A good chocolate tart is hard to come by but chocoholics take note: you get a fabulous one in The Lighthouse restaurant in Westport, Co Mayo. Masquerading under the name Mississippi Mud Pie, this is a major league dessert that other chefs might be inclined to dole out in slivers. Here you get a great big chunk of pie with a smooth layer of fresh whipped cream cloaking a chocolate filling of a depth and darkness to give you serious palpitations. It was fabulous and the place is very nice too.
Open since last summer, The Lighthouse is run by Frank and Julie Bennett, one time private cook and private secretary to MP Michael Heseltine. They did that job for seven years before moving to Ireland to take up jobs at Delphi Lodge, the smart fishing hideaway outside Westport, for 15 months before setting up last July over the Shebeen, a little outside town on the Louisburgh road. Here they are staying put for the moment, despite invitations from the likes of Rod Stewart and Elton John to keep house and cook for them.
The Shebeen is a cute thatched pub overlooking Clew Bay, where you can have a couple of drinks and sit around a turf fire before heading upstairs to the main event. Upstairs is a big cheerful room, spotless with its whitewashed walls and wooden floor, with simple pine tables and chairs and a few nautical bits and pieces hanging on the walls, and model boats and lighthouses on the window ledges.
It's essential to book, especially at the weekend, and the Saturday night we visited several glum-faced parties were being turned away as we settled down to eat.
Settling down hadn't been that easy. It was a lovely sunny evening, and arriving before 8 p.m., we immediately made eyes at two empty window tables where you can gaze out over the bay. These were for four people and already booked so that was that. Another window table was taken by three people who had almost finished their meal. Instead we were seated near the door to the kitchen at a round table for four but before we had unfolded the napkins or messed with the cutlery, the third window table came free and we asked, nicely, if there was any chance we could move to it. Again there was a firm "no". It too was booked although it was a quite a while before the lucky party - three men in corduroys - arrived to a rapturous reception. So, if you want a view, book in advance.
We felt just on the edge of crossness, as you do when you've driven a long way to get somewhere, and then don't feel entirely welcome when you get there. A small basket with three slices of brown bread that wasn't entirely fresh, and a couple of tough little white rolls, didn't help matters.
Things got a lot better after that, and with a bottle of house white open on the table, a pleasant buzz all around and the blackboard of specials at our elbow. The menu is short, with six or seven starters and main courses and what is on the specials board. Starters start at £3.50 for soup and rise to £6.95 for king prawns satay, while main courses are all between £11.95 and £13.95.
The menu veers to the East with Thai Crab Cakes, Potted Thai Spiced Chicken and Coconut pate and Chicken Tikka Kebabs among the starters. I liked the sound of all of them but then there was Clew Bay Prawns just in that evening so it seemed a shame not to try them, and the fresh scallops while we were at it.
The prawns came in their shells, long legs folded around them and black eyes bulging. At the bottom of the dish was a light lemon and butter sauce that didn't make much impact.
David's grilled local scallops were similarly underwhelming. Sweet and succulent but not fabulously flavourful (he claims that of all the scallops he's eaten in the name of the Irish Times over the past few months he can do better himself at home with his favourite Quaglinos recipe). Both dishes were nice and light so we could appreciate the main courses which were far, far better. The choice here is between classics, with grilled salmon, fillet of beef, sirloin steak and duck all featuring and sauces kept simple and light and again, a dash of Eastern flavour. Cod comes with a sesame and mild chilli crust, while the salmon can be served absolutely plain or with a Thai spiced butter. Landlubbers can have Chicken Hibernia, a comforting-sounding dish involving a mushroom, cheese, leek and whiskey sauce. David was stunned into silence by his Mayo lamb - three fat cutlets of it - with a minted almond crust and a light jus with tiny pools of pesto here and there.
I had a delectable Thai chicken curry with chunks of chicken breast smothered in a mildly scented, creamy green sauce, but why such a tiny bowl of rice to go with it? The rice ran out long before the curry did, and it's usually the other way around. The vegetables could be ordered as a course on their own. We got a big dish of lightly stir-fried carrots, courgettes, mangetouts, cauliflower and strips of cabbage and another dish of perfect mash and sauteed potatoes.
Although the restaurant was full by now, there was no pressure to finish quickly. The service is fast, with Julie Bennett and another woman racing around the room seeing to all the tables.
We shared the amazing chocolate pie and finished with coffees that brought the bill up to £63 including mineral water.
The Lighthouse Restaurant, Westport, Co Mayo, 098 26174
Orna Mulcahy can be contacted at omulcahy@irish-times.ie
