Review
Reidy's Wine Bar and Bistro is just over the bridge on Stephen Street in Sligo Town. Run by husband and wife team Ger & Geraldine Reidy there is a real homely feeling. Ger is head chef and Geraldine runs front of house, providing a welcome that goes some way to explaining its popularity. The exterior of the restaurant is distinctive; bright blue with white squared windows give a nautical look, and it’s no surprise that the main influence on the menus is seafood.
The restaurant is a long narrow room, with a casual dining area to the front with wooden floors and blue check table cloths, white paneled walls and a gallery of paintings from local artists, all ‘of which are for sale. The rear of the restaurant is a more formal evening venue, set with white linen cloths and a white/silver flock wall paper.
While we were reading the menu a jug of water was brought to the table, accompanied by a massive scone look-a-like, this was the famous ‘Ger’s beer bread’, with butter and sweet chilli jam, and it was very more-ish. A blackboard highlights specials of the day and starters include calamari, scallops, goats cheese and chilli beef nacho’s. Mains offer monkfish, hake in garlic, haddock, brill with hollandaise, shellfish pasta, Sligo fillet steak, or Italian chicken.
The early bird menu offers a selection of starters for €5.00, and mains for €10, giving as very good value alternative to the A la Carte. The a la carte has starters running in price from €6.50 for a French onion soup to €12.90 for crab claws, and in between there is a smoked mackerel salad, panfried kidneys, or half a dozen Lissadell oysters.
The choice of mains was huge and ranged from €13.50 for baked goats cheese tart to €28.00 for medallion of beef. There were some tempting dishes which made choosing difficult, including baked loin of Coopershill venison, prawns & crab, seafood cassoulet and every variation of fish you can imagine. Ger’s nearby fish shop probably comes in handy here!
The wine list was well chosen and concise which made it very easy to read. Prices ranged from €18.00 for a Chilean Sauv. Blanc to €28.00 for a Californian Zinfandel. One of my favourite Prosecco’s was also on the menu for a very keen €22.00 or for that special occasion you could enjoy a French Tattinger Reserve at €59.00, which wouldn’t break the bank.
I had the house salad special of (€7.90) spinach, pine nuts and parsnip shavings, with a fabulous dressing that left me wanting more – I never knew leaves could be so enjoyable. My husband had the seafood chowder, (€6.90) a chunky, creamy mix full of cod, smoked haddock and prawns.
For the main course I finally decided on the monkfish which was fresh, perfectly cooked and was served in a light pesto style sauce. Fred had the fisherman’s pie, and this was real comfort food and absolutely delicious; it was filling without being too heavy. We couldn’t manage dessert, and finished with good coffee; the perfect end to the perfect meal. Recommended the next time you find yourself in Sligo town, Reidy’s is a real find. Don’t forget to visit Ger’s fish shop as well if you’re heading back towards home, take a taste of the West with you.
