World-class seafood celebrated in Doonbeg

WITH Doonbeg hosting the village’s annual seafood festival this weekend, some of the leading chefs in the area are convinced that Doonbeg and West Clare is home to world-class seafood.

WITH Doonbeg hosting the village’s annual seafood festival this weekend, some of the leading chefs in the area are convinced that Doonbeg and West Clare is home to world-class seafood.
“I’m cooking for 22 years. I’ve worked in two star Michelin restaurants in London and I worked for The Four Seasons Hotel for eight years But the quality of the fish you get in West Clare is second to none. You can’t beat it. I’ve seen what is supposedly some of the best stuff in the world but what you get around West Clare is up there with the best,” Wexford man Wade Murphy, executive head chef at The Lodge at Doonbeg Golf Club, commented.
Petr Cadelik from the Czech Republic, who is head chef in Tubridy’s restaurant and former senior sous chef at Doonbeg Golf Club, has a similar view. 
“I used to work in Prague for about four years but it’s a completely different story here with fresh fish available every day,” he said.
“Ten years ago, the gastronomic side in Doonbeg was not as good as it is today. But now, you have two very good restaurants in Doonbeg and you have Doonbeg Golf Club,” Petr, who has been working in Doonbeg since 2001, added.
He feels the standard of restaurants and the availability of seafood is increasing in quality.
“It’s improving every year. In 10 years, the level of food is 100% up,” Petr stated.
Wade Murphy’s role at Doonbeg Golf Club includes designing the menus for the members’ bar, The Long Room at The Lodge, Darby’s and the marquee, which is a wedding/banquet venue.
“It’s vital to the whole identity of the place and to what we do around here,” Wade said, reflecting on the significance of seafood in Doonbeg and West Clare.”
Look outside any of the restaurants here and all you see is sea. It’s vital to me and it’s vital to Doonbeg to be using fresh, locally sourced seafood,” he maintained.
“I don’t want to be serving a piece of fish that’s got more air miles than I have. It’s vital to be buying from the boats and from local producers like Charlie Sexton. If you just go out and look, there’s plenty of fresh seafood and shellfish suppliers available in the area,” he suggested.
However, he acknowledges that Irish people weren’t always so keen on seafood.
“People are starting to come around now. Fish was a penance food in Ireland for years because you only ate it on a Friday. But now a lot more people see the importance of the nutritional value of eating fresh fish. There’s nights there in The Long Room we could do 80 or 90 covers and we could have 60 or 70 people eating fish,” he revealed.
“I had a very well-known food critic tell me that West Clare is becoming a food haven. We must try and get that food tourism angle on things within West Clare and hopefully, people will realise that’s another area we can delve into,” Mr Murphy concluded.
Another man bringing an international dimension to the restaurant trade in Doonbeg is Hishashi Kumagai from Japan, (better known as Kuma) who is head chef at Darby’s restaurant at the golf club.
This weekend’s festival will be opened by former Eurovision winner Paul Harrington on Friday at 7pm.
Saturday will feature a fish market in front of Doonbeg church (11am to 4pm), currach racing from 12noon, a cookery demonstration in Doonbeg hall (1pm to 5pm) and a treasure hunt in the village from 5pm.
On Sunday, additional events in Doonbeg will include a vintage rally, angling demonstrations from 2 to 4pm, crab fishing and a duck race in the river next to Morrissey’s.