Our search for good food on the main Dublin-Cork road continues, with a stop in congested old Kildare town at Kristianna's Bistro, on the main strip just down from the square. It's a simple little room, open for lunch and dinner, with a short and simple menu: soup of the day was a lightly spiced curried parsnip; there are sandwiches and pastas and other staples, and I ordered mussels with pistou to start and then chicken waterzooi, the famous Belgian dish which is a confusion of a soup with a stew, and where the main ingredient is poached in a cream broth with aromatic vegetables.
The mussels came with a few clams added, which was generous, but it was parsley instead of pistou which was scattered on top. The dish was still good and shellfish-zippy, a nice contrast to the chicken, which was real trencherman fare: three pieces of chicken with lots of potatoes, carrots, some florets of broccoli and onions. It was very rich and very enjoyable, with a nice lemony note added to the stew to lift the flavours - decent, honest food.
Service was excellent.
Kristianna's Bistro, Claregate Street, Kildare, Co Kildare, tel: 045-522985