Sous le Vent, Thurles.

Review

Marcus Engelsma and Brendan O’Donnell’s welcoming restaurant in Thurles looks very inviting from the outside, with it’s aubergine paint job, white windows and flower boxes. Sous le Vent looks the kind of individualistic place it would be a good idea to have dinner in. Two years on from opening, the locals certainly think so, and it is fairly full on any given night.

Inside there is a reception area with some sofas while the two dining areas are a mixture of tables and booths, with an idiosyncratic choice of wallpaper, and art from local artists which is also for sale. I don’t know why more restaurants don’t do this, a changing art exhibition on the walls has to be a good thing, I would have thought.

The menu is best described a modern Irish with a French twist, rather than a fully fledged menu. In addition to the standard set menu (very good value at €25.95), the two boys introduced a novel menu to celebrate their second year in business and it has taken off – this is their ‘Fine Bouche’ menu, a Francophile tapas menu so to speak.

There are no less that 40 items to choose from, all broken down into sections, so there are choices from the sea, the farm dairy etc. You get to choose ten items from any of the sections for €40, and in fairness it is hard to imagine many people needing to go for number eleven, but if you feel the need extra dishes are charged at a fiver. This is effectively a tasting menu, but with the customers choosing the components.

On offer are seafood dishes such as Sautéed prawns Catalane with tomatoes, garlic, onions, in cream, served with flavoured bread, or battered cod filet served with tartar sauce and Belgian frites. From the farm you can choose Cowen’s crispy pork belly or grilled lamb cutlet with vegetable mousse and rissole potatoes. Vegetarians are well catered for from the dairy section, with morsels such as chulchoil goat cheese filo croquet with baby spinach, tomato salsa, mixed garden leaves, while there is a dedicated vegetarian section to boot. Desserts include pineapple blinis, warm pear and almond tart or chocolate brownie.

Ordering is fairly simple – customers are given a card listing all the dishes and Simply tick the ones they want. It’s a bit like playing the loto, except in this case winning is almost guaranteed. Sous le Vent is a very good restaurant run hands-on by two young men on a mission, and their enthusiasm is infectious. A great addition to Thurles and a restaurant that we feel is destined to go from strength to strength. I can’t help but wonder when this style of eating will be replicated in other places, remember where it all started!