Electric Cork – Fishbar

After the fantastic dinner I had at Electric’s Restaurant during Cork’s Burger Festival, I just had to go back to try their Fish Bar as well, after seeing a sneak peek of it already during my last visit. I had already seen the gorgeous views before, but I had no idea what to expect when it came down to the food, and I must say my partner and I were absolutely over the moon with what we ate that night!

But let’s start with the beginning: what and where can you find Electric’s Fish Bar? “This riverside bar, situated on the first floor of Electric has panoramic views of the Trinty Church and St Finbarr’s Cathedral, as well the River Lee which cascades on the weir below. Drop anchor & order the freshest fish, simply cooked, unadorned, letting the fish talk for itself, 1/2 dozen oysters, crab claws, fish stew, .. The FishBar at Electric brings a taste of the sea to the City. No reservation required, so drop by today. “
There are quite a few options you can order in the bar. You can for example order the Fishbar’s dinner deal, which runs daily from 5-6.30pm – Two FishBar specials & two sides for only €30. Or you can order a few bits and pieces of their menu and have them as tapas, or you can order one of their main meals, which offers different choices each week.

As a starter we chose ‘Kilpatrick grilled oysters with Worcester sauce, bacon & spring onion’. I had only tried oysters once before and wasn’t that impressed, but we decided to give them another go as they sounded too good. We got a gorgeous platter of 3 oysters and they tasted fantastic! The bacon was a great touch, the sauce was flavourful and the spring onion was a crispy and tasty finishing touch.

After that we received our main course, which was a combination of tapas and one of their specials. Off the specials menu we chose ‘Whole Roasted Seabass, Mango and Lime Salsa, toasted almonds’. We were lucky enough to have gotten the last seabass of the week and it was gorgeous! We were given the option of having the seabass as a whole or deboned already. As we are brave enough we decided to have the whole fish and just do the work ourselves. The seabass tasted fresh, was perfectly seasoned and cooked and would be enough for one person for sure, with some sides of course. I quite like having something sweet in my meals so I was a big fan of the combination of the sea bass with the sweet salsa, especially the mango.

Last time I was in Electric, I ordered the sweet potato and I loved it so much, both me and my partner ordered it on the side, one with and one without the crème fraîche. We also got the ‘Winter greens with butternut squash & pomegranate’ as a side salad. The sweet potato was once again absolutely fantastic, and I’ve been told the crème is a great addition to it as well. The salad itself was tasty, not too moist from the dressing, not too dry either and the combination of winter ingredients with the pomegranate was  smashing.

Left: Oysters kept cool and ready to be ordered
Middle: Winter greens with butternut squash & pomegranat
Right: Electric seared tuna with sesame soy dressing, wasabi & crispy onions

Along with the seabass we ordered some of the smaller plates as tapas. We chose ‘Garlic & lemon marinated prawns served with sweet chilli chutney and a basil & lime mayo’, ‘Electric salmon gravadlax cured in beetroot, lime & vodka served with dill mayonnaise’ and ‘Electric seared tuna with sesame soy dressing, wasabi & crispy onions’.

It’s hard to pick a favourite out of the three as I loved each one, but I must say the prawns were absolutely spot on. The Sweet Chili Chutney and – my god – that basil and lime mayo were the perfect dips! In general all the sauces and dressings were both incredibly tasty as well as a refreshing alternative to the usual olive oil, mayo or ketchup. Apart from the high quality ingredients, I also really appreciate the fact that they were inspired by different countries, and therefor offered different flavour combinations and palettes. The Tuna had an oriental aura, with the wasabi, sesame soy dressing and the crispy onions (although those will forever and ever remind me of Belgian Bicky Burgers).

The Salmon gave a clear nudge to Scandinavia, where gravadlax has its roots. I have had salmon cured in beetroot before, but never with vodka and lime, but if you’re worried about the taste being too overpowering: don’t be. It was only a subtle hint of vodka! The slice of bread that came it was really tasty as well, although i’m not sure what it was. And again of course a great dip, this time mayo with dill. Granted, it’s a basic dip but in fairness I don’t think they had to use anything else, as the focus had to be on the salmon and adding a complicated dip would have taken away the flavours from the salmon too much and might have even clashed with it.

Each plate came with a small side salad as well, and both the salmon and tuna had some very delicious pickled cucumber with it as well as a slice of lemon, to give your plate some sourness and freshness if needed. I personally only used it for the tuna.

Electric salmon gravadlax cured in beetroot, lime & vodka served with dill mayonnaise

Garlic & lemon marinated prawns served with sweet chilli chutney and a basil & lime mayo

We finished of the evening with some great desserts: ‘Blackberry Sorbet’ and ‘Sticky toffee pudding with hazelnut ice-cream’. I know I need to stay away from dairy, wheat and hazelnuts (intolerances suck!) but I couldn’t resist taking a bite from my partner’s plate and my god was it good! I never had sticky toffee pudding before but I’ll for sure be ordering it in the future, no matter what!

Apart from the food I must say it’s a great spot to eat when you love a good view. Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, the River Lee, the bridges on either side or just the boardwalk: you can view it all! And last but not least let’s not forget about the wonderful staff, whether you go for a drink or bite to eat in the bar, a dinner in the restaurant or an evening in the fish bar: all the chefs, servers and barmen/women are delightful! We had a great experience with our host of the evening Pavel, who clearly has a great love for food as well as the meals they serve. Always a smile on his face, always friendly and informative! Plus he recommended us the wine we got for our meal: Etra Albarino – Rias Baixas, which my partner and I agreed on was the best white wine we ever had, and it went so well with all our meals!

So if you’re not in the mood to cook tonight and are in the mood for some fantastic fish dishes: pop on over to Electric in Cork! I do recommend making a reservation though as it’s quite the popular spot!