The Mean Fiddler was one of many restaurants surprisingly opened on Good Friday in Albany. It is located on York Street in the town centre.
We reserved a table for 7.30pm and made our way down about ten minutes early. The restaurant was quite busy as we were shown to our table by the window.
We had the option to order from a 3-course-menu for $35 or an a-la-carte menu. We had a look over both menus and were happy to order from the $35 menu.
We ordered starters and main course to begin and would order dessert after our mains.
I ordered the Asian Noodle Soup for starters and Pan-Fried Local Shark and Chips for main course while Mr. T decided on Fantail Crumbed Prawns to start with and the Sirloin Steak with Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce for main course.
Our starters arrived after about ten minutes which I was happy with considering how busy the restaurant was.
As I am allergic to shellfish, I couldn’t taste the dish so I had to take Mr. T’s word, he is developing into quite the critic now! He said that the prawns were well cooked and a little less crumb would have made the dish.
My soup was delicious. This was a perfect hint of hotness and the broth was packed with flavour, I could have eaten it as a main course.
Our plates were cleared promptly and our main course arrived about ten minutes later. The timing between courses was excellent!
The Pan-Fried Shark was flaky and even more scrumptious than it looked. This was my first time tasting shark and I thought that it would be heavy and rubbery…I was wrong.
The Sirloin Steak was perfectly cooked (this I could taste) and the sauce was flavoursome and enhanced the seasoning on the steak.
Our order was then taken for dessert. I chose the Chocolate Brownie and Mr. T decided on the Creme Brulee.
My Chocolate Brownie was dusted with icing sugar and can only be described as heaven on a plate. It is potentially the nicest brownie I have ever ordered. It was a perfect portion, not too much to make you feel sick but enough to satisfy my chocolate craving.
The Creme Brulee was also a winner with the perfect crunch as the spoon broke through the top of the brulee. It was the ‘second nicest’ Mr. T has ever eaten. There are two restaurants in Ireland that do ‘the best’ everything so the ‘second best’ should still be a highly regarded compliment. The portion size was a little larger than expect but there wasn’t a single bit left on the plate.
Overall, it was a great experience and I would recommend a visit to The Mean Fiddler. While in Albany, don’t forget to check out the beautiful beaches.
Lifestyle by Lily 