From a lovely old building in the heart of Cork City, enticing aromas of baking from Ali’s Kitchen waft across Rory Gallagher Place...
Formerly a bookshop and now home to this very inviting ground-floor bakehouse café run by the well known Cork baker and chef, Ali Honour, it's an impressively refurbished space with beautiful new iron gates, exposed brick and stone walls, and an old concrete floor.
An open kitchen creates a buzz and its pleasingly informal with a mixture of different sized tables, chairs and high stools - and outdoor seats in good weather, too.
Thanks especially to her reputation for gorgeous baking, Ali's Kitchen hit the ground running when it opened in late 2015, and her deliciously wholesome, fresh-flavoured meals are also the talk of the town. The philosophy here is to respect locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and to keep dishes simple - showing produce at its best, yet allowing for inventive techniques and flavours.
Seasonally focused and featuring daily specials, the menu changes weekly and, as Ali is a baker, her bread will always feature. She opens at nine, but there's none of your ordinary breakfast fry here. Instead you can have warming Porridge with jam and honey, or Ali's unusual crumbly Black Pudding Brioche, with fried egg, cheddar, tomato and rocket - or perhaps a Bacon Sarnie on her freshly baked bread and with her own homemade ketchup.
Come lunchtime in winter, why not have a Cheese and Ali Kimchi toastie with a tasty and slightly unusual soup, such as Roast Mushroom and Thyme. There are hearty dishes for the very hungry too, like braised beer & balsamic beef short ribs with parsnip puree and buttered kale, or lighter ones such as the pretty Gin & beetroot home cured salmon, dill creme fraiche, capers & pickled cucumber on homemade bread.
Vegetarians, or anyone who's in a meat-free mood, will be very happy with colourful, flavour-filled dishes like Ali's Roasted cumin carrots with pepper & walnut hummus, pomegranate, rocket & mint - and, with a baker like Ali in the kitchen don't forget to allow for the range and quality of her puddings, cakes and other sweet treats. Many of them are based on brioche - Cinnamon & Lemon curd & coconut crumble brioche; orange & almond brioche; there's even an Iced Fruit Brioche. But there are plenty of other treats too, including Salted caramel; Mocha Meringue; Cream cheese and toffee apple crumble, and more, to eat in, or take away - either way don't miss the excellent Cloud Picker coffee.
Lovely, efficient staff too - Ali's Kitchen is just a super place, and well worth seeking out.
