalk menu on the board gives you all the info you need and you can watch the food being made in front of you.
Not in a Michelin star chef's table way but more like sitting at your granny's kitchen table waiting for treats to emerge. And by god do they emerge...
I went for a black pudding and potato dish with poached eggs and hollandaise.
In Dublin this might come out with a dainty little portion dotted with micro greens and garnishes, but not here. This was a bowl, piled high, with enough to feed a small army.
Being absolutely starving I appreciated the portion size and waded through the meal. Big flavours, well cooked and super honest food.
All around me hungover jazz festival goers were beaming as their food arrived along with big pots of tea. Ali's kitchen is the sort of place where people all leave happy, well fed and ready to attack the day.
If the brunch is good then the cakes are even better.
It's debatable if you'd have the room for a dessert, but to not do so would be a travesty.
Big doughnuts, slices of wonderful chocolate cake and every other sweet treat imaginable is loaded up on the counter. To sum up how good the sweets are one guy beside me had a doughnut and after tasting it ordered 6 to take home with him "for the family".
As always the best recommendations when it comes to food were from my friends. Friends can be trusted much more than Tripadvisor or guide books. Ali's kitchen is superb and a wonderful addition to Cork.
I'm happy to be able to share it with a wider audience because it deserves as much exposure as possible. Give it a spin and make sure you go there with an appetite.
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