Having been deserted for a decade, a chalk board outside the old-fashioned half door now entices you back in this lovely old thatched pub with the promise of "Soup, chowder, burgers, and mussels”.
Newly-restored and run by Frank and Mags Kinsella, this generations-old old hostelry has been brought back to life with love. The original bar remains intact and was restored using salvaged materials and a veritable ‘who’s who’ of taxidermy in the form of pine martin, otter, sparrow hawks and a family of foxes that keep an eye on the rustic scene from their glass cased homes above.
There is dark wooden furniture, high stools and barrels, brightly light fireplaces and the smell of peat smoke in the air. A burnished bar holds a host of picture perfect scones and cake on embroidered linen. You can spy a sunny courtyard with trestle tables through the tiny original windows. Three stained glass windows depict local scene - St. Patrick Maumeen, The Quiet Man bridge at Leam and the churchyard on Inchagoill.
Head Chef Cillian Hanrahan has a producer-led, wild and free-range approach to his cooking. His is a well-written short menu, shepherded with direction and enthusiasm by the hugely talented Jess Murphy of Kai in Galway (our Restaurant of the Year for 2015), who worked closely with the team in their kitchen. The result? A menu full of things that speak of the hedgerows and the changing seasons, such as wild garlic potato salad and dandelion relish.
Cillian's small but perfectly formed menu changes on a daily basis depending on the local suppliers. Delicious offerings include seafood chowder with Dillisk scones and ling fingers in buttermilk and panko breadcrumbs. You could enjoy chicken liver pâté or the local charcuterie board in the sun-trap courtyard, or maybe a lamb burger with preserved lemon on flatbread with stormy port and apricot chutney and courgette chips. Vegetarians are not forgotten, in fact the specials such as quinoa cakes with smokey roasted romeneso, caramelised onions and grilled asparagus are sure to please even the most carnivorous.
The details clearly matter here, and so the food is served on beautiful Roundstone Ceramics crockery and handmade wooden boards made from trees salvaged from winter storms. And there is, of course, the choice in beverages you would expect from a well stocked bar. The wine list offers old world and new, from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina and New Zealand, but it the Guinness this pub is famed for. And evening Trad sessions are a frequent event.
Open for excellent Badger and Dodo coffee and fresh pastries from 11am, seven days days a week, the main menu runs from 12 noon until 8.30pm, serving a bit later at the weekends.
It is easy to see why Powers has so quickly earned its place as a ‘food destination’ in the West.
