Lonely Planet Guide 2010
It's always hopping at this bright corner bistro with an open kitchen. Service is quick and attentive, but you may want to pause at the long wooden bar anyway. The menu is broad and changes often to reflect what's fresh. Smoked haddock perched on creamy potatoes is better here than it ever was back in the day. Steaks come with awesome aioli. At lunch, however, you might just get enraptured by the bacon sandwich. Lots of wines by the glass.
Lucinda O Sullivan - Sunday Independent
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/food-drink/taking--it-easy-1749338.html
Georgina Campbell
http://www.ireland-guide.com/establishment/market_lane_restaurant_and_bar.7447.html
Trip advisor
Traveler Reviews for Market Lane
CORKFOOD
http://corkfood.blogspot.com/
HOT PRESS Situated in the heart of Cork City, Market Lane provides its population with hearty food that has a touch of class and genius.
The restaurant’s philosophy lies firmly in creating excellent food, served in a vibrant environment, sold for a very reasonable price.
Every effort is made to use local producers from the Peoples republic and the rest of Munster.
In truth the end product is fantastic.To start the pan-fried king prawns with sweet chili and ginger was marvelous, both light
and flavoursome, it’s a definite winner. However the real treat of the night came in the form of the Phantoms second starter,
beetroot risotto with char-grilled asparagus. It was absolutely immense. Soft and creamy, the risotto melted in the mouth
and despite beetroot not being a regular part of the Phantom’s diet, it complimented the risotto perfectly and created
something of a culinary masterpiece.
After the quality of the starters, expectations were high and by no means did Market Lane disappoint. We had pan-fried hake
with lime and dill crust, roast salsify and braised scallions and the special which was rack of lamb, baked-baby potatoes
and carrots in an exquisite red wine jus. The rack of lamb was as good as they getand with main courses from as
little as €12.50 it’s hard not to fall in love with the place.
Then began dessert, the warm chocolate and nut brownie was rich with a cool chocolate sauce drizzled over it. Eating it one
feels gluttonous in the extreme. However, whoever said that was a sin obviously hadn’t tried Market Lane’s brownie. We also
tried the orange bread and butter pudding, which was equally good.
Market Lane delivers on food, wine, service and atmosphere and with such reasonable prices, it’d be mad not to see for yourself.
HOT PRESS 18/06/08
TOTALLY CORK – NOVEMBER 2008
There’s an admirable wilfulness to the behaviour of the Irish consumer of late. Faced with economic turmoil not seen since the horrible dark days of the eighties- an awful time it was, worse than the famine- it seems that the man on the street has chosen to dig deep into the pockets and indulge in revelry of almost fin-de-siecle proportions. If these are the end of days, a kind of financial apocalypse ushered in by toxic mortagages and banking establishments tottering into decrepitude and ruin, the plan seems to be to see out civilization inebriated and well fed.
Or so it seemed at least in the Market Lane early on a Saturday evening- every table full, the bar packed with waiting customers enjoying a pre-meal tipple, waitresses scooting back and forth from the kitchen, and no less than two hostesses ushering patrons to their chairs. We were informed that there would be a wait of half an hour or so until a table cleared –this seemed very reasonable given the packed tables-but were invited to take a seat at the bar or alternatively make a visit across the road to Meade’s to enjoy a glass of wine. The latter seemed a more attractive option, so my phone number was duly noted down and we left. In the end it took around twenty minutes-top marks for efficiency in a frantic atmosphere.
What struck me about the menu was how the fare on offer was both expansive and at the same time had a personal touch. It seems to me that so many restaurants today sacrifice depth and flair in favour of a menu that will satisfy all comers, and so the dishes tend towards mediocrity, stilted by the grab towards the middle ground. There can be a sense of déjà vu in dining out. Not so at the Market Lane – dishes have personality.
We plumped for simplicity to start with, sharing a selection of home baked breads served with dips. The brown bread was dense and textured, the white toasted slightly. In the interest of completeness, I should probably provide detailed notes on the three dips that were provided, but I must admit to slathering all three generously onto each slice of bread, and the resulting spread tasted strongly of pesto and anchovy.
For the main event, I picked the Whole Sea Bream with roast sweet potatoes, salsify and bok choi (€17.95). The fish was served on the bone, its skin seared and scored, crunchy and slightly salty on the palate. Bream is a delicious fish, more substantial than most white fishes, but not quite as meaty as , say tuna or swordfish. It was perfectly cooked- the meat flaked away from the bone and was tender and slightly sweet. The accompaniment of vegetables was thoughtfully chosen- the sweet potato roasted until just shy of soft, the salsify and bok choi crunchy and running with juices. My partner chose the Slow Cooked Ham Hock with Parsley sauce and Savoy Cabbage (€12.50), a classic and thoroughly Irish dish, but with an added twist of luxury. The Ham was so tender that it seemed to me the pig must have been bathed in warm water for most of its life prior to slaughter.
The whole meal, with a carafe of the house red, came in at just over fifty euro, which was a steal considering the generous portions and quality of ingredients used. If I sound a little breathless about it all, that’s because I am – their philosophy of providing high quality food at reasonable prices and with little fuss seems to me to be just the tonic for troubled times ahead.
Colin Aherne
