I’ve a sneaky feeling that I’ve got Statham’s heading for my list of places to lunch in Kilkenny in March (you can check the January and February editions if you missed them) but I might have to double back for dinner.
I tend to find out what’s happening on the Statham’s front when someone slides a script in front of me for voiceover work, like how I know they’re doing snack platters for the Six Nations to encourage rugby fans through the door. You know I work in radio, right? However, their new menu offerings have been popping up on Instagram this week so if you’ve missed any of the action, here’s the skinny thanks to executive chef Ken Harker.
Both the restaurant and the bar menus at the Patrick Street eatery have had an upgrade of late, according to the restaurant’s social channels.
“For the bar vibe, we’ve gone very casual – sharing plates, small plates, really casual, ideal for a midweek bite to eat or to drink, with really great value. With the restaurant, we’ve picked some great Irish produce”, says Harker in a post to Instagram this evening.
“In season, we’ve got wild garlic coming just in (sic), we’ve got Irish shiitakes, fabulous Kilkenny beef, Irish pork, beautiful Irish smoked salmon. We’ve added a few of our own twists like a ponzu dressing or a vadouvan butter. We’ve kind of mixed it up with keeping really local and Irish produce as well. Both menus are available seven days a week from 5-9pm, so come down, tell me what you think!”
The bar menu looks like it mixes small and large platers where among the small you can pick up some focaccia with roast onion hummus, a stacked grazing board, some pork and nduja nachos, duck wings and more. If you’re looking for a bigger bite you’ll find a grilled flatbread with Gubbeen chorizo, smoked cheddar, pickled onion and garlic aioli, or a prawn and mussel ragout with cider cream sauce, dill and lemon in a homemade crisp puff pastry case with fries, to a panko crusted cod or a 9oz Ballykeeffe sirloin steak, only out the road. There’s plenty for dessert too.
The restaurant menu also brings the sirloin to the mains, along with a braised beef cheek with celeriac puree, smoked bacon, onion and mushrooms, a trout fillet with roast cauliflower, orzo and the afore-mentioned vadouvan butter, to a crispy hen’s egg with braised Irish shiitake mushrooms, grilled scallion and chive ricotta – and more. That doesn’t even factor in the starters.
So, anyone up for a midweek bite?
Check the new restaurant menu here and bar menu here, then find Statham’s as part of Pembroke Kilkenny on Patrick Street in the city centre.
