It never rains but it pours... Fado on Thursday night & now Kittys of Arklow on Saturday - what a lucky girl I am to be out twice in the same week....
Kittys is a very well known pub on the Main Street in Arklow which does great bar food. It also has a lovely restaurant upstairs called The Loft which opens from 6pm daily & is somewhere you should really book a few nights in advance, especially at the weekend. It is expensive by Arklow standards but then again, you always get what you pay for... this was very
evident in Kittys.

The dining rooms have wooden floors, simple wooden tables and chairs and plenty of unusual bric-a-brac in the rooms to give some added interest. Kittys has a set three course menu for EUR34 including tea or coffee. Specials on the board are not included in this & some of the a la carte items carry a small supplement (€3 max).

When we sat down at our table, we were given the menus and wine list from which I chose a 1/2 bottle on Penfolds Koonunga Shiraz (€11.50) & himself had a pint of Heineken. We also were given a basket of assorted breads which included white soda, fruit bread and a delicious date & walnut (but more of that later!) We chose a duck spring roll and an onion badji (their spelling) for starters from the extensive selection - chowder, asparagus, mussels, garlic
mushrooms, caesar salad etc. - both were polished off at high speed - some sharing took place & we were both happy!

Our mains were honeyed half roast duckling with rosti and spinach and a rack of lamb on a flavoured mash. The accompanying vegetables were spiced dutch cabbage, a carrot & turnip puree and steamed broccoli as well as steamed new potatoes. The mains vanished in similar fashion to the starters - empty plates & silence while eating!

After a decent interval, we decided to brave the dessert menu & chose a Baileys dark & light chocolate mousse with an orange polenta biscuit and a Toblerone cheesecake . The mousse was lovely - could have been more mousse-like rather than custardy - but had a good kick of Baileys in it. The biscuit was light, delicate and had a hint of orange rind. The cheesecake was stalked, attacked and devoured by both of us. I was quite happy to eat it in peace but himself demanded half of it & pronounced it delicious (he actually wanted us to swap plates but I said no - he had
first choice & wanted the mousse so that was that!!!!).

We had coffee & tea after that feast of calories and I decided to round off the evening by having a calvados with my coffee. The meal came to EUR102 excluding service which we were more than happy to add especially as our very charming waitress presented me with a package of the date & walnut bread with the bill.

Yes, it is slightly expensive for Arklow (a meal in Lucy Doyles is generally about €70) but you can certainly taste the difference. We'll be back.