Restaurant Review - Galileo's
Tuesday 01 April 2014
It was a lovely, bright, Sunday morning. Spring was in the air, the daffodils were peeking through and the "urge was upon me" to point the car in some direction out of Dublin! I am notoriously last-minute – some might say impulsive, some might say adventurous – but it was a case of "have wheels, will travel", fuelled by the fact that my better half, Brendan, and our sons were going to be glued to the rugby on the box for the day.
Somebody had told me of Galileo's Italian Restaurant in Edenderry, Co Offaly, so I called up two of my friends, Paul and Yvonne, to join me for lunch.
We soon found ourselves sitting in the shadows of Edenderry's fine Georgian courthouse, which is in the square, facing Galileo's. The grey exterior of the restaurant somewhat belies the colourful, contemporary interior, which is broken into two areas. There's a large, open kitchen, which also seems to service a takeaway area. A big family group were in the front section, so we retreated to a rather nice, tucked-away rear area overlooking a patio deck.
The Sunday lunch menu struck us as jolly good value, with three courses and coffee at €18, offering a good selection of dishes from the extensive a la carte menu.
Lest we miss anything, we also looked at the a la carte, which had smoked salmon; prawn cocktail; squid; antipasti; as well as pizzas; a wide selection of pastas; and meat and chicken dishes.
That duly scanned, we felt we were doing very well, price-wise, in choosing from the lunch menu, with its choice of seven starters, eight pasta mains and seven meat mains. Starters included crespelle ripiene di pollo – home-made pancakes stuffed with chicken and served with a garlic dip – while the old favourite of deep-fried Brie with cranberry sauce also featured. Yvonne particularly liked the garlic bread in her bruschetta, topped with fresh tomato and basil oil, while Paul made fast work of his meaty, spicy chicken wings clothed in a hot tomato sauce.
Deep-fried crispy mushrooms were something I haven't had in a long time, but I, too, made fast work of them and the accompanying garlic dip. Mains offered pastas from penne al salmon to penne con pollo e funghi.
The popular lasagne al forno was also there, as well as spaghetti carbonara, bolognese and pasta al forno bianco. Meat dishes covered two chicken dishes, a home-made burger and a rib-eye steak (€5 supplement) – all served with Italian potatoes or chips, and vegetables or a mixed salad. The other choices were Caesar salad or traditional fish and chips.
Yvonne's pollo alla cacciatora proved to be a good portion of chicken breast bathed in a creamy, tomato-y sauce, with diced peppers and wedge-style potatoes, which she enjoyed. Paul, too, was happy with his vitello al Marsala. The meat was tender, the mushroom Marsala sauce rich and tasty, and it, too, came with the same trimmings. My rib-eye steak was a cracker.
It was top-notch tender – charred on the outside, pink on the inside, as requested, and it came with great shoestring-style crispy onions, sauteed mushrooms and black pepper sauce. I asked for tagliatelle with garlic butter, rather than potatoes, and the whole lot was delicious.
We followed up with profiteroles with chocolate sauce for Paul, strawberry and banana ice cream for Yvonne (which seemed to be of the commercial variety and the only weak point) and soft, sinful tiramisu for me.
With a bottle of South African Stonewalker Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (€21), our bill, with optional service, came to €90.
By the way, for those who like to splash out on belting red Italian vino, popular favourites are there, too.
Galileo's was good value, with charming service. It brought home to me again that there's something special about gathering for Sunday lunch with family or friends. Enjoy Mother's Day.
Galileo's Restaurant & Pizzeria,
36 JKL Street,
Edenderry,
Co Offaly.
Tel: (046) 973-2965
www.galileosrestaurant.ie
www.lucindaosullivan.com
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT