We have seen it so often. Bright-eyed amateurs and chefs appearing on television cookery shows, eager to follow their passion, who open their own restaurant and cook from the heart.
Given everything that has been hurled at the industry over the last few years – high rent, rocketing food and energy costs, not to mention a severe shortage of staff – it is an absolute wonder that anyone would think, now’s a good time to open a place of our own.
But Eva Caulwell and Tom Mullan prove that even a little fish can swim against the tide. Dublin natives who spend their summers in Connemara, it was in Báidín in Clifden Boat Club two years ago that I first tried their food. Mullan is an industry stalwart, having worked at The Old Spot and Cirillo’s, and Caulwell is a teacher.
Gorse, a pop-up restaurant with chef Damian McGill, evolved from Báidín, and last year the couple launched their Little Fish food truck, which reached the finals of RTÉ’s Takeaway Titans. But the vagaries of unreliable weather and a separate prep kitchen meant that they were eager to establish something more permanent, and wanted it to be in Connemara.
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A phone call from Sinéad Foyle who, with Philippa Duff, had run the much loved but now closed Sea Hare restaurant brought the news that a small premises had become available in Cleggan. Before papers were even signed, the couple headed to the old fish and chip shop at Easter to start painting and refurbishing, enlisting the help of friends and family.
Mullan’s brother was called upon to make furniture, put up shelves and transform the space into a simple but smart restaurant. An understanding landlady held off on charging rent until they got on their feet. The doors opened at the beginning of June.
It’s a simple approach. For now, it is just Caulwell and Mullan running the kitchen with the help of Mullan’s niece out front. So, there are no flatbreads as there were at Báidín, just a handful of dishes based on what is landed at Cleggan, and a vegetarian option. If you’re lucky, you’ll get there in time to get one of their much Instagrammed lobster rolls. In our case, on a Sunday afternoon, they aren’t available.
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Walkers and holidaymakers are sitting at the outdoor picnic tables, and there is a buzz from the small bright room inside. A few plants, a vase of pretty flowers and cookbooks, including Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem and Nisha Katona’s Mowgli Street Food, add accents of colour to the white room; the back windows look out on to Cleggan pier.
The menu is chalked on blackboards out front and inside at the counter where you order: calamari or tofu spicebag, fish and chips, buffalo prawns, cauliflower tempura and fish burger. The wine list amounts to a few bottles, displayed on a shelf with the price chalked on, ranging from €25 to €35.
A carafe of water is brought to our table outside, and then our food, served in compostable takeaway containers with wooden cutlery. It’s the same inside. That’s what you do when you only have a domestic dishwasher and not enough crockery. You just keep it simple.
The buffalo prawns (€15) are steaming hot inside a crunchy batter, glazed in a hot sauce that will have fans of Ireland’s most famous chicken wings licking their fingers. But it is home-fermented, not from a bottle of Frank’s, and a sprinkling of chopped coriander and scallion add to the flavour. Pickled onion aioli is delicious with the prawns and crispy hand-cut chips.
The fish and chips (€14.50) portion is generous, two large chunks of pollack in a golden batter, sitting on top of chips with a small salad of organic leaves that have been lightly dressed, and pickled onions made by Caulwell’s sister Laura. This time the aioli is spiked with capers, perfect with the fish. It is absolutely all you could possibly want for lunch.
The beauty of Little Fish is that it is so incredibly simple. It doesn’t try to over-complicate things, but instead provides a restaurant which is just the sort of stop you want over the summer.
In the United States, you will find plenty of restaurants like this, small “mom and pop” operations, doing just a few things well. We could do with a lot more Little Fish restaurants around the country, unfussy fish and lobster shacks. Caulwell and Mullan have shown that it is possible. And judging by the number of customers, there’s a huge interest in freshly cooked fish straight from the sea.
Lunch for two was €29.50.
The verdict: Simplicity at its best.
Music: Background classics.
Food provenance: Inish Groe lobster, John Joe Flaherty fish, Killary Harbour mussels, Argentinian prawns, Shanbollard Organic Farm vegetables, Sullivan’s in Oughterard, Lola’s Picklery.
Vegetarian options: Cauliflower tempura with chips and tofu spicebag, both also vegan.
Wheelchair access: No accessible room or toilet.
