Review
The Yard restaurant in Wexford is located just off the Main Street at Lower Georges Street. Entry is through a pretty courtyard setting and the main dining room is elegant and spacious. The food is top notch and service is friendly and professional. During the day there is a café which opens directly onto Main Street and the business is owned by the people behind the Centenary Stores just down the road.
The courtyard at the Yard is very nice indeed. In the evenings fairy lights run along the walls, and candles and lanterns light the way. This area is perfect for dining al fresco on a Summers evening, while inside the room is quite imposing. High ceilings, covered in embossed paper hark back to an earlier time, and the tables are well spaced. Heavy wooden furniture is lightened by sparkling glassware and cutlery and the open plan kitchen running along the back wall gives the room a focal point.
The a la carte menu features a good choice of starters, about a dozen in all, and they include a duo of smoked salmon and fresh crab, grilled kofta kebab with mango and lime dressing, steamed Bannow Bay mussels and seared devil kidneys on toasted brioche with Dijon cream,. They are mostly priced from €5 - €10.
To follow choose from roast fillet of monkfish wrapped in prosciutto ham, a surf and turf with steak and scallops, Slaney lamb on minted garlic roasties and Wexford pork cutlet topped with crackling. I dropped in for dinner during August, and the courtyard was still an option, but in the end we went indoors.
I was having dinner with Feargal Hynes, who is a full time student and part time entrepreneur who does promotional work for some of the pubs and clubs in Wexford. Feargal is the son of the late Jerome Hynes, the man you put the Wexford Opera Festival on the map, so working in the arts and entertainment is in the blood.
This was a late supper, and we just about made last orders, so after initially deciding on the devilled Kidneys, The special of scallops with pork belly and red onion marmalade got my vote for starter, to be followed by Confit of duck. Feargal started with the mushroom risotto, and then ordered the pork chop with crackling.
We ordered a large pottle of sparkling water, and had some nice homemade breads while we chatted about the wired world. Both starters were very good. The scallops complimented the pork belly, and the sweetness of the red onions worked a treat. Feargals risotto had a perfect consistency, strong flavours and plenty of cepe mushrooms. The main courses were equally as good, the duck confit was that combination of crispy and moist that you look for and came on creamy potato gratin, with spiced red cabbage. The pork and crackling was on a bed of mustard mash and packed a flavour punch with its sage and onion gravy.
We were defeated at this stage and finished with two coffees. I liked The Yard, it’s a very stylish dining room, and service run by GM Mary Cobb is effortless. Head chef Peter Murphy has put together and good menu, and the cooking is above par. They run a early bird menu nightly with two courses for €19.95, while on Friday and Saturday there is a special set menu of four courses for €25, with tickets to the late night Centenary Stores thrown. Wexford is in danger of becoming the next Kinsale with the top class rstaurants in the town, to which The Yard is the latest addition.
The courtyard at the Yard is very nice indeed. In the evenings fairy lights run along the walls, and candles and lanterns light the way. This area is perfect for dining al fresco on a Summers evening, while inside the room is quite imposing. High ceilings, covered in embossed paper hark back to an earlier time, and the tables are well spaced. Heavy wooden furniture is lightened by sparkling glassware and cutlery and the open plan kitchen running along the back wall gives the room a focal point.
The a la carte menu features a good choice of starters, about a dozen in all, and they include a duo of smoked salmon and fresh crab, grilled kofta kebab with mango and lime dressing, steamed Bannow Bay mussels and seared devil kidneys on toasted brioche with Dijon cream,. They are mostly priced from €5 - €10.
To follow choose from roast fillet of monkfish wrapped in prosciutto ham, a surf and turf with steak and scallops, Slaney lamb on minted garlic roasties and Wexford pork cutlet topped with crackling. I dropped in for dinner during August, and the courtyard was still an option, but in the end we went indoors.
I was having dinner with Feargal Hynes, who is a full time student and part time entrepreneur who does promotional work for some of the pubs and clubs in Wexford. Feargal is the son of the late Jerome Hynes, the man you put the Wexford Opera Festival on the map, so working in the arts and entertainment is in the blood.
This was a late supper, and we just about made last orders, so after initially deciding on the devilled Kidneys, The special of scallops with pork belly and red onion marmalade got my vote for starter, to be followed by Confit of duck. Feargal started with the mushroom risotto, and then ordered the pork chop with crackling.
We ordered a large pottle of sparkling water, and had some nice homemade breads while we chatted about the wired world. Both starters were very good. The scallops complimented the pork belly, and the sweetness of the red onions worked a treat. Feargals risotto had a perfect consistency, strong flavours and plenty of cepe mushrooms. The main courses were equally as good, the duck confit was that combination of crispy and moist that you look for and came on creamy potato gratin, with spiced red cabbage. The pork and crackling was on a bed of mustard mash and packed a flavour punch with its sage and onion gravy.
We were defeated at this stage and finished with two coffees. I liked The Yard, it’s a very stylish dining room, and service run by GM Mary Cobb is effortless. Head chef Peter Murphy has put together and good menu, and the cooking is above par. They run a early bird menu nightly with two courses for €19.95, while on Friday and Saturday there is a special set menu of four courses for €25, with tickets to the late night Centenary Stores thrown. Wexford is in danger of becoming the next Kinsale with the top class rstaurants in the town, to which The Yard is the latest addition.
