Located in the former McIntyre Hog and March shirt factory, dating back to the 19th century, this historic building was restored by the current owners Carol Meenan and Kieran Davis in the early ‘90s and opened as the Yellow Pepper in 1994.
Since then it has thrived, even surviving a fire in 2009 - which caused temporary closure - and, following refurbishment, they were soon back doing what they do best: providing consistently good fresh food and friendly service during the day and evening, seven days a week.
There are two dining areas, a cheerful café style room for daytime and a more comfortable, slightly more formal one with a bit of a sense of occasion for the evening - both given atmosphere by the building itself with its warm brickwork and Victorian cast iron pillars.
And there’s no difference between them when it comes to the philosophy, which (long before it became de rigeur) has always been to do with fresh, local food - and they have always been pleased to credit their main sources.
Fish, for example, comes ‘directly from the piers at Killybegs and Greencastle’, with crab and lobsters landed at Ballyheerin Pier at Fanad Head, oysters from Invor Bay and the salmon both farmed and smoked in Killybegs.
In addition to meats from favoured butchers, their beef from Edenmore farm is aged on site - but best of all perhaps is the produce that they supply from their own organic garden, which is very impressive (see it their website). They also get fresh fruit and vegetables from other suppliers of course, but there’s nothing to beat your own seasonal produce.
Customer-friendly menus offer plenty of choice - the kind of tasty crowd-pleasing world food that keeps people coming back, including a great lunchtime ‘tapas’ deal that allows you choose any four dishes for just €10; there’s lots of fish, of course, easy going pasta dishes and lovely salads.
In the evening the big guns come out, with a steak menu offering about half a dozen great beef choices - this is where that in-house aged sirloin and fillet comes into its own - as well as a range of about varied eight fish and seafood dishes and a selection of others including juicy homemade burgers and plenty of ever-popular chicken and duck (Silver Hill).
A particularly appealing fish option to look out for is Simply Grilled - fresh cod with cherry tomatoes, it’s outstanding for eye appeal, flavour and healthy eating. To accompany, there’s a full bar as well as an extensive drinks list - which includes a very good selection of whiskey in addition to their wines.
There are no gimmicks at this caring and family friendly restaurant, what you get is good food and consistent cooking without too much of an eye on fashion.
