Food & Drink

Eating out: Walled City Brewery has Derry's perfect 'plaice'

Walled City Brewery,

70 Ebrington Square,

Derry,

BT47 6FA.

walledcitybrewery.com

ONE of the things that strike me when I eat out in this part of Ireland is the number of restaurants with terrific locations, offering views of crashing waves, placid harbours, dramatic hills, open fields, and striking skylines.

The Walled City Brewery offers more than its fair share. From its position on the fringe of Ebrington Square, you can see the Peace Bridge snaking over the broad Foyle, the walled city itself, and beyond to the hills of Donegal, crowned by An Grianán.

And around you, just as enthralling in their own way, are the scaffolding and cranes wrapping and looming over the adjacent buildings, as Ebrington changes, very slowly, from former army camp to bustling civic amenity.

Being one of, if not the first business to move into the site - a brave gamble to bet on the progress of the development - the Walled City Brewery has watched pretty much all of these changes.

Not that the business has stood still in the years it has been here. The view of the inside has changed dramatically - the orientation of the bar, the décor, the furnishings, and in its sense of itself and its place.

When I first visited, it was a bar that served food, almost as an obligation, good though it was. Now it is a fully-fledged gastro-pub. While it may well be an award-winning bar - the UK's Taproom of the Year in a recent accolade - serving dozens of beers, many of which are produced on-site, the food has moved front and centre.

The Walled City Brewery has become a go-to venue, for locals and visitors alike, and that's especially the case at Sunday lunchtime, where the roasts, served in a giant Yorkshire pudding have gathered a loyal following.

My brother and I arrived at just after 12.30. We had originally booked for four, but my wife stayed home with our cold-filled daughter. This stymied my plans.

I was looking forward to one of the giant Yorkshires, but my brother bagsied his first, so I had to settle for the fish of the day. More of that later.

My brother misheard our server when she was telling us the roasts available, and asked for the pork, and it was only when it arrived that we realised it was a pork and apple meatloaf.

It lay in a slab across a plate-sized Yorkshire pudding, which itself was overflowing with roast potatoes, herb mash, carrots, and green beans, dwarfing the jar of gravy on the side. The pudding itself was lovely and crisp round the edges, and the bottom soaked up the delicious gravy nicely.

Everything inside it was really well-cooked, especially the beautifully creamy mash. The meatloaf itself was moist and full of flavour, although I couldn't detect much apple. Still, two out of three ain't bad (that's a Meatloaf joke, in case you were wondering).

Now, my plaice. First off, plaice is my favourite fish, and it doesn't turn up as the fish of the day that often, which tempered my disappointment at not getting the giant Yorkshire.

Then the first bite dispelled any other regrets I might have had. Quite simply, and with apologies to my mother, who cooked plaice for us every Friday, this was the best plaice I've ever tasted: gleaming white flakes of delicately-flavoured fish, cooked to perfection, the shape holding and then yielding to the slightest touch. And supported by bold flavours of herbs, samphire, pancetta, and sun-dried tomato, yet never losing its position at the centre of the dish.

Too full to eat pudding there, we ordered two of the three desserts to go. We passed on the affogato (Italian for I-don't-remember) so had the carrot cake and brownie later in the day. Delicious, both of them.

The carrot cake was soft and light, spicy and then lifted by a minty topping, while the brownie was gooey, sticky and rich.

Assured and confident, effortless but full of effort, easy and special, Walled City Brewery is just great.

One thing, though: stupidly, I drove there, so only got the gastro and none of the pub. Don't make the same mistake yourselves.

The Bill

Pork and apple meatloaf, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding - £16.00

Pan-roasted plaice, warm potato, pancetta, sea vegetables, pesto, sun-dried tomato - £16.00

Parmesan and rosemary chips - £4.00

Carrot cake, pistachios, cinnamon, cream - £4.00

Nutty chocolate brownie - £4.00

Total: £44.00